WE'VE had more than our fair share of water in recent days, courtesy of Storm Dennis.

But spare a thought for residents in the Linburn and Millfield areas of Erskine, who were left without a water supply, thanks to yet another burst pipe.

This is almost a regular occurrence and I, for one, have large bottles of water in reserve for the next burst, as I am not convinced such issues will be resolved any time soon.

For several years, I helped to organise the area’s Christmas lights switch-on, with the help of the local Rotary Club. We arranged the Santa procession and choirs, as well as writing competitions involving all of the local primary schools.

We would give one child from each school the chance to help switch the lights on. It was all great fun.

However, I seem to recall that, every time the Christmas lights switch-on came around, we had another burst pipe affecting those in the Linburn and Millfield areas.

I remember one year when a friend was preparing hot chocolate to be sold to raise funds to help run the event and there was a burst pipe, which meant no water.

What a scramble that led to. That particular burst affected people in Erskine, Bishopton, Inchinnan, Paisley and beyond.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital was also affected, which certainly wasn’t an ideal scenario.

Fortunately, we had prepared flasks of hot water just before the pipe burst, which meant we were okay, but it was a real struggle for some folk.

Meanwhile, the electricity station between Linburn and Bishopton has been upgraded, which is good news, as the community has suffered power outages in the past.

So, when Renfrewshire Council give the go-ahead for more houses to be built, we would like reassurances that our basic services and facilities are up to the job, before the buildings go up.