COSLA and Merchiston Community Council

COSLA meeting this morning to see the launch of a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Framework for Elected Members in Scottish Local Government ... no laughing in the back row please ;-)

... actually, I felt it seemed a pretty impressive (and easily accessible) package and I certainly hope that the City of Edinburgh Council signs up to it in due course.

Merchiston Community Council meeting this evening ... packed agenda, the details of which can be found here.

Never a dull moment!

Local holiday ...

Local holiday today - and despite having one morning and one evening meeting, managed to fit in a family film trip: went to see Scott Pilgrim VS the World ... I thoroughly enjoyed it ;-)

I'd strongly recommend it to any family with a youngster interested in Manga and the internet ... that's probably everyone with a 12-year old??

Very enjoyable (and funny) film.

Botanics visit

Some family over today for an 'Edinburgh visit' ... so we managed to fit in an afternoon trip to the Botanics.

First time I'd been since the opening of the new John Hope Gateway building ...

... I was hugely impressed with the design and the facilities therein: the kids particularly enjoyed the exhibition on fungi!

No future for the Lib-Dems?

As a left-wing alternative to Labour that is!

Don't take my word for it - have a read at what their Leader is saying to the Independent today ...

... personally, I think this will go down like the proverbial lead balloon for the vast majority of Lib-Dem voters in Scotland.

They weren't on track to do well next May anyhow, but this type of stunt - in my humble opinion - will only damage their chances further.

The present MSPs in Edinburgh West and South must be loving it??

Autumn Allotment Update!

Managed to fit in a bit of time down at the Allotment this afternoon ... everything now in good order ;-)

Most of the cropping is done for the year, but the red cabbages are still growing fine, and the brussels will be going for many more months yet!

Hoping to have some of the home-grown brussels for Christmas lunch - and could be that we'll still have some of those numerous allotment potatoes as well :-))

Space Hop

Spent a bit of time at Fountainbridge Library this afternoon, attending a small party marking the end of the summer reading challenge for numerous 4-11 years olds, who have successfully completed 6-books over the last few months ...

... the children present were all far better behaved than the adults in the Council Chamber yesterday. Seriously!

Says it all really :-((

Full Council

Well, I might have thought the meeting last night was a bit of a shambles, but Full Council today was even worse :-((

Difficult to know where to start, but the potential closure of Blindcraft did feature strongly and led to a fairly passionate debate and political division - a Labour/Green Amendment to try and widen out the scrutiny of the available options was heavily defeated by the SNP/Lib local coalition along with Tory support.

Tragically, I now think that closure is looking highly likely - which would be a sad day indeed for the 200-year old facility and all who work within it :-(

But as well as Blindcraft, the budget report sparked a pretty heated debate - was all a bit surreal really when every Amendment that was tabled was basically agreeing to well over 90% of the proposals before the Council?

A fair bit of personal vitriol (and truly grown-up shouting) was directed at me - apparently I made some outrageously political comments at last night's meeting which exposes me as the devil-incarnate and has so upset the hard-skinned coalition politicians in charge of the Council that they can no longer trust a word I say ...

... yes, it was all petty, puerile and pathetic.

A great advert for local democracy - not.

Things can only get worse :-((

Local budget consultation meeting

Forgot to mention a local budget consultation meeting I attended last night - as part of the Council's attempt to engage with the wider community about the financial challenges they are now facing ... specific details of the meetings here, and more general details here.

I've very much welcomed the moves that the local SNP/Lib-Dem coalition have made in attempting to change the way the Council budget is set ... but, unfortunately, the meeting last night was a bit of a shambles: there's really no kinder way to put it :-(

Only 40 members of the public turned up, that was across 4-Wards of the Council - so something like 0.05% of the population!

There was clearly significant annoyance at the way the whole meeting was managed and many of those 40 members of the public simply refused to participate in the 'voting' that took place as they obviously felt that the questions were frankly 'loaded'.

It was not a good advertisement for how to get local involvement - most people will have left the hall dispirited, of that I'm sure :-(

Worse than all of that really, was the complete lack of any leadership shown by the Administration politicians present ... apart from a few words of introduction, the Officials were left to handle the evening and all of the questions? Bizarre.

I know what will now happen - the Officials will be blamed for botching the process, despite the fact that they were obviously given no proper lead on how to manage the event.

Excuse my language; but p*ss up and brewery come to mind :-((

Blindcraft closure?

At today's Council Meeting, I think its safe to predict that the potential closure of 'Blindcraft' (the full report is here) will be the most politically contentious issue ...

... there's no doubt the Council is facing a challenging financial settlement this year, but that doesn't make it any better - or worse - a time to potentially close such a facility.

Any final decision has to be based on the long-term prospects, and not taken with just the next couple of years in mind ... and surely we must remember that the true mark of any City is how it relates to those who are most vulnerable and in most need of assistance?

Full Council meeting & the Pope!

Full Council meeting today - main agenda can be found here, with all the individual papers on CPOL as usual ...

... the meeting starts at 2pm, not the usual 10am start, due to the Pope arriving in Edinburgh this morning!

As an atheist, his visit doesn't have any personal religious significance for me, but I do believe that much larger crowds than are being expected will come to Edinburgh today to mark his presence here?

And the mere fact that the whole affair is a full 'State Visit' (unlike the last Papal visit in 1982), with the Queen welcoming the Pope at Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile here in Edinburgh, has huge historical significance - indeed, its the first time such a visit has been given this status.

I do think central Edinburgh will be exceptionally busy all day!

Maggie's Kitchen Menus!

To anyone who has campaigned during a General (or Scottish) election in Edinburgh South West or Edinburgh Central ... Maggie Darling's food is legendary!

... so, its great to read that she has started up a food blog, which you can find here!

Now you don't have to wait until election time to sample Maggie's fantastic food :-))

New Council Web-site

New Council web-site up and running this afternoon ... of course, it inevitably means that almost none of my previous links to the old CEC site will now work :-(

... frankly, I reckon it's all a sinister plot to secretly try and hide the last three-and-a-half years from public view ;-)

Labour won by a thundering mile

You really should have a quick glance at paragraph 2 of this article --- you have to admire John's honesty!

But frivolity aside, he does raise some serious points about the lack of awareness of the scale of the devastation which is about to hit the public sector ... evidenced at a local level by coverage in today's local paper :-(

And whilst I appreciate that these local proposals are for consultation and no final decision will be made until next February, it does appear to me that the brunt of the suggested cuts will hit the weakest and most vulnerable in Edinburgh the hardest.

That just can't be right and we'll certainly be developing alternative local savings that have less impact on those who need front-line services the most.

One would have hoped the Lib-Dems down south (now part of the UK-Government) would be thinking along the same lines - but it certainly doesn't appear so from where I'm sitting :-((

All eyes on next May

From last Friday afternoon --- the winning Liberton/ Gilmerton candidate is third from the right ...

... we're smiling broadly as the result has just been formally announced and Bill Cook is now a Labour Councillor for Ward 16 in Edinburgh ;-)

Onwards to next May now!

Pedalled for Scotland ...

Pedal for Scotland event yesterday was a great success for our team of six ...

... weather was absolutely perfect all the way across from Glasgow to Edinburgh and, despite over 9,000 cyclists taking part, all the feeding stations seemed to flow quickly and efficiently.

It was my eighth-in-a-row Pedal for Scotland event but the first for my new(ish) Ridgeback Panorama --- it rode perfectly all the way and is considerably faster over 50-miles than the old bike ;-)

Of course, maybe I'm just getting a little bit fitter with all that daily commuting to work?

Anyhow - two more to go and it'll be ten-in-a-row :-)

Candidate Information and Training Day

Speaking at an Edinburgh Labour 'candidate information and training day' earlier this morning ... well attended event, perfectly timed to be the day after a rather healthy by-election result for the local Party :-))

... I'm certain today's meeting will lead to many new applicants, and eventually new Councillors come 2012.

Off to the second annual 'bring and share' event, organised by the Shandon Local Food Group, early this evening - taking along lots of allotment-inspired dishes of course!

And an early night definitely in order, before a 5.45am rise tomorrow; for our 8th-in-a-row Pedal for Scotland cycle ride event ... I can hardly wait ;-)

Congratulations to Bill Cook

My obvious congratulations go to Bill Cook this afternoon - the result of the Ward 16 by-election was declared just after 1.30pm and is a ringing endorsement of the huge effort Bill put into the campaign on behalf of Edinburgh Labour ...

... I'm really looking forward to having his energy and focus as part of our team in the City Chambers ;-)

Bill took 2,974 1st preferences (45%) with the SNP nearly 1,600 behind and the Liberals in 4th place. Overall there was an 8% swing from the SNP to Labour, with a collapse in the Liberal vote - a terrible indictment of the current Lib-Dem/SNP Council Administration.

So - congratulations to Bill and many, many thanks to all the Edinburgh Labour activists who put in a sterling effort to ensure such a stunning result.

Polls Open - Vote COOK 1 :-)

Polls now open in the Liberton/Gilmerton by-election ... and it's not actually raining!

Going to be a very busy day, with the polls open until 10pm as usual - but no result until tomorrow :-(

Count starts at around 9.30am Friday, so hope to post the final result confirming Ward 16's new Councillor before midday.