In her latest Reporter column, Lomond Ward Councillor Hazel Sorrell shares her thoughts on what's been happening in the community...

It’s that time of year when we turn the clocks back by one hour and for most of us it will mean waking up in darkness for the next few months and an extra hour.

Unfortunately, the expected extra hour doesn’t always work out that way, especially if you have young children or grandchildren in the house who are already working on their own timescales.

Also for night workers, the clocks going back can mean an additional hour added to a long tiring shift.

I’ve had an interesting few weeks since my last column.

As vice convener of housing, I attended the housing committee where we got an update on our “more homes better homes” initiative which includes ambitious plans for over 700 new council homes over the next five years.

We also got a report highlighting how our housing services plans to spend the additional £50 million enhanced housing capital investment programme, from the budget in March.

We also saw a huge reduction in the number of empty properties.

Our focus was on reducing voids so that the families benefit from a permanent home quicker and tenants benefit from the increased rent generated from reducing the number of empty properties.

We also agreed on a nomination agreement with Veterans Scotland, so that we can provide housing to former service personnel.

I am a member of a number of Council committees and I was really pleased to hear about the success of our Summer Holiday 2023 Programme and the Council's Family Fun Days which were expanded to include events in Moss O’Balloch Park, Christie Park, and Levengrove Park.

The motion to Council in June means that the Family Fun Days will be funded for the next three years as well as this year, and the Cost of Living fund has already committed £100,000 a year for four years to ensure that our Summer Holiday programme continues and this year we were able to extend them to other school holiday periods.

I’ve also been fairly busy with other duties such as attending two COSLA meetings, and taking part in the Kilmaronock Community Council Place Plan event, at the Millennium Hall in Gartocharn.

I had the pleasure of representing the Provost at the recent STUC Civic Reception in Clydebank Town Hall where I welcomed the trades’ union delegates.

I’ve also been attending various events and activities across my Ward such as attending tenant association meetings, and the Tullichewan Fun Day.

I am always amazed by the amount of work that local community groups do to support our area.

They sacrifice their time, they often donate to the organisations they help to run and they always go the extra mile to help others. Thank you to you all.