Holes in the road

If you use the road, by bus, car or bike, potholes are a serious hazard. They damage vehicles, cause accidents, and make for a very uncomfortable journey. Bus lanes are particularly bad, almost bouncing me off my seat at times!

I've been trying to note down potholes where I see them and report them to Land and Environmental Services for repair.

There have been a few good patching jobs in my ward after I've reported a problem, and I'm hoping to do as much as I can to improve the road surface. I've just reported this bumpy bus stop on the Gallowgate at Coalhill near Parkhead Forge, and will be keeping an eye on it over the coming weeks.

If you have any complaints or particular areas you'd like to report, contact me at the details on the sidebar or get in touch with the Council on the RALF hotline.

At the most recent Area Committee, we considered a report on scheduled road repairs. Over the course of the coming year in additional to general repairs, the following roads will be resurfaced or recoated:

• Dunn Street at Dalmarnock Road junction Resurfacing £16.9k
• Plant Street (full length) Resurfacing £20k
• Nuneaton Street (full length) Resurfacing £25k
• Macduff Place (full length) Nimpactocote £3k
• Canmore Street (Macduff Place to Canmore Place) Nimpactocote £10.1k
• Canmore Place (southern carriageway - full length) Nimpactocote £4.1k
• Bell Street (Hunter St to McFarlane Street) Nimpactocote £7.1k

The following pavements will also be redone:

• London Road (north footway- Charlotte St to Ross St) Resurfacing £14.9k
• Bellgrove Street (west footway - from Duke St south to railway bridge at Bellgrove Station) Resurfacing £18.2k
• Dunn Street (south footway at Old Dalmarnock Road) Resurfacing £12.1k
• Greendyke Street (west footway southwards from London Road) Resurfacing £10.4k
• Gallowgate (south footway - along frontage of St Mungo Academy) Resurfacing £11k
• London Road (north footway from Nuneaton St to Kerrydale St) Resurfacing £16k
• London Road (south footway from Binnie Place to Monteith Place) Resurfacing £20k
• Dalmarnock Road (north footway from Springfield Rd to Summerfield St) Resurfacing £11k

Fire!

I've blogged before on various matters relating to Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, and was recently switched from being a substitute member of the Fire and Rescue Board to being a 'fishel member. I enjoyed participating in the meetings I attended as a sub, so I was happy to take the opportunity when it arose.

I went with a couple of Fire Board members to visit the site of the new training centre at Clydesmill Industrial Estate the other week, and was impressed by the scale of the development. The training centre should be a great asset to SFR (and hopefully wider!), and I hope it will be a success. The facilities aims to be as realistic as possible to give firefighters the best possible training. There will also be an academic block to allow for seminars and conferences.

It's a large site, and will also house the merged Cambuslang-Parkhead station. I noticed on the visit that you can actually see the current Cambuslang station from the site - obviously Parkhead is a wee bit further away. Hmm. One of the Councillors on the trip seemed to be trying to bait me on the issue. I accept the Fire Board voted against retaining Parkhead, but that doesn't mean I concede the argument.


On a much happier note, I visited North East Area Headquarters in the Calton and got to see the award winning Firereach programme in action. This aims to break down barriers between young people and fire fighters, allowing them to learn about the dangers of fire while having a bit of fun training with fire crews. It started in Easterhouse as a means to deal with fire hydrant vandalism and anti-social behaviour, and has snowballed due to the hard work of some very dedicated firefighters.

When I visited on Friday, third year pupils from St Mungo's were taking part in fire hose drills and fire and rescue simulation activities in Kilbirnie House. They certainly looked like they were getting a lot out of it. I sat in on two of the boys completing a 'rescue' in the cage room - they had to work together to negotiate their way around a two storey cage structure in the pitch dark wearing protective clothing and breathing apparatus. It's a great way of encouraging teamwork and communication, and I was impressed by the serious way the young people treated the exercise. It's certainly a good way of instilling respect for the dangerous work carried out by firefighters. Check out the video below!

How some MPs live

I've been out delivering leaflets in the past week or two, and have been mulling over a comment one of my constituents made. It's been bothering me.

I'd put a leaflet through a door, and moved on to the next house in the street. A guy came out of the house, scrunched up the leaflet and, for dramatic effect, put it in the bin.

He said "when youse live like us, then you can come back and speak to us".

I didn't take the bait to go back and argue with him, because he clearly hadn't bothered to read the leaflet. The front of the leaflet was an update from John Mason. The back was a wee bit from me. John's side features a FAQ section, letting people know some details of his life as an MP. It mentions his home address, a flat in Sandaig Road Barlanark. Pretty modest. Certainly not a £350,000 house on the south side.

John gives an honest account of what Westminster requires of him - four days in London, three in Glasgow. I know this is odd to him, being so used to daily life in his ward. He's doing his utmost to be there for his constituents despite this, employing staff in the constituency, opening a highly visible shop on Shettleston Road, holding regular surgeries, visiting local groups. When Parliament's in recess, he's out leafleting and getting seen around the constituency. He works incredibly hard.

It upsets me that people think all politicians are the same, that we all have our noses in the trough. It's clear that the continual expenses scandals from London don't help combat this. It's a real shame that the badly behaved few manage to smear the rest of the hard working public representatives in this country.

I'm sure I've probably said it on here before, but I favour a move to the Scottish Parliament's open, accountable system, where all expenses are available for everyone to see. The Council isn't open enough either, and I'd like that to change. The register of interests isn't enough. Something like this would be a start.

PS - I realised I mentioned John's home but not mine - for info, I live in a flat on Roebank Street, between Ally Parade and the M8. It's small, comfy, and conveniently placed.

My small piece of tarmac

I recently asked Land and Environmental Services if there was anything they could do about the state of the access footpath from the Gallowgate down into Camlachie.

The rutted surface had made getting a buggy or wheelchair across very difficult, and it would also be a hindrance to those not so steady on their feet.

I use the path almost every time I go into the area, as I tend to walk or take the bus to go to things in my ward.

I was delighted that LES very quickly came up with a solution (so quickly I suspected someone else must have asked!), but they confirmed they'd done it after receiving my email. I'm sure you'll agree, it looks good! As I'd raised a few issues about the area, they're also doing a litter pick, and are looking into improving the local environment.

Labour goes a bit saggy

Mildly amusing news today of underwear entrepreneur Michelle Mone withdrawing her support from the Labour Party. As one of those who signed the "union list" back in 2007, I wouldn't imagine she'll jump to the SNP, but it is interesting that she's joining an increasing list of high profile business people who are backing away from Labour. Could this be signs of a developing political cleavage?*


* TM Byron Criddle, University of Aberdeen, 2000-2004.

School closures... now I've calmed down

I've waited until now to post so I could do so with a clear head. I was incandescent on Thursday, angry, upset and frustrated at the way in which Labour behaved in the Council meeting. If I had posted straight away, I'd almost certainly have been carted off to the Standards Commission. I am still incredibly disappointed at the stage management of the Labour Group, where they were permitted to move against closures in their own wards, but obliged to support closures everywhere else. This was particularly ludicrous when some of the arguments in each case were so similar.

The way in which Labour acted does a huge disservice to those who campaigned, marched, occupied and petitioned. I spent time in Wheatley House reading each and every response for St James' Primary, Queen Mary Street Nursery and Mile End Nursery. I was moved and impressed by the responses, and they strengthened my resolve. I know from the sign-in sheet in the reception that not many Councillors bothered to read these. As far as I could see, no Labour Councillor had done so. This is a huge derogation of their responsibility to their constituents and the people of this city.

By contrast with my feelings about the callous way Labour Councillors acted, I was very proud of my colleagues in the SNP, and fellow opposition members from the Greens, Lib Dems, and the Conservative. We challenged, we reasoned, we let the world (or at least the public gallery) know why the proposals were flawed and wrong. I've since had emails from those in the gallery, and I know how they saw things. The Save Merrylee Nursery website has a good synopsis.

I met with some staff and parents from St James' Primary on Friday morning and the sense of betrayal was palpable. They know how damaged their community will be; this blow is the last thing Calton needs. The challenge now is to see pupils through to the end of term and ensure their education doesn't suffer as a result of this decision.

I know that all SNP politicians are now looking to find some way of appealing and overturning these decisions. The guidelines for this are narrow, but if there's a way, we will find it.

Closure vote today

The Council will meet at 1.30 this afternoon to discuss and vote on the closure proposals. I remain hopeful that enough Labour Councillors will see the error in some of the proposals to change their minds.

I've had a lot of emails from parents from different schools and nurseries across the city, and I've been hugely impressed by the very reasoned and researched points they have made. They know that these proposals, and this process is flawed, but they've stayed determined. I am sure your views will be put across in the chamber this afternoon. It could be a long day.