Big Society or Community Spirit

Yesterday was quite a day at the water tower, if you count the removal of a stretch of barbed wire and metal posts as an achievement. I do, because it took some time for this to happen. Strangely enough the change is not that obvious to the passer by. Its change blindness said John H as he stopped to congratulate on the house programme win.

Have had lots of messages regarding the house programme but sadly our friends in the USA can’t view the programme. I need to secure a DVD copy somehow.

Yesterday morning I read Jeremy Clarkson’s article in the Sunday Times. I do love his writing style and it always makes me chuckle. This article was about David Cameron’s big society and it turns out Jeremy is a neighbour of David and has firsthand experience of what Big Society is all about. Their local village is in Chipping Norton, and they run their own indoor swimming pool. Every year now they run a fund raising event and as Jeremy explained, it is more than just keeping the pool open. On fund raising nights the man from the pub who donates a free dinner with wine gets to meet the man from the bookshop, and the woman from the florist gets to meet the kids from the local school band. As Jeremy sees it – anything with the word Big in it makes it sound like a promotion for a sofa shop and he prefers to call it small society to embrace everything good about community spirit.

As I went off to the Scottish Parliament that night I was reflecting on the barbed wire work and Jeremy’s article. I was also mentally planning for an event for the Red Cross Ball. I had met up with the ball organiser and Dawn, the hat and dancer from the TV programme, at Prestonfield House that morning. Dawn is donating a hat to the event and also performing her tasteful burlesque dance routine at the opening. We are all excited about the big event – 5^th March if anyone wants to take a table, contact me. Gerry and I always donate a dinner (like the man in the pub at Chipping Norton) and over the years we have raised a few pounds for good causes. Perhaps 2 of the best were The Rocking Horse Ball when the dinner event was “sold” three times and at the 3^rd time I asked the auctioneer if she would mind waitressing. She said yes. Another which we didn’t attend but donated to, was an event in aid of The Queen Mothers hospital in Glasgow. The lucky winners came along in their best Glasgow finery (Issey Myake is all Gerry can remember and he thought some of the shoes might have cost £200. Put an extra zero onto that G). The group had a great night – apart from a knife and fork for their soup – long story – another day, but we asked out of interest, how much had they bid? “Ah well it got serious wee man, with a consultant sort of chap who thought he could outbid us. We don’t give up though”. Yes but how much – how much. Turned out to be £9,000 and there were only 10 people there. I suddenly got nervy that night and then remembered their dinner was done. I relaxed for a bit and then remembered we had given them a knife and fork to eat their soup. Only Glaswegians could not ask for a spoon, but use a fork to scoop out the bits in the Tom Yum soup and pick up their bowl to drink the soup. They thought it was some posh Edinburgh way to eat soup.

I arrive at The Parliament and after the security check, glass of wine, pile of papers and much hanging around on my own, I met a dark haired lady from Glasgow. We were both there for the Rare Diseases event. It’s annual, sometimes on Feb 29^th – a rare day – or the 28^th, but this year it was a week early! I chatted and heard quite quickly she was there because her son died 2 weeks ago from a rare disease. Her husband died 1 year ago and he carried the same defective gene that affected her son. Amazingly she also carries the defective gene and has been asked if there was any possible family connection between husband and wife because of the chances of 2 people having this gene defect. She has a daughter and twin boys. Boy this is complicated now. What are the chances of a recessive autosomal gene transmission to the surviving children? If you all remember school genetics XX and XY there I was drawing out the combinations but really – what do I know? Certainly not enough. Go see your consultant I said. But they only diagnosed it in Australia she said. It can’t be done at Queen Mothers Hospital. QMH – the very place which raised 9K from a dinner at our wee restaurant. I gave her my details and whilst I can’t work out the Mendhelsons Peas genetic recessive chromosomal inheritance blah blah stuff anymore I might just be able to help out with a fund raiser.

To recap – Prestonfield this morning and the Red Cross Ball – barbed wire and metal post removal for beautification of Cemetery Road has taken over a year to achieve – Scottish Parliament and Rare Diseases event at night and reflection on a 9K dinner event at the water tower restaurant. Well that leaves a big gap in the afternoon! Not in the Goldwyre household though. Oh no. We ran off the latest letters from the planning web site and well, at one point I fell off my chair. I have to commend Mrs Bowie on one bit about Elm Trees. She states that the tree officer told her that the Elms will die off anyway because they are diseased and might as well come down, and then, in brackets, - "I do hope my doctor doesn’t use the same approach!" I really appreciated this bit of humour in an otherwise gob smacking letter of 7 pages to object to a sitting out area, a fence, steps and path widening.

Yes I am back to planning. Sorry. The latest letters amount to 2 from Mr and Mrs Bowie in objection and 1 from Dr Nancy Mclean to support. All are local residents. In the Bowie letters it actually questions the viability of our wee restaurant and suggests that our new house is really being used as a supplement to the restaurant. In fact, Mrs B has observed Gerry teetering across the road with armfuls of crockery. This has tax implications you know. What about the 9K fund raised Mrs B - how does that sit with your question on the viability of our restaurant I wonder?

Dr Nancy documents the condition of the ground that we own, in the 1960’s and 70’s. Cemetery Lodge was a dull stucco clad little bungalow, all around the entrance to the gates was unkempt, and the drying green opposite was a shambles of rusting iron bedsteads, old tyres and a dumping ground of rubbish – all overgrown with nettles and brambles.

I guess we have transformed the place but not everyone appreciates the transformation. I think the new fence doesn’t look good from the viaduct myself but it’s a lot better than the metal one behind it and at least the ivy will grow on the wood where it couldn’t take hold of the metal. Trees have been removed but I’m not going over that lot again – there is no intention of growing new trees to the maximum size, permitting them to be removed again to maintain a view. I hadn’t really thought of that but you make an interesting observation Mrs B. I think most people know me better to state such a thing. Oh and no pole stage trees have ever been removed from area 10 I can assure you Mr B. Going back to Dr Nancy’s letter – a major scar on the Northside of the embankment was caused by a landslide of the path(!) on which we could walk behind Eskview Villas – this took away trees and shrubs – the remaining entrance to the pathway was highly dangerous unprotected area, past which we had to guide our children.

Now I am trying to do something about this area having bought a liability off the council. It would be really nice if Big Society got together on this one and maybe we could open up a walkers path as part of the source to sea route. I’m keen – are you?

I couldn’t begin to summarise all the points raised in the Bowies letters but I’ll post them on our wall for locals to read. They attack the usual aspects – overlook, tree removal, the feu disposition conditions, sale of woodlands in general, heights of fences, bin stores disguising a garage, steps in the bank enhancing the risk of more illicit landscaping, a wooden wall that serves no structural purpose (it’s a screen Mr B and if I take it away it will look horrible) and doesn’t even reach the ground (it’s open Mr B to allow water and soil to have free movement). Oh sorry, I have been pulled in to writing something. I must stop.

Just one more – the damming bit – the Estates Dept have given notice to the developer (!) to REMOVE all the structures covered by this retrospective planning application and also part of the house. Well that’s interesting indeed as well as not being true. I do hope our local councillors’ check out this statement. I wonder – could this be described as libel? I think it has to cause harm – we shall see.

To end, we have a happy article in this weeks’ local news after the house programme. The photographer just dropped in to give us a copy of the paper and the photos. How lovely. Here is one of the best photos and well done to an ex colleague Diane Innes, a part time photographer – she has been published in last months’ Photography Monthly.

Here’s to Big Society or even Community Spirit.