Category: Concerns and complaints (Page 2 of 3)

Litter and Rubbish

At the Pollokshields Area Committee, on which Kevin Kane and I take turns to represent the Strathbungo Society, litter and rubbish are regularly discussed. There has been a real push by councillors and other committee members to make improvements in the local area, both by reducing the amount of litter being dropped and improving services. As a result of these discussions, a number of suggestions have been made for litter bins, including one from us – supported by Councillors – for a litter bin on the Darnley Rd side of the pedestrian footbridge over the railway. This was installed a couple of weeks ago and we hope it will reduce the amount of rubbish thrown onto the railway embankment. If there are any other places you think would benefit from a bin do let us know.

We have also been in dialogue with Land and Environment Services about how we could improve the bulk collection service. At present it can take three weeks for such rubbish to be collected by which time the weather, vandalism etc can have scattered the rubbish all over the back lanes. After a suggestion made at one of the Strathbungo meetings we asked whether it would not be better for the Council to collect on a fixed day each month, so that people would not have to put out rubbish without knowing when it would be picked up. The Council actually operates such a system with a number of housing associations but has fixed pick up points. The local officials, who have been very helpful, have said that if we could agree fixed pick up points they would make recommendations to senior managers to try this out (the position is complicated because the current system has been decided by the Council as a whole and local areas do not have the discretion to adopt alternative systems).

After discussion at the Committee meeting this week, it was felt the problem with fixed pick-up points is first there is no vacant public space, so it would mean people volunteering to use their property in the back lanes for this purpose )(which we thought would be hard to obtain, and second that some bulk pieces of rubbish would be hard to carry to pick-up points. We therefore agreed to go back to the Council and ask them to look at other alternatives, including whether it would be possible to have a fixed pick up day each month but instead of the Council trawling all the lanes, they would just pick up from places notified to them by residents beforehand. Under such a system, if the pick up day was the last day of the month and you had bulk rubbish, you could put it out the day before and ring the council with details of where to pick up the rubbish.

Whether the Council will be open to trying this out we are not sure but meantime if you have any views or other ideas on how to reduce the amount of litter please let us know by commenting on this.

Nithsdale Rd an Nithsdale St pavement resurfacing

In mid-August pavements on Nithsdale Street and Road were resurfaced with black tarmac. This was done to a very poor standard and seems to have no account of the Council’s policies for Conservation Areas. As a result the Strathbungo Society Committee wrote to the Council to express our concerns, state that we thought this was a lost opportunity to improve the local streetscape and to ask for a way forward (the letter is pasted below). The Council has now agreed to a site meeting on Thursday 25th September to look at the standard of the work undertaken and discuss the issues that we have raised. We will post an update following this meeting.

Meantime the Society has contacted a number of local residents who we know have expertise in architecture or planning conservation who may be able to give examples of good practice we could cite at the meeting. If you think you could contribute to this please contact me at nickkempe@tinyworld.co.uk

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Siamese cat Queen / Marywood Square

Hi

Does anyone know who owns the Siamese cat that seems to live in the back lane between Queen and Marywood Square?  Seems to be mainly around the 30s and 40s of the streets.  Description below.

It’s been appearing at my back door fairly regularly for a few months, and having very loud, very vocal “discussions” with one of my cats.  (If anyone has heard the “discussions” you’ll know how loud they are!)

The cat seems to be out at all hours and all weathers, and I just wondered if it is in fact owned, or if it’s a stray.  I’d love to hear from the owner, or anyone who might know them.

Description: the Siamese is a fairly large, but quite skinny cat with soft brown head, vivid pale blue eyes and a very light cream front that shades to soft brown at its back, with soft brown legs and tail.  It is a bit wary of people but not really shy.

Thanks!

Bin Rakers No More

Bin Raker

You may have noticed the increased presence, and persistence, of the bin rakers of late. In my case, I am fed up of rebagging my rubbish every fortnight before the binmen come, especially when it gets ripped open again during the night. However things reached a nadir last week when I left an electrical cable running out under my garage door for the use of a builder working in the back lane. The rakers cut the cable at both ends and made off with 20m of electrical cable, value probably little more than 50p. In doing so they pulled as much cable under the door as they could, ripping the electrical socket off the wall and leaving mains cabling dangling dangerously in my garage, and cost the builder £20 – it was his cable.

It is time to fight back, albeit legally. I have spoken to the police at Gorbals Police Station (in particular PC Ali Martin) who are aware of the problem, and are keen to identify the culprits. While they are planning plain clothes patrols in the lanes in the next few weeks, we can also help. We need to do more than just move them along, and if you do not wish to intervene, call the police on 101 (the new non emergency number, not 999) immediately. If they have someone free they will come round and try to catch them in the act.

If you feel more proactive, the issue is one of identification; this is best achieved by two collaborating witnesses, and photographic evidence to identify the individual. I almost got a photo of the protagonists last week and regret not doing so. While I have sympathy for those less fortunate than ourselves, it stops when they begin causing criminal damage, and this needs to be nipped in the bud. Happy snapping, but of course, no taking the law into your own hands. It just isn’t the Bungo way.

Save Our Beautiful Plants!

What do you think the Council could do to most improve Strathbungo – planning enforcement? Better street-cleaning? Fixing broken street furniture and hard landscaping? Sorting out dog fouling?

Well, they could do all of the above but this week residents on March St were informed that what the Council thinks would really improve Strathbungo would be…removing all the lovely planters which have brightened up the front of their flats for well over a decade.

The lovingly-tended plants have been mentioned several times in the Newsletter, at meetings and just in general chit-chat as being a real highlight of the Strathbungo Summer and are a great example of what residents can do for themselves to make our environment cleaner and greener, something the new citizenship handbook states is a duty for everyone living in Britain.

I’ve already contacted our city councillors to ask if they can help us reverse this barmy decision and would love to pass on the comments of other residents who appreciate this and other attempts to create an oasis in our sandstone desert!

I’m also on the look out for pictures of the plants in full bloom as this pic does not do them justice. They look great on streetview but I can’t find any good pics in our archive, so if you have some please do post!

You can read the letter residents received here:

I had hoped to set up a petition but, under the Council’s recently changed rules on public petitions, can not do so before the deadline in the letter as it needs to be approved by a meeting of the Community Council.

 

St Bride’s Swimming Pool Closure Plans

Glasgow City Council is planning to close St Bride’s Primary School’s pool, in the basement of the listed building. Four such pools are earmarked for closure, putting pressure on an already limited resource, especially in the Southside.

Many community groups and local schools, not just St Bride’s, use this valuable community facility to teach primary school pupils to swim and a decision on the closure is expected to be made on 7th February.
What can you do to help?

  • Write to your councillors by post or by email, asking them to help save the pool at St Bride’s.
  • Go to your local councillor’s surgeriess and let them know you want to help save the pool.
  • Join us from 12 noon on 7-2-13 outside the City Chambers before the full council votes on the budget.
  • You could also print and distribute this  flyer: swimming pool next

Building works Nithsdale Road

Perhaps members of the society are already aware of this and have passed it on, but it seems that we will be saddled with the charming building works at the east end of Nithsdale Road for another month. As a reward for their consideration in our neighbourhood, the aptly named Forkers have been offered the contract to carry out the repair work to the lanes, requiring continued use of their infernally bleeping diggers seven days a week.

If it is possible to salvage a silver lining from this situation, it is that Forkers will have to clean the windows in Nithsdale Road once they’ve finished (I’m guessing that this only applies to the outside and that the dust that has forced its way onto inner sills and into closes will revert to our jurisdiction) and those who would like to have their cars washed should make themselves known to the site manager, Willie, for him to arrange it.

Bins set alight in Thorncliffe Lane

I saw to my disgust this morning when walking my dog down Thorncliffe Lane, that many of the bins left out for collection had been set alight, melting not only the bins themselves and incinerating the contents, but also damaging a number of garages.   I’m not sure if this was the only back lane affected, but just in case this is the start of something, I’d recommend everyone taken their bins in once emptied and put out as late as possible.  One of the piles was still smoking when I walked past at about 8am, so, given the rain overnight, this must have happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Strathbungo Traffic

The issue of traffic was discussed at the last Strathbungo Society committee meeting and it was suggested that I put up a survey on the blog to gauge residents’ feelings about the issue.

There are a number of options we can pursue each of which will likely take a while to get agreement on let alone push through. The Traffic Road Order which the Society has been chasing for a couple of years only now has been approved and work is scheduled to begin in May 2011.

You should also know that arrangements have been made to carry out a condition monitoring survey of several roads within the Strathbungo area, including Moray Place, Marywood Square, Queen Square and Regent Park Square, in order that it may be presented for inclusion in a future carriageway resurfacing. This programme however will be subject to funding.

It is worth considering each of the options a little before expressing a preference. 20’s plenty for instance is not legally binding and involves additional signage which will further clutter the roads. Road resurfacing will give us nice smooth roads, but will likely involve more people speeding through the Squares. (One benefit of having lots of potholes is that people are forced to drive slowly). Traffic calming measures (aka road humps) will certainly slow the traffic, but we may lose parking slots and sharp braking by speeding drivers may itself cause a hazard. Widening pavements will have to eat in either to people’s gardens or the road. Cutting back overgrown hedges that intrude onto the pavement will have the same effect however.

Anyway, give it a shot and let us know what you think. Click here to take survey Don’t however expect changes overnight. These things do take a while and will need a champion to drive them through the council including canvassing residents more formally for their views.

I’ll certainly update you regularly on any progress made and of the outcome of the condition monitoring survey and what the Council plans to do about the roads here.

Reporting on Strathbungo Streets

With the extent of the damage to Strathbungo’s roads following the cold weather and with some new and some old problems emerging I thought to post something on what we can do about it.

I had previously left a comment on a post to suggest that each of us has a part to play in keeping Strathbungo safe and clean. The ‘Broken Windows Theory’ suggests that setting norms of social behaviour high will deter further anti-social behaviour – whether littering, vandalism or bin raking. Bad littering or bin raking if left unchecked, so the theory goes, soon leads to vandalism which leads to burglary which leads to drug taking etc etc. All of which will make Strathbungo a less desirable place to live and will push down property prices.

Well, if you have access to a computer or a phone, you have a part to play. I previously blogged about the website Fix my street which is a great way of reporting problems directly to the council. I see that many Strathbungo residents have taken to using it to report their concerns about Strathbungo’s infrastructure to the council. Cast your eye to the right and you will see I have added a feed to the problems reported by residents in Strathbungo. Click on the header and you will be taken to the ‘fix my street’ website where you can report problems in the neighbourhood.

I for one will be reporting the damn bin on Moray Place by the pedestrian railway crossing which is overflowing yet again. Judging by the empty cartons of milk all over the pavement, it seems that some people are using it to dispose of their household waste. The trip to the wheelie bin round the back is clearly a few yards too far!

If you would rather report a problem to someone in person you can call the council. Clean Glasgow say they would like to hear about: litter, dog fouling, graffiti, fly posting and any illegal dumping. Just call them on 0800 027 7027 (note this is a Freephone number so you will not be charged for the call).

If you think the problem requires the police then you should know that Strathbungo is served by Pollokshields Community Policing Team. They are interested in any crime including antisocial behaviour. They have served Strathbungo well in the past so please don’t hesitate to drop them a line if you think they can do something. Certainly all crime should be reported but they can also advise you on crime prevention measures such as securing your home and garden better.

They can be contacted on 0141 532 5326 or on 0141 532 4990. You can also go see them at: Craigie Street Police Office (open 8am-10pm), 86 Craigie Street, Glasgow, G42 8NA. Remember though that if you see any criminal activity in progress or feel threatened just call 999 or 911 and they will send over some officers immediately. I have no doubt that they are a friendly bunch so please don’t hesitate to drop by to call or to chat with them. They are not exactly far and are there to help.

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