Over the past month, several residents have reported incidents of motorbikes being ridden in the Honeybog Hill area. At times there have been four or more bikes driving at high speed around the fields, causing worry amongst walkers using the hill and creating noise that has been very intrusive and annoying for residents living near the area.

Renfrewshire Council has been notified of the problem and has requested that residents who aware of motorbikes being ridden on Honeybog Hill should telephone either the police at 101 or the Renfrewshire Wardens service at 0300 300 0380 ( option 1), preferably at the time of the incident.

Renfrewshire Council will be carrying out work to clean the pond within Barshaw Park, beginning on Friday 1 April.

The aim of the work is to remove the silt that has gathered in the pond over a number of years, as well as removing some invasive weed species, which will protect the health of the pond.

To do this, the council will require to drain the pond and then remove the silt, which will be kept at a location near the pond to dry out before being disposed of safely by the contractor.

There will be a fishing specialist on site to assist in keeping any fish in the pond safe and they will be stored in a bunded area within the pond until the work is complete. There are no swans nesting at the pond; so no nests will be disturbed by the work.

During the work, the pond will be fenced off to stop anyone entering the area while it is drained. The council anticipates that it will take around 3 weeks to complete the work and refill the pond to its previous level.

 

The community council is organising a silent auction in aid of Ukraine. The item being auctioned is an acrylic painting, tilted Highland Way, 28 x 34 cm, framed with glass. The proceeds of the winning bid will be donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine humanitarian appeal.

Bids should be emailed to admin@ralstoncommunitycouncil.org. The closing time for bids is noon on Sunday 24 April. The winner will be notified shortly after the bids close.

The painting will be on view at the art stall at the Ralston Community Games, which will be held at Ralston Sports Centre on Saturday 23 April.

Renfrewshire Council has installed crash barriers at the south-west corner of the junction of Hawkhead Road and Glasgow Road. Ralston councillor Neill Graham has been campaigning for some time to have barriers installed at this dangerous junction. Councillor Graham is still trying to persuade the council to change the phasing of the traffic lights at the junction to avoid the current problems experienced by vehicles attempting to turn right from Hawkhead Road into Glasgow Road. One option would be the addition of a right filter light.

Many Ralston residents will be very concerned about the situation in Ukraine and wondering what they can do to help.

The general advice is that it is more effective to give money than food or clothes. The best way to do this is by donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal.

Another thing you can do is to write to the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, Gavin Newlands, at gavin.newlands.mp@parliament.uk, urging him to support Ukraine and push for more sanctions. The Ukrainian Insitute has created an email template that you can use. If you are not a resident of the Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, you can find your MP’s contact details at: https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP

 

 

Renfrewshire’s Big Spring Clean will take place in April. The annual event was postponed last year because of the pandemic, with Renfrewshire supporting Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Summer Clean event instead, but it is back for 2022.

Previous events have seen thousands take part in litter picks across the month of action, with the campaign’s sister event Spotless September in 2021 seeing almost 1,500 people take part in 430 litter picks.

How can you take part?

Renfrewshire Council will provide litter pickers, hoops, bibs and bags for anyone or any group wishing to take part in a litter pick, and the StreetScene team will collect the bags of litter afterwards too if you let them know where you’ve left them.

To request equipment, you can call 0300 300 1375, email wardens.es@renfrewshire.gov.uk, join the Team Up to Clean Up Facebook group at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/groups/teamuptocleanup or visit the council’s website at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/BigSpringClean2022.

Anyone taking part should consider the health and safety measures in place during litter picks with the Wardens Service able to advise on how to take part safely, including in group settings, and people should only take part if they are comfortable doing so.

Why is it taking place?

The event forms part of the council’s £2.5million investment in the Team Up to Clean Up campaign which supports volunteers, but also invests more in roads sweeping, gully clearing, fly tipping prevention and litter picking.

The award-winning campaign created the annual Big Spring Clean and Spotless September events to encourage mass participation from the community, but the campaign continues all-year-round with the council enhancing its environmental work and supporting volunteers who want to improve their local area.

Thousands of local people have joined the campaign since its launch and everyone is welcome to take part and meet like-minded people who want to make Renfrewshire a more inviting place to live in, work and visit.

As part of its commitment to active travel and its continued drive to meet its ambitious climate change aims, Renfrewshire Council is launching a new campaign called Not Far? Leave the Car.

The campaign will launch on Friday 11 March 2022 and will reward people in Renfrewshire for walking, cycling and using public transport, with discounts and prizes at local Renfrewshire businesses. It is being provided through the free BetterPoints app and has been funded by the Scottish Government.

Everyone across Renfrewshire over the age of 14 is encouraged to download the BetterPoints app on their mobile phone and track their day-to-day journeys – with sustainable journeys rewarded with points.

More details of the campaign and a link to allow the app to be downloaded can be found on Renfrewshire Council’s website.