Author: Nick Kempe (Page 5 of 5)

New Glasgow Cycling App

If you are a cyclist you are being urged to download a new Glasgow Cycling app, developed by the council’s Future City team, to share information about the routes you use to travel. By doing this you will help create a more accurate picture of how you travel about the city. It will also make sure future investment is made in the right places.

You can download the app now from the Apple store. An android version will be available soon on Google Play.
The app also includes a new interactive Future City Glasgow map showing the locations of cycle parking, bike shops and biking organisations.

Figures show the number of cycle journeys into and from Glasgow city centre has increased from 3,012 to 9,255 a day – a rise of 207% – since 2007. This is equal to 1,851,000 cycle journeys taken evey year into and from the city centre. The city’s new bike hire scheme has had 34,128 rentals.

Future City Glasgow is a £24 million programme demonstrating how technology can make life in cities smarter, safer and more sustainable. The city won the funding in a competition run by InnovateUK – the UK Government’s innovation agency.

More information: Visit www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=14348.

Teresa Mooney, Allison Hussain and Nick Kempe from the Strathbungo Society met with a representative from the roads section of Land and Environment Services (LES) on Thursday 25th September about the Nithsdale Rd and Street pavements resurfacing (see previous post on this issue).

We walked over the three pavements that had been resurfaced pointing out a large number of defects including places where the work had not been finished leaving a rough surface and holes. We pointed out that most stanks and other coverings to utilities to flats and businesses are now below the pavement level and many are now impossible to open, identified a section of pavement that had been missed because tree roots were protruding and to tubs and other street furniture belonging to local businesses that are now sealed into the pavement. Local business owners also pointed out that the contractor had left the pavements before they had set and removed barriers and this had resulted in people walking over the wet surface leaving footprints and bringing tar in shops and pubs.

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Following earlier post on breakins the police have confirmed there has been a spate of break-ins over the pat few weeks in the Strathbungo area. These break ins have been to houses and more recently to garden sheds. There have been a number of bikes stolen from communal areas. There is no specific time pattern to when the thefts occur and no specific method of entry into the premises. Police are advising that if you live in a ground floor house that you keep the window closed and if possible fit locks to the windows. A number of garden sheds have been broken into and police have provided an advice note about security in gardens which I have pasted below:

Garden Security

As the summer comes to an end and expensive gardening tools, cycles, motorbikes & other items are put away for the winter, it’s an ideal time to think about your garden security. Here are a few steps for you to consider now & all year round.

Secure storage:
Put away all tools and equipment in a locked garden shed, garage or outside store.
If you do not have a shed etc, store items inside, DO NOT leave them lying about.

Doors – Fit a good quality hasp and padlock to the door. The hasp and the door hinges should be fixed with dome headed bolts or non-returnable screws, to prevent tampering.

Windows – Fit window grills internally or use heavy wire mesh. Reinforced glass is a good alternative. Fit a net curtain or sticky opaque film on the windows to stop persons seeing what is inside the shed. If the window opens, a window lock should be fitted.

Security
In addition to a lock, you may wish to consider fitting an alarm on your shed. There are three types of alarm system that can be used and can be purchased from most DIY stores and ironmongers:
• An infra-red detector in the shed that picks up on movement and body heat.
• A door contact system.
• An alarm within the padlock itself, which sounds if the lock is forced open or tampered with.
If you have a burglar alarm, why not extend it to cover the shed, garage and other outbuildings.
Install outside security lighting that comes on automatically.
Keep walls and fences surrounding your garden in a good state of repair. Hedges and shrubs in the front garden should be kept to a height of no more than 3 feet in order to avoid giving a thief something to hide behind.

Garden Furniture
Ensure that garden furniture is put away; remember furniture can be used by a thief as a climbing aid to gain entry to your home. If possible try to secure or chain your wheelie bins so these cannot be used to get access to window hoppers.

Gardening Tools
Never leave gardening tools lying about the garden, put them in a locked shed at the end of the day. Remember they could be used by a thief to break into your house. Linking garden tools within the shed with a chain can also help reduce the chance of them being stolen or used to break in. Remember garden tools such as forks, spades, rakes etc are all valuable.

Property marking
Security postcode your garden furniture and ornaments. This can be done by marking the items with paint, engraving the item, or where appropriate security mark with an ultraviolet pen.
Note a detailed description of garden furniture and tools etc including a note of the make, model, serial numbers, colours & value of items such as lawnmowers, strimmers, and hedge cutters, and if possible take a photograph.

Landscaping
However, there are other ways to protect your home and garden. Gravel paths and drives are a fantastic way of cheaply and unobtrusively discouraging a thief from entering your garden. Gravel makes a loud noise when stepped on which carries well at night and may wake the home owners, neighbours or a dog. This is instantly off-putting to a thief.
Another way to protect your home is to plant prickly hedging around the perimeter of your garden. Pyracantha and several types of Berberis all provide spiky hedging and good cover in your garden. Your local garden centre will give appropriate advice.

For more info & advice visit… www.scotland.police.uk

The planning and delivery of public sector services in Glasgow is now being coordinated through the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership, which is in turn split into three sectors with one covering the southside of the city. Below this Area Partnerships have been created at ward level to replace what were previously known as Area Committees and neighbourhood forums. For more information on the background – http://www.glasgowcpp.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10290

The Strathbungo Society are represented on the Pollokshields Area Partnership by Kevin Kane with myself as substitute representative. The Committee papers are all public – http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/allBodyMeetings.asp?bodyid=1780&bodytitle=Pollokshields+Area+Partnership&MeetingYear=2013

I attended the August and October meeting and it would appear the Partnership is very much at the formative stage, with a whole range of presentations from the impact of the cuts in welfare benefits on the city to tackling litter in East Pollokshields. The most important role being given to Partnerships is to assist in the local implementation of the four community planning priorities for the city which are about vulnerable people, youth unemployment, tackling alcohol abuse and creating thriving places. A lot of useful information on this is contained in the draft Glasgow Community Plan –
http://www.glasgowcpp.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=15989&p=0

At the August meeting it was suggested that officers of the public bodies on the area partnership (Council, NHS, Police) should come back to the next meeting with proposals how these priorities might be implemented in the local area. The Community representatives questioned this top down approach and suggested that other organisations on the Partnership could be asked for ideas and priorities. To give the Officers credit they jumped at this idea and a meeting between Council officers and community representatives was held in early October.

So, we are now looking for ideas about the Council, NHS, police etc should be doing to improve delivery of local services do let us know. While everything needs to be linked into the four community planning priorities, thriving places covers just about anything……………….and the other priority areas all have local angles, whether its local businesses creating jobs (tackling youth unemployment) or the impact of local pubs (yes its great to have so many places to go but what are negative impacts and what could be done to reduce these?).

Kevin and I will try and use the blog for further updates and to canvass for views and also consult the Committee at the monthly meetings.

Nick Kempe
nickkempe@tinyworld.co.uk

Following the Strathbungo Society’s  submission to the proposed Bill (for background see bungo blog 31st December) an analysis of the responses was published at the beginning of January  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/01/9545 

 The Report  is described as an independent analysis of all 447 responses to the proposals.   Unfortunately, the consultants – or was it the commissioning editors in the Government? – have taken a narrow view of their task and appear to have confined their analysis to the responses to the questions asked.   While the stated intention of the Bill is “to strengthen opportunities for communities to take independent action to achieve their own goals” the actual questions asked were quite restricted in scope.   In the Strathbungo Society response therefore we tried to raise some fundamental questions about the scope of the Bill – for example, whether it could empower communities like ours to require organisations like Network Rail to do things beneficial to the area, in our case things like maintaining the pedestrian bridge and managing the vegetatation on the railway embankment to enhance our environment.   These points appear to have been totally ignored in the consultation summary.     

 The Bill has been heralded by some as a means of giving urban communities some of the rights that rural communities have under the Land Reform Act, including purchase of property which is up for sale.  This is by no means simple as is illustrated by the current attempts by the community in Durness, Sutherland,  to buy the land at Cape Wrath, which is owned by the Lighthouse Board but which is wanted by the Ministry of Defence for military training purposes.   However, in terms of the Community Engagement and Empowerment Bill, this report just confirms that a very narrow view of empowerment is being taken which basically conflicts with its stated intention and limits the scope of the Bill to giving Local Communities more power in relation to Local Authorities – even though Local Authorities are one of the few public authorities that local communities can influence through the electoral process.   This seems a missed opportunity.

Due to its focus on Local Authorities, the consultation asked a fair number of very technical questions and not surprisingly this has provoked a wide range and variety of answers and views .    I found it very hard to conclude much from the summary and this means it is very hard at this stage to see how the consultation might inform the drafting of the proposed Bill.  The draft Bill is due to be issued for further consultation in the summer – more on the Blog then.

From a Strathbungo perspective, the Society is quoted in the body of the report, which could  – somewhat stretching the point as it is unclear how many people read these things – be claimed as good publicity.   Unfortunately, the quote is  credited with supporting and saying  something  it doesn’t.   The Strathbungo chairperson,   Laura Moodie, has written to the Bill Team at the Scottish Government to correct this but for anyone who is interested the quote is on P75 paragraph 4.64 and our actual response is at Community Engagement and Empowerment Bill Final Response    On the local front, while Glasgow City Council and NHS Glasgow and Clyde  responded it is interesting that the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership, which is meant to co-ordinate planning by Public Authorities  in each Local Authority area, did not. .  Its hard not to draw conclusions!