Editorial February 2010

Budget cuts will make communities bleed. For some it will be the death knell. For others it will be the call to action to stop the life flowing out of their neighbourhood. Most people know next to nothing of what goes on within the City Chambers. So only an alert few were aware of the budget meeting. It is to the credit of the 150 people who quickly assembled outside the building to protest on the day, that they managed to demonstrate at all.

But the dilemma of where the financial belt has to be tightened is not the Council’s alone. The Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) was faced with axing the 500 year old Renfrew Ferry route as it was subsidising each passenger journey by more than £3 a time compared to the £1.20 fare paid.

In that instance, it looks as if an amphibious vehicle which can sail like a boat and drive like a bus could be a 21^st century substitute. But at £700,000 per ‘amfibus’ it will be interesting to see how much each passenger fare would need to be to cover the investment and commercial overheads and profit.

When funding for redeveloping wasted areas of the city is costed out over 20 years maybe some similar long-term strategy can be devised to keep community facilities afloat. A general election won’t solve any of the problems but could – perhaps – help local action groups to gather the strength to apply a tourniquet as well as ask piercing questions.

Council creates £1.5m fund for private sector house repairs

By Martin Graham

Glasgow City Council has announced a £1.5m fund to help private homeowners to carry out essential repair work.
The fund, along with the new powers granted to local authorities as part of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, means that the council can enforce work to be carried out to resolve the issue, especially prevalent in tenements, where a minority of owners are unwilling to pay their share of essential repairs.
The money will be allocated from the Council’s Private Sector Housing pot and will be set aside into a fund that can be used to cover the costs of moderate repair work carried out under statutory notice.
Work paid from the fund will be replenished as accounts and fees are repaid to the council, with the local authority charging a fee of 15% to cover its technical and administrative costs.
A lack of participation by some homeowners often means that problems such as rain penetration is not dealt with, dampness not treated and this lack of timely remedial action leads to a much more serious and expensive repair, and misery for those owners willing, but unable, to get consensus to address the problem.
Until now, the council was unable to assist owners or property mangers in carrying out this work because it did not have the necessary resources to cope the scale of the problem and the housing services lacked the appropriate power to enforce the work by all owners.
As reported in the Local News previously, lack of repairs to properties can lead to buildings becoming dangerous, like the property on Cathcart Road in Mount Florida which was in such poor repair that masonry was falling on to the pavement below.
Councillor Elaine McDougall, Executive Member for Housing, said: ‘We regularly receive calls from frustrated home owners, across the city, in tenemental properties, who cannot gain agreement from all owners to pay for minor but essential repair work to their properties.
‘Up until now, we have been unable to assist all of these owners or property managers but this new power allows us to enforce the work to be carried out and recover the full cost from all the owners.
‘This scheme will help to improve the quality of the city’s older housing stock, preserving it for future generations, and I would hope that if proved successful, this self-sustaining fund can be expanded in the future.’
This is a step towards the model for property management common in Edinburgh, where there are no factors for tenement closes, rather the council acts as property manager and issues statutory notices for essential repairs to each homeowner.

Dumped in the West End

The fly-tipping problem in Kelvinbridge just won’t go away – despite council efforts to address the problem.
In November last year the communal recycling bins that sat on the edge of Holyrood Gardens and Napiershall Street were moved due the site being used as a dumping ground.
Glasgow City Council operates and maintains the public recycling points across the City.
A spokesperson for the council said: ‘The site at Napiershall Street was regrettably removed due to constant fly-tipping and the banks were being contaminated with non- recyclable material. ‘Additional banks were provided on Great Western Road for local residents use when this site was removed.’
However, as we found out Napiershall Street is still being used as a dumping ground (at Holyrood Gardens and Burnbank Lane) and the dumpers are leaving their waste at the new recycling site on Great Western Road too.
Martha Wardrop, Green Party Councillor for Hillhead, understands the reason for moving the bins.
She said: ‘It’s very unfortunate that they moved these bins from Napiershall Street.
‘But I can appreciate that people that people living next to them wanted to see some action to stop the dumping on their doorsteps.
‘The message for 2010 has to be: Use the the free service that the council provides.’
Mr B Sood, a landlord who owns a flat on Barrington Drive, where the Great Western Road recycling site is, says additional bottle bins moved form Napiershall haven’t helped.
However, he admitted that the dumping problem is nothing new in the street.
He said: ‘There are so many students arriving with their own furniture and they just chuck the existing stuff out.’
He admitted that it was a complex issue, and added: ‘The council need to do more in terms of regular pick-ups and letting people know about the free uplift service.’
‘Essentially it comes down to educating the people.’
The Glasgow City Council 24-hour cleansing and uplift help line number is 0141 287 9700.

Rubbish dispute continues

HOMES across Glasgow are being affected by a work-to-rule protest by refuse collectors.

Workers claim that they are working within health and safety guidelines. Management claim that the workers are refusing to move to a new four-days-on, four-days-off working rota from February 2010.

The new shift pattern will mean that rubbish will be collected seven days a week. Some residents have not had their rubbish uplifted for two or three weeks, despite claims that the backlog was only one or two days.

Bill Milner from Cathcart Community Council said: ‘Green bins lay on the pavement for over a fortnight and were not collected.’

Bill also observed random collection of rubbish by workers.

“Bin collection was made in Burrelton Road and Lower Glasserton Road.  After collecting in Burrelton Road the van parked itself outside my house against the green bin, sat for nearly 10 minutes and turned around and did not make a collection in Upper Glasserton Road but went to lower Glasserton Road to collect theirs. 

“It was a couple days later that another squad came and collected the rubbish from our green bins.”

As a contingency measure, Glasgow City Council has been sending out employees who usually work in parks to help clear the backlog.

Residents in Kings Park have reported that their bins were not emptied for a week and a half.

When the team from the parks came round, they were working to a list and only cleared rubbish from closes where the residents had complained.

 Glasgow City Council is set to pilot glass recycling for homeowners across the city.

Some 25,000 homes will receive a purple bin for glass, in addition to the current blue bins used for plastic, paper and cans.

The bins will have a 140 litre capacity and will be collected monthly, on the same day as the blue bins.

Uplift of material from blue recycling bins has also suffered under the current dispute, with some bins going for months without being emptied.

Currently, glass recycling is done via large bins at community facilities.

Critics say that this is unsuitable because glass is the heaviest type of recyclable material and is most difficult to transport for households with no car.

Awards as Sports Council goes distance

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The Sports Council for Glasgow breasted the tape at their 30^th anniversary recently with a family gathering and awards dinner at St Andrews in the Square.

Twenty-one sports and more than 30 clubs were represented, with the evening compered by veteran Herald athletics journalist Doug Gillon.

Attended by 140 people,  59 of them, who have been volunteering in Glasgow sports clubs for 30 years or more, received a special plaque and certificate recognising their long service.

Two founder members of the Sports Council also received special awards. Bob Stephen and Dick Rafferty from athletics and boxing were elected to the very first executive committee of the Sports Council in May 1979.

Colin Atkinson, chairman of the Sports Council for Glasgow, said: ‘The evening was a great success and was enjoyed by all. Too often, the tremendous work done by volunteers goes largely unrewarded. I hope that by organising these awards and this presentation ceremony, the Sports Council for Glasgow has recognised the importance of volunteers to sport in the city and helped to express to the recipients how valuable their commitment has been over the last 30 years and more.’

 

Meadow Gardeners praised by Judge for doing ‘nothing but good’

The Council has been left embarrassed after initiating a court case to evict community gardeners from West End land. The site of the former Clouston Street Playing Fields had lain derelict and abandoned until the community group began transforming it into a wild meadow.
Set up in October 2008 to oppose council plans to sell the land to a developer to create 115 flats, the North Kelvin Meadow group cleared away rubbish and planted fruit and vegetables.
Till then, the space had been a dumping ground, attracting drug users and other anti-social behaviour.
The transformed meadow now features raised-bed allotments, composting facilities and an orchard.
On 15 July, the Council placed an eviction notice on the land. The Council then issued an interim interdict against two members of the group, banning them from placing more items on to the site. When the court case came before the Sheriff on 21 August, he praised the work of the group, saying they had ‘Done nothing but good.’ The Sheriff stated that only Douglas Peacock and Karen Chung of the group should not add any more bat boxes or raised allotment beds to the site. This ruling effectively gives the rest of the group the green light to carry on with the development of the meadow. Douglas Peacock told LOCAL NEWS: ‘The council held a phoney consultation with the community, and the residents chose the development the Council favours, but in fact there was no real choice. Residents were presented with four broadly similar proposals, all residential. They chose the ‘least worst’. I conducted my own survey and overwhelmingly people wanted what we have now, a public space for the community’s benefit. The project has acquired a life of its own because there is so much interest. As well as privately owned raised allotment beds, we are planning to install a much larger community owned bed. We have the organic earth ready to go, and we were all set to build the beds. That’s why the council issued the interim interdict. Basically the land has been abandoned for 25 years, and now the community has become motivated on improving it. The council passed a motion in 2008 that vacant land should be used for growing produce, so we are simply following stated council policy.’

Schools Closures – The Final Reckoning

On Thursday 23 April 2009 when Glasgow City Council voted to close 11 primary schools and 9 nursery schools, the LOCAL NEWS had reporter Martin Graham inside listening to the debate and reporter Elyas Hussain outside with the crowds of Save Our Schools campaigners.
Here are their accounts of these historic events which were ratified by the Council Executive the following day. Since then, parents have agreed to seek legal advice on whether they can appeal against the decision which they consider will take the heart out of their communities.

OUTSIDE by Elyas Hussain
It all ends in Tears
Parents and campaigners were left in floods of tears as, one by one, the decisions to close schools were announced at the full Council meeting.
The Council’s plan to close 23 primary and nursery schools across the city had attracted widespread opposition including sit-ins, people chaining themselves to railings and rooftop demonstrations.
Despite more than 7,200 responses and around 96% of people in the consultations objecting to the closures, the Council went ahead to confirm the Labour Group’s prior agreement to close 11 primaries and nine nurseries.
Nithsdale Nursery School in Pollokshields, Shawbridge Nursery School in Pollokshaws and Ruchill Primary School were the only ones saved from closure.
On the day before the full Council met, protesters started a 24 hour vigil outside the City Chambers.
On D for Decision day, between 800 and 1,000 people gathered outside the building. There was a strong police presence and metal crowd control railings fenced in the protesters. The demonstration was organised by Save Our Schools campaigners. Councillors such as David Meikle, the sole Conservative Party member on the Council and Danny Alderslowe, Green Party, spoke with people in the crowd. Said Danny: ‘They are playing games with people’s lives and splitting up communities. We are opposed to the closures. At the next election, Labour will not be re-elected.’
One of the first schools to be confirmed for closure was St Agnes in Cadder.
Diane Beat, who has a 5 year old daughter there, came out of the meeting close to tears. She said: ‘This was a complete sham because they had decided in advance to close our school – even although our school role is at 66%. This was not even taken into account. And our children are going to be transported in un-roadworthy buses to get to their new school.’
Brenda Begley who has a daughter at Victoria Primary burst into tears as the news came through of that school’s closure: ‘We are absolutely shocked and really angry that they have closed Victoria Primary. However, we will continue to fight and will start an appeal to the Scottish Government.’
Parents from Wyndford and St Gregory’s primaries told the LOCAL NEWS they felt ‘betrayed’ and had been ‘lied to’ by Labour councillors who did not get a totally free vote. They plan to keep on fighting by appealing to the Scottish Government.

INSIDE by Martin Graham
Voting cut and dried
Tension was high when Councillors voted. There was a large group of protesters corralled outside the City Chambers and a heavy police and security presence. Some of the parents took their seats in the public gallery as the Council session commenced. Councillor Jonathan Findlay, the Education convener, started by praising the work of Margaret Doran head of Education, and her staff in arranging the consultation process. He was quickly called on this by the SNP’s Patricia Gibson, who declared that it was ‘A sad day for democracy’, referring to the fact that Labour councillors had been instructed to vote in favour of proposals overall, but were only able to vote against closures in their own ward. Ms Gibson went on to say that the consultation was flawed and that many of the facts in the initial documents were incorrect, including buildings graded wrongly, a non-existent swimming pool at St Gregory’s and the complete omission of the autism unit at Ruchill Primary. The SNP’s Alex Dingwall paid tribute to the campaigners and made an impassioned plea in defence of St Agnes, Wyndford and St Gregory’s school. Lib Dem Christopher Mason stated that he supported the general proposal to reduce waste in the schools estate. However, he thought the approach was flawed because it was dictated from the top down rather than developed with support from the communities and elected officials.
As the voting started, it became clear that the Labour block vote was being wielded, with the vote on each proposal gaining the support of at least 40 councillors. As the decision on St Agnes was voted through, Diane Beat, whose child attends the school, made a distraught cry from the public gallery ‘There’s more than one button you can use’ before being escorted from the building. Labour councillors were asked to press button one on their voting consoles to confirm the closure of each nursery and school.
The outcome was a rubber stamp of the earlier Labour Group plan with only Ruchill Primary School and Shawbridge and Nithsdale nursery schools on the Southside, being saved from closure. Said Tory Councillor David Meikle, ‘While I’m pleased that Shawbridge and Nithsdale are to remain, I am disappointed the Labour group decided to rubber stamp almost all the other the proposals. Some need to be looked at again.’

APPEAL POSSIBILITIES
At least six parents have asked for a judicial review on the grounds that the consultation was not properly carried out. The Race Relations Act as amended in 2000 requires that any consultation processes should provide documents in a person’s own language when they cannot read in English. The parents contend this was not done properly and are seeking advice from an Advocate to determine whether they have grounds for appeal. MSP Anne McLaughlin of the Scottish National Party told the LOCAL NEWS: ‘We know that around 120 languages are spoken throughout Glasgow. We are not expecting the Council to provide the consultation documents in all these languages. However, I believe that in some areas where Urdu is a main language within the ethnic minority communities, the Council should have provided the documents in Urdu. We are in the process of checking out any appeal possibilities so it is still too early to predict what will happen.’ She added: ‘The parents have fought a good campaign and should be thanked for their hard work. The consultation is not fit for purpose and we will try to stop this.’ MSP Fiona Hyslop who is Cabinet Secretary for Education, has put a Bill before the Scottish Parliament which seeks to address some of the concerns about the consultation process for closing schools. If passed, the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill would require local authorities to hold at least 6 weeks consultation during term time among many conditions. The new Bill will also contain provision for Ministers to call in any decision where there have been failures in the consultation process. But this Bill will not be in time to save the Glasgow schools as it will only reach Stage 1 in September.