Hi folks – and as this is my first column of 2021, may I start by wishing you all a happy and better year than the one we have just had.

Like most of us I have found this past year to be hard going, and like the rest of you, I’ve had my good days and not so good days.

Now, thankfully, with the vaccination programme well under way and more than a million people in Scotland having received their first dose, we can finally see a chink of light at the end of what has, at times, been a pretty dark tunnel.

As a city council, too, we have had to face a number of challenges throughout the past year as a result of the pandemic, and I would like to put on record my thanks to our front-line staff for the fantastic work they have continued to carry out.

They have done so despite the many challenges they have faced both at work and in their personal lives, and despite many of them shielding, our cleansing staff have been fantastic.

As we move on through this year, we’re hopeful that many of the community facilities that have had to stay closed as a result of Covid-19, such as our swimming pools, sports centres and libraries, will be able to reopen, and Glasgow Life are currently looking at a range of options to enable this to happen.

On a more local note, discussions are about to start locally on the new Drumchapel hub, plans for which were first revealed in 2019, and people’s views will being sought through the community council.

At long last the ground has been broken for the construction of The Range at the Great Western Retail Park, and I know we are all looking forward to the store opening and the jobs that it will bring to the area.

Meanwhile, like all elected councillors across the city I am getting dozens of complaints about potholes. As a driver myself I understand only too well the problems they cause, and have raised numerous problem locations with the roads department. They tell us that due to staff shortages caused by the pandemic, things are taking longer to get done, but I’m being assured they will be dealt with.

Finally I would like to pass on my thanks to all of you for the support you have given to the more vulnerable people in our community. They, and I, hugely appreciate what you have done and continue to do.