Dawson Park to be a Queen Elizabeth Challenge Field

Dawson Park in West Ferry has been nominated by Dundee City Council as a Queen Elizabeth Challenge Field. The organisation Fields In Trust has been running the Queen Elizabeth Fields Challenge as a permanent living legacy of HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The purpose of the challenge is to ensure that outdoor spaces and sporting facilities are guaranteed for future generations as a tribute to these events.

The benefits of the scheme are a clear commitment to the conservation of the park, access to direct improvement grants through association with the scheme, assistance in accessing other external funding through demonstrating partnership working, access to tool kits and technical advice on park improvements and development proposals.

A commemorative plaque will be displayed acknowledging that Dawson Park is a Queen Elizabeth Challenge Field. Camperdown Park in Dundee has also been nominated as a Queen Elizabeth Challenge Field. 

There is a separate campaign run by Fields in Trust in conjunction with Poppyscotland to secure open spaces in perpetuity in honour of the memory of the millions of people who lost their lives in the First World War. The Law has been suggested as a Centenary Field because of its association with Dundee’s war memorial.

Action on local issues

 

I previously reported significant pooling that occurred at the dropped kerb on the junction of Grove Road with Strathern Road. Work has now been carried out to rectify the problem.

Esplanade tidy up

I was asked if anything could be done about the concrete hard stands in between the sand dunes and the southerly footpath on The Esplanade. They were badly overgrown with grass and weeds and looked pretty unsightly.  The access steps either side of the platform nearest to Brook Street were totally covered with sand and grass. Previously the platforms were used as seating locations and a lifebelt is still located on one of them. I approached the council’s environment department to ask if they could be tidied up. The work has recently been completed and they look so much better.

One month left – what’s Plan B?

Scottish Conservatives press release

 

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont has challenged Alex Salmond to name his currency Plan B – with just a month before voters go to the polls. The First Minister’s bid to share the pound with the rest of the UK in the event of independence has been ruled out by the Chancellor and his opposite numbers. But, despite previously saying he had “a plan B, C, D, E and F”, he has yet to say what his preference would be. Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont MSP said: "The Nationalists have had eighty years to plan for independence and yet with a month to go before the referendum they can't answer the most basic question of all - what money would we use?

"Alex Salmond's plan to keep the pound in a currency union isn't going to happen. He needs to tell us his Plan B and time is rapidly running out for him to come clean with the people of Scotland.Thousands will be voting by post in just a couple of weeks. Enough of the ducking and diving - it's time for the SNP to tell us what would happen if Scotland separates from the UK."

National recognition for Broughty Ferry

Broughty Ferry has been nominated as one of three finalists for the Academy of Urbanism Great Neighbourhood Award for 2015. The mission of The Academy of Urbanism is to recognise, encourage and celebrate great places across the UK, Europe and beyond, and the people and organisations that create and sustain them. 

The award criteria includes leadership and governance, local character, amenity, commercial success and viability, environmental sustainability, community, health and wellbeing, connectivity. The other two finalists in the same category are Devonport, Plymouth and Holbeck Urban Village, Leeds.  The Academy judges were in Broughty Ferry on Tuesday to meet with local organisations and they visited several locations. 

We already know that Broughty Ferry is a great place and it’s wonderful that it has been recognised at a national level. The result will be announced at the end of the year. On the way to my Saturday morning surgery I thought the flower beds at the library would make a good picture to go with this article for no other reason that I think they are terrific display.

Kerrington Crescent pavement

I was pleased to see that work to bring up to standard the pavement on the north side of Kerrington Crescent is progressing. This is another pavement that I have received a lot of complaints about over the years. I previously was able to increase its priority in the council’s unadopted footways scheme by establishing that houses were present in Kerrington Crescent prior to 1919 which allowed it to gain the maximum number of points that are allocated to pavements for the age of housing in the street. I was able to do similar with the age of the housing in Strathmore Street, beside the Barnhill shops, which also resulted in the pavement there being included in a programme of works this year.

On viewing the attached photograph when writing this item I noticed that the street name plate for Maule Street has all but been worn away. I have asked that this be replaced with a new one.

Radio 5 Referendum debate

Leading lawyers call for credible currency alternatives

Scottish Conservatives press release

 

A group of leading lawyers have challenged the SNP to produce credible currency alternatives for a separate Scotland. Writing in two national newspapers, the experts explained that in the event of independence there would be no agreement from the rest of the UK to a currency union. It comes after the leader of the Better Together campaign Alistair Darling exposed the First Minister’s stance on currency in a live televised debate last night.

Alex Salmond has previously said he had “a plan B, C, D, E and F”, but with just weeks until the referendum, none of these have yet been explained. That has led to suspicion there is no preferred alternative, something last night’s head-to-head went some way to confirm.

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly tried to get answers from the Scottish Government on currency plans, but it has dismissed these questions in both the parliamentary chamber and through written questions.

Last week, currency experts branded the SNP’s position on the issue as “a deception”. It follows concerns raised by a range of esteemed academic and business figures over the SNP’s claims that Scotland would have a currency union with the rest of the UK under independence.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said: “Alex Salmond is selling voters short. They want real answers to serious questions and he refuses to give them any. How can anyone be expected to vote for independence when there is no credible plan on currency? We know there won’t be a currency union in the event of separation. But the SNP, with only weeks to go now, has not set out an alternative.The only other options left are to use the Panama pound without a central bank, join the Euro, or create a new currency, all of which carry massive risks.

“Leading businesses, responsible for employing thousands upon thousands of people, have begged the Scottish Government for answers, and none have been forthcoming. Today we see the finest legal brains in the country raising similar fears. This deception by the Yes campaign cannot be allowed to go on any longer – it’s a ludicrous impasse designed by Alex Salmond in the absence of any credible plan.”

Forthill Tenants Association meeting

Tonight I attended a meeting of the Forthill Tenants Association. A number of housing matters were discussed and I reported back on the positive outcomes of a couple of issues I was previously asked to take up. During the meeting I commented on the lovely display of flowers at the sheltered complex. The garden at the complex is maintained by a dedicated group of sheltered tenants and last week it was judged for the 2014 Beautiful Scotland awards. The picture shows a small bit of hard standing at the building that has been transformed into an attractive bench seating area.

Tickets on departure

I was asked by a constituent if I could investigate the possibility of getting a self service ticket machine at Broughty Ferry station to allow passengers to collect their tickets at the time of their departure. The point made to me was that if a ticket is purchased on-line, including a seat reservation, and the journey is to be made relatively soon thereafter there isn’t sufficient time for it to be posted. The ticket would need to collected from a machine, and the nearest one is in Dundee. I raised the matter with the council’s city development department and I received the following response:

‘The return of regular rail services ‎at Broughty Ferry looked at station facilities and included information and ticketing facilities review. A ticket machine was not progressed by First ScotRail and in light of the current franchise being re tendered I would not envisage any such investment being considered until the operator is announced later this year.’

I understand the winner of the franchise will be notified in October so I intend to pursue this matter further at that time.