WHEN Glasgow City Council published its traffic management proposals for Pollok Park, many welcomed them, albeit with reservations over some of the details (insufficient bike parking, poor road design at the new entrance, unnecessary pathway lighting, high levels of tree removal, the emphasis on tourists and workers rather than the thousands of Glasgow residents who pay for the park through their council tax, and the proposal to charge for parking, to name but a few). But – even if flawed – at least there would be a peripheral car park and a bus running from it to the centre of the park.

Now, however, the council has seen fit to close the park to traffic at weekends and the entire Easter school break. There is no car park, no bus, no bike parking, no exceptions for blue badge holders. Why on earth is this considered a good way to treat Glasgow residents who need to use the park to exercise when we cannot leave the city boundaries?

To add insult to injury, now we are being asked not to walk in the woods to protect the bluebells for the whole of April and May, and to stay on the (crowded) formal paths. The bluebells will recover when the pressure on the parks lessens as we are freed to go elsewhere. The park authorities who are so concerned about soil compaction in the woods seem to have overlooked the compaction and damage done by the outdoor nurseries that have been allowed to use the park for the last few years, and are still in the woods even as the rest of us are banned. The locations they occupy are now just bare earth and mud, with no under-storey, no saplings, no bluebells, not even brambles. If they are so concerned, perhaps they should close the nurseries as well?

Dr Heather Alexander, Glasgow.

PEOPLE NEED PUBLIC SPACES

THE good weather during the first public holiday of the second year of the pandemic drew large crowds to the beaches and public parks. This was accompanied by much tut-tutting, harrumphing and finger-wagging because scant regard seems to be paid to any concept of social distancing.

However, since other places, such as sporting venues, many NTS/Historic Scotland properties, other outdoor attractions, swimming pools, theatres, cinemas, museums and shops which might draw some of these crowds remain firmly closed, so people have no place else to go.

I sometimes wonder if our lords and masters would really rather have us, despite vaccinations, continue to stay hunkered down behind closed doors, perhaps in anxious anticipation of a surge in flu in the coming winter, and the emergence of fresh Covid-19 strains in the months to come.

Christopher W Ide, Waterfoot.

DON'T KNOCK THE SCIENTISTS

DAVE Henderson's derogatory comments on the performances of both Jason Leitch and Chris Whitty (Letters, April 5) invite comment. Both have proved to be extremely instructive and professional in their support of the First Minister and Prime Minister respectively. In particular the common touch as shown by Professor Leitch has proved very effectual. To suggest that such professionals be derisively labelled "doom-mongers " is ingratitude in the extreme.

Allan C Steele, Giffnock.

* I CAN think of no greater irony than Conservative MPs objecting to Covid passports on the basis that "they would create a two-tier society".

Brian Moore, Edinburgh.

INCLUDE ARRAN IN TUNNEL PLANS

WITH a possible tunnel between Scotland and Northern Ireland having been mooted for discussion, would it not be worth pushing the boat out even further? The mileages and start and finish points I detail below are in the locale of places named and are for guidance only: a tunnel from Ardrossan to Brodick, 15 miles; a bridge or tunnel from Lochranza to Claonaig eight miles, and finally a tunnel from Kintyre to Larne, 14 miles.

Arran would then have all-weather access and the West of Scotland another route in, however this would involve additional major road works on routes towards all of the start and finish points, as would be the case too with the originally proposed Portpatrick to Larne/Belfast crossing. If other countries and communities can do it, why not us too?

George Dale, Beith.

CYCLING BOOM WILL NOT LAST

WHILE the number of cyclists may well have doubled ("Cycling surge during pandemic triggers call for more bike lanes", The Herald, April 6), from personal observation, the mode of dress indicates cycling is for exercise and leisure. I find it hard to believe similar enthusiasm will be shown for cycling for the daily commute to work in all weathers when fewer people will be working from home.

Given the cycle lanes with bollards that are now appearing in Edinburgh, I anticipate there will be surveys done to question the daily usage versus the expenditure involved when many potholes large and small go unrepaired.

R McMurtrie, Currie.

WORMS DON'T BELONG ON LADDERS

IN today's Word Ladder (The Herald, April 6) please note that a worm is not an insect. Worms are invertebrate animals.

Kevin FitzGerald, Killin.

FOLLOW CANADA IN LITTER FIGHT

I WOULD agree with Clark Cross (Letters, April 6), regarding litter fines. While on holiday in Canada, signs in the national parks stated that there were fines of $2,000 for littering; bins were provided and emptied, and the parks were pristine. In Scotland, someone else will clear up the mess, who cares.

Steve Barnet, Gargunnock.