Painful piles

Well, I challenge anybody to slog through this pile of stuff and not experience some pain...

These are the papers for two days of meetings (P&R and Monitoring and Audit) and I'd like to point out that it is printed double-sided as well, with very few pictures, so P&R has taken a day to slog through. I'm taking a camping stove for the meeting, so if the honk of Bangers'n'Beanz from Heinz permeates the gallery by item 14, don't be surprised. That'll be just before dinner time on day 2...

But the point I am slowly coming to make is that even when nothing seems to be happening, a lot is. Just rather slowly. Let me mention an example- permit parking.

I've been pressing for permit parking to be considered since I've been on the Council. Not because I want to see more restriction imposed, nor because I think it could be a money-spinner for the OIC, but because the OIC itself makes life difficult for anybody near School Place who wants to park near their house Mon-Fri, 9-5. This is mostly in Kirkwall East, viz. White Street, Willow Road, Thom Street, Palace Road, Willowburn Road, St Rognvalds Street and even East Road, so a hot topic. I feel that people in these areas (based on everybody I have asked) would welcome the chance to have preferential parking near their homes for a modest fee, say £50 per annum, with short stay parking still allowed in the marked bays and long stay only for permit holders. Nothing sorted yet, but it is bubbling along now, and hopefully we'll get something to vote on soon. But it has had to queue behind the Papdale Primary 20mph zone, and the successfully contested one-way proposals for Willow Road and Willowburn Road, and a previous failed attempt to consider it meant there was little appetite at the outset.

However, the problems become greater, with long stay parking to be displaced from the Shore Street car park creating even more pressure on East Road, and parking restrictions planned for Place Road too. Permits could allow a resident/short stay user balance very well, but how they are implemented and policed needs careful planning.

So things are happening, but slowly, but not for want of prodding.

There's lots more. Keeping paths clean, flower bed maintenance, abandoning of caravans, boats and building materials in car parks, etc.

I'm too tired to recall them all though. I've been doing a lot of reading...

Tales from the labbook

Conscious that the blog has neither sparkled with wit nor gleamed with insight for a while, I dip into my Council lab books for highlights of the last couple of months. As I am currently working out of 5 books for the various things I do, writing things down becomes more and more important.

1) Planning Reform

A seminar on 26th February, entitled 'Small Country, Big Plans' introduced the upcoming new National Planning Framework. It made a lot of good noises- more planning applications are to be in the jurisdiction of the local authority to reduce timescales for decisions and appeals. The planning reform aims to simplify things (reducing policy document from 350 pages to 35) and enable development. The Government aims to be more hands off about Local Development Plans, and will instruct agencies that they are bodies of the government, not pressure groups nor cheerleaders for environmental issues.

2) Charities and bequests

I succeeded in getting the recommendation to roll up a large number of bequests into a single charity referred back to P&R for a rethink. My issues were that while many of the bequests were at the winding-up stage, others were significant and worthy of preservation as entities with the original aims respected, and that not respecting this would put off future bequests as well.

The revised scheme takes account of this for the larger funds, and makes clear the options for designating funds within a charity fund. This revised scheme was passed at P&R and Full Council and is a much better one- however it still needs the nod from OSCR, the charities regulator. Hopefully this will take place and the funds can be promoted and disbursed- currently they are in limbo.

3) The Council and HIE

The Council received an update on 3rd March on what HIE is up to these days from chairman Willy Roe and chief executive Sandy Cumming. Local businessman Craig Spence has recently joined the HIE board, which is good.

The update basically said business as usual, but with measures to address the Credit Crunch/Global Economic Crisis/Recession. Call it what you like, but I find the way it has exposed the greed and naked self-interest at corporate and national government level even more depressing than the outcomes so far. The banks stole our money to pay for their crazy incentive structures, now the Government is stealing our money to bail them out. Grease the ledges on the banks and wedge their windows open I say. Meanwhile our country has no utilities as the Tories asset stripped them to pay for tax cuts and 'widen share ownership' (but I thought we all owned them before), no heavy industry as it wasn't as sexy as gambling with peoples savings, and we are borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds. But from who? I thought this was a Global crisis. Aren't we still basing the future on wealth that doesn't really exist?

Despite my gloomy feeling that our future prosperity will be based on peats, neeps and home brew, the strategic issues for HIE here are Marine Renewables and the Transhipment Hub.

(Food and Drink did get a namecheck, but nothing about peats. )

Key point is that HIE is doing far less, and only for 'businesses of growth potential' and 'not serving only local markets'. That means about 30 businesses in Orkney this year, and 500 in the Highlands and Islands. Small businesses will get any help that is going from the Business Gateway, a Scottish Enterprise way of working and/or the OIC, and all the Global Connections stuff is heading down the Scottish Development International (run by Scottish Enterprise) route. See the way this could go? It's a concern, as HIE are a far better bet for us as a separate body than as SE Area 6.

4) KGS Surgery #2

A sequel to KGS Surgery #1, which was not the slasher pic I had envisaged but instead a very encouraging series of one to one discussions with intelligent and informed young constituents.

Issues raised to me related to the state of the school building and progress towards the new one (tatty but functional, slightly delayed but definitely well under way). There is a feeling that nothing is being done to KGS as it will be supreceded soon.

Credit Crunch and Council response to it came up (new small grant schemes, acceleration of capital projects and spends etc.), and also issues relating to specific teachers and subjects.


That's me up to 10th March now...

Burning issue

The issue of the font used has captivated the select readership of this blog, and it is clear that I am one of Orkney's least legible non-bachelors.

I have responded promptly and restored my favoured Trebuchet MS to the body text, and increased the size of stevenWriting where it has been retained. Now this looks OK to me, but as the template has been hacked to first make everything bigger, then the body text smaller again I can't guarantee it works everywhere.

Give me a shout if it has gang agley. Thanks to Sue, Sian and Anon for your helpful comments.

Check out Sian's blog at http://sianthom.blogspot.com/, and marvel as I do at how she gets three pictures per post, as well as enjoying the posts.

It was a mistake to customize my template to the extent that I can't face upgrading to New Blogger- but hey, after New Labour who could blame me for being sceptical?

Back to business with the next post.

Trivial interlude

Just to check if anybody reads this (or if anybody can read it), what do you think of the font used on this site?

It's used because it is actually derived from my own handwriting, and the aim is to personalise things a bit. And give the graphologists a field day. Or garphologits as I typed first, as the house is so cold I can hardly feel my hands.

But I realise that even though it turned out better than my usual writing it tends to be a bit small, and flies in the face of accessibility. So if the people speak out against it, I'll switch back to Trebuchet MS or Verdana.

However if you want to create your own font, nip along to http://www.fontifier.com/. To get it on a website you'll need to use WEFT to create an EOT file that you will reference, with exclusions to stop others using your font (and bandwidth). Further advice at reasonable rates from Steven Heddle Consultancy...

[Further update: Sue comments below that a free service is available at http://www.yourfonts.com, and it looks even better than Fontifier!]

Errr... Happy New Year

Well, a lot of things have happened since the last blog.

Fuel prices have come down again, as a side effect of global economic catastrophe. Innovative measures of getting fuel from outwith the local monopolies has shown that the price could be much lower (even if shipped by road from Scrabster to Aberdeen!), and points the finger at the distributors. Of course they are fighting back now, and evidence from Shetland shows that our brave pioneers (Tullock's, Shearer's and Brass's) are liable to be squeezed- I hope their stand is rewarded with some loyalty in the face of the backlash from the distributors.

Interest rates at 1%- surely that is madness, and simply prevents the necessary correction in house prices, and penalises savers to bale out the reckless. Bah.

The Stromness Pierhead Regeneration worries me, as all the exemplary designs look hellish, and Stromness deserves more than a white box and some flagpoles. Having said that, I have every faith in the Stromness councillors to help influence design towards something worthwhile, and will keep my Kirkwall nose out of it.

Closer to home, there has been a number of meetings with Papdale East residents provoked by nuisance neighbours, but also encompassing difficulties in parking, refuse collection and maintenance of walls and footpaths. These issues are being addressed (slowly) and efforts are being made to revive the Papdale Residents Association, which would be excellent as it could call the Council (and the councillors) to account, and also receive annual funding to put towards any projects or ideas it has for the area, in addition to all the stuff the Council has responsibility for.

The All Weather Pitch debate is raging, and I have sympathy for both sides. The residents of Reid Crescent are understandably concerned that the empty and unused green space in front of them might become considerably busier, with potential parking, noise and light pollution issues. On the other hand the Orkney Football Trust are doing a good thing in trying to get a first class facility for Orkney, and have arguments that suggest the pitch will be an amenity and not a nuisance. It should be clear that the Council is not leading this, though may be asked for a financial contribution. The deciding factor may be whether this is forthcoming and whether Planning approves. If it can be shown to fit at The Meadows site, with no significant disturbance to residents, it would seem worth supporting given the benefit to the school.

Regarding KGS, the new build project proceeds, with a completion target of May 2012, building taking place over an ambitious 2 years. KGS now has a Parents Council and I understand that they have a number of issues they wish to see the school address. I hope to attend the next meeting, as both a parent and a councillor, and one of the questions I have is where is the homework for S1 and S2? As a parent I feel really out of the loop as to what my boy is meant to be learning, and yes I realise I should take this up with the school rather than bumping my gums here. I will.

[Update: I have. It would be inaccurate to say that Iain Ballantine and myself were in total agreement, but we had a good discussion and I think we are less far apart on this issue than appeared at the outset. To be continued! I'd still welcome any views from my readership (yes, all 7 of you), and encourage parents to get in touch with the school if they have any concerns they wish to discuss.]

Possible topics for the next blog: Tesco, Woolies (sob), Community Wardens, the empty Travel Centre offices, merits or otherwise of joint working with NHS Orkney, and why we must value having our own Council (see the state of Wick for further details).

Where was I?

I promised a few topics in the last post but failed to deliver... until now!

Kirkwall Masterplan

The Masterplan has now hit the streets, and is available for inspection and comment- please take this opportunity. There is a lot in it, but remember these are the opinions of the consultants and not definitive statements of what is good or bad. Certainly there are things in it I don't agree with, and things not addressed that I would have expected to see. For example, coastal protection at Weyland, and questioning why Kirkwall should grow, when the movement to Kirkwall is from the country and isles.

The consultants presenting the Kirkwall Masterplan did so at the same meeting as different consultants presenting the Stromness Masterplan. I asked if the different groups agreed with each other's findings, but got no takers for a straight reply.

Business Improvement Districts

This is a scheme where an area can be designated as a Business Improvement District following a vote of business ratepayers in the area, and if the vote agrees this a mandatory levy can be imposed on all the business ratepayers in that area to be used by the group set up to manage the BID, generally with match funding from the local authority. I'm not sure about this, as the voting mechanism suggests to me that it could be forced through with only about 30% of businesses actually supporting it- but the nature of the proposed improvements will determine whether it is worth going for.

New Arts Theatre

This seems likely to happen as part of the new KGS. I think this is great, as it is more community facilities in the Papdale area of the town, and will get a lot of use from the school as apparently loads of KGS expressive arts groups are using the Mill Street Arts Theatre at present.

I share misgivings as to how the money for this can be found when it is not a priority, but accept the arguments that this has been spoken about for 30 years and there is no way we'll ever have such an opportunity like this again for generations- savings accrue from the fact that part of the rationale for KGS is greatly improved expressive arts facilities, which can share elements of a new Arts Theatre.

New Tesco

It's here and it's getting bigger. But it could be worse for local retailers as it could have been in addition to Somerfield (although that would have become a bigger Co-op, following further supermarket takeovers). What we must do is ensure planning gain from the new development, so that AT LEAST we get a much better looking store, and road improvements.

Fuel Prices, Councillor's Surgery at KGS, Steven Slags Off The Stromness Pierhead Proposals coming up next. Heard that before?

What's coming up after the summer...

Having not posted for so long (sorry, sorry, sorry...) I had intended to dip into my Council labbook to give a flavour of what had happened- however looking at what I've noted, many of the topics are tasters of what might be of greater interest in the coming months.

As to why I have not brought this to the small but select readership of this blog earlier, let me skip over that point and note what a fine summer of televised sport we have had, with a good European Championships, great Wimbledon and the best Tour de France for many years... and the last weeks of the SPL were particularly enjoyable.

But as the Olympics are now tainted by professionalism, riddled with drugs and poisoned by the smarmy presence of 'Lord' Coe, I'll not be immersing myself in them.

Let's just think about the London Olympics for a moment, as we wonder why less community projects are being funded from the lottery for the next 4 years. I'd like to point out that when I was a committee member of the IPMS whilst working at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, I got a motion tabled at the IPMS national conference in 1997 (or 98?) decrying the Millennium Dome as a huge waste of money that discriminated against the rest of the country... this led to a choking on pizza incident as I read my motion verbatim in the Evening Standard (I was down in London on an adaptive optics course) under the heading 'Top Government Scientists Slam Dome'.

But I digress, and will continue to do so, as I recommend a summer blockbuster to take to the airport. The new Scottish Government's relationship with each council has radically altered, with ring-fencing largely gone (with a notable exception of Gaelic broadcasting- ochone! ochone!) and councils set a limited number of national targets to meet, recast in the context of relevant local outcomes. This is enshrined in the Single Outcome Agreement between the OIC and the Scottish Government, and is well worth reading- this crystallises the council priorities, national priorities, community plan, Best Value Improvement Plan etc. into a single document, with a rash of interesting facts and figures.

----- Click here to get a copy -----

The Scottish Government likes this sort of thing, with the Government Economic Strategy being a similar single reasonably brief document that spells out the rules of the game for Economic Development. If its not in there, HIE won't be doing it. Some stuff will fall under the umbrella of the Business Gateway that councils are now to deliver, but it seems likely that anything beyond a minimum one-size-fits-all national service will be at the discretion (i.e. cost) of the council.

This post is long enough, so I'll stop.

Coming Up Next Time: Kirkwall Masterplan, Business Improvement Districts, New Arts Theatre, New Tesco, Fuel Prices, Councillor's Surgery at KGS, Fuel Prices, and Steven Slags Off The Stromness Pierhead Proposals But Concludes Please Yourselves...

P.S If you feel a new post is necessary anytime, give me a prod at council@kw15.co.uk.

Hardy annual

Well, Northlink didn't listen to the majority of the correspondents, and have received some of the bad press they deserve. However their ever changing excuses regarding the stranded rugby player and assertions that he is the only person to that date to be denied travel strain credibility to say the least. I still maintain the big problem is that this is bad for Orkney, so will rack my brains as to what more can be done- all suggestions gratefully received.

On another front, the Christmas bonus is still up for consideration, and looks likely to remain in a targetted form. There is a balance to be struck here, as many rightly complain a) that at present people who clearly don't need it get it, and b) that a lot of people do need it and should continue to get it. Targetting seems the way to go, and note that this is not means testing by the Council, as nobody wants to get into that. A suggestion has been made at successive meetings to base this on eligibility for Pensions Credit and this is likely to be one of the options to be presented to a seminar on 3rd June. Suggestions from the seminar will then be considered in a paper in the next cycle of meetings. It'll all be over by Christmas!

Talking of the next cycle of meetings...

The third cycle of meetings for 2008 is as follows (remember the acronyms are explained here):
SSH - Tue 3rd June
EPPS - Wed 4th June
Development - Thu 5th June
T&I - Tue 10th June
ERCS - Wed 11th June
Land and Property sub-committee - Thu 12th June
Information Services sub-committee - Thu 12th June at 2.15pm
P&R - Tuesday 24th June
M&A - Thu 26th June
Full Council - Thu 3rd July

It's been an year since the Council elections, and the letterbox scars on my knuckles have healed (although the mental scars never will). People often ask 'How are you finding it?' or 'Are you enjoying it?' Difficult questions to answer, as the sands are always shifting, so you never feel on top of things, and enjoyment doesn't come into it, as sitting in meetings for days at a time is surely something that nobody would do for fun. But it can be satisfying, and it is necessary for somebody to do it. It's often interesting, and I'm pleased with the things I have achieved.

Northlink Photo ID survey results

The survey has closed and the results have been counted. I've written up a report that can be viewed in pdf form by clicking here, but if you just want to read the second page of the 38, it is reproduced below.

Executive summary

The large response to the survey (1186 responses) shows that the introduction of the photo ID requirement is a matter of concern to the people of Orkney and Shetland and arguably should have been the subject of some consultation between Northlink Ferries and the customers it is imposing this on. While this survey is by no means definitive, it allows all opinions to be expressed and thus should be at least indicative of the overall balance of opinion in the islands.

The response was particularly good from Orkney residents, and while a diversity of opinion was shown, particularly in the 500+ text comments submitted, the dominant impression is of dismay and some anger that the photo ID scheme is to be implemented by Northlink. The overall figures show that 64% of respondents are not in favour of the ID scheme as opposed 27% in favour, with more opposition from those who travel to Orkney from Scotland (77% against and 10% for), and less from Shetland (55% against and 34% for) where the arguments regarding security are more credible, but still questionable. For those who question these arguments the proposed scheme is highly unwelcome, unnecessary and to be resisted, perhaps by choosing another operator.

Indeed, when asked if the proposal would affect the choice of operator 43% of respondents said they would be less likely to use Northlink, and only 10% said they would be more likely. In the case of Shetland respondents the predominant responses (83%) were ‘No choice’ or ‘No difference’ reflecting Northlink’s monopoly position. For those travelling to Orkney from the mainland, who cannot benefit from the Islander discount, and for whom the fraud prevention argument is irrelevant, 64% were less likely to use Northlink and only 3% more likely.

These results are mirrored for the final question which asked what effect the photo ID scheme has on the respondent’s opinion of Northlink. In Orkney 61% responded that they have a more (or much more) negative opinion as a result, with 19% more (or much more) positive. For those travelling to Orkney from the mainland it was 78% and 7% percent respectively, and in Shetland the opinion was more mellow at 53% and 30% respectively.

It is apparent that the proposed photo ID scheme is unwelcome in Orkney, and is particularly opposed by travellers to Orkney, the fare paying passengers who are not subsidised to travel and can be seen to be most disadvantaged.

Travel to and from Orkney is currently possible with another operator and as 50% of the responses from those who make this journey said they are less likely to use Northlink, Pentland Ferries look likely to benefit while our lifeline service is undermined, by a policy decision that Northlink do not have to make.

Northlink photo ID proposals

From 1st May 2008 all passengers over the age of sixteen will have to prove their identity through a nationally recognised form of photo ID before being allowed to embark on any Northlink ferry.

Participate in a short survey about these proposals by clicking here.