Visit to VandA Dundee Construction Site

Earlier today, I took the opportunity to visit the VandA Dundee construction site with a group of City Councillors. This seemed important for three key reasons.

Firstly, when I was first elected in May 2007, I was an enthusiast for bringing the VandA Design Museum to Dundee when this idea was broached. I was therefore keen to see how the construction of this iconic building was progressing.

Secondly, this design museum, and it future role as the 'anchor project at the redeveloped Dundee Waterfront, embodies many of our hopes for a brighter economic and cultural future for our City. 

Thirdly, on Monday evening the Policy and Resources Committee of the Council will be considering a progress report on the VandA Dundee and the opportunity for a site visit brought this report to life and helped me prepare for the meeting. 

What I could see and was shown was the emergence of the Kengo Kuma and Associates' designed building. Appropriately, it is rising phoenix like with its foundations built using the recycled crushed rubble from the unloved Tayside House that was demolished on the other side of the waterfront site.

Dundee: One City, Many Discoveries.

Dundee 2nd Economic Summit- Focusing on Youth Unemployment and Capitalising on the V and A @ Dundee

Yesterday morning, I attended the 2nd Dundee Economic Summit at the Bonar Hall in Dundee. This focused on two key themes:

Youth Unemployment
At a time when youth unemployment is at its highest in a decade we need to take action now to offer more opportunities for our young people especially those that are long term unemployed.

As a contribution towards youth unemployment, David Dorward, the Council's Chief Executive, launched the Discover Opportunities Employer Pledge. This pledge supports the vision that employers from all sectors will work together to maximise employment and training opportunities for young people and adults in the City.

Capitalising on The VandA @ Dundee
The summit provided an opportunity to hear about Bilbao and Gateshead which have both used a major new cultural attraction to assist their regeneration. 

This was also a good opportunity to network with employers and partner agencies engaged in the Dundee Partnership.

Demolition of Tayside House - Slowly Does It!

A number of constituents have asked me why Tayside House is taking so long to demolish. It seems ironic that the most unloved building in the city centre is having such a lingering last stand!

When Dundee House opened and Tayside House emptied, I had hoped that the City Council would have organised a public raffle with the winner given the honour of operating the demolition switch. I certainly would have bought a ticket for such an exciting prize.

Council staff advised that the proximity of Taysdie House to the Caird Hall and the railway tunnel running under Dock Street meant that a dramatic demolition was out of the question.

As a result, the method of demolition adopted has been slower and less dramatic and Safedem, the demolition contractor, is demonstrably living up to its name.

Later this year the Hilton, the Casino and the 'original' Olympia Swimming Pool will follow Tayside House. Once the are all demolished, the central Waterfront will be substantially cleared and ready for the VandA to rise like phoenix from the ashes. For the time being, roadworks will occasionally disrupt journeys to and from the city centre. In the end however, I trust constituents will accept that any delays and disruption will be worthwhile.

Check Out the Latest Flythrough Showing VandA at Dundee in its New Location

If you've decided to stay inside rather than venture out in the snow to the Public Consultation Event about the new location and design for the VandA in Dundee, then check out this video:

More details about the Consultation Event which will also be open 10:00 - 16:00 at Abertay University in Bell Street on Saturday 19 January 2013

Selling Dreams: a century of image making - VandA Public Lecture Thursday 6 December 2012 at 6pm

On Thursday 6 December 2012, Susanna Brown will give a lecture called "Selling Dreams: A Century of Image Making" beginning at 7pm at the Dalhousie Building at the University of Dundee. Susanna is the Curator of Photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London and has curated the exhibition of fashion photography which is currently on show at the McManus Galleries:

Selling Dreams: One Hundred Years of Fashion Photography

Free tickets available from: 
events@dundee.ac.uk and www.dundee.ac.uk/tickets
in person from Tower Building Reception at the University, or 
by calling 01382 385564 / 385108.

A free drinks reception will follow the event.

Queen Elizabeth II Portraits by Cecil Beaton - Exhibition Opens at McManus Galleries Dundee Fri 30 September 2011

VandA at Dundee 

An Exhibition

Queen Elizabeth II Portraits by Cecil Beaton at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum 

From Friday 30 September 2011 - Sunday 8 January 2012

Admission Free

Four Weddings and a Funeral Not - Three AGMs and a Development Quality Meeting

Like weddings, there is a season for AGMs and for many of our local organisations in our community, September is when such a meeting is scheduled. During the last ten days, I have attended three Annual General Meetings as well as a meeting last night of the Development Management Committee of the Council. 


First the AGMs. These important meetings usually include not only elections/re-elections of committee members and adoption of annual accounts but also report on the progress of the organisation and provide some pointers about where the organisation wants to go during the next year. 


On Saturday morning 10th September, I attended the second AGM of the Broughty Ferry Development Trust held in Castle Green Leisure Centre. This relatively new organisation is making good progress with a number of admirable projects to enhance Broughty Ferry such as restoring the distinctive street lights on Beach Crescent. It's not a talking shop, it is making things happen and folk are clearly rolling their sleeves up. After the formalities, Roddy Isles from the V&A Making It Happen Project Team overviewed the progress of the project and then talked to the thirty odd members present about the potential opportunities and benefits for Broughty Ferry from the V&A. This stimulated a number of interesting suggestions such as boat trips from the V&A at its waterfront site doon the river to the Ferry. I proposed a vote of thanks to the Committee for their hard work throughout the year.


On the evening of Tuesday 13 September, I attended the AGM of the Parent Council at Grove Academy. The meeting re-elected Allen Thurston as Chairperson of Grove Academy Parent Council. With his background as a parent with children at the school, as a former Teacher in Dundee and as a Researcher working on school improvement, Allen is a a very well qualified person to carry out this role. I think Grove Academy Parent Council is a very effective organisation which has shown its support for and engagement with the school in a number of key ways over the last year.  For example, two parents on the Parent Council were members of the selection board for the appointment of a new Head Teacher for Grove. It was reported that a preferred candidate has been chosen and when the contractual formalities have been concluded by the Education Department, a formal announcement will be made. 


On a wet and windy Friday evening 16 September Broughty Ferry in Bloom held their AGM at Castle Green Leisure Centre. Stan Nutt the Chairperson reported on the award of a Silver Medal in the Beautiful Scotland awards which had been held in Rothesay on Monday 12 September (Silver Medal awarded to be an above-average entry that meets most of the judging criteria and objectives of Beautiful Scotland) . Broughty Ferry in Bloom  hope they that will strike Gold or Silver Gilt next year if we all collaborate by sprucing up our gardens and open spaces. A video of the hidden and beautiful gardens in the Ferry was also shown to the members and supporters who turned up.


Interestingly, if you are wondering about my title, yes there some parallels between Four Weddings and a Funeral and the annual meetings I have been attending. All the AGMs have featured a core of key folk who have undertaken a considerable amount of unpaid work and some of these active citizens appeared in more than one of these key meetings in our community. 


Finally, last night I attended a meeting of the Development Quality Committee of the Council. Of particular note was the detailed planning permission granted for the new Asda supermarket on the NCR site beside Kingsway West.