Although there have been no reports so far that this problem has been identified within our area – please be vigilant.
Yesterday the Glasgow City Council set its Budget for the next 2 years.
I quote from their document –
“Glasgow’s budget for local services remains under increased pressure as tough economic conditions continue to impact local government.
This has meant the council has had to both reduce its spending and try to increase its income in order to balance its budget; which it is legally required to do.
The Scottish Government’s settlement for local government in 2016/17 includes a cash reduction of £50 million. Coupled with budget pressures of £33 million, this means the council had a budget shortfall of £83 million in the next financial year, as part of the estimated savings target for the next two years of £130 million.
The council agreed a budget on Thursday, 10 March 2016, which meets the savings target of £83m for 2016/17.”
The full budget can be found here –
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=32816&p=0
Here is a transcript of the article which appeared in The Glasgow Evening Times today, 7th March, 2016.
A GLASGOW MP has lodged a motion in Parliament urging a bus firm to rethink plans to scrap a vital hospital bus link.
As reported by the Evening Times, Stagecoach announced they would withdraw the G1 and G2 bus services from Maryhill to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in April.
Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for the Maryhill and Springburn area, has put forward the motion Holyrood calling for the bus firm to reconsider.
Supported by nine of her Labour colleagues, the motion states “Parliament regrets the decision by the bus operator, Stagecoach, to end the G1 and G2 services on 23 April 2016.”
“The operator has indicated that the number of passengers using the services is not high enough to make it sustainable” and urges “Stagecoach to consider continuing to operate the services but at a reduced frequency so that they can still be available to passengers.”
It also states the services “provide an important link between many of the communities of north Glasgow and a vital, direct connection to the Queen Elizabeth University hospital.”
The MSP has suggested the “only real remedy in such situations would be a form of bus regulation that gave local communities a say in the operation of buses in their areas.”
Ms Ferguson has launched a petition on her website and has also contacted Stagecoach to make the case for the service to keep running.
SNP politicians have also started their own petition on the same issue, and are to meet with SPT today to discuss alternative options to the service.
Stagecoach West Scotland boss Tom Bridge previously told the Evening timesthat the decision to remove the service had been impacted by the passenger numbers on the route but also by the firm’s depot move from Blochairn to Cumbernauld.
He said: ” We launched the G1 and G2 in August 2015 as entirely new, high frequency routes and have made considerable investment in these services to try and make them economically viable.
“Unfortunately we have not been able to attract enough new customers to make these routes sustainable resulting in the company suffering heavy loses on the routes since their launch.
“In addition we have also announced plans to relocate our Glasgow operations to a new base in Cumbernauld which is part of a £4m investment in bus services in the area.
“We hope these changes will allow us to focus on our core network of services to the east of Glasgow and build a sustainable bus network for the future.”
THE PETITION CAN BE FOUND HERE –
http://www.patriciaferguson.co.uk/
We have just received this communication from Glasgow City Council.
“Although there has only been one significant snow event this winter, I wanted to highlight that a yellow ‘be aware’ weather warning has been issued today for overnight snow and ice. Also the Council’s specialised roads forecast warns of a risk of persistent snow later tonight for Glasgow which may affect tomorrow morning’s rush hour.
Snow can be difficult to forecast accurately but you can be reassured that the LES winter gritting fleet is fully prepared for the forecast conditions. The LES duty controller has instructed priority roads to be gritted from 1am Wednesday and priority footways will be gritted from 530am Wednesday. The forecast snow will ease off by 9am and the snow level will then rise quickly above Glasgow city limits. It is forecast to remain windy and cold for the remainder of Wednesday and Thursday and some further snow may fall on Thursday evening. The duty controller will continue to monitor the weather conditions to ensure that the gritting fleet is deployed to cater for the wintry conditions and to minimise traffic disruption.
Should you experience any difficulties during this period, the most effective way of reporting any issues is either via the MyGlasgowApp or by calling our 24 hour Roads And Lighting Faults ( RALF ) reporting service on 0800 373635″
I trust that this information is of assistance.
Brian Devlin
Executive Director
Land and Environmental Services
The sun has set on plans to build a waste incinerator with a 230ft chimney in Scotstoun.
Although not immediately within our area, the plans sparked objections from many neighboring Community Councils and within Kelvindale there were many concerns over the aesthetic and environmental impact of the plans. Here is a transcript of the article n the Evening Times on 24th February, 2016, written by Vivienne Nicoll.
“CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a waste incinerator with a 230ft chimney in Scotstoun have been thrown out.
Members of the city council’s planning committee decided by 11 votes to three to reject the scheme which had been recommended for approval by senior officials.
The plea to refuse permission for the waste plant was moved by former Lord Provost and Garscadden/Scotstounhill councillor Liz Cameron.
She said: “I moved refusal because I think it is the wrong site and the chimney stack was too high.
“I am the green ambassador for the city so was conflicted but I felt it would not be for the good of my area and the people who felt very passionate about it.
“They ran a really rational and measured campaign and I felt they needed my backing.”
Construction giants WH Malcolm had applied to develop a waste disposal plant at its existing depot in South Street which would have turned waste into energy.
It would have used a method called gasification which involves treating waste in temperatures up to 1400 centigrade to produce a gas.
But the move resulted in almost 1000 objections from a range of individuals and organisations including Bill Kidd MSP, city councillors, six community councils, Friends of Victoria Park, residents’ associations, school councils and Friends of the Earth.
They were worried about an increase in the number of lorries visiting the site and the potential health risk of fumes and toxins sprayed out from the chimney.
Gillian Morgan, chairwoman of Whiteinch Community Council, who addressed the planning committee, admitted she was “gobsmacked” by the decision.
She said: “We knew it was not a foregone conclusion but we certainly were not expecting it to be rejected because the planner had recommended it. We are absolutely delighted and I am a little bit amazed.
“It was a very interesting and well conducted meeting and the discussion lasted more than two hours.
“One of the main issues I raised was that we were asking for a 250m buffer zone between the people who live in the area.
“We were also concerned about existing air quality and we didn’t want any more added to it and we were also concerned about noise, vibration and dust. A lot of the debate was about the impact of heavy goods vehicles.
“We worked together right across the community on opposing this development but tried to avoid creating hysteria.””
Our thanks to Patricia.Ferguson. MSP, for forwarding this information as soon as it has been released by ScotRail. We have not had time to navigate its comprehensive information yet, but I am sure that it will give you an insight into the widespread timetable and route changes which will come into play from 20th March, 2016 for a period of 20 weeks as a result of the closure of the Queen Street Tunnel. The main webpage is here –
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/…/glasgow-queen-street-toolkit-em…
However, I am sure that you will be really interested in the new timetable for the Anniesland -Queen Street Service from 20th March for that 20 week period.
Image copyright Evening Times.
We show below the transcript of the article written by reporter Hannah Rodger and printed in the Evening Times on 20th February, 2016. We will, as a Community Council, be pursuing all avenues to retain direct links between our area and the new Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. As this is “breaking news” further updates will be published as soon as they are available.
ARTICLE TRANSCRIPT :
“A VITAL transport link serving Glasgow’s newest hospital is to be axed by bus chiefs after only six months.
The G1 and G2 services running from Maryhill and Kelvindale to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital are to be terminated in April.
Stagecoach bosses have taken to the decision to stop the routes on April 23 after they were deemed not “commercially viable”, having run for the past six months.
The two buses, which run every ten minutes during the week, serve Maryhill, Partick, Ruchill and Firhill, taking residents directly to the new hospital in Govan.
Local councillor John Letford, who campaigned for the services to be introduced is outraged by the decision.
He said: “This is going to have a devastating impact on my community, which is one of the poorest in Scotland.
“There is multiple deprivation in my ward.
“The services were the mechanism people used to get to the hospital, that was the point of the buses.
“I have a lot of people in my ward who don’t have cars, how are they supposed to get there now?
“The passenger numbers on the routes were rising, I would say they could have done a bit more by way of marketing of the service to improve it.
“Depending on where people live, they will have to get two buses if these routes are cancelled, and it will take quite some time.”
The councillor, who represents the Kelvin ward, has arranged an urgent meeting with Stagecoach bosses to discuss alternatives.
Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for Maryhill and Springburn also agreed the service helped the community.
She said: “ This is extremely disappointing as it is very difficult for people to get to the new hospital.
“Not only was this bus good for travelling to the hospital but for connecting communities along the route.”
Angry residents have contacted Councillor Letford with concerns about the service being removed.
One resident said: “I was dismayed to hear the service is to be withdrawn. I find [it] is of immense value connecting [the area] to the West End after the 4A ends at 6.30pm.
“This would be a disaster for me. I feel stage coach haven’t given it a chance to blossom.”
A spokeswoman for Stagecoach West Scotland said: “It is with regret that we have registered the withdrawal of the G1 and G2 services which run between Glasgow’s West End and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
“The last day of operation for the services will be Saturday 23rd April 2016.
“The services were introduced in August 2015 and it was hoped that they would provide a vital link for visitors, staff and patients to the newly opened Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and Royal Hospital for Sick Children.
“The services did attract passengers however not at a level that would make the services commercially viable.
“Our X19 route will continue to serve the QEU hospital campus offering a 10 minute service from Glasgow City Centre Monday to Saturday at peak times and up to a 20 minute service on Sunday’s during the day.””
The Kelvindale Community Council is working with Police Scotland to raise awareness of the latest and most effective way to mark your property and protect it against theft.
If we can order on behalf of a group of our residents via Police Scotland, then this will enable you to obtain a discount on the bottles.
The SmartWater website is here –
This video will explain just what SmartWater is and how it works.
Please show your interest by contacting us –
kelvindalecc@gmail.com
Improvements to Recycling Services in Glasgow
The council is making a number of improvements to recycling services across the city. These changes will increase the level of service offered to residents of kerbside properties, tenements and flats. In addition we will be providing information and advice about how to use recycling services throughout Glasgow, the range of materials that can be recycled and the introduction of food waste recycling. Please find enclosed a briefing note which details the recycling service changes to all property types across the city.
We are also communicating about the changes with Elected Members, Housing Associations, Tenant and Resident Associations and local community groups to ensure as many members of the community are aware of the improvements as possible.
Please click on the “food recycling” document below to find out how – and when – the changes will impact on the Kelvindale area.
Enquiries should be directed to householdrecycling@glasgow.gov.uk
Kelvindale Community Council 