71: Parliamo Politico III

Posted on February 23, 2011 by davidsberry

Let’s Talk Pencil-Pusher: Lesson III—Disabling Envelopment (Third of a series, translating bureaucrat-speak into what it means for folk in East Lothian)

“Enabling Development” is a phrase used by planners in councils to allow things to be built they would not otherwise allow in order to get other priority projects done. It has a bad history in ELC; 85 houses at Archerfield got the House restored (magnificently) but not the landmark hotel that was part of the deal.

Another example is Victory Lane—that steel skeleton on the left as you leave Wallyford station. A deal struck in 2002 between the previous ELC administration and a developer called Sirius was to replace Wallyford’s demolished dog track and build 200 houses nearby. A third area reserved for offices had parking available to the track after hours.

The deal required all stadium steelwork up and services laid to the offices site before any houses could be sold. Sirius did build the steelwork (but ignored the offices), then built and sold all of the houses they could while arguing with ELC they had no money to finish the rest. The houses were occupied, the offices stayed a field and the steel stood rusting.

After almost five years, sustained lobbying of the (new) ELC administration claimed that, if another 94 houses were built on the offices area, the stadium might get finished. An application for this was lodged while a charm offensive on local civic groups undertaken. A slick 40-page Consultation Document from Geddes Consulting claimed everyone wanted the stadium and housing; nobody wanted offices.

For brass neck (considering Sirius had defaulted on promises near the start) both application and the document deserve medals. But the sheer genius of the move was to imply that funds from housing could finish the stadium. But the key phrase ‘enabling development’ had disappeared: Sirius was expecting the council to sign up for another 94 houses (on top of the 200 built and 1,000 more planned) for Wallyford with not one business space to work in.

Almost worked, too. At Feb 22nd’s ELC meeting, eight councillors, including the entire Labour group, swallowed Sirius’ pitch, as if approval wasn’t just letting Sirius build 94 more houses and disappear, laughing. Thankfully, we had 12 other councillors awake and knowing the difference between ‘enabling development’ and ‘disabling envelopment’ (a close but more rapacious relative that developers prefer—if you allow them).

The Worst View in East Lothian and a Monument to Developer Ambition, Victory Lane, Wallyford

Posted in Commerce, Community, Politics | Tagged | 4 Comments

72: Round in Circles

Posted on February 22, 2011 by davidsberry

Starting in 2007, Haddington had a one-way system imposed on the town centre for months while the jewellers was reconstructed. That was barely done last year when the huge John Gray Centre conversion of the historic Sinclair-McGill building and Procurator Fiscal office began in Lodge Street, again requiring a narrowing of a different part of the High Street and—again—a temporary one-way system.

As an ad-hoc solution, the one-way system works well (e.g. relieving jams in Hardgate) but it highlights problems like 40-tonne lorries SatNav’ed off the A68 and down the B6368 Humbie road that are hard-pressed to make the right turn at the Town House.

What this highlights is the fact that Haddington’s road infrastructure is just about at its limit, especially if the 750 houses at Letham become a reality (see 97: Commuters or Community). As with other towns, hundreds of houses have been added without roads to cope with the additional traffic. Who would pay for the needed link road between Oak Tree and the Humbie/Gifford roads via a bridge near Clerkington is a major question. But, until it’s answered, we’ll all be going round in circles.

http://www.johngraycentre.org/site/

John Gray Centre Before Construction (& One-Way)

Posted in Community, Transport | Tagged | 1 Comment

73: Archaeology of the Mouth

Posted on February 21, 2011 by davidsberry

I was flattered to be asked by Paul, a budding local director, to do a brief Q&A on the whale’s jawbone atop our Law. He had decided that his assignment from Telford’s Digital Media course to document a statue lacked passion and opted to stretch the rules to our jawbone above his home town, of which he knew little. A landmark since 1709, there was some grief when the third (genuine) jawbone to crown the hill blew over in a storm in 2005 and was removed for safety reasons. Thereupon, I got it tight and regular from native and visitor alike that our Law “looked bare without it“.

Harming whales now being off-limits, ELC hit on making a replica out of fiberglass, courtesy of Ralph Plastics of Macmerry and funding by a generous but anonymous local donor. Since 2008 the bone-coloured replica has served well and should do for centuries.

As Paul and his crew of two bustled about in the bitter cold I warmed to my subject, describing Dundee-based whalers—hardy men in small sailing ships, including sailors from North Berwick. They it was who erected the first jawbone as a beacon above home. I felt like an ancient sea salt, passing folklore down generations. But you could tell from their eyes that this whole new dimension to their home town was as much an education for them as shot framing and sound levels on that chill day—and would stay with them.

'Guerilla' Jawbone for which No-one Claimed Responsibility

It's the Real Thing (Actually a fiberglass replica)

Posted in Community, Education, Environment | Tagged | Leave a comment

74: Gender Agenda

Posted on February 19, 2011 by davidsberry

One of the strengths of the Scottish Parliament from the outset has always been that it displayed something like gender balance—from matronly competence in Annabel Goldie to ‘lips-made-to-kiss-megaphones’ stridency in Carolyn Leckie. That was already under some threat with five of 23 sitting Labour female MSPs stepping down this May. But the end of this week’s shock announcement from Wendy Alexander is the weightiest yet and the cumulative effect of losing one in four females must sit hard with Labour supporters.

My first instinct was to welcome this as more good news for the SNP. But then a longer perspective reminded me of Wendy’s contributions to Parliament since before it was even elected—more than most MSPs of either gender. Her sharp mind belongs on a front bench team, whether in or out of power. How do we persuade her to reconsider?

Perhaps she should get radical—take a leaf out of Nicola Sturgeon’s book and titillate Scotland’s resilient chauvinist tendencies by being painted by Laëtitia Guilbaud. That could shape a softer, more appealing image for her ‘Bendy Wendy’ nickname and connect with that male swathe of voters that female ability alone still has such trouble reaching.

Naughty Nicola by Laëtitia Guilbaud

http://www.laetitiaguilbaud.org/

Posted in Politics | Leave a comment

75: Feel the Beat

Posted on February 19, 2011 by davidsberry

I regard it as a great privilege to chair East Lothian’s License Board, especially as the staff have now steered several hundred premises through the vagaries of implementing the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and its huge differences from the previous 1976 Act.

Last night, I was out with our Licensing Standards Officer, a former senior policeman with the job of keeping in touch with our licensed premises. Sometimes I tag along with our police community beat officers, other times our community wardens on their informal visits to ensure our streets are safe and peaceful. Last night was the LSO’s turn.

Fifty years ago, pubs might have been considered questionable assets in a community. But these days, with East Lothian busily placing itself on the tourist map, they are valuable assets. Last weekend, those in North Berwick were heaving with the traditional Welsh contingent from Barry, celebrating the absolute drubbing their countrymen gave us. A splendid time was had and our hundreds of visitors went home happy.

This weekend was quieter. Yet each premises had their lively group of regulars. From music-throbbing younger bars to good craik with fishermen and firemen over the inevitable TV football to the more subdued hubbub of hotel bars, our licensed premises were on the job as social melting pots for our towns. It was good to see at first-hand.

Posted in Community | Tagged | Leave a comment

Top Posts, Listed by Frequency of Access, Sat Feb 12th - Fri Feb 18th

Posted on February 19, 2011 by davidsberry | Leave a comment

76: Where There’s Muck, There’s Brass

Posted on February 18, 2011 by davidsberry

Despite still being Europe’s muckiest power station (5m tonnes of carbon p.a.) things have gone quiet around ScottishPower’s proposal to coin more millions for their Iberdrola masters by adapting the coal-fired station at Cockenzie into a CCGT (Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine) plant. Because it is so polluting, the old station must close by 2015. and, since Scotland already exports electricity to both England and Ireland, could be replaced by less export and/or more renewables.

“Replacing one fossil fuel plant with another is the logic of the 20th century,” said Green MSP, Patrick Harvie. ELC agreed with him and lodged six objections but, in so doing, were prohibited from supporting local communities who simply wanted it gone, or objecting to burning imported fossil fuel, or insisting on carbon capture to reduce environmental impact, or laying the feed pipeline undersea.

ScottishPower’s lawyers played clever games. They had said nothing until East Lothian’s local plan (which, with no other information, assumed a 2015 closure) was agreed and allowable grounds for objection became so narrow that ELC’s lawyers recommended withdrawing all objections to save six figures of public money on a public enquiry that could only fail.

Applications to lay the 17km pipeline from the main N-S feeder gas pipe at East Fortune are now in train. Although the 600mm (2ft) diameter pipe will be buried along the whole route, issues of acceptable distance from habitation and damage caused while building are unresolved.

The least damaging power station is one that isn’t built at all but Cockenzie is such a dinosaur from an industrial era long diappeared and now surrounded by housing that ScottishPower have a brass neck to push through this travesty of progress without a single project on offer to local communities as compensation.

 

Posted in Commerce, Community | Tagged | 1 Comment

77: Belters’ Pelters

Posted on February 17, 2011 by davidsberry

There is nothing wrong with exercising a good pair of lungs on behalf of other people; it’s at the heart of democracy and community. Any councillor worth their salt gets it tight on a regular basis, using the ear-drubbing to better represent their patch.

But last week, on the back of ELC’s budget allocating £1m to town centre regeneration for Musselburgh, Tranent gums were bumping misguidedly: “Despite being told we were going to be the second in line, it now appears we have been leapfrogged” was how TECC chair Raymond Strang put it. Labour’s Cllr Donald Grant argued that “a community planning group (was) working well in Fa’side before it was disbanded for political reasons.” Raymond and Donald both have my respect for long records of getting tore in, so it isn’t lightly that I take them on as being misguided.

The group Donald refers to predated 2007 and, when a non-Labour administration took over ELC, appeared to morph into a guerilla movement, dedicated to its overthrow. After two years of trying to work with them, ELC threw up its hands and recast its community planning to body-swerve such partisan politics.  Otherwise, another of Labour’s aimless regenerations, which both Tranent and Dunbar High Streets have already had, would result. Over £3m was invested in both, to little economic benefit for either.

Yes, Tranent lost out for now—because some self-appointed “community leaders” can’t get past reactive, partisan posturing. For civics to work, everyone needs to engage positively, interactively and—heaven forfend—apolitically. If the completion of two new primary schools, 100+ new affordable homes at Muirpark, Balfour Square, etc., a new library, and a new civic centre don’t all demonstrate ELC’s good faith and commitment to invest fairly in Tranent, then someone is twisting the truth.

Posted in Commerce, Community, Politics | Tagged | 2 Comments

The latest employment figures continue to show Scotland moving in the right direction through SNP commitment to creating jobs, investing in infrastructure and supporting training. The Government level was complemented by ELC’s budget, restricting internal job losses to empty posts, with £50m+ investment securing local private sector jobs.

In January, over 3,635 jobs were supported or created and last week’s SNP Government budget saw further investment in training with the decision to increase apprenticeship places from a record 20,000 to 25,000.

Scotland is the only part of the UK currently experiencing a fall in unemployment, with the rest of the UK experiencing increases. Employment has risen by 23,000 in Scotland on the previous quarter, but is down 63,000 across the UK as a whole.

Posted on February 17, 2011 by davidsberry | Leave a comment

78: Hootsmon, It’s Times

Posted on February 16, 2011 by davidsberry

I’ve made no secret of my belief that independence offers the best future for everyone in Scotland, irrespective of their origins. I’m happy to take my lumps in debate on this—and debate there needs to be. But when once-great giants of the Scottish media suppress key contributions to that debate, you start to wonder whose interest they have at heart.

Today the Times carries a front-page banner: “Salmond Surges into Holyrood Poll Lead” and devotes a double-page analysis inside from the ever-insightful Angus MacLeod and Prof. John Curtice on what a new Ipsos MORI poll may mean. You’d be hard pressed to know any of this from the Hootsmon, which buries it in a single text column beside a colourful two-page spread on impeding disaster facing our roads.

The poll makes alarming reading for whoever is leading Labour’s campaign. Not only have they slumped from a ten-point lead to a two-point defecit but half again as many people are ‘satisfied’ with Alex Salmond as leader and less than half as many say they ‘don’t know’ about him, as compared to Labour’s leader.

Source: Ipsos Mori Poll in The Times, Feb 16th 2011

This underscores that this election is wide open for SNP or Labour to win. This should make interesting reading for all those voters (our data says maybe the majority) who have broken their habit of blind party loyalty and are there to be persuaded by someone who will engage with them on real issues relevant to them.

The Times (subscription required) The Hootsmon (nae jaikit required) Herald

New Statesman

Posted in Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment