People in communities are rightly concerned by the list of community facilities in Glasgow that are not on a planned for re-opening list.

The future of dozens of facilities, including libraries, community centres and sports facilities is unclear.

Some are being used as Covid testing sites, others it is said are not suitable for social distancing.

Many others are hoped to be part of a new model of community or third party ownership.

We need clarity on these venues if they will re-open once they are no longer needed for testing or once social distancing is no longer a requirement.

Or will the remain shut until someone or some group is able to take them off the council’s hands.

People are concerned because they have seen this move before.

The movie starts with people using these community centres.

Upbeat music and smiling lead actors and actresses, playing sport, doing activities, learning new skills and having meetings on various issues in a facility close to where they live.

Then it cuts to someone in an office, stressed and harassed, hunched over a spreadsheet trying to make different sets of numbers work.

Another scene has politicians trying to explain why you can’t have your community centre or library but somewhere else can and all you have to do is travel to one of these other places and that can then become your community centre or library, even though it’s not in your community.

We’ll call that the plot twist.

The move ends with a man in a yellow high viz jacket and rigger boots, jumping out of a council van with a padlock and chain and the children stand watching with tears in their eyes.

In the epilogue, the text on screen tells us:

“Two years later there was a fire and then the building was later demolished.”

If you have lived in Glasgow long enough you will recognise this movie.

That’s why despite the attempts at re-assurance people are still concerned.

I doubt there is a part of the city that has not been affected by the loss of community facilities.

Whether it is a community centre, a school, playing fields or a library. Once they were there and then they were gone and they don’t always get replaced.

How often have we seen unused buildings left to rot.

With Mayhill Library it seems that we have a used building that has been left to get into a state of disrepair.

Why was Mayhill Library, as a city asset, and a heritage building, not properly maintained?

Even if the library service is moved across the road into the sports centre they repairs will need to be carried out otherwise a building in need of repair becomes a dangerous building.

The other Library attracting attention is Whiteinch Library. It is another old ‘heritage’ building with character, like so many other libraries in the city.

To see what sadly, often happens to disused buildings you only need to look across the street from Whiteinch Library.

There is a building that has been derelict for almost 20 years.

You can see it was once a fine piece of municipal architecture.

It is the old Whiteinch Burgh Hall and it is a disgrace.

Left to rot much like the architecturally fine Springburn Halls building was previously.

High on the building above the arched doorway and the first floor windows is the Glasgow coat of arms carved in stone and the motto Let Glasgow Flourish.

But there is no flourishing going on here, only decay, decades of decay.

There are countless other examples of lost buildings which are now derelict sites.

They are depressing for people living beside them and some communities have it worse than others.

It is a lack of planning.

Something gets closed but no thinking has gone into what replaces it.

Of course, sometimes build need to be close and sometime some need to be demolished, otherwise nothing new would ever get built.

The problem is, then what?

In the corner of the city where I grew up, a number of decades ago, there once stood a community and social centre. IT was well used, seven days a week. then it was closed.

There were three primary schools within walking distance of each other. They all closed.

The secondary school was a five-ten minute walk for most children in the wider area. It closed.

The closures all happened in the late 1990s early 2000s.They were followed several years later by demolition.

In place of the community centre is vacant land.

In place of the primary schools is vacant land.

In place of the half of the secondary school that was demolished is vacant land.

Community facilities were torn down and nothing was put in their place.

So, when the officials and the politicians try to re-assure people in communities that their facilities are safe and services will be protected.

They will not be surprised if they are greeted with a degree of scepticism.

Because the people will tell them. We’ve seen it all before.