A story that will probably have passed you by because of various efforts to suppress it is the debacle of the former Douglas Park shelter in Largs.

I chaired the community council meeting last summer when we agreed that, following a vociferous campaign by residents of Bankhouse Avenue and a recommendation by councillors and officers of North Ayrshire, the shelter and toilet block in Douglas Park be demolished to try to stop drinking, drug taking and partying at the site (and that was just the council staff).

However, what NAC officials failed to tell the Largs council was that, months previously, a local garden group had officially registered a legitimate application to transfer the shelter to them for an organic growing venture. This may well have been a major factor in deciding to keep the building which had architectural merit. In fact, under asset transfer procedures, NAC were breaching the rules.

Despite our request to reconsider the matter North Ayrshire Council, who normally don't do anything in a hurry, immediately sent in a demolition squad.  In my 40 years as editor I had never known the council to act with such alacrity.

One of the reasons they moved with indecent haste, of course, was that they simply dipped into the Common Good Fund to pay for the demolition, and they wanted to stifle further debate.

Contrast this with the seemingly never-ending 'renovation' of the wee shelter on the promenade. Despite being a third of the size at Douglas Park this building is still fenced off - as I write this - after about months of 'work' costing tens of thousands of pounds. They could probably have demolished and built a new one, or have renovated Edinburgh Castle in less time. (Just watch them take the fencing down as this column hits the streets!)

For six months, through numerous Freedom of Information requests, the community council have been fobbed off in seeking the minutes and democratic process leading to the disappearance of the Douglas Park building.

Mysteriously, Councillor Tom Marshall, who pulled the strings for the demolition, has been posted missing from Largs meetings since it happened last summer.

A postscript to this is that NAC never cleared the Douglas Park site.  They left behind the large concrete base and assorted rubble. They did leave a litter bin.  A rubbish ending to a rubbish action.

Another story that may have passed you by recently was the local police raid on a house in Nelson Street, Largs where no fewer than 10,000 valium tablets were found and two guys were arrested.  I'm told that the druggies were pretty laid back!

You cannae beat the bobbies on the beat, though.  A neighbour was telling me that she was pushing a pram, containing a small child, around the bottom corner of Largs Main Street when met by a pile of dog poo which looked as if it had been deposited by a pack of dingoes suffering from the skitters.

She and the pram were stuck, unable to negotiate the steaming pile, when along came the local bobbies. They didn't have a shovel but they promptly picked up the pram and carried it to the other side of the mess. Sometimes the long arm of the law comes in really handy.

My Thought for the Week: At my age, I've seen it all, done it all, heard it all...I just can't remember it.