Proposals for School and Family Development Workers At Unacceptable Cost to Support for Learning Teachers

On Monday evening 22 April, the Education Committee was asked to approve a plan to appoint 17 School and Family Development Workers across the city. They will work with primary school and nursery school ,children and their parents and carers. 

The committee report pointed out that:

 'The work of the Early Intervention School and Family Development Worker (EIFDW) is designed to offer early intervention, preventative support and guidance and advice to parents and families to help deal with issues and problems as soon as they emerge.'

I support the case for these staff, but I find it unpalatable that half the cost of this new initiative will be immediately borne by having fewer support for learning teachers in our schools because £250,000 is robbed from their budget which is 'underspent' by not filling vacant posts for Support for Learning Teachers.

As a result, children who have learning difficulties and who are being supported in mainstream schools settings will receive less support in their schools. These pupils will pay for half of this experimental scheme. As the funding for the other £250,000 of the budget is only guaranteed for three years, this proposal asks us to be prepared to reduce support for learning by up to £500,000 in the medium term.

I think the Council should look harder at how they can fund this project; otherwise it would be merely robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Education Committee Papers 22 April 2013

Open Space on Douglas Terrace Needs Attention Once It's Vacated by Contractors Working on Coastal Pathway

Click on image to enlarge

Contractors working on the upgrading of the raised coastal pathway near Douglas Terrace have been using the triangle of green space in the picture for storage of plant and building materials.

Now that the contract is coming to an end, we can anticipate residents and visitors getting their open space back. But I think it will need some initiative from the grounds maintenance staff in the Environment Department to re-seed the bald patches and to flatten out the surface where this has been churned up.

I have contacted the Environment Department Manager for Dundee East to request that once Kilmac, the contractors, have finished on site in the next two or three weeks, that restoration of the this area of open space is prioritised.

Building Work Approved for Eastern and Forthill Primary Schools

At the City Development Committee last night, the Council agreed to funding for two tenders for building work at schools in The Ferry:

Eastern Primary School, a sum of £68,634.90 for "Gym Hall Heating Refurbishment" by Environment Department (Construction Services)

I think pupils and teachers, as well as out of school users of the Games Hall, will appreciate heaters that work effectively.







Forthill Primary School, a sum of £161,299.00 for "Out of School Modular Unit" - Supply of Modular Unit by Elite Systems

This will provide larger premises for the children using the Forthill Out of School Care Club which was recently rated by the Care Inspectporate with Excellent grades for each category of their inspection.

Proposed Dundee Tourism Strategy and Broughty Ferry

On Monday, Councillors will be asked to approve a Tourism Action Plan for the Council. As a Ferry Councillor, I have been looking at where Broughty Ferry fits into this.

Broughty Ferry is mentioned twice in the twenty page report. Firstly, the report acknowledges that in addition to the city centre and the waterfront developments there are other destinations to be promoted: 
"Dundee also has some key locations which are likely to be of interest and could be packaged as visitor attractions in their own right – examples of this would include Broughty Ferry and also West End or Cultural Quarter."

And when it comes to recommendations and actions:
"Identify key geographies in terms of specific areas within the city which can be packaged as a visitor destination within the city.
Lead Department –
• Activities
- Consider the added value to packaging areas together in relation to tourism offer i.e. Broughty Ferry, West End/Cultural quarter and develop marketing information
• Measures
- Additional visitors to areas identified
• Timescale – Ongoing

I know that Broughty Ferry Traders, the Community Council and the Broughty Ferry Development Trust would all welcome better promotion of Broughty Ferry as a destination. Currently, Visit Scotland's offering on their website leaves a lot to be desired as their information is out of date and incomplete. And measuring success of this proposed Tourism Action Plan by increases in visitor numbers to The Ferry would be a fair and acid test.

Back Dundee's Bid to Achieve UK City of Culture Status in 2017

Click on image to enlarge

Dundee is bidding to be the UK City of Culture in 2017, a competition run by the UK government which uses culture and creativity to transform communities. 

It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves what an astonishing place Dundee is, and what remarkable people live and work here.

We Dundee is a way to show the tremendous imagination and enthusiasm of people from all walks of life across the city, and demonstrate the difference that becoming UK City of Culture could make to us individually and as a city. 

The Stage One bid has to be submitted by the end of April and the We Dundee website invites comments in support of the bid - the aim is to have 2017 comments by the Stage One bid deadline.

Back Dundee's bid to achieve UK City of Culture Status in 2017 by adding your comments:

Link to 2017 - Your City, Your Culture, Your Bid website. 

Forward Together - Discovering Out of School Care in Dundee

One of four discussion groups at the seminar
Click on image to enlarge

On Friday morning, I attended the Forward Together - Discovering Out of School Care in Dundee event held in the Marryat Hall.

This seminar was organised by staff from the City Council's Education Department and involved staff and committee members from the seventeen clubs in the city. This network of clubs provide good quality out of school care for over 1000 children. Their flexible service provides before and after school care and extended hours during the school holidays. This not only provides care for children, but also supports parents and carers who are working.

It is often not appreciated that each club is independently managed by a committee of parents who employ staff to run the clubs. Clubs are financed by a mixture of fees paid by parents and carers and fund raising together with grant aid from the Council as well as free access to school premises. So while the Council support the clubs and see them as a vital part of care and learning for children in our city, they do not directly run them like nursery and primary schools.

During the morning, it became clear that there are a number of challenges for the Out of School Care Clubs. First of these, on the road ahead, is that in few years time all managers of clubs will need to be qualified to degree level. Currently, most of the Managers across the city are not qualified to this level.

In The Ferry, each of our three primary schools has an Out of School Care Club. I have recently featured the very positive inspection reports on the clubs based at Eastern Primary School and Forthill Primary School.

North Barnhill Residents' Group Public Meeting

On Wednesday evening I attended a public meeting organised by North Barnhill Residents' Group in the gym hall at Barnhill Primary School.

The meeting heard from Art Sangster, Senior, Community Safety Warden (see picture) with Dundee City Council about the work of the Community Safety workers in Dundee. He stressed the importance of residents contacting Community Safety about issues that concerned them as his team no longer undertook routine patrols but responded to issues that had been reported to them.

Nicola Mitchell, Tenant Participation facilitated a discussion about community issues that the residents would like to progress over the coming year.

For further information about the meetings of this group, please contact:

Nicola Mitchell
Tenant Participation Officer
East District Housing Office
169 Pitkerro Road Dundee DD4 8ES 
Tel 01382 307330 Email nicola.mitchell@dundeecity.gov.uk

YMCA Window Boxes Brighten Up The Neighbourhood

Have you noticed the YMCA have planted primulas in their window boxes this year?  

Despite the hesitant start to Spring, the flowers are peeking over the top of the window boxes and providing a colourful glimpse of Spring in Brook Street as we pass by.

Well done to the YMCA for brightening up our neighbourhood.

Missing Bollard in Queen Street Car Park Reported

A constituent alerted me to the missing bollard in the easterly corner of the Queen Street Car Park.

This row of bollards prevent cars from takin a short cut into Gray Street.  

I have contacted the transportation department about this issue and requested the installation of a replacement to bridge the gap in the line of bollards

Broughty Opera Celebrating 90 Years and Performing 90th Spectacular - Gardyne Theatre 24, 25 and 26 April 2013

Broughty Ferry Amateur Operatic Society are celebrating their 90th birthday this year.

To mark this occasion they will be performing a "90th Spectacular" in the Gardyne Theatre on Wednesday 24th, Thursday 25th and Friday 26th April 2013. There will be singing and dancing from various shows over the past 90 years.

This is a significant milestone for Broughty Opera who have made and continue to make a very positive contribution to the musical life of our community.

Performances of the "90th Spectacular" show start at 7.30pm and tickets - £12 - are available from any company member or the City Box Office telephone 01382 434940.

Links
Broughty Ferry Opera website
Broughty Ferry Opera on Facebook

Gale Force Winds in Broughty Ferry Blow Over Fencing on the Coastal Pathway

Gale force winds in Broughty Ferry yesterday blew over a lengthy section of the site fencing along the coastal pathway near Douglas Terrace. 

The fallen line of interconnected fencing panels were constricting the available 'corridor' for walkers and at the same time potentially opening up access across the fallen fencing to the seaward side of the walkway where there is as yet no protective barrier on the edge.

Contractors Kilmac are currently upgrading the last unimproved section of the coastal pathway that runs between the Stannergate and Douglas Terrace. 

I contacted Kilmac and the City Engineer to inform them about the fencing.

Littering in Broughty Ferry is an Expensive and Unsightly Disgrace

Wind blown litter on Claypotts Road
Click on image to enlarge

Before roadside shrubs burst into leaf and bloom, accumulated litter on our road margins is, to my mind, an unwanted eyesore.

My photo features a short stretch of Claypotts Road which is, unfortunately, typical of too many locations in Broughty Ferry just now.

Carelessly discarded cigarette cartons, drinks cans and bottles, confectionery wrappers, plastic carrier bags and redundant packaging are accumulating in wind blown locations like this.

I know I am definitely showing my age when I harp back to the good old days of cash deposits on drinks' containers and less packaging on confectionery. Kids would be paid the deposits for bottles that they had collected and then returned to a retailer. Mrs Cartmel ran the sweet shop near where I spent my childhood. Like most kids that returned 'found' empty bottles of popular carbonated drinks, I immediately turned the cash deposits I had earned into purchases of sweets.

Another abiding memory of those times was the injunction from my parents to either put ones rubbish into a bin or take it home. This was reinforced by adult relatives and friends. And by and large it was a tidier time on the litter front. 

So while the Council evidently have a role to play, its very expensive constantly clearing up after us all. I, for one, resent spending so much of our public money on cleansing when the money would be better spent in our schools and other public services. 

We all therefore have a role to play to reduce this unsightly intrusion onto our community. 

Enough said!

No 5 Bus Service Unreliability

I have received this detailed and worrying complaint about the No 5 bus service from a constituent. 

The constituent reported:


"Just before Easter passengers boarded a number 5 bus outside Debenhams.  It drove on only one stop and passengers were asked to get out and get on the next bus.  That immediately went out of service as well on arrival at the High Street main stop (ie after progressing 1 stop only), and the third bus uplifted passengers but it was very overcrowded.  The first bus was a double decker, the second a very small single decker, and the third a standard single-decker.  The latter 2 were too small for the number of passengers, especially at a peak time. 

My complaint is about the general deterioration of the 5 commuter service over several months.  The above is a typical example. The service is now unreliable; does not conform to timetable; services are regularly cancelled at peak times; the buses which do turn up are often far too small for the number of passengers and regularly passengers are left standing at intermediate stop s.  The service is very poor.  I am also emailing this text to my elected representatives because I complained a few months ago but the service has got worse since then."

I have asked National Express Dundee for an explanation for my constituent and regular users of the No 5 service.

Five Pavements in Broughty Ferry Will be Upgraded in 2013/14

The City Development Department have informed me that five pavements in Broughty Ferry have been included in the Council's 2013/14 programme of upgrading unadopted pavements.

These are:

• Abertay Street - west side
• Fairfield Road - east side (north of Strathern Road)
• Bughties Road - south side
• Campfield Road
• Albany Road - south side

I know from constituent complaints and concerns that there will be many folk who will be pleased when their pavements are upgraded and then adopted by the Council.

For example, one grand mother complained to me about the state of the west side of Abertay Street in the stretch between Camphill Road and the Campfield Square shops. This had been so uneven that it had been painful for her to walk along. Furthermore when her grand daughter was pushing her doll's pram to the shops, the large exposed gravel was a hazard for young knees and an awkward barrier for the wee pram wheels.

I am sure constituents in the relevant streets will now be counting the days until there pavements are upgraded.

  

Forthill Drive Walkabout March 2013

Last month, on a bitterly cold afternoon, I took part in the annual walkabout around Forthill Drive and the surrounding streets. 

This was arranged by the Housing Department who had invited representatives from council and other services to walk round the estate with members of the Forthill Tenants' Association.

During the walk we were all able to identify housing and other environmental issues that needed attention.

In Forthill Place for example we identified that the road sign was hanging down and on closer inspection looked as though it had been hit by a reversing car. We also met residents who told us about their frustration with parents and carers who try to drive down Forthill Place to the side gate for Forthill Primary School and then find it difficult to turn or reverse all the way back to Forthill Drive. Forthill Place is the narrowest street on the Estate and has no pavements.

The drooping street sign and the issue of restricting access to Forthill Place has been reported to the Transportation Department.