New clothes shop on Great George Street

There is a new clothes shop opening up off Byres Road. It is a really positive addition to the town centre and it will complement the existing retail outlets providing items for children.

Shop unit at 174 Great George Street

The previous tenant was a sports shop. Over the last year, I have supported efforts to prevent another cafe opening at this location as there is evidence of an overprovision of coffee shops. I am very glad that this shop has retained its status a class 1 retail space within the Byres Road Town Centre.

Glass recycling bin has moved

This week,  a walkabout took place in Hyndland when I checked out litter problems with residents and council officials. A glass recycling bin located at junction of Novar Drive and Lauderdale Gardens had been attracting flytipping and has had to be moved to another nearby site. It is hoped that it will be well used.

Glass can be recycled in two bins located at the junction of Novar Drive and Hyndland Road.

Litter, dog fouling and fly tipping will continue to be monitored in the Novar Drive area.  Two new bins have been provided and it is hoped that these will resolve the litter problems. However, ongoing feedback from residents is welcomed.

Update on 3rd May 2013.
The on street recycling bins have had to be taken away from this site due to residents complaints about noise, and flytipping. There is also a concern that these bins have a negative impact on the local architecture especially the churches in the immediate area.

For a bulletproof Global Arms Trade Treaty

There is a global trade in weapons which supporting human rights abuses. The ready supply of smalls arms is also capable of fuelling armed violence in non-conflict situations including criminality and deathes. As a result of the arms trade, millions of people are killed, injured, raped or forced to flee their homes. This year, countries are meeting to debate and finalise a global arms trade treaty. Campaigners are writing to leaders of the political parties to push for the UK to support a comprehensive treaty.

Useful link:

Control Arms - http://www.controlarms.org/index_c.php

Creating wildflower meadows on vacant and derelict sites

During this week, I watched a TV programme featuring wildflower meadows and was inspired by various projects being developed. In recent weeks, Green Councillors have been discussing the possibilities of extending the number of wildlflower meadows on council owned land. There are vast areas of vacant and derelecit across the city that could be transformed to create suitable habitat for various plants and wildlife. It is a matter of identifying the people interested in developing local projects and coordinating activity across Glasgow.

Useful link:-

BBC Feature on Wildlflower Meadows -http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/habitats/Meadow

9th February - Budget Day.

All councillors gathered in the City Chambers today to discuss the council's budget for 2012-13. I made a speech in support of a Green Budget Amendment. Living in a period of financial uncertainty and harsh economic realities, we are well aware of the worsening poverty and widening gap between the rich and poor. The Council has to agree a budget to ensure that the Glasgow becomes more resilient and able to respond to the global economic and environmental pressures we face. 

Green Councillors have not accepted the Labour Administration's proposal for a review of  employee terms and conditions, and changes to Early Years Provision. We are very concerned that these changes will be made to the detriment of council staff.

It is our belief that the investment we are making in our budget amendment will help create new opportunities, address our financial challenges, reduce our carbon footprint, and combat climate change.

Our direct investment is in additional blue bin collections. This will provide weekly uplifts from tenements and houses across the city. Our plans also include increasing the number of on-street recycling bins and support expansion of the recycling services to businesses who are currently on a waiting list. Maintaining the current level of services is not going to get us closer to reducing the Council’s landfill tax burden and avoiding landfill allowance penalties. The Council has to dramatically boost the amount of plastic, paper, and cans recycled so it is on course to recycle 50% in 2013 and 70% in 2025. Our plans will help make substantial progress in increasing recycling by everyone.  

 Blue bins overflowing at a Dowanhill Backcourt

We have plans to save energy and carbon emissions by implementing an Intelligent Street Lighting System to control the street lights in non-city centre streets. This allows the council to dim some street lights between 1am - 5am. The system has fully adjustable settings, this allows the Council to change and have alternative settings for different days of the week, take account of British Summertime, or set to stay on longer e.g. for events or at Christmas and New Year. It is currently being rolled out in Suffolk County Council and we believe it can be adapted to improve energy efficiency in Glasgow.

We want to ensure that there is funding in place to increase the number of allotment plots available. By creating new, extended, or refurbished allotment and growing projects, the Council is meeting the demand from residents who want to grown their own food. We are supporting the promotion of the health and wellbeing of our citizens, giving them increased access to a healthier lifestyle, healthier eating and improved quality of life.

Whilst our budget amendment was not passed at the meeting, we hope that some of our ideas will come to fruition.

Please note that the Green Budget amendment was superceded by Combined Budget Amendment produced by Opposition Parties. I took part in the negotiations on behalf of the Green Councillors and ensured that the Greens budget options were incorporated. This was defeated by the Labour Administration's budget.

Useful links:

Blue Bin recycling - http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/Residents/Environment/Refuse_Recycling/refuseandrecyclingbins.htm

Street Lighting project at Suffolk County Council - http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/146101E2-AA49-44E3-85AE-63B54A8A68C5/0/FAQsOctober2011.pdf

Allotments and their benefits - http://www.sags.org.uk/docs/legal/CoslaGuidelines.pdf

Investing in Byres Road

 View of Byres Road.

In recent weeks, I have been calling on Glasgow Life to ensure that a lift is installed as part of refurbishment works at Hillhead Library in 2013/14. There have been very productive discussions this week with staff involved in this work. 

I am trying to ensure that the improvements to Hillhead Subway including the mural by Alistair Gray and pavement poetry by Edwin Morgan are linked up to the plans for the library.  The library could support cultural events and education activity involving poetry reading and public art talks.

I am pushing for a coordinated approach to ensure there is maximum public benefit from any funding to improve community amenities, pavements and public spaces within Byres Road.

Useful link:

Poem for National Library Day on 4th February 2012 - http://www.nationallibrariesday.org.uk/

Looking after our hedges

This week, I made several walkabouts of the Hillhead area with residents and various officers from the Council, Strathclyde Police and Glasgow Community Safety Services. Littering problems on pavements are ongoing concerns and hedges are seem as gathering places for rubbish.

 Hedgerow in Gibson Street.

There is a requirement to conserve and manage our hedges as they are an important feature of our streets providing privacy, a wildlife haven, and  a resource to alleviate air pollution or flood risk.


Useful Link:


Hedgelink - http://www.hedgelink.org.uk/