Following on from the Labour-led Administration's decision to invest a further £1m in Port Glasgow Town Centre - which incidentally was opposed by SNP and Lib Dem Councillors - Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has approved funding of £150,000 for improvements to Port Glasgow's main bus terminus. As a Port Glasgow Councillor I very much welcome this investment - which I and other members of the Administration have been lobbying hard for - as it should help bring the facilities for bus users at Port Glasgow up to a similar standard to Greenock's recently upgraded Bus Station at Kilblain Street.
Officers of the Council are currently working with Riverside Inverclyde (RI) to develop proposals for the Council's £1m investment in the Town Centre, which I am hopeful will lever in additional funding from RI. The proposals will be the subject of a report to the Council's Regeneration Committee at its first meeting after the summer recess.
I would like to see some of this funding used to upgrade the town's Coronation Park. In this regard I am pleased that a proposal to spend £25,000 from the Council's Play Area Investment Fund on improving the existing children's play area within the park will be considered by the Council's Safe, Sustainable Communities Committee on 3 May.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Sun comes out for SNP...
I see that the Murdoch empire has come out in support of the SNP or more accurately Alex Salmond as First Minister.
The problem with this cult of personality is that we have a parliamentary democracy and not a presidential system. Salmond is only standing for election in one constituency as far as I am aware.
Of course it is not a surprise that the Sun is supporting the 'Tartan Tories'. The last thing they want is a Labour Government in Scotland standing up to the real Tories in Westminister.
The problem with this cult of personality is that we have a parliamentary democracy and not a presidential system. Salmond is only standing for election in one constituency as far as I am aware.
Of course it is not a surprise that the Sun is supporting the 'Tartan Tories'. The last thing they want is a Labour Government in Scotland standing up to the real Tories in Westminister.
Monday, 18 April 2011
Shared Campus update...
I chaired a meeting of the Port Glasgow Shared Campus Working Group tonight and was pleased to hear that plans for the temporary and permanent shared campuses are progressing well.
A significant amount of work was carried out in St Stephen's during the last few weeks. Further work will be carried out over the summer holidays to get it ready for Port Glasgow High School moving in from August.
Tenders were issued on 12 April to contractors for the new campus with a return date of 13 June. All being well, the successful contractor should be appointed by 25 July with a start on the demolition of the existing Port High building penciled in for 19 August.
At our next meeting on 6 June the working group will receive a presentation from the design team on the latest designs for the new campus.
This arguably the most exciting single project the Council has undertaken and I am very much looking forward to work starting on the new campus.
A significant amount of work was carried out in St Stephen's during the last few weeks. Further work will be carried out over the summer holidays to get it ready for Port Glasgow High School moving in from August.
Tenders were issued on 12 April to contractors for the new campus with a return date of 13 June. All being well, the successful contractor should be appointed by 25 July with a start on the demolition of the existing Port High building penciled in for 19 August.
At our next meeting on 6 June the working group will receive a presentation from the design team on the latest designs for the new campus.
This arguably the most exciting single project the Council has undertaken and I am very much looking forward to work starting on the new campus.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
The week ahead...
A shorter week due to the Good Friday public holiday:
Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.00 Regeneration Committee Pre-agenda (my first after my appointment as Vice Convener)
6.30 Chairing a meeting of the Port Glasgow Shared Campus Working Group
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.00 Meeting with officers about the proposed play park at Boglestone
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of the Kelburn Action Group
Thursday
At work until mid afternoon then off to Blackpool with my son's football team for an Easter tournament
Monday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.00 Regeneration Committee Pre-agenda (my first after my appointment as Vice Convener)
6.30 Chairing a meeting of the Port Glasgow Shared Campus Working Group
Tuesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.00 Meeting with officers about the proposed play park at Boglestone
Wednesday
7.30 Start work in Glasgow
2.00 Leave work to travel to Kilmacolm to pick my kids up from school
4.30 Weekly meeting of the Administration Group
5.30 Weekly meeting of the Labour Group
7.00 Meeting of the Kelburn Action Group
Thursday
At work until mid afternoon then off to Blackpool with my son's football team for an Easter tournament
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Contempt for local democracy...
Just been watching the SNP's Depute Leader on Newsnight Scotland struggling to justify her party's continuing attack on local democracy by blackmailing Councils into freezing the Council Tax for a further 5 years.
Her contempt for local Councils was evident for everyone to see.
She just did not understand the irony of a party that argues for greater fiscal powers for the Scottish Government planning to effectively abolish the tax powers of local authorities.
The SNP's promise to freeze the Council Tax for 5 years should not come as a surprise to anyone. As soon as the other major parties matched their 2 year stunt they were always going to trump that with a 5 year pledge.
Of course this year's freeze was only achieved by the Finance Secretary threatening Councils with punitive cuts to their grant of an unprecedented scale but still claiming that it was secured by agreement.
At least the SNP are now being honest. It doesn't matter what Councils think: the Council Tax is going to be frozen and that's that!
So much for partnership and mutual respect.
Her contempt for local Councils was evident for everyone to see.
She just did not understand the irony of a party that argues for greater fiscal powers for the Scottish Government planning to effectively abolish the tax powers of local authorities.
The SNP's promise to freeze the Council Tax for 5 years should not come as a surprise to anyone. As soon as the other major parties matched their 2 year stunt they were always going to trump that with a 5 year pledge.
Of course this year's freeze was only achieved by the Finance Secretary threatening Councils with punitive cuts to their grant of an unprecedented scale but still claiming that it was secured by agreement.
At least the SNP are now being honest. It doesn't matter what Councils think: the Council Tax is going to be frozen and that's that!
So much for partnership and mutual respect.
Ill-tempered Council meeting...
Today's full Council meeting was an ill-tempered affair.
First to get himself all hot and bothered was Lib Dem Group Leader Alan Blair, who attacked a motion from the Planning Board Chair, Conservative Councillor David Wilson, and seconded by SNP Group Leader Innes Nelson, to replace Lib Dem Tom Fyfe with SNP Councillor Keith Brooks as Planning Board Vice-Chair.
Despite Councillor Blair telling us how intelligent his colleague Councillor Fyfe is, his motion to retain Councillor Fyfe as Vice Chair was overwhelmingly defeated.
There was no secret before today that the relationship between the Chair and Vice Chair of the Planning Board had broken down irretrievably, with Councillor Fyfe publicly criticising Councillor Wilson and even reporting him to the Standards Commission for an alleged breach of the Councillor's code of conduct. It is simply not possible for the chair and vice chair of a committee or board to work together in such circumstances. Incidentally Councillor Wilson was cleared by the Standards Commission of any wrong-doing.
The next person to get a bit over excited was SNP Councillor Chris Osborne, who criticised the Provost for the way he was chairing the meeting and then proceeded to insult the Leader, Depute Leader and former Leader of the Council by referring to us as 'the three stooges'! Fortunately for big Chris I have a thick skin, so I won't be referring him to the Standards Commission.
We then had SNP Councillor Jim MacLeod - who has been a councillor for under 4 years - questioning Councillor George White's experience to take on the position of Chair of the General Purposes Board. I was not alone in pointing out that George is one of the longest-serving members of the Council and that he had previously chaired a major service committee.
When the dust had settled, the Administration had made a number of key positional changes.
Labour Councillor Terry Loughran has replaced Council Leader Iain McKenzie as Convener of the Education & Lifelong Learning Committee, with Iain taking on Terry's previous position of Vice Convener. Congratulations to Terry on his appointment to this important role.
Independent Councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld has taken over as Convener of the Regeneration Committee from Labour Councillor Jim Clocherty, who was previously promoted to Depute Leader of the Council. Yours truly has taken on Councillor Ahlfeld's previous position as Vice Convener of the Regeneration Committee.
I am looking forward to working with Councillor Ahlfeld to drive forward the Council's regeneration strategy in the remaining year of this Council term. A great deal has been achieved in the last 4 years, for which Jim Clocherty takes huge credit, but, as Jim will acknowledge, more needs to be done.
The redevelopment of central Gourock and the regeneration of Port Glasgow Town Centre will be two of our highest priorities. Support for new community facilities, including for Inverkip, will also be high on our agenda.
In the current economic climate it is crucial that, working with Riverside Inverclyde and our other partners, we build on the successful employment initiatives that have been developed over the last 4 years.
I am very much up for the challenge.
First to get himself all hot and bothered was Lib Dem Group Leader Alan Blair, who attacked a motion from the Planning Board Chair, Conservative Councillor David Wilson, and seconded by SNP Group Leader Innes Nelson, to replace Lib Dem Tom Fyfe with SNP Councillor Keith Brooks as Planning Board Vice-Chair.
Despite Councillor Blair telling us how intelligent his colleague Councillor Fyfe is, his motion to retain Councillor Fyfe as Vice Chair was overwhelmingly defeated.
There was no secret before today that the relationship between the Chair and Vice Chair of the Planning Board had broken down irretrievably, with Councillor Fyfe publicly criticising Councillor Wilson and even reporting him to the Standards Commission for an alleged breach of the Councillor's code of conduct. It is simply not possible for the chair and vice chair of a committee or board to work together in such circumstances. Incidentally Councillor Wilson was cleared by the Standards Commission of any wrong-doing.
The next person to get a bit over excited was SNP Councillor Chris Osborne, who criticised the Provost for the way he was chairing the meeting and then proceeded to insult the Leader, Depute Leader and former Leader of the Council by referring to us as 'the three stooges'! Fortunately for big Chris I have a thick skin, so I won't be referring him to the Standards Commission.
We then had SNP Councillor Jim MacLeod - who has been a councillor for under 4 years - questioning Councillor George White's experience to take on the position of Chair of the General Purposes Board. I was not alone in pointing out that George is one of the longest-serving members of the Council and that he had previously chaired a major service committee.
When the dust had settled, the Administration had made a number of key positional changes.
Labour Councillor Terry Loughran has replaced Council Leader Iain McKenzie as Convener of the Education & Lifelong Learning Committee, with Iain taking on Terry's previous position of Vice Convener. Congratulations to Terry on his appointment to this important role.
Independent Councillor Ronnie Ahlfeld has taken over as Convener of the Regeneration Committee from Labour Councillor Jim Clocherty, who was previously promoted to Depute Leader of the Council. Yours truly has taken on Councillor Ahlfeld's previous position as Vice Convener of the Regeneration Committee.
I am looking forward to working with Councillor Ahlfeld to drive forward the Council's regeneration strategy in the remaining year of this Council term. A great deal has been achieved in the last 4 years, for which Jim Clocherty takes huge credit, but, as Jim will acknowledge, more needs to be done.
The redevelopment of central Gourock and the regeneration of Port Glasgow Town Centre will be two of our highest priorities. Support for new community facilities, including for Inverkip, will also be high on our agenda.
In the current economic climate it is crucial that, working with Riverside Inverclyde and our other partners, we build on the successful employment initiatives that have been developed over the last 4 years.
I am very much up for the challenge.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Heaven help us...
Just been watching Eric Pickles, the English Tory Local Government Secretary, and Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory Leader, on Newsnight and Newsnight Scotland respectively.
If they are the best that the Tories can come up with then heaven help us.
Pickles is way out of his depth and Goldie was torn to shreds by Gordon Brewer.
The thought of the dream team of Alex and Annabel leading a Tartan Tory coalition is frightening!
If they are the best that the Tories can come up with then heaven help us.
Pickles is way out of his depth and Goldie was torn to shreds by Gordon Brewer.
The thought of the dream team of Alex and Annabel leading a Tartan Tory coalition is frightening!
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