Springburn, Left To Rot!!

 Springburn Public Halls, left to rot before being knocked down.

       Well, well, poor old Springburn and the North of Glasgow. It seems that our city fathers, at Kremlin in George Square, don't know that our fair city has a North End. In their gigantic tax funded, corporate extravaganza, The Corporatewealth Games, they stated that it was for all the city. I have just received their latest glossy Glasgow Magazine, and being a Springburn man, I had a wee look to see how it would impact on my part of the city, but it seems the city fathers don't know where Springburn is, or perhaps they think it is outside our city, hence the lack of interest.

 Springburn Park winter gardens, yep, left to rot.

      The East End has a time trial running through it to the city centre. The Southside, has a marathon running through it to the city centre. The West End has a road race running through it to the city centre. There are games venues in the East End, the Southside, and the West End, and "live zones" in the East, the city centre, the Southside and the West End. Their wee map is festoon with little symbols indicating Glasgow Landmarks, but nothing in the North side of the city. as far as this piece of corporate plunder is concerned, Springburn is a wasteland, not worth pilfering. Our call to fame in Springburn is our poverty and deprivation, we have the country's worst child poverty and the highest number of request for child care orders. Having "cleansed" the East End of peasants, perhaps they thought that the cost of doing likewise in the North was a cost too far. At least the transport should run as normal in the North of the city. You could visit Springburn every day and not even know there was such a "Greatest Show on Earth" corporate extravaganza going on in our fair soon to be bankrupted city.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Disappearing Population.

      Glasgow was once a city of just over 1 million people, it is now down to around 600,000. It seems to be a city of a disappearing population. Lots of densely populated areas were cleared to make way for motorways, shopping malls, large office blocks and expensive apartments. Its people were dispersed to new towns, overspill areas, and housing schemes on the periphery of the city. Areas of vibrant communities became deserts, before being handed to the big money developers. What's more, it is still going on, Glasgow's East End has seen its local communities banished, to allow big money to make a quick buck on the back of the Commonwealth Games.

A date for your diary, from Glasgow Games Monitor 2014:

KINNING PARK COMPLEX

(next to Kinning Park Subway),

Sunday 25th May, 2-4pm. FREE

      Second instalment of screenings from a series of films about Glasgow, originally aired on BBC in 1982. The series is a vital document of Glasgow, and the East End in particular, and gives a crucial historical context for understanding present-day social and environmental problems in the city.

     These episodes (3 and 4) focus on housing policy and life in the once notorious Barrowfield estate next to Parkhead stadium, and culture, religion and community belonging in Glasgow, both positive and negative. The screening will be introduced by members of Fight Racism Fight Imperialism (FRFI) and Glasgow Games Monitor. Open discussion to follow. All welcome!

  http://gamesmonitor2014.org/2014/05/16/glasgow-1982-film-screening-2-2/

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

Care Of Those With Disabilities, Or A Bus Park?

       The Accord Centre in the East End of Glasgow was a day centre for people with severe learning difficulties and their carers, it satisfied a need in the area. Recently it was demolished to make way for a bus park to serve the Commonwealth Games. Their was a promise of an alternative centre, but to date--NOTHING.

     Those involved in the Accord Centre have written an open letter to Alex Salmond.

 

Dear Mr. Salmond,
       We are writing this open public letter to you because a solution has still not been found to what you have described, in a letter to City Council leader Gordon Matheson, as our “legitimate concerns” over the closure of The Accord day centre in Dalmarnock for people with severe learning disabilities. In the letter, you said you were “very concerned” about the closure of the centre, stressing that “no group should feel dispossessed” as a result of the Commonwealth Games. Previously, when you visited the users and carers at the Accord centre in May 2011, you emphasised the fact that the Scottish Government – “all of us […] every taxpayer in Scotland” – is paying 80% of the costs of the Games and you therefore have a “locus” on the issue. You also said that people in Scotland should have a “good feeling” about the Games. We assure you that we do not have a ‘good feeling’ about the Games at present.

Read the full letter HERE: 

There is also an open letter to Gordon matheson

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

GLASGOW'S EASTEND RIP-OFF.

        The people of Glasgow are being conned, millions of pounds of taxpayers money is being poured into an elaborate party for athletes and VIP's, it goes by the name of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, of course there is the promise that there will be a legacy for the citizens of Glasgow. That legacy will most likely be a mountain of debt with a handful of land speculators making millions. The East End of Glasgow, as far as I am concerned, is one of the many rich areas in our city. Not rich in material wealth, but rich in the resilience, diversity and ingenuity of its ordinary people, priceless wealth. Materially it is one of the most deprived areas in the country and has been for many years. Having been ignored by the city council for years, the East End now finds itself surrounded by multi-million pound developments. Vast amounts of money are changing hands but the ordinary people of the area are not involved. Instead they are being removed and on occasion forcibly, by eviction order. Apart from the money being poured in to the massive construction in the area there has been the money shuffling between the old boys network. Former CEO of Glasgow East Regeneration Agency, (Labour MSP Ronnie Saez and friend of Frank McAveety) was made redundant from his post with a pay-off of £500,000, approved by Glasgow councillors Catherine McMasters, James Coleman and George Redmond. Councillor Redmond was the arrogant guy who told Margaret Jaconelli and her family when they were forcibly evicted from their home, to “take it on the chin”. Other councillors have made a wee killing from this conman's bonanza, One Graham Duffy of Grantly Developments (Parkhead) since 1988 he has been holding on to a piece of derelict land in Millerfield Street, Dalmarnock. The site was named as the site for the Athlete's Village and Duffy done a deal with the council and sold them the land for a tidy little sum of £5.5 million, a stratospheric rise in its value of 12,000%. Former Glasgow Rangers boss David Murray's company a few years ago bought a piece of land for £375,000 and out of the goodness of his heart, to help the development of the Commonwealth Games sold it on for £5.1 million. And so it goes on, millions changing hands among the sharks, public money ending up in developers pockets, while the residents of the East End and evicted and scattered to the winds, in most cases taking their deprivation with them as it is all they have ever received from the council.

This film tells the story of one East End family and what the “games” means to them.

ann arky's home.