Happy Easter 2013

Happy Easter
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Commenting on Housing Affordability in Dundee

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On Tuesday the Bank of Scotland published the results of its survey on housing affordability in Scotland.

The table shows that Dundee is the third most affordable city in Scotland with a house price to earnings ratio of 4.67. This compares with the lowest ratio in Stirling at 3.81 and Inverness, the highest in Scotland at 5.71.

Dundee's favourable ratio is based on the comparatively lower average house prices in the city. This is an advantageous for first time buyers who can stump up a deposit, but it is not so positive for those owner occupiers selling up and leaving the city, especially if they were moving to Inverness where their money wouldn't go nearly so far.

Last week Zoopla published a survey which I also reported. That survey showed that renting in our city was 2% more affordable than house purchase.

The downside of both these reports is what the indicate about the local economy in Dundee.  It seems likely that demand for housing by new residents moving into the city has been depressed by a reduction of jobs in the private and public sectors.

Wefare Reform - How Will It Affect You? April Meeting of Broughty Ferry Community Council Tues 2 April 2013 7pm

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The  next meeting of Broughty Ferry Community Council will be devoted to exploring the implications of Welfare Reform.

Speakers will inform and engage in discussions about the effects of Welfare Reform on the incomes of people in our community.

Over the next few years there will be a series of fundamental changes to benefits that taken together will amount to the largest shake of since the Beveridge Report in 1942. Some of these changes will begin on Monday 1st April.

These include the move towards online application only for many welfare benefits, monthly rather than fortnightly payments, payments to bank accounts, and the imposition of the 'bedroom tax' on council and housing association tenants whose homes are now calculated to have spare bedrooms.

The meeting will be held in the Broughty Ferry Library on Tuesday 2nd April beginning at 7pm. 

Broughty Ferry Community Council meets in the Library on Queen Street on the first Tuesday of each month except August. Its meetings begin at 7pm and conclude by 8:45pm.

Purposeful Annual General Meeting of Dundee Youth Council

Chairperson 2013/14 of Dundee Youth Council Daniel Coleman
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Last night I attended, by invitation, the Annual General Meeting of Dundee Youth Council. Their meeting was held in the City Chambers in Dundee.

Outgoing Chairperson, Laura Gorman, presented some of the highlights from 2012/13 which are referred to in the Youth Council's Annual Report. She  also reported on the election of their new Office Bearers for the coming year. Daniel Coleman was elected as Chairperson for 2013/14. 

Laura also referred to their Manifesto which builds on their citywide survey of undertaken in 2011/12 and which had involved 4494 respondents from our nine secondary schools.

There were also updates from the members of the Youth Council who had led their campaigns over the last year including the It's No Fare Campaign. This campaign aims to:

• Lower the bus fare for all under 18's to a reasonable price;
• Improve the reliability of the buses and
• Increase the frequency of buses. 

There were also reports on some of the opportunities Youth Councillors had taken to provide a youth perspective in public consultations and in meetings. Most notably, this included Youth Councillor for Dundee East, Matthew Landsburgh, who had been appointed as a member of the Board of NHS Tayside.

It is clear that Youth Councillors and Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament in Dundee are committed to representing the interests of young people in our City and striving purposefully to do that.

Link to Summary of the Results of the Youth Council Survey 2011/12 

Queen Street Road Works Progressing

Cables being laid in Queen Street
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Work of laying the new electricity cables along Queen Street seems to be progressing well and is apparently on target for a finish this weekend. 

Since Tuesday 19 March, contractors have been working on the stretch of Queen Street between Fort Street and St Vincent's Street.

My picture was taken from the top of the steps up to the entrance to the Library.

In a week when residents on Arran have been without power because of severe weather damage to their above ground electricity transmission cables, the importance and relative security of our new underground electricity supply for Broughty Ferry is emphasised. 

Final Meeting of Tayside Police After Thirty Eight Years Service

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On Monday morning, I attended the last meeting of Tayside Police Board. 

Members of the Board considered a number of reports which detailed the transition from eight regional Police Forces to the new Single Police Force for Scotland that will come into effect on Monday 1st April 2013. While it was clear that the changeover has taken a great deal of planning, other reports dealt with day to day policing which had been effectively continuing in parallel with the preparation for the changeover next week.


For example, the report, TAYSIDE POLICE PERFORMANCE POSITION AT JANUARY 2013, revealed that:

"The force achieved 3 out of 4 of crime reduction targets by January:

• A reduction in violent crime of 22.6% (101 crimes)
• Despite an increase in robbery of 2.0% (2 crimes)
• A reduction in vandalism of 9.8% (342 crimes)

Domestic housebreaking failed to achieve target


Domestic Housebreaking - saw a 15.2% increase from 541 to 623 crimes at the end of January. The end of year target is 700 ..... ."

During their 38 years of operation as a regional police force, I think Tayside Police have effectively protected the combined communities of Dundee, Angus and Perth and Kinross.

At the end of the morning senior officers and staff and elected members braved the cold wind for a procession down the High Street and ceremony in Tay Street for not only Tayside Police but also Tayside Fire and Rescue, which is also to become a single national service at the same time.

Anton Drive Replacement Retaining Wall Going Up Fast

Reconstructing the retaining wall in Anton Drive
Tuesday 12 March.
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Since Monday 11 March contractors have been erecting the replacement retaining wall along on the side of Anton Drive in the Ferry.

In July 2012, I was informed that, after a safety inspection by the Council's Senior Engineers, it had been necessary to erect safety fencing along the length of this wall prior to replacement or repair of the wall.

The first picture shows work in progress on Tuesday 12 March. Despite subsequent snow and ice, the second picture shows excavation and construction much further up the street.

Reconstructing the retaining wall further
along Anton Drive - Tuesday 19 March.
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Residents I have talked this week are relieved that this work is now being undertaken. A big BUT from them is that the trees on the embankment above the new wall are not being reduced in height. Residents who live in the terraced houses opposite the wall remain concerned that their homes will be damaged when one of the tall trees topples over. A long term resident who has lived in these homes since they were built, remembers three separate incidents when falling trees and branches have damaged property beneath. When these concerns have been reported to the Council over many years, a major constraint is that these trees are on private land and this limits the power of the Council to intervene. I have written to the Council's Forestry Officer to request that they contact the private owners above to request that remove diseased and dying trees.

Dundee Beats Edinburgh in Top Five Locations Where Renting is Cheaper Than Buying a Property

Top 5 UK locations where renting rules

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In a survey published recently in an Independent blog posting, Dundee is identified in the top five places in the UK where it is cheaper to rent than to buy a home. Best of all Dundee came in at number four, a place above Edinburgh!

The Independent's Property Correspondent, Alex Johnson, drew upon an analysis by Zoopla. Their analysis,
'suggests that renting a typical two-bedroom property is £987 more expensive per year than paying an interest-only mortgage on an equivalent home.'

Link to Independent blog article for details of how Zoopla made their calculations. 

While buying is now cheaper than renting across 86% of the UK’s cities, up from 84% one year ago, it is clear that in Dundee the differences are less pronounced and different. The table of 'Top 5 UK locations where renting rules' (see above) shows Dundee coming in at 4 above Edinburgh! The table shows that it is 2% cheaper to rent than to buy in Dundee.

Familiar Mural on the Coastal Pathway to be Removed but Hopefully Replaced

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Regular walkers and cyclists that use the coastal pathway from Douglas Terrace to the Stannergate will soon find that a distinctive mosaic panel will have vanished. The panel is located close to the Douglas Terrace end of the coastal pathway. The mosaic is being removed along with the concrete panel to which it has been stuck, as part of the latest phase of the upgrading of the coastal pathway.

For the sake of posterity, I thought that this public artwork deserved remembering before it was gone.  It has brought some colour and a riddle to the wanderings of folk who read its message: 'If you take the time to look, you'll find wild flowers ....'

Broughty Ferry Environmental Project, who installed this mural, are hopeful that they will be able to replace it with another mosaic in a new location, once the construction work is complete. 

Launch of Teach Global Ambassadors at One World Centre Dundee

Sally Romilly front row left
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Yesterday, I went to the launch of the Teach Global Ambassadors programme at the One World Centre in Dundee.

The One World Centre in Princes Street is an education centre for global and environmental issues. In their shop front premises one can access inspirational people and a wide range of resources to promote learning and understanding about these issues. They have a very positive record of working with Dundee schools and communities.


Sally Romilly, the one paid member of staff at the Centre, introduced the Teach Global Ambassadors Programme which aims to increase young people’s awareness and critical understanding of our interdependent world, and their role, responsibility and lifestyles in relation to a globalised society. 

Cllr Richard McCready, Jenny Marra MSP and me
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It will involve working with secondary teachers in Scotland and Lithuania. In the first phase of the programme, this will involve Secondary Schools in two local council areas. 

I hope that Dundee will be one of these Councils.

This was an informative and positive event.



One World Centre Dundee
189 Princes Street Dundee DD4 6DQ
Office hours Monday - Thursday 10:00 - 16:00
Phone 01382 454603 - during office hours 
E-mail admin@oneworldcentredundee.org.uk

Ardler Primary School and Nursery Class - Inspection Report 19 March 2013

On Wednesday, Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education (HMIe) published their report of their inspection visit to Ardler Primary School and Nursery Class.

The report identified that the school and nursery class had many strengths and areas where they have been making significant progress.

It also identified three key areas for improvement:

• Improve arrangements for meeting children’s needs at the primary stages;
• Improve primary-aged children’s attainment in reading and writing and
• Use self-evaluation in a focused way to secure further improvements in learning, teaching and curriculum development.

The report concluded that:
'.... the school needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements. Our Area Lead Officer along with the local authority will discuss the most appropriate support in order to build capacity for improvement, and will maintain contact to monitor progress. We will return to evaluate aspects of provision and the progress in improving provision within twelve months of publication of this letter. We will then issue another letter to parents on the extent to which the school has improved.'

Parents and Carers with children at Ardler Primary School will want to be reassured that the Council will now provide the 'additional support' required and explain how the areas for improvement. will be progressed.

In October 2012, the Inspection Report on St Andrew's RC Primary School was published and that report also indicated that the school required 'additional support' from the Council.

I think it is significant that both Ardler Primary School and St Andrew's RC Primary School lost a Depute Head Teacher in the SNP's budget cuts introduced in April 2011. Now we are seeing the effect of this and other cutbacks in our schools. When these budget savings were announced, I warned that these short term cuts would cause long term damage.

Link to Ardler Primary School and Nursery Class HMI Report

Dundee Schools' Bands and Orchestras Spring Concerts 2013

Last night I attended the second of the two Spring Concerts in the Caird Hall featuring performances from the Dundee Schools' Bands and Orchestras.
The programme last night featured the Guitar Ensemble, Junior String Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Concert Band and Schools' Symphony Orchestra. On Tuesday night I would have seen and heard from the Junior Wind Ensemble, the Intermediate Orchestra, the Rock Band and the Senior Wind Ensemble. It was good to find that a variety of musical instruments and genres is embraced and supported by the Instrumental Music Teaching Service.

At the concert, talented young musicians from our primary and secondary schools performed a variety of pieces from Bizet to The Beatles.  

My favourite musical moment of the evening was the stirring performance of the Intermezzo from Sibelius's Karelia Suite. Members of the audience with longer memories no doubt remembered that this piece were used as the title music for the former ITV current affairs programme This Week. A stand out individual performance was the young singer who sang with the percussion ensemble.

As a regular at these evenings, I appreciated the slicker staging of the performances. Clever use of the entire Caird Hall stage and the choir stalls meant that there were fewer intervals between performances when the chairs and music stands had to be shifted around. When this was necessary however short videos were informative and entertaining.

Well done to all our young performers and the staff and parents that nuture their musical talent.

Today is UK Government Budget Day, International Happiness Day and the Spring Equinox

Wednesday 20 March 2013 is not only UK Budget Day but also International Happiness Day and the Spring Equinox.

I suppose that gives us a multiple options as to what to think and feel about the day.

The United Nations has declared 20 March 2013 as the first ever International Day of Happiness. It apparently hopes the initiative will encourage governments to consider the well-being of their citizens, rather than focusing efforts solely on economic growth. Unfortunately the Chanellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, needs no encouragement in that direction as he has presided over a shrinking economy chronically dipping in and out of recession.

While the calendar may tell us that its the Spring Equinox, the chilling weather outside and the lack of green shoots in the garden tells us something different. At least the days will be longer than the nights.

Rather than singing, Ken Dodd's 'Happiness', two quotations from Shakespeare come to mind:
'Now is the winter of our discontent' and 'beware the Ides of March'.

Grove Academy Internet Survey - Pupils Need Help With Their Investigation

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S3 Pupils at Grove Academy are undertaking a survey as part of a Computer Science project. This survey is being carried out throughout the local community to find out about awareness of using technology safely.

These pupils need folk to compete their online survey. It takes about 15 minutes to complete. All responses  are being collected anonymously. 
The survey is open to anyone from the age of seven upwards.

To complete an online survey, click on this link.

Older People in Broughty Ferry Had Their Say

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Last Wednesday afternoon, a group of older people from Broughty Ferry attended a consultation event held at the YMCA in Brook Street.

The event was organised by a new team of Community Engagement Workers who have been funded through the Reshaping Care for
Older People Fund. They are based at at The Volunteer Centre in Dundee.

I attended in a dual capacity as both a Ferry Councillor and an older person.

During the afternoon folk were invited in small groups to have our say about our area over a cup of tea. More specifically, we were aksed what we liked about our area, what we would like to see improved in our community and most importantly, how we could help to achieve this.

It was a productive and interesting afternoon which was helpfully facilitated by the Community Engagement Workers.

Follow Up Event - Date for Your Diary
On Wednesday 15 May 2-4 pm there will be a Feedback Event to hear what was said about growing older in The Ferry.