People do love to moan, there is no doubt about that, justification not always necessary, actual facts often scarce. There are not many professions which are exposed to this more than the taxi trade and in the interests of balance the trade is pretty damn adept at the dark art of talking things down too. The principal topics will always include the weather, the cost of living, politicians locally and nationally, and many other ever-presents.

Now this is generally a way of engaging in a conversation or sounding off and will usually be well wide of the factual mark, however occasionally topics come along which not only linger, they grow, they stand up to scrutiny, they indicate a commonly held belief and when heavily supported by real life experiences they become more than a moan.

They become the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

The camel in this instance is Glasgow or more precisely the broken and fragmented infrastructure which is driving Glasgow and Glasgow’s businesses into an unsustainable position.

The straw is the current unacceptable state of Glasgow City Centre and its suburbs.

A disjointed, dirty, unnavigable, unattractive money pit of waste. A masterpiece of squander and ineptitude. A study in ignoring the masses and pandering to a minority of idealists. To stand behind broad disputable banners such as air quality and active travel is shameful, undemocratic and wrong. Such banners make challenges difficult as they can be rebuffed with poorly evidenced emotive responses. They remain undemocratic and unwanted.

Policies which are created and adopted via a barely transparent public consultation process can at best be described as lightly supported. When public consultation indicates a rejection by the public and projects continue then further scrutiny should be required.

As they say in Glasgow, ‘The dugs in the street know it’s a mess” – with dog mess also being high on the hit parade of popular moans.

Just last week there were two different incidents which drove home the unacceptable nature of current Glasgow.

Midday on Wednesday we had a package to deliver to a business in the Queens Cross area of Glasgow from the East End of Glasgow. A simple journey of the type required by hundreds of Glasgow businesses daily. Simple enough? Not so.

Firstly the driver wisely chooses to avoid the City Centre due to the fact that every traffic cone in the northern hemisphere has been relocated to Glasgow City Centre. So the journey proceeds via the M8 and off at Craighall Road junction. Immediate gridlock for hundreds of yards ahead caused by Garscube Road. No problem, local knowledge to the rescue … or perhaps not.

Right turn onto Craighall Road towards Possilpark, bad move, traffic queued from Garscube Road along the entire length of Possil Road, a distance of about one quarter of a mile. Move to plan D.

Using years of acquired routes, often ruined by traffic calming, to navigate the circuitous route through Hamiltonhill and along Panmure Street and enter Maryhill Road via Northpark Street. Home and hosed! Or perhaps not.

Maryhill Road closed at Napiershall Street but it’s not over till it’s over. Hang a quick left up Hinshaw Street with the intention of reaching the goal via Grovepark Street. Scuppered again!

Garscube Road is queued from the City Centre to Kansas, and the party is over. Quick phone call to the recipient, sorry delivery won’t happen today I have another meeting I cannot miss. One business hour gone.

Glasgow City Council may be content to operate at a pace which makes Brian the Snail look like Usain Bolt, but real businesses, that is businesses who rely on efficiency to remain viable, cannot work like that.

The following day, by chance, a driver was flagged down by a visitor who had been delivering a car to Glasgow, and needed to get to the airport. Perfect, on to the motorway, leave the M8 and pass through Govan to avoid the carpark and an easy return run back to the north of the city to finish in time for the News. Perhaps not.

Picked up at 4.40pm, dropped at the airport, and got home in time for Emmerdale.

Average speed for the 25-mile round trip was below 10mph, on a journey which was mainly motorway. For a city that just does not work.

These experiences are endured daily by bus drivers, delivery drivers, tradesmen, couriers and taxi drivers. There is also another raft of people who MUST use their vehicles. Childcare transport, people with disabilities, the elderly, carers and others need to be able to move across the city. We have now reached the stage where it is impossible to control logistics and plan. The chaos of the city centre and every surrounding compass point indicate a lack of foresight and planning.

Repairs and roadworks are, of course, necessary, well overdue and welcome but at the existing uncontrolled levels they indicate an apathetic attitude, towards the public, by those in control. The cynical may even suggest they form part of the plan to reduce private vehicle use. Another policy which is unwanted and unwelcome.

In the midst of this chaos, the council seek improvements from the public transport sector apparently blind to the negative impact that they, themselves, have on the city.

The stark reality is that we have at least another three years of this chaos to continue before the madness finally ends.

What are we left with at that point. Probably a deserted city centre, many failed businesses, a largely unused cycle network with only the Southside super cycle highway achieving success.

What is currently happening is that a squanderous administration, with no ambition or ability to support businesses, are fixated on expensive vanity projects which are killing the city. The rat infestations, an appalling state of city cleanliness, homelessness, drug abuse, drug deaths and street crime all play second fiddle to unused & unwanted bike lanes, granite pavements and rain gardens.

Meanwhile in the suburbs around Glasgow residents have to endure reduced bin collections, removal of maintenance to public spaces, council tax increases and a reduction in public services.

In the city centre these would be rain gardens. In the suburbs of north Glasgow they are sites of Glasgow City Council neglect and eyesores.

To Glasgow City Council leaders I would say: take your squander, your window dressing, your vanity projects, your unwanted LEZ, your council tax increases, your business rates increases and all your other failures to the ballot box. Then be gone.

Dougie McPherson, Chairman, Glasgow Taxis Ltd