An Alexandria councillor has hit out at the state of the historic Smollett Fountain - saying she was embarrassed to stand beside it during Remembrance Day commemorations.
However Labour’s Michelle McGinty has praised the ongoing work to transform the heart of the Vale, with demolition work now underway on the eyesore Mitchell Way.
Speaking at a meeting of West Dunbartonshire’s community planning management board last week, Councillor McGinty said: “I was disappointed on Remembrance Sunday when we stood to take the salute from the veterans and the fountain had weeds hanging out of it. It was in an absolute state.
“I know that works on it have still to go out to tender, but the fact they’ve done so much work around the realms made it quite embarrassing to stand there at Remembrance Day when that was still in a real state of disrepair.
“People were looking at it and asking what was being done with it.
“It would’ve been nice if we’d made an effort to clean that out for the service.”
The area surrounding the fountain was subject to six months of road works - deemed a nightmare by local traders - which were finally completed at the start of this month.
Works as part of regeneration plans saw the heart of the Vale turned into a building site, with traders left counting the cost of footfall that dropped by up to 50 percent.
As part of a £12million masterplan to transform the Vale, the iconic Smollett Fountain is set to undergo restoration, the Main Street has been reprofiled and the eyesore Mitchell Way shopping precinct is set to be demolished.
In October, the council applied for listed building consent to make conservation repairs to the fountain, including steam cleaning, repairs to the cast iron heron, re-lining of the basins and planting up with sedum, re-carving of missing gargoyles and installation of a new decorative lighting scheme.
In response to Cllr McGinty’s comments, WDC’s chief executive Peter Hessett said: “I’m very disappointed to hear about the weeds around the fountain. We’ll feed that back for next year and hopefully it won’t be an issue.
“Our greenspace staff worked very hard to ensure that all war memorials were looking their best. It’s most unfortunate that a bit of weeding in Alexandria was missed.”
Commenting on the completed works, Councillor McGinty continued: “I’m really glad that, over Christmas, the roads are going to be clear and we won’t see the same level of disruption to businesses that we have done.
“The traders are very happy now that they will be able to trade through Christmas.
“We’ve worked very closely with them to make sure that they can be part of the Christmas light switch-ons, which is some good news for them.
“I’m really happy that, as a council, we have opened that communication with the traders. And they feel as if they are being listened to. That’s a real positive, we feel like we’ve turned a corner on that.
“I think there are a few issues with lamps that people have brought up. But it seems to be just those kinds of snagging issues. I’m happy that the regeneration of Alexandria is ongoing and a bit more positive.
“I’m delighted that the demolition of Mitchell Way is now underway.
“It really feels as if there is a massive input in Alexandria. Hopefully it will turn a town centre that was dying a death around.”
