The CDBC81 Blog: Glasgow Provan

Showing posts with label Glasgow Provan. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

The Westercraigs Nusery School saga continues (now almost 12 years and counting)

This is a deliberate direct copy (almost) of the post made in December 2014 and April 2017 as the position has not changed one jot!!!

I have lived in Meadowpark Street for 22 years now.

Having the secondary school opposite was an advantage as it meant an almost open outlook and barring the odd issue with vandalism and litter there was never really a significant problem.

With the arrival of the so called 'temporary' Westercraigs Nursery in summer 2007 all that changed.

The 'temporary' Westercraigs Nursery School in 2007

With the secondary school the times when there is noise were limited to morning before the pupils went in, lunchtime and also when the pupils finished.

With the nursery the noise levels are much greater, and can last all day. To get away from it I moved my main bedroom to the back of the property which has the drawback that is comes directly off the kitchen but this inconvenience is less when compared with being disturbed if I sleep later in the day as I am long term unwell.

I have also had to invest in double glazing at the front to reduce the adverse noise pollution which was a financial outlay I could well have done without since I am living on benefits of about £100 a week, but the resulting reduction in noise has been terriffic.

Of course I can do nothing about the visual polution - rather than an open space used for car parking during the day we are now faced with straggly bamboo trees and half broken bamboo fencing both placed there temporarily after a meeting with the Council in 2011 in front of a grey portable cabin structure which never melts in the background as it is so in your face.

Even if it is warm I don’t usually open my front windows (particularly in the room I am in) as otherwise I frequently cannot hear people speaking on the phone or indeed concentrate on anything (even with them shut this is difficult).

I now also feel really uncomfortable being in the my front garden during the day as I was told on arrival by an employee of the school that I was not to disturb the children by cutting my grass! Nice to know that they consider their neighbours (not!).


The playground for the Nursery School children

I now keep my blinds largely shut during the day and as a result live in twilight world most of the time, but it better than looking out right into to the office of the Nusery School.

I don't really understand the positioning of this school here. It is far too close to homes and is therefore bound to cause disruption. It is also not a suitable location due to the shape of the site. Looking at the picture on the right it can be seen that the playground is divided off from the main school grounds by an access road to Whitehill High School campus. The needless additional hassle to the staff must be considerable on a daily basis as they must accompany the children between each half on each and every occasion. It also must be costing Glasgow City Council a fortune to rent the temporary buildings. They have plenty money for needless alterations to George Square that they can see from their windows but don't seem to care very much for what the residents can see from theirs.

I continue to look forward to the nursery being moved although by the looks of things despite it being considered ‘temporary’ it is becoming more and more permanent by the day (and I also have to say more and more unsightly). So I think I shall probably be dead before it moves at the rate Glasgow City Council moves.

It really has ruined staying in this street as previously it was quiet and tidy looking. I would never have moved here if that had been directly opposite the flat I intended to buy. If my circumstances had been different I would be moving to get away from it, as several of my neighbours have done all ready.

Temporary. almost 12 years and counting!

Previous posts on this subject:

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

The Westercraigs Nusery School saga continues (now almost 10 years and counting)

This is a deliberate direct copy of the post made in December 2014 as the position has not changed one jot!!!

I have lived in Meadowpark Street for 20 years now.

Having the secondary school opposite was an advantage as it meant an almost open outlook and barring the odd issue with vandalism and litter there was never really a significant problem.

With the arrival of the so called 'temporary' Westercraigs Nursery in summer 2007 all that changed.

The 'temporary' Westercraigs Nursery School in 2007

With the secondary school the times when there is noise were limited to morning before the pupils went in, lunchtime and also when the pupils finished.


The playground for the Nursery School children

I now keep my blinds largely shut during the day and as a result live in twilight world most of the time, but it better than looking out right into to the office of the Nusery School.

Temporary. almost 10 years and counting!

Previous posts on this subject:

Wednesday, 29 March 2017

DESPITE BELIEVING STRONGLY IN INDEPENDENCE FOR SCOTLAND, I DO NOT BELIEVE IN NEPOTISM SO HAVE RESIGNED FROM SNP PROVAN

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I write this letter with a heavy heart. I also write this on a day which is extremely important for the future of Scotland i.e. the first day of the debate in the Scottish Parliament on whether to have another Scottish Independence Referendum or not. And I am writing it despite thinking that Nicola Sturgeon has been superb regarding the UK Brexit vote since it occurred.

I first joined the SNP in 1992 having been independence leaning since 1979 after the referendum on a Scottish Assembly (Scotland voted for it but didn’t get it). I have nearly always voted SNP and I strongly believe the right thing is for Scotland to be an independent country as this is the natural state for a nation. I have been a member of a number of branches as work and life took me around Scotland. The best was Edinburgh Central SNP which was then led by Fiona Hyslop who was superb, when I was a Dalry Shandon sub branch member in the mid 1990s. Being in the SNP and the wider independence movement was always a positive experience. We discussed politics and felt energised by each meeting even if we disagreed with one another and we could freely do so.

That is until I joined the Glasgow Provan branch where the independence and self determination for Scotland is rarely if ever discussed. It seems to be mostly about procedure, point scoring, and personal agendas/ careers. I am struggling to remember a meeting that I have not left feeling diminished, disappointed or angry to the point I now don’t go.

I know of members enthused by the indyref leaving in disgust after only a single meeting and I want to reach out and say that the SNP is not this, that this is not representative. But when that is their only experience of party politics then what can you say? I also know of longer term members who do not now go to meetings for the same reason. That is because this branch is run by a cabal of careerists centred on the MP Anne McLaughlin.

‘One of the chief complaints of a political party that operates through nepotism/cronyism is the patent lack of fairness. Perceived favouritism of a relative or best friend can cause dissatisfaction among activists and lower morale. Political parties may have less incentive to perform their responsibilities diligently and proficiently if they feel that the path to success is undermined by nepotism/cronyism. Indeed, a party applying such tactics may find its more valuable activists seeking new paths away from politics where their talent is better recognized. At a minimum, party members and activists will likely complain and become embittered and less productive in the face of blatant nepotism.’

This is a complaint that was until recently rightly aimed at the Labour Party. When I originally joined the SNP this was not a problem because it had no power whatsoever, and I honestly thought, somewhat naively as it has turned out that the SNP was better than that. I would never have believed that within a short time of the independence referendum when the SNP expanded so much that this would so soon become an accusation that could be justly aimed at certain branches of the SNP one of those being Provan. The MP and MSP have safely installed their friend’s and acolytes in paid or elected positions.

A group of us in the Provan branch have tried on numerous occasions to raise issues at branch level. We were ignored, shouted down, insulted, bullied, harassed, threatened, even sworn at by the MSP; and, even if the comments were actually discussed, the way that they were discussed was never mentioned in the resulting minutes. This means it is pointless going to meetings as I have no confidence whatsoever that what is said, and what I say, will be recorded correctly in a fair and impartial matter. If a vote is taken I have no confidence that the true result will be arrived at, or indeed recorded correctly if it is.

After the joke of our branch AGM late last year which embedded the cabal in with no real possibility of achieving anything further in branch, we wrote to HQ as a group in November. To date we have not even had the courtesy of a reply.

And then last weekend I discovered to my dismay that a long serving SNP councillor who has consistently and ably worked on his community’s behalf has been de-selected. Why? There were 2 SNP candidates selected in his ward but both were male. HQ decided to impose a woman resulting in an election between the 2 men. Needless to say the person selected with 1 vote difference was one of Anne McLaughlin’s cabal who has no experience at all, and the person with the long standing experience was discarded.

These things were the final straws, as it indicates clearly that HQ is clearly not interested at all in investigating allegations and looking after its own members, or indeed in rewarding people for their efforts. If that is way the party is run, then by expansion it does not bode well for the SNP running an independent Scotland or indeed for the party’s long term running of Scotland whilst still in the failing UK. It is not what you know, whether you have done a good job, if you have the experience but just WHO you know and who your friends are.

Given my long standing membership and my staunch believe in self determination for Scotland I do not resign from the party lightly.

I hope by airing the issues mentioned above that this will in some way start to resolve the problem. The actions of the ruling elite in this branch have led me to feel ashamed of being in the party. However given that a letter from a larger number of activists has led to no response I don’t suppose you will really care.

This resignation comes despite my strong belief in Scottish independence and my long standing activism, even if this activism is severely limited at present by my own life circumstances. I shall continue to fight for independence outside the party as I can’t morally remain a part of it due to the issues highlighted above.

Due to the above I will not be voting SNP, not even lower down in my preferences, in the forthcoming local elections as I know the people selected by the Glasgow Provan cabal for my council ward are sub-standard or do not have any experience and have only been in the party for 5 minutes, and therefore have no right to be councillors. I shall be voting Green as my first preference as I know the person standing and she was an active Yes campaigner during the independence referendum and therefore actually deserves it.

After 25 years the response was swift but disappointing. Indeed it included a grammatical error which just shows how much they care...

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