COMMUNITY parks in Barrhead and beyond are being allowed to go to rack and ruin, while award-winning Rouken Glen is lavished with resources.

That’s the feeling of residents around Auchenback Community Park and elsewhere, who feel their local green spaces aren’t getting the attention they deserve – or their taxes are supposed to be paying for.

Following last week’s report on the park at Burnbank Drive, the Barrhead News spoke to a number of people who are dismayed over its decline.

Allan Kincaid, 57, of Auburn Drive, has lived in the area for 35 years and visits the park every day with his dog Frankie – but that doesn’t mean he likes it.

“It’s not kept well but where else would we go?” said Allan. “This is our local park. It’s here for us to use it.

“Over the years it’s definitely gone downhill. The council say they don’t have resources but they have enough resources for other places. The bins here used to get emptied every single morning – now it’s twice a week and it’s not enough. 

“The park is well used, so the bins are usually overflowing. There’s broken glass on the paths all the time. The guys who do the bins used to lift it but not anymore.

“Any time you go to Rouken Glen you’ll see two or three parkies out, keeping it clean, making sure it’s spotless, but not here. 

“It’s like they need to save money, so they decide to cut back here but why should we suffer?

“This park isn’t award winning, so it’s like they don’t care.”

Jackie Lawn, 47, often visits the park with her dog Poppy but her opinion of this particular green space is also low.

She said: “It’s an absolute dump. Kids throw rubbish all over the place. If you see a glass bottle lying around, you have to pick it up or, the next time you see it, it’ll be smashed.”

Stephen McCauley, 39, of Aurs Lane, has lived in Barrhead for the last three years and would like to see the council doing more to clean up the park.

He said: “I wouldn’t take my daughter to the park at Burnbank because it’s so messy. My first experience of that park was my last.

“I’ll take her to Cowan Park because the council actually pays attention to that one.

“The amount of litter in and around that area is just terrible and people just seem willing to put up with it.

“The broken glass, litter, dog mess – there’s a complete lack of respect.

“There are no two ways about it, that park is extremely poor.

“Cowan Park is great and, if you go to Rouken Glen, it’s like night and day. I certainly think there’s a lack of attention given to the park at Burnbank and that area in general.”

Linda Williamson, 55, of Cheviot Avenue, said she was sick of hearing the same excuses from the council about a lack of resources.

She added: “The council complains about resources but I’m sick of hearing it because they are a rich council compared to most.

“They’ve got the wealthiest areas here – Whitecraigs, Clarkston, Old Mearns, Giffnock – all these places are very wealthy and they could use a little of that to improve areas that really need it, like Barrhead.

“This is the summer, when it’s as good as it’s going to get, and it’s no good.

“Weans will be weans and drop their rubbish but there’s not enough resources going into this park in comparison to others.

“Rouken Glen is spotless clean and there are thousands of people in it some days. My sister lives in Giffnock and I wander around the streets wondering why Barrhead can’t be like that.

“Why do we need to tolerate this? We shouldn’t have to.

“They’re putting all our council tax up but they spend it on other places because people here will tolerate it.

“Well, I don’t think people in Barrhead should tolerate it anymore.

“I’m not paying my council tax to live in a mess.”

It would seem that such sentiments aren’t limited to people in Barrhead.

Over the past week, concerns have been raised on social media about the state of a number of parks in East Renfrewshire, including Carlibar Park, Mearns Park and even the children’s park at Easterton Avenue, Busby, which was highlighted by Councillor David Macdonald.

Cllr Macdonald, who represents Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood as an Independent, said: “The council must always strive to improve the quality of all of our parks, not just Rouken Glen.”

East Renfrewshire Council has defended its approach to parks, pointing to £1million invested outside of Rouken Glen in the past four years.

A spokesperson said: “We work extremely hard to maintain all of our parks to a high standard, reflected in our residents’ 91 per cent satisfaction with the green spaces in the area.

“Significant investment has been made at Rouken Glen and Cowan Park in recent years to reflect that these are the green spaces most widely used. 

“Major upgrades have also recently been made at Kingston Playing Fields, in Neilston, and the council’s ambitious capital plan includes investing £2m over the next seven years to further enhance other popular green spaces across the area.

“This will include upgrading many of our smaller parks, such as Busby Glen, and will build on the investment of almost £1m over the past four years which has helped to improve 12 parks across the area. 

“All our parks are regularly litter picked and equipment is checked to ensure it meets safety requirements.”