I would like to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposals for Pollok Park re the Go Ape theme park. Frankly, I am horrified Glasgow City Council has allowed the idea to proceed this far.

I would like to object in the strongest possible terms to the proposals for Pollok Park re the Go Ape theme park. Frankly, I am horrified Glasgow City Council has allowed the idea to proceed this far.

I was born and brought up in the area, have used the park for 50 years and am eternally grateful to the Maxwell family who gifted the whole land to the people of Glasgow. Not, you will understand, for commercial enterprise. I continue to live in the area and am a frequent visitor to a park, which has rightly been voted best in Britain.

I am much-travelled and can assure you that there is little in the world, in terms of proximity to a city centre, that can compare. Our council would be better advised shouting to anyone who will listen about exactly what we have on our doorstep.

The notion of the park being enhanced by this project is preposterous. It is a precious gift that has been left to the people of the city by the Maxwells. There have been decisions made by this council and its predecessors which have had my head shaking in disbelief. This one has my blood boiling.

I look forward to hearing an explanation, or better still the selection of reverse gear, from our council.

Chick Young, 40 Pacific Quay, Glasgow.

Pollok Park was generously gifted to the city by the Maxwell family after the war and has been treasured by generations of Glaswegians as an oasis of peace and simple natural values in the middle of our increasingly busy and stressed urban environment. It is deeply cherished and widely loved for these values.

I am sure that the Go Ape concept has its place, but that place is not in Pollok. Because of the size of the development, it will alter the park's special character and transform it into a commercial playground, by virtue of the intrusion of substantial infrastructure, increased pressure, a dominating playground atmosphere and pervasive noise. It will be, in effect, a take-over of the most loved publicly accessible green space in Glasgow by a private company for the sake of profit.

The alleged consultation on this development was, I believe, deliberately and cynically given a low publicity profile. In the light of the major change this represents to the character of such an important part of Glasgow's heritage, it deserved substantial publicity by the council to generate a maximum public response. It would have been easy for public notices to have been prominently displayed in the park and for the proposal to be publicised in local newspapers, neither of which happened as far as I am aware. It is only recently, by virtue of public campaigning by a (to be congratulated) local group of users, that the people are waking up to what is intended. A groundswell of outrage is growing.

It is suggested by the council that the proposal will be for the good of teenagers locally. The cost of entry is £20, which would enable children to access the playground only very occasionally, unless, of course, they are very well-off. I wandered with my family and played with friends in these woodlands as a boy free of charge, and learned here to appreciate and love a natural environment and what it means to share a public space with my community. My own children have since shared similar experiences. Are these not more important values than artificial thrills? This is not likely to encourage children to exercise naturally and regularly in the park, which is the real priority for this increasingly sedentary generation.

The company (Adventure Forest Ltd) needs to know that it is not wanted or welcome in Pollok and the campaign against it will continue even if (I might say especially if) it is successful in taking our spaces from us.

Stephen Smith, 56 Ormonde Drive, Glasgow.

A decision by the city council's planning committee is imminent on the Go Ape planning application. As reported in The Herald, the Maxwell family and the National Trust for Scotland have joined forces with a growing number of local organisations in opposing what is considered an inappropriate development for the park. What is, in effect, a privatisation of a public space donated to the city, Go Ape will be an expensive and noisy addition to the park besides intruding into one of its last "wild" spaces.

What is salutary here is not only the mounting opposition to the application but also its apparently late emergence, that is well after the council had gone through its consultation exercise on the application. Why? A public meeting was held in early September following which there was a questionnaire. The conduct of neither bears close scrutiny, the upshot being that some who were likely to have an opinion on the application were unaware of it. The lesson here is obvious. The council's otherwise laudable policy to increase the usage and appeal of the city's parks seems to be leading it down a confrontational path, not just on the south side but also in the west end and elsewhere. Disagreement is part of healthy city life, but it needs to be aired through properly conducted debate, allowing all groups a chance to express their opinions.

Ronan Paddison, Pollokshields Community Council, 8 Herries Road, Pollokshields, Glasgow.