Dennistoun Big Lunch 2012

On Saturday 2nd June, from 1-3pm, Dennistoun Community Council in association with Reidvale Adventure Playground (RAPA) and Edzell Property Management will be hosting TWO Big Lunches in Dennistoun.  One will be held in Dennistoun Village’s ‘Buffallo Bill Square’ (at the corner of Whitehill Street and Finlay Drive).  The other will be held at Reidvale Adventure Playground on Garfield Street.

The Big Lunch is based on a belief that the world can be a better place through people working together.  Since starting in 2009, thousands of Big Lunches have taken place across the country.  Last year two million people took part!

The aim is to get as many people from Dennistoun as we can to have lunch with their neighbours, in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.  It will be a great excuse to meet the people who we share Dennistoun with.  Because when people get together, we become more positive.

Bring your own food, or try some that’s already been brought along:

Bake a cake, surprise us with sandwiches, bring homemade dip and crisps, decorate fairy cakes, create carrot batons, cook up some sausage rolls, whip up a few choc rice krispie cakes, add some nibbles, rustle up a wrap, bake some brownies, select your favourite sweet treats and savoury snacks… those are just a few of the possibilities!

For more ideas see the list on the Big Lunch website here.

In the run up to the 2nd June, Market Gallery will be running a screen printing project to produce bunting and banners in all different colours and designs. There will also be the opportunity to produce their individual prints to take home.  The intention is that the first workshop will take place on Thursday 31st May from 6 to 8.30pm – get in touch for further details.  And keep an eye out on the day for the end results.

It is also hoped that there will be some musical accompaniment from a local special guest musician.  But you don’t just have to be a spectator: you’ll be very welcome to contribute by strumming a guitar, starting a singalong, or whatever else you fancy.

The only thing left to say is that we hope to see you at one of the Dennistoun Big Lunch locations, and we look forward to some friendly chit chat and tasting any treats that you’re able to bring along.

If you’d like to receive notice of future Dennistoun and DCC activities: join our mailing list using the box in the column to the right hand side of the site – you’ll receive email updates of all news posts as and when they’re added (DCC will never share your email, and it’s easy to unsubscribe at any time).  We’re also active on Twitter and Facebook, alternatively add our RSS feed to your reader. See the Contact page for further details.

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Full agenda available here.

The community council meets a minimum of 7 times throughout the year. All ordinary meetings of the community council are open to members of the public, who have a right to attend all community council meetings, and are warmly invited to do so.

Provision is made at all meetings for the public to have the opportunity to address DCC, under the guidance of the Chairperson. It is preferable that requests for specific items to be included on the agenda are intimated, in writing, prior to the commencement of said meeting. Contact details here.

Please pass this notice on to those for whom it may be of interest.

If you’d like to receive notice of future site updates, there are a number of ways to stay abreast of DCC activities: if you add your email address to the box in the column to the right you’ll receive an email update of all news posts as and when they’re added, we’re also active on Twitter and Facebook, alternatively add our RSS feed to your reader. See the Contact page for further details.

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James Blackshaw

James Blackshaw is acknowledged as being one of the finest guitarists in the UK and we are fortunate enough to have him booked to play in Dennistoun (by Glasgow East Arts Company) at the theatre in Whitehill Secondary School on Saturday the 5th of May.  It serves as a worthy follow-up to the Frank Fairfield gig held in the venue last June.

Blackshaw performs celestial and spirit-lifting guitar-led compositions. Meditative in quality, cinematic in scope, his music spirals gracefully across complex patterns, motifs and harmonics. He made his name as a 12-string acoustic guitarist, and his relationship with the instrument is near perfect.  Swirling overtones, cascading notes and a thousand points of light cascade from his guitar and create ever-shifting textures that bear the influence of contemporary classical composition, post-rock dynamics and invisible soundtracks as much as the American folk guitar tradition.

It should be a great evening. Here’s a taster video of him performing River of Heaven:

He has been written about with reverence and has played churches, festivals, folk clubs and large concert halls on his many travels in the US, Europe and Japan. These have included extensive touring with the reformed Swans, as well as collaborative performances with Hauschka and Nancy Elizabeth. He performs and records as a member of Current 93 and with Jozef Van Wissem as Brethren of The Free Spirit.

Grayson Currin of Pitchfork had this to say about his music:

“… A veritable solo symphony that’s as schooled in uncommon beauty as it is in complex 20th century composition… Blackshaw writes high drama into instrumental music with subtlety and charm, speaking on sentiments and stories without requiring a single lyric… Blackshaw seems fully settled, engaging his pieces and ideas with the unflinching belief of Tony Conrad in 1964 or Steve Reich in 1965…”

Read an profile article by The Rolling Stone here.

Support comes from Lancaster’s Rob St. John, whose complex and layered songs marry British Folk, drone, krautrock and psychedelia, with rich, haunting vocals that have been compared to such greats as Ian Curtis and Nick Drake.

Tickets are £6 (or £5 for Under 16s and Local Link members) and can be bought from Platform, Monorail, and Tickets Scotland.

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Dennistoun Diggers Community Garden

National Gardening Week 2012 runs from 16th to 22nd April and is co-ordinated by the Royal Horticultural Society to get the nation growing and celebrate everything about gardens and gardening. Thousands of people across the country are coming together and getting involved to enjoy, share and celebrate everything about gardens and gardening.

To mark the occasion, Dennistoun Diggers will be opening their community garden throughout the week for people to come and visit and find out more about their space.  Have a nosey, offer advice, chat about Guerilla Gardening, sow seeds, pot on, prune, weed… even turn the compost heap if you so desire!

Everyone is invited: fellow gardeners, people new to gardening, those of you wanting to learn more or just anyone who want to meet people in the community. All ages welcome!  Gardening is life-enhancing; it creates beautiful spaces and brings communities together, but best of all it’s fun.

Whether you just want to see the garden, chat to fellow gardeners, or get your hands dirty, the Dennistoun Diggers will be there at the following times:

• Monday 16th, Wednesday 18th, Thursday 19th, and Friday 20th April, from 6pm to 7pm.
• Saturday 21st April, from 10am to 12 noon.
• Sunday 22nd April, 2pm to 4pm.

The garden is located at 42-44 Circus Drive, Dennistoun, G31 2JE (behind the main building – walk around the back and all will be revealed!

Dennistoun Community Garden Location

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Become a Better Buses Inspector

Dennistoun Community Council has previously held public meetings to discuss local bus services.  Further information on the outcome, including a response from First Buses can be found via DCC news posts here and here.

More recently, Patrick Harvie MSP has written to DCC to inform us of the Better Buses campaign that is underway, which aims to take the most important bus-related issues and develop a plan for better buses that can be taken to parliament.

He writes:

I am writing to you with information on a local campaign I am running to improve bus services in Glasgow.

With half of Glasgow’s households without access to a car I feel it is essential we get a better bus service in and around the city.  I do not believe that the private companies running the buses nor the Scottish Government are doing enough to ensure quality services.  Recent announcements from First about fare increases and reductions in service are evidence of that.

However I don’t believe we will see real improvements if the issue just keeps on being used as a political football.  Instead, th epurpose of my campaign is to give passengers a stronger voice, and to encourage them to set the priorities for the bus service they want to see.

That’s why I’m urging passengers to become ‘Better Bus Inspectors’ and share their views.  Buses should be affordable and accesssible, and shaped by people’s needs rather than company profits.

Click here for a full copy of the letter.

The Better Buses site can be found at betterbuses.org, or you can follow progress via @betterbuses on twitter.

The campaign poster can be seen below.

Better Buses Poster

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Photo: windsordi via flickr

Following a review of the service, Glasgow City Council’s Assisted Garden Maintenance Scheme will continue to be provided free of charge for those who are eligible.

To be eligible you must:

• be a Glasgow City resident Council Tax payer;
• be aged 70 or over;
• have an existing medical condition that limits your ability to maintain your garden;
• have no able bodied persons aged 16-69 in the household.

The scope of service has been reviewed and from 2012 season you can expect to receive eight grass cuts per household and three hedge trims.

As a result of the review, responsibility for all the service operations will transfer back to Land and Environmental Services, who will manage delivery of the programme and the service targets set. In addition, a new response service for health and safety concerns will be established, for example, in relation to overgrown bushes.

The service will continue to provide work placement and training opportunities for the unemployed. Trainees will be managed and supervised by Land and Environmental Services Officers.

The service will commence in April and runs until October with the grass cutting service first cycle taking place from 2 April to 23 April. The hedge trimming first cycle will take place from 7th May to 15th July.

More information, including an application form, can be found here.

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Glasgow Stalled Spaces

Glasgow, from its legacy as an industrial city, now has a problem with stalled sites across the city. Glasgow currently has more vacant sites than the rest of Scotland put together. Many of these sites may have plans for future development, however this can be anywhere from one to over ten years until development is scheduled to begin.

Do you wish to breathe life into a non-functional space within your neighbourhood?

The Stalled Spaces project delivers a response to issues relating to poor environmental conditions that have become more prevalent due to economic downturn. This project recognises the opportunities available to use unproductive vacant land on a temporary basis to deliver a range of innovative projects that would benefit local communities.

Can you think of any such space in Dennistoun? Could it be used, temporarily, for a green gym, play space, outdoor exercise, sculpture or exhibition space, outdoor education, arts project, event space, urban beach, park, growing space, or any other innovative idea?

After a successful 1st year with 49 community projects assisted and over 12 hectares of land brought back into temporary use, Glasgow Council in partnership with Glasgow Housing Association are now inviting applications for 2012-13 community Support for Stalled Spaces. Funding is available from a minimum of £1,000 to a maximum of £2,500.

Background information on Stalled Spaces, examples of projects, guidance for applicants, submission deadlines, application criteria, all relevant paperwork and a first point of contact for anyone who wishes to apply for funding can be found at www.glasgow.gov.uk/stalledspaces.

Get in touch with DCC if you have any ideas or suggestions you think we should be involved with.  But don’t delay!  The closing date for applications is 2nd of April.

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Full agenda available here. The agenda will also be circulated and posted on local notice boards (Dennistoun library, Wellpark Hall, Reidvale HA, Milnbank HA, Co-op on Alexandra Parade) prior to meeting.

The community council meets a minimum of 7 times throughout the year. All ordinary meetings of the community council are open to members of the public, who have a right to attend all community council meetings, and are warmly invited to do so.

Provision is made at all meetings for the public to have the opportunity to address DCC, under the guidance of the Chairperson.  It is preferable that requests for specific items to be included on the agenda are intimated, in writing, prior to the commencement of said meeting. Contact details here.

Please pass this notice on to those for whom it may be of interest.

If you’d like to receive notice of future site updates, there are a number of ways to stay abreast of DCC activities: if you add your email address to the box in the column to the right you’ll receive an email update of all news posts as and when they’re added, we’re also active on Twitter and Facebook, alternatively add our RSS feed to your reader.  See the Contact page for further details.

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Rail 2014 - Public Consultation

As previously indicated, Dennistoun Community Council (DCC) has taken the opportunity to respond to the ‘Rail 2014′ public consultation.

The response is largely driven by significant and widespread concern in relation to perceived intention to close Duke Street railway station, and consists of both the pro forma feedback form and a letter incorporating comments made at community council meetings and online.

Amongst other questions, Transport Scotland asked:

“How should we determine what rail stations are required and where, including whether a station should be closed?”

DCC responded:

The network of rail stations within Glasgow City Council area is largely fit for purpose. However, there has been significant concern expressed within the Dennistoun Community Council (DCC) area in relation to the inclusion of Duke Street station on a list of stations identified as being located within a mile of each other. The general understanding is that these stations are being highlighted as somehow at risk of closure. Attached to this response is a detailed rationale of why DCC members, and residents across the wider area, are strongly opposed to any suggestion that Duke Street station is at risk of closure. In determining the viability or otherwise of rail stations cognisance must be given to the following:

• area served (including potential for expansion linked to regeneration),
• station quality and availability of amenities (including accessibility),
• linkage with other forms of public transport, and · some assessment of passenger usage trends.

On all of the above grounds Duke Street station cannot be seen as anything other than needed and thriving.

DCC’s supplementary letter:

15/2/10

Dear Sir or Madam,

Dennistoun Community Council’s Response to Rail 2014 Consultation

We are writing on behalf of the Dennistoun community with regard to your Rail 2014 consultation. Your strictly tailored form doesn’t provide the opportunity to address the points we want to raise. We would suggest that a consultation considering the possibility of station closure without the response form permitting discussion of the merits of individual stations does not represent a valid accounting of people’s views.

This response has been drafted after consulting Dennistoun residents via a widely used community website to ensure the comments are as representative as possible.

Local councillors have been assured that there are no definite plans to close any station in Glasgow, yet the consultation paper lists the savings to be made by the closure of stations located less than a mile from other stations. The Fact Sheet issued a month after the consultation document lists Duke Street Station as one of those located within a mile of other stations.

We would be opposed to the closure of Duke Street Station for the reasons enumerated below.

1. Selecting stations for possible closure on the basis that they’re located less than a mile from another station seems flawed to us. In densely populated areas such as Dennistoun this could surely be considered desirable and necessary. Your document listing stations located less than a mile from another station neglects to mention numerous other Glasgow stations located less than a mile from others Queen Street and Central among them. Would you seriously consider closing either of those on that basis?

2. Averaging the £208,000 annual savings among the 11 Glasgow stations noted as being located less than a mile from another station works out at just under £19,000 per station. The money spent upgrading Duke Street station for disability compliance in recent years is far greater than several years worth of proposed savings.

3. Duke Street is the only station in an area with a population in excess of 15,000 that is disability compliant.

4. The costs involved in rendering another Dennistoun station disability compliant would dwarf the annual savings figure.

5. Your own figures show that over 74,000 people now use Duke Street station every year, a figure that has increased by 50% over the past five years and is still increasing.

6. Since the Spring 2011 price rises people in Dennistoun pay a disproportionately high bus fare for a single journey into the city or back, so it’s likely that passenger numbers for 2011 will show another significant increase.

7. Duke Street station is the nearest station in the area to Parkhead Forge shopping centre, and less than a quarter of a mile from the massive new Tesco store in Dennistoun.

8. Figures show that over 60% of Dennistoun’s population don’t have a car, so closing the station would target the people that need it most.

9. Dividing the £19,000 that closing Duke Street Station would save among the 74,000 people that use the station gives a figure of marginally over 25p per passenger per year. Is even considering closing a station for this sum really justifiable?

10. Your consultation document is titled Rail 2014, and 2014 is when the Commonwealth Games take place in venues largely less than a mile from Duke Street Station. While the games are brief in duration, it would not only be local residents inconvenienced by closing the station prior to the event.

11. Any closure of Duke Street station would appear to be at odds with the recent City Plan consultation, which mentioned the possible future construction of a line linking Duke Street with Carntyne station.

12. The possible closure does not take into account the potential future development of an area currently undergoing significant change.

Yours sincerely,

Dennistoun Community Council

PDF version of the response form here.

PDF version of the response letter here.

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Glasgow Neighbourhood Management Survey Agencies

What is Neighbourhood Management?

Neighbourood Management is a process where local communities and agencies, such as Glasgow City Council, the police, and local housing associations, work together to improve local public services by making decisions based on evidence and the views of the local people who live in the area.

In Autumn/Winter 2010/11, the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership carried out a representative survey of almost 7,000 city residents to find out what they thought about their local area – this included 503 interviews in the East Centre ward.

This report summarises what people in the East Centre ward area said about their local neighbourhood, what they liked about living there and what they’d like to improve.

What were people asked?

People were asked about a range of issues that affect their immediate experiences within their own neighbourhood. They were asked their opinions on cleansing and the local environment, safety and security, as well as their experiences of a range of key public services.

What did people say?

In East Centre ward people said:

• there is a high level of satisfaction with the neighbourhood as a place to live. 85% of those asked said they were satisfied
• most residents (83%) feel that they belong to the area; and
• most residents (63%) feel safe in their neighbourhood, although this was below the city average of 74%

Local residents were asked what one thing they would most like to change about their local area. The most frequent responses were:

• more police on the streets (29% wanted this as their top priority)
• more jobs for people (11% wanted this); and
• cleaner streets (10% wanted this)

Across Glasgow, the top responses were also more police (13%), more jobs (11%), and cleaner streets (8%).

Local Amenities

Residents were asked to rate a whole range of local amenities, and aspects of their local area. Residents were most positive about:

• access to shops (with 87% rating as good)
• reputation (with 80% rating as good)
• living in attractive homes (with 79% rating as good); and
• access to banks (76% rating as good)

Residents are less positive about:

• children’s play areas (39% rate as good); and
• youth provision / activities for young people (47% rate as good)

Local Problems

The survey also asked residents about the issues they considered to be the most significant problems in their neighbourhood. The main problems identified were:

• street drinking (28% said this was a problem)
• disruptive children / teenagers (28% said this was a problem)
• drunk or rowdy behaviour (27% said this was a problem); and
• vandalism/graffiti (26% said this was a problem)

Public Services

People were asked their views on local public services. This is what they said:

• 87% rate local health services as good
• 79% rate public transport as good
• 78% of people rate rubbish collection as good
• 46% rate the police service as good, below the city average of 54%; and
• just 26% of people rate youth and leisure services as good, also below the Glasgow average of 36%

Local Environment

People were asked about their issues of concern for the local environment. They said that the main local issues were:

• 57% said dog fouling was an issue. This was above the city average
• 55% said litter was a problem. This is also above the city average
• 39% said fly tipping and dumping were a problem; and
• 28% told us that graffiti was a problem

Further Information

For further information about the survey, including results for other parts of the city, please visit www.glasgowcpp.org.uk , call 0141 287 0060, or email cpp@Glasgow.gov.uk.

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