Shawlands and Strathbungo Community Council have organised a public meeting this Thursday 9th February at 7pm in Shawlands Academy to debate the Future of Shawlands.

They hope that residents and business owners, and everyone else with an interest in Shawlands, will come along and offer their opinion on what needs to be done to improve Shawlands. Elected officials will be there and the discussion will be based on the draft Town Centre Action Plan published last month.

There is currently an offer of grants to homeowners in the area to get their homes better insulated. The grants cover loft insulation and draught proofing of windows and close doors, cavity wall insulation and insulation for water storage tanks and pipe work and apply to tenements and homes. It really is something for nothing but hurry, the grants run out in March.

The Universal homes Insulation Scheme is part of the Scottish Government’s Energy Assistance Package and is run by the Wise Group and Ever Warm. By properly insulating your home you can reduce energy bills and make your home warmer.

Simply call to register your interest and arrange a visit. The Wise Group number is: 0800 092 9002. Ever Warm can be contacted on 01506 638600

All homeowners should have received a letter (around Christmas) regarding this but if you missed yours, please see this copy:Loft Insulation_0001

Image by Roberto Cavieres www.robertocavieres.com

Anyone walking along Queen or Regent Park Square on Monday may have blinked and missed it but if they’d peeked down the back lanes running behind Moray Place they would have seen, for the first time in decades, a back lane being partially repaired.

There is currently a proposal to repair the back lanes once the ground consolidation works are complete with Glasgow City Council paying the cost. The contractors carried out a test today on a section of the lane (about 1.5m square) to see what state the sub base was in and whether the “cobbles” are salvageable.

As you can see, the stones are irregular but solid and the ash ‘pan’ underneath is sounds and feels like concrete. It was painstaking work, taking hours to complete just this section, but you can see the end result for yourself – an even surface, good finish and not dramatically different from what was there before – just better!

Image by Roberto Cavieres www.robertocavieres.com

This gives the contractors good news that the stones are salvageable and repairable, and the sub base solid. We will be writing to residents this week outlining the proposals for wholesale works on the back lanes affected by the mine workings.

A public meeting to discuss this will be held on Monday 20th February, 7.30pm Queens Park Parish Church, 170 Queens Drive. Once the community have fed-back their views to us we will pass on the consensus to the Council so the work can be carried out before the summer.

Image by Roberto Cavieres www.robertocavieres.com

New for this year’s Spring Fling on Saturday 17th March is the chance to take part in a free animation workshop.

Join animators from Red Kite Animation studio for this free introduction to making cartoons. Make your own 2D puppet and bring it to life with cameras and computers.

Completed films will go online at www.redkiteworkshops.co.uk

Workshop 1 – for 7-10 year olds – 10.30-12

Workshop 2 – for 11-13 year olds – 12.30-2

Email jim@redkiteworkshops.co.uk to book a place.

Please make sure you include which workshop you wish to attend (1 or 2), name(s) and age(s) of those taking part and the name and contact details of the parent or guardian.

There are only 10 places for each workshop so book soon!

The Council seems to be in a bountiful mood this week – on top of approving an increased grant to home owners affected by the works (the council will now cover 75% of the cost) and coming up with costing for reinstating the back lanes, they have also put in place of Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) on Strathbungo’s chunk of Nithsdale Road for Saturday 4th February in order to clear out the silt and litter that has begun blocking the drains.

Only the south side of the street (odd numbers between The Bungo and Sammy Dow’s) will be cleared this time, due to the pressure on car parking spaces and the limitations of the order, but we have urged that the north side get the same treatment ASAP.

Please make sure you are not parked on this section of the street at any time on Saturday 4^th February and pass this on to anyone you know who may be using Nithsdale Road to park as it will need to be free of cars on the day for the work to take place.

A memorial mass will be held for William McKeeney at 9.30am this Saturday 21st January at St Albert’s Church on Albert Drive.

William was killed last Sunday morning close to his home on Melville Street after a night out in Strathbungo.

The memorial service is open to all who wish to pay their respects and express their condolences to his partner and family.

A number of residents have been waiting to hear the plans for improving the back lanes as part of the reinstatement work once the mine workings have been filled in. Unfortunately there have been no sweeping developments since Christmas so the current situation is:

The council and representatives from heritage bodies have seen the lanes and met with the Society. We have handed over all our research, costings and survey information. We are now awaiting costs for several refurbishment options to be carried out once the works are completed. These include:

• Lifting all existing setts and replacing with regular-sized setts
• Lifting all existing setts and relaying
• Laying tarmac over the existing setts
• Lifting existing setts and replacing with tarmac
• Repairing existing damage to the setts by lifting and relaying, locating existing drainage system and cleaning out and removing all vegetation/soil from the lanes.

As soon as we have the costs, we will be writing to all the residents who share ownership of the back lanes affected to ask them which option they prefer and outlining the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Of course, the Council are not obliged to carry out this work and the funds are only available in this tax year.

Work has begun again in earnest after the Christmas break. As before, we urge residents to be considerate when parking and using the back lanes. In particular, as residents are using the back lanes for vehicular access, do bear this in mind when putting out bins and bulk uplift and, for those driving in the back lanes, be aware of pedestrians and pets who are not used to dodging cars on the cobbles!

The next Society meeting is this Monday, 16th January, in the front dining room at The Bungo on Nithsdale Road, 7.30pm. Do come along if you have any questions, concerns or would like to find out more.

A few folk have asked for carols and singing at the bells so we thought to post the carol sheet from the 23rd for those who want to join in. If you fancy some singing just print it out and bring it along with you tonight. Click here for a link to the carols. Bungo Carols 2011

Also here are the words to Auld Lang Syne for those who are perhaps more familiar with the first verse and chorus than the last four verses (that includes me!):

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne* ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo (or my dear),
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
and surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.
CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin auld lang syne.
CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie’s a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS

See you all tonight!