kilmacolm & quarriers


As expected, I was re-appointed as Leader of the Council at a special meeting on 18 August. Most councillors never have the opportunity to hold this position once so I feel deeply honoured and privileged to have held it twice. I would like to thank my colleagues in the Labour Group and our coalition partners for the faith they have shown in me. I am proud to lead such a strong and committed team.


After a great deal of effort by many people over the summer period, Port Glasgow High School is now settled in its temporary shared campus with St Stephen’s High School. Things seem to be going well. Work on the new


shared campus should get underway towards the end of this month. There has been a bit of delay due to some contractual issues.


One of my priorities over the months ahead will be to come up with a long- term investment strategy for our roads. Between fi nancial years 2007/08 and 2010/11 over £7.1m was invested in surfacing and repairs to the Council’s roads and footways. A further £1m has been approved for the current fi nancial year. Despite this, the backlog of repairs is increasing.


While I make no apology for putting our schools and leisure facilities fi rst, the time has come to give a higher priority to our roads. In the short-term we will look to provide some additional funding from reserves to increase the amount of work to be done in this fi nancial year. In the longer-term I have asked offi cers to look at how we can fund increased investment in our roads in the years ahead to eradicate the maintenance backlog and bring them up to a good state of repair.


More immediately, the Roads Service will be undertaking a programme of pothole repairs during the next few weeks in the Inverclyde East area, which includes Kilmacolm and Quarrier’s. The resurfacing of the Council owned car park at the Pullman is also scheduled to take place this month.


Following a recent condition survey, the Council’s school estates team has identifi ed a need to re-roof Kilmacolm Primary School earlier than expected. The Education and Lifelong Learning Committee will be asked on 6 September to approve a budget of £280,000 for this work.


Work is progressing on the implementation of the Council’s play area investment programme. The expansion of the play area at West Glen Road in Kilmacolm through the provision of 2-3 new units features on the 2011/12 programme, with completion currently projected as January 2012.


My surgery this month is on Monday 19th September in Clune Park Resource Centre, 5.30-6.30pm. I also have a surgery on Saturday 1st October in Kilmacolm Community Centre, 10-11am.


There has been a huge response to John Watson’s “Local Issues Survey” carried out in Kilmacolm and Quarrier’s Village.


The top priority for residents turned out to be tackling the dreadful state of our roads. This was not a surprise as we already knew that Inverclyde’s roads had been offi cially rated the second worst in Scotland. A large number of residents complained in a general way about the poor state of our roads but, in addition, 76 problem potholes at 28 different locations were identifi ed.


We passed this information on to the Roads Department


and they have now responded by indicating that they plan to have a purge on potholes in Kilmacolm and the surrounding area commencing on September 5th. It is estimated that the work will take 3 to 4 weeks and as part of the programme they will be using a jetpatcher. They will also be making repairs to C listed and unclassifi ed roads in the area during this time.


As part of the administration I reported that we had allocated £1.4M in March for major carriageway repairs and have seen a signifi cant proportion of this spent in Kilmacolm. We will go to committee in September with a proposal to allocate a further additional £1M. Major repairs that have happened recently have been at Finlaystone and Glenmill Roads and minor works at Blacksholm Road. I have reported Churchill and Porterfi eld Roads as in need of repair.


The No 1 bus from Kilmacolm and Quarriers Village to Johnstone Station is now up and running with a 3 year


subsidised contract from SPT at a cost of £198k.


As Chair of the Inverclyde Licensing Board, I sit on the local Alcohol and Drug Partnership. At our last meeting Morag Stirling, the Deputy Governor of Greenock prison, made a presentation in which she confi rmed that all those convicted are tested for drugs on arrival at the prison and the positive fi gure is a quite staggering 78%. Of those at the end of their sentence, the fi gure is 10% testing positive, rather more reassuring. I asked about alcohol within prison and was informed that the stock piling of fruit and other substances which could be used to make “ home brew” is monitored by staff.


Our play area strategy proceeds at a pace with 10 already completed and 11 remaining, including the refurbishment of West Glen play-park with an extended play area and 2/3 new units. All will be completed by Jan’12.


The 1999 site for the Tall Ships was not available to us as the Ocean Terminal is too busy to close down for 10 days and the Custom House Quay was unavailable due to the building of the new Arts Guild theatre. We were happy to accept the offer of the £180m James Watt Dock redevelopment site and the Great Harbour to berth the really big girls. We were able to open up the iconic Sugar Sheds, the largest brick and cast iron building in Scotland, for entertainment and displays. At a cost of £3.8m the building had only been made wind and watertight and was fairly basic but it has caught peoples imagination from a leader in the Scotsman to a Facebook campaign and many enquiries to Riverside Inverclyde including one for a wedding. As Joan McAlpine MSP wrote “its cathedral atmosphere lends itself to many uses”. The Tall Ships Tales, a musical by Alan Beck was performed at the event, this not only included children from KPS but all primary schools in Inverclyde and tells the story of Captain William Kidd (1645-1701) who was born in Greenock.


The stars of the show were the entertainment, on fi ve arenas, the ships and the crews. The latter made a colourful sight on their parade to the town centre for the race prize giving in the town hall, the best marching was indisputably the trainee offi cers of the Columbian Naval ship Gloria and the band of the 2nd Port Glasgow BB. I looked in briefl y, at the crew party and carnival in the Sugar Sheds in the evening, the 2,500 mainly youngsters had a wonderful time . Many onshore entertainments and visits were organised and many local sports clubs opened their doors and laid on fun competitions. The Columbian ship Gloria had 5k visitors in Waterford and 24k while here.


The Cargill Centre is really coming on. The café is open, 6 benches have been installed outside, litter bins have been ordered and the Centre’s sign skilfully painted. The Renfrewshire Farmers Market will be in the square on the 1st Saturday of the month, a worthwhile use of the public area. Neil Caskie, a well known local farmer, is the director of the market and there will be up to 20 stalls.


The Glasgow and Clyde Valley Strategic Development Authority held a presentation in Greenock. This was well attended by members of KCC and KCT, and Dr Grahame Buchan outlined the development strategy for the next 25 years. Inverclyde has 4 strategic areas of importance including the waterfront regeneration project and the Clydeport Ocean Terminal as the deep water port for the whole area, the detail is left to the local plan which has just ended its consultative stage. I fi rmly believe that the green belt around Kilmacolm must be protected though some small anomalies should be considered for release. There is a policy in the plan for enabling development for our historic buildings and specifi cally Ardgowan House, Duchal House and Finlaystone House. The Scottish Planning Policy recognises enabling development as a tool for the retention of listed buildings.


I alerted the wardens to youths climbing onto the roof of KPS from the quadrangle. Thanks are due to John the janitor for his vigilance.


Councillor Iain Mackenzie is now our MP and I wish him well in his new role. Councillor Stephen McCabe was elected as our council leader to replace Iain and I was happy to support his nomination. Our coalition has worked well and is delivering for our constituents.


My surgeries are 19th - Kafay Dubbs Rd, Port Glasgow 2-3pm, 30th - Cargill Centre, Kilmacolm 5-6pm. I can be contacted on 01475 741969 and 712727 and 07766 992294.


40 |SEPTEMBER 2011 | your LOCAL news every month - in print and online |


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