The Kremlin In George Square.

       After ten years of volunteers, lots of them kids, transforming a piece of waste ground into a garden for all, including the kids, Glasgow City Council has decided, against the wishes of the locals, to destroy this project that adds immensely to the community. They need you support, ten years is a lot of time and effort to be wiped-out by the council.

 



http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hands-off-the-childrens-garden/??

Help us save the Children's Garden from a Council Takeover

Glasgow City Council have just written to us demanding that by the end of April only 4 days away: we chop down our willow tunnel. That we remove all fruit trees (despite them just coming into blossom)

That Land Services are going to take over two of our lovely raised beds -
despite us having paid for them and all the plants in them.

Please contact your councillor, MSP, newspaper, and anyone else you can
think of - and please please - sign this petition, and get your friends to
sign it. And please come up to the garden this weekend to show your support.



Come and visit the garden this weekend - and show your support

John Hancox
Tel 0778 606 3918

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THE HEALTH OF PEOPLE V CORPORATE PROFIT.

 

       Do you remember the days when the City Councillors took the time, by means of smoke and mirrors, to weave the illusion of doing the people's bidding? Now however, they are so arrogant that they don't even bother with that thin veneer of illusion, they just ride roughshod over the will of the people in an attempt to appease big business. Today they see themselves as managing our city and its assets to suit the corporate world, the people are a bit of an inconvenience. What does the health of the people matter if there is money to be made for their corporate masters.

25 Years of Pollution and Congestion for Southside Residents

        This from a friend and comrade, C L: 

      It is now known that Glasgow City Council has already signed a 25 year contract with a company called Viridor to deal the City’s refuse, even before planning permission has been granted for the plant. They plan to build a recycling and gasification (yes a big incinerator to you and me) facility at Polmadie; but don’t worry, the planning authority is Glasgow City Council! At a time when other countries such as Sweden are moving away from incineration to deal with their rubbish, it seems the City Council is determined to commit us to having this toxic monstrosity on our doorstep for the next quarter of a century or more. Local people are understandably angry about this and have many valid objections to this scheme including the following:

     As the client and planning authority Glasgow City Council has a clear conflict of interest and must not decide the outcome of the planning application. The contract guarantees a minimum amount of waste that will be provided for the plant. This in itself will make recycling less attractive as it reduces the amount of waste for burning. Recycling is not only less wasteful of natural resources but will create many times more jobs locally than burning the rubbish will. If the Council can’t fulfil this commitment to provide enough waste, it will be liable for penalties or will have to bring in refuse from other areas increasing pollution and congestion.

    Local residents are very concerned about the pollution from the plant including highly toxic nitrous oxide (NOx) and dioxins resulting from combustion at the site as well as disturbance and traffic congestion from its 24 hour operation . Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of extremely low concentrations of these chemicals. There are many schools including Holyrood, the largest secondary in Scotland, in the surrounding area.

     This part of Glasgow already is an area of social deprivation, poor health and low life expectancy. It is also adjacent to the motorway network. To introduce another source of pollution and traffic will only serve to compound these factors and reduce further social and health inequalities.

    There has been no proper consultation by the company with the local population as required by law. Only a small proportion of households have received information from Viridor.

      A number of well attended public meetings have been held and a campaign group has formed. At present the effort is concentrating on written objections to the planning application and lobbying councillors. Whilst that is useful, I'm sure you all, like me, have previous experience with so called elected councillors who ignore the people that they claim to represent. If we really intend to stop this plant being built we must get ready to take direct action to stop it. We the people have the power, not these self-serving politicians and it is about time we showed them who decides these important matters!

   For more information search Facebook for Glasgow Alternatives to Incineration or email glasgowgain@gmail.com

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VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE.

       It seems that the Kremlin in George Square have yielded to pressure from you. After a strong campaign by the people of Glasgow they have decided to ease their money grabbing ways and Let Glasgow Flourish. Unite and organise and we can win battles. 

 ORGANISE.

        Thanks to over 14,000 signatures (including you!) Glasgow City Council announced last week that they will scrap the proposed fees for public events which are temporary or free of charge.

      But Edinburgh and other councils across Scotland are yet to decide their plans for the legislation and there is suggestion that some still intend to implement the fees.

Kris Haddow, a playwright who started the petition on Change.org, wants all Scottish councils to follow Glasgow's lead, so he's asking everyone to keep the pressure up by sharing the petition with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or via email. Every signature will help show local councils across Scotland that the public do not support this ‘tax on the arts’.

         Kris said "this is great news for the campaign in Glasgow but we still need to keep up the pressure and ensure that Edinburgh and other councils across Scotland follow suit and scrap the public entertainment licence fees. I urge you to continue sharing the petition until such time as we have achieved success in all areas. Thank you for signing and supporting this petition."

Thanks for being part of this,
- Brie and the Change.org team

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GLASGOW MAFIA STRIKE AGAIN.

Subject: North Kelvin Meadow.

       “Time is running out to save an award winning community green space in Glasgow’s West End from Developers”.

        North Kelvin Meadow, a well used and supported green-space in the heart of Glasgow’s West End is now the subject of a planning application to build 115 flats, which if successful, will mark the end of this well loved community initiative.

       The developer New City Vision Ltd (NCV) chosen by Glasgow City Council has now kicked off their drive to gain planning permission for their housing development by holding two public meetings allowing the community to comment on their design. However the fundamental question of whether any housing development is right for this green space will not be up for discussion (1). They expect their main planning application to go in by March 2011.

      Even after two and half years of hard work by the community, GCC have chosen “to carry on regardless with the sale process” and to bulldoze North Kelvin Meadow. They have never consulted with the local people about what should happen to this land. Local people have been looking after this land in the absence of any management by the Council. And this work has been recognized for two years in a row with an award from Beautiful Scotland. They have cleared dumped rubbish off the land, regularly pick up litter, run a community composting service, and have set up community allotments so that local residents can grow fruit and veg. This green space is in constant use by dog walkers, children, and others who appreciate it as a

wild park. They would like to extend their work to provide a permanent resource for the benefit of the whole community. The development by New City Vision will destroy this work and ensure there is one less public resource for the people of North Kelvinside.

     *Douglas Peacock Chairman North Kelvin Meadow Campaign:*

      “This planning application if successful will result in a Meadow and community Allotment being bulldozed, 100s of trees being cut down and a successful award winning community initiative ceasing. Thats not a great legacy to leave the next generation to say the least! This land has never been built on and always used for the local community and that should continue.”

     “Glasgow City Council are out of step on what people are looking for on this issue, this is backed up by the number of politicians voicing their support plus 1000 people to date have signed the petition, that and the overwhelming support from local people asking that this green space not be built on.”

      *SNP Depute Leader Nicola Sturgeon* has recently mentioned, in Dec 2010, the plight of North Kelvin Meadow: http://www.snp.org/node/17556

*Notes*

       1. A pre planning application was recently introduced by the Scottish Government to help communities, understand and get up to speed with what a developer is planning in their area prior to its main application for planning consent. This period last 12 weeks. North Kelvin Meadow is one of the first in Glasgow to be in this new process. Crucially though people aren’t being asked, and have *never* been officially asked, what they like to happen to this land. This pre planning consultation is mainly about what should happen to the small amount of open space which currently is shown as a small roundabout within the housing complex e.g. should it be grass, trees, seating, BBQ area, tarmac etc?

      2 *North Kelvin Meadow web site* http://www.northkelvinmeadow.com/ for further information email northkelvinmeadow@gmail.com  

     3. *Images for publication* available for download and use from  http://www.flickr.com/groups/northkelvinmeadow/
     4. *New City Vision Ltd* http://www.cloustonstreet.co.uk/
 
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