The Snow

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Midlothian Cuts and More Hamlet!

Unless you are particularly interested in our planning issues I suggest you don't need to read this blog entry today. It really is my way of getting something off my chest.....

What do Midlothian cuts have to do with woodland? Nothing direct I guess but I recently attended a meeting organised by Midlothian Council to review the extent of the local authority cuts. I am a worried person. How on earth are they going to save £25 million over the next four years? The meeting had a workshop session and I did suggest some possible routes to saving but really, I have no idea how they are going to achieve these cuts. Then again, I do have a view on saving money in general and maybe the principals are the same no matter the size of the budget.

I met with the head of a major business in Edinburgh this summer and I think he took a bit of shine to me. I explained my philosophy on finance and told him that I examine every single household expenditure and always make sure we spend within our means.  I think that "good housekeeping" for finances can be applied to big business in the same way as in the home. Save a little wherever, no matter how small, and instil culture change that drives individuals to want to do more. The head guy said to me that he always advised his own managers of the same approach. I felt chuffed to have him endorse my philosophy.

On the back of all this thinking about the cuts, Gerry said to me "how much do you think our house build and planning application cost the local authority in dealing with all the complaints?" Hard to put an exact figure on it but we have 8 lever arch files of paper work; 3 are for plans and the rest is correspondence. A lot more files than one might expect for a small build project. We have referenced these files continually this last year. More worryingly we referenced back to our 1994 files after yet another false accusation of building the extension onto the cottage without planning permission. There it was - in black and white - our planning application and it wasn't retrospective. I digress - apologies - suffice to say that evidence of "collusion" was noted by our planning official.
Getting back to the cost of our recent build to the council, I have a feel factor that 50% of the correspondence was in response to complaints and challenges and within those challenges were a fair number which were not valid. Some of course were valid and I would agree with our local councillor that the Head of Planning has used a great deal of circumspection in preparing responses. You would be amazed at how many people in the council had to contribute to these responses. And of course, I asked for a Freedom of Information request which also has a cost. I am led to understand a single A4 sheet has a "cost" of between £50 and £100 and from our files we estimate the total to be in the order of £250K. If half is generated because this is a necessity that leaves a potential cost to the tax payer as £125K. Of course this is my own "back of a fag packet" calculation and it might be wildly out. However, if there are lessons to be learnt and savings to be made, my own duty and responsibility as a community councillor makes me want to raise awareness if nothing else.

At community council on Monday 22nd I requested time to put forward my case from the public side of the meeting. It went like this.

"Having heard the passionate pleas from a very stressed Head of Midlothian for budget cuts, I want this community to be aware of the possible waste of money in dealing with petty issues regarding our house build this last year". I went on to explain the possible costs as above. I then cited a number of examples -

1. Checking the legality of a perceived Right of Way - twice in 1998 and again in 2009.  This had a cost.
Quite a bit of paperwork was generated on this issue - not to mention the character assassination that followed when we were accused of closing the public footpath down to Ironmills. 

2. Requesting that a woodland path extension be made subject of a planning application. This has a cost.
Confusion reigns on this one that this path has "engineering" works. I wonder how many other woodlands rectify path slippage using simple means and are then expected to register for planning approval. Hell I was building a bridge in Vogrie with volunteers last week! There is still some way to go on this one but the visit of a planning enforcement officer to look at this particular issue gave way to an error which could give us favour with another. I wouldn't abuse this error but it does taste sweet that complaints yielded an own goal. Hamlet again comes to mind "The lady doth protest too much". 

3. Requesting that simple steps cut into the steep slope of the woodland for access for tree planting and woodland management, be subject to a planning application. This has a cost.
To access this sloped area of the woodland we had cut some decent steps into the ground to stop me falling down into the River Esk. I have used this access to create wood piles for wildlife and to get ready for further planting.


4.Requesting a stop order on Bluebell planting despite no such thing happening. I read out the FOI statement that I found. (see previous post). This had a cost

 
5. Persisting with false accusations of illegal tree felling when the Scottish Power line was moved for very good reason* and taking up the cause with Scottish Power ad nausea - despite all tree felling being approved. This had a cost.
I blogged this earlier - *The power line was moved a few metres to the North edge (nearer to the public steps which carry on up to the left of the bridge in this photo) last year as part of a longer term approach to keeping the regular clearance under the power line closer to the public footpath and allowing the undergrowth to regenerate on the bank on the other side. Making the scar on the slope one single scar. I doubt I'll ever get this across to some individuals but I care not a jot now.
I must commend my previous employer here. I used to deal with the Medicines Inspectorate in my time and learned many valuable lessons in how to deal with "incidents" that might put patient lives at risk. I always researched well to determine root cause. I could do the same here and make a mountain out of this - if you pardon the pun. But life is too short to bother.

6. Missing A0 sized coloured plans that were copyright protected, one group stating that they had been copied at the local library when no such copy facility was possible, causing the council to investigate our loss. This had a cost.
The plans that went missing have a value of about £30 and they never turned up. We still don't know what happened to them. The cost of the plans per se is minor compared to the ensuing investigations.

Councillor Beattie responded to my request about costs at the meeting. Where there might be a breach of planning the council has a statutory obligation to investigate; that is understood and I agree the Head of Planning acted with personal judgement and circumspection. I applaud him for his responses thus far. 
The councillor offered the possibility of an Audit Enquiry but I took the hint that this would just add to the costs and I should judge whether or not this would be a "reasonable enquiry". After some round-the-room discussion Councillor Beattie then said that she had seen success with mediation services and this might be a good case for mediation. Gerry agreed and asked who to contact. He sent a letter out the next day. We will see what happens.

So can I save the council money - Maybe.

Have I cost the council money myself this last year- Probably.

Have petty ill informed complaints cost the council money this year - Most definitely

Has the tax payer benefited from the debacle of our planning issues this last year - No in my opinion they have not.

At least this week I contributed 2 days of voluntary time working with the Ranger service and the pathways volunteers and I put something back. I intend to do lots more and am applying for a grant for a stretch of open ground on Cemetery Road that could be improved for the benefit of the public. These positive actions far outweigh the negative. Oh and I visited a lovely lady called Stella at Kevock Gardens. What an inspiration. I see an additional woodland management plan with a planting schedule in the very near future. Then I'll be able to get back to blogging something of genuine interest to gardeners and owners of woodlands alike.

Call Kaye Radio Programme Monday 22nd Nov

From my facebook page;

Susan Goldwyre http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w19h4

Gerry and I should be on this radio programme on Monday - talking about eco buildings and how to be energy efficient in our homes. Should be fun. I better start switching off our outdoor lights and practice what I preach.

BBC - BBC Radio Scotland Programmes - Call Kaye, 22/11/2010

www.bbc.co.uk

Call Kaye brings a human touch to the stories making the news.

Also - anyone out there interested in coming along to the Eskbank and Newbattle Community Council Meeting on Monday 22nd at 7pm in the Westfield Hall. It's your community - come and have your say.

Something Is Rotten In The State Of Denmark

Strange title I hear you say. My favourite Shakespeare of all time is Hamlet and in recent years I have found myself telling Gerry that some strange events in our household make me want to quote the well known line “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”.

Perhaps one of the most odd, albeit trivial, was to do with Bluebells. OK, now you think I have gone mad and I will be found drifting like Ophelia down the river Esk. Here is the bluebell story if you are interested and can bear with me on this long story.

Earlier this year in April, the Friends of Ironmills Park group meetings were attended by a lovely lass, Jo Cooke, from the Midlothian Ranger service. At fairly short notice Jo let me know about the opportunity to do some general clearance work, painting of railings and planting bluebells at a select spot somewhere in and around Ironmills Park. She didn’t need any endorsement to do this work from our group but nonetheless our group would (a) be interested in what was planned and (b) could choose a site for the bluebells. I e mailed this on to the group. In any event Jo didn’t manage to secure bluebells but she did manage all the other works.

Around the same time as Jo got her group together to do the park work, Gerry and I were visited by the local planning enforcement officer on the concern that trees were being cut down. It was our joiner sawing wood for the house build and no enforcement was necessary. We put this down to yet another irritating intrusion of our house build project. Some people thought that work had been stopped on the site due to this potential enforcement.

Having asked for a Freedom of Information request this last month with Midlothian Council I was amazed to read the correspondence on file at the same time as the request for enforcement. I quote from the FOI;  Just spoken to Janice re work being stopped at Ironmills Park (Goldwyres applic). She is asking if the planting of bluebells will also be stopped, the reason is that the woodland management plan one of the key factors is the lack of disturbance? Please advise.

 So.... someone in the group set up to improve Ironmills Park, reported on to “Janice” that bluebells were being planted on my ground and “Janice” thought she should call the council and ask that this be stopped because my woodland management plan does clearly state that biodiversity is high due to lack of disturbance.....despite the fact that Jo was acting in her capacity as Midlothian Ranger and planting in the areas owned by Midlothian and not on my ground. 

There was a note in the council files that there was evidence of "collusion" where our planning developments were concerned. 

Something was rotten in the state of Denmark.

Update 2014 - I later found out that "Janice" was "Janis" and here she is on Twitter

Interestingly Janis set up a Twitter account and only ever followed me and Twitter the company. I follow over 70 people on Twitter but I rarely tweet anything. I guess Janis just wanted to keep an eye on what I tweeted. 

I do have bluebells in my garden and they also appear in profusion on the woodland slope every year. They are not the Hyacinthoides non-scripta bluebells and there is no evidence that I have seen that any of the woodland in and around Ironmills Park could be described as purely native bluebell woods. I have seen a distictly native bluebell wood at Lymphoy House where my firends Doreen and Roy reside. Doreen tells me that they actively remove the non native bluebells to try to over turn the balance. I wonder if I should attempt this? but then, the down side of doing that would be to cause more disturbance. Aye, its always a balance. The bluebells on my ground were more evident this year due to the increased light levels after the trees were cut underneath a Scottish Power line that traverses the slope. I didn’t plant these bluebells but some folks seem to think that I did. There are masses of them. Scottish Power do a regular cut under the power line which is indeed a disturbance. But then the price for non disturbance would be no power to the houses in Ironmills!

A neighbour did give me some bluebell bulbs from her garden last year and I don’t expect they are the native british variety either.......... but at least they came from Eskbank. I have them in tubs.

Here is the real story on bluebells taken from a reliable internet site.

The UK is home to about half the world’s population of the Bluebell, with Scotland being its most northerly habitat. Over recent years however, the British Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), sometimes known as the Wild Hyacinth in Scotland, has declined severely and is now an endangered species.

The two main causes of this decline are the loss of habitat and hybridisation with the non-native Spanish Bluebell. The Spanish Bluebell is very different to the British Bluebell, and has been planted in the wild or escaped from gardens over the last 100 years to inter-breed with the native variety, producing a hybrid. Both of these new varieties spread across the country much more quickly than the native variety can, and are taking over once purely native Bluebell woods.

In addition to this, British Bluebells are very specific about the habitat they will grow in. They like broadleaf woodlands that are at least 20 years old, with a closed canopy giving them dappled sunlight. They will also sometimes grow under very old neglected hedgerows. Spanish Bluebells, on the other hand, will grow pretty much anywhere, which is why they became so popular with gardeners.

The quantity and quality of suitable habitat has declined dramatically during the 20th century, but, thanks to work by environmental bodies such as Central Scotland Forest Trust, the Woodland Trust and Scottish Wildlife Trust over the last 30 years, there are now woodlands just right for Bluebells.

So how can you tell the difference between the native Scottish Bluebell and the Spanish and hybrid species? The Bluebell native to Scotland is of medium height, up to 50cm, and flowers April–June. The flowers are always azure blue, 14-20mm long with six bell-shaped lobes that curl back fully. They are always on one side of the stem, which droops severely under the weight of the fragrant flowers in bloom. Native Bluebells are found in mature broadleaf woodlands or along hedgerows where they get dappled sunlight.

The native Bluebell

Spanish Bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) are similar in height to the British Bluebell, though much more erect, rarely drooping, with flowers which are less fragrant and range in colour from dark blue through to pink or white. The flowers can be on any side of the stem and their lobes flick out as opposed to curling back, and they have much broader leaves than the native variety. Spanish Bluebells can tolerate sunnier conditions and are often found outside woodlands, in gardens and along coastlines.

The Hybrid Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica x non-scripta) is more difficult to identify, especially in the early part of the season. They are more erect than the British Bluebell, and their flowers can range in colour. Indigenous to Britain, they can still cross-breed with the native Bluebell to dilute the genetic strain.

So what is being done about this decline? The British Bluebell is a globally protected species; in Scotland it is protected by the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1986, and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. It is now illegal to dig them up from the wild, and suppliers must have a licence from the Scottish Government to collect Bluebell seeds to sell, or grow into bulbs to sell on.

In 2003, the charity Plantlife ran a survey of Bluebells in Britain. They asked the public to record all the Bluebells they saw, no matter what type, so they could build up a picture of the distribution of Bluebells across the country and start to monitor the spread of the Spanish and Hybrid varieties. Unfortunately, there was a very poor response from Scotland, with only three records being sent in.

Vogrie and Bridge Building

What a day. I was part of a 20 strong volunteer team on a mission to build a bridge in the woodlands of Vogrie. The bridge over the Tyne river will allow access from the the woodland on Midlothian Council's side of the river, across to the woodland on what I have been told is "The Commanders" ground.
Now this territory is new to me and I can't remember all the place names and details of the area. I found this useful article describing the walk ways though.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/nick-drainey/Walk-of-the-week-Vogrie.5094311.jp

I was collected at 9.40am by a local friend and retiree from the Health Service, Dr Ian Brown. Ian is a delight to chat to and I had said to him in the past that I would happily join him on his volunteer works with the Ranger service to improve pathways in Midlothian. Today was the day of reckoning and I set off with a little trepidation - what was I letting myself in for?

Jo Cooke and Alan Krumholds from the Ranger service were there to organise everyone, and I quickly became the recipient of some stout steel toe capped wellie boots when Jo spotted my walking boots. "A bit muddy and we might have to wade in the river". We set off around the back of Vogrie house, down into the valley and along a pathway. A fair walk to the spot for the bridge project. Wading across the river at the selected spot, we then climbed a steep hill via some man made steps in the slope, to the Commanders house, and brought down all the really heavy tools from a van at the car park. Including a strange contraption, hired from Basically Tool Hire, called a turfer. It was extremely heavy.

Two alder tree trunks had been cut ready for us and all we had to do was position them over the river and we would have the base for the bridge. Have you any idea how heavy Alder is? I think there may have been 12 bodies lifting the trunk using ropes. We placed it across the river and then the debate began on the best way to buid a bridge. The men with the engineering brains debated long and hard on the way to fix the posts and the best direction to lay the top decking. Jo was in charge of the chain saw so she kept herself busy but myself and Elaine started to get cold and it was coming up to lunch time. It seemed like a good idea to get warm by carrying some of the heavy tools that were no longer needed, back to the car park. Despite bringing in the turfer, we never used it. It could have been used to pull the tree trunks but we had lifted the trunks instead. So I offered to carry the turfer back to the van. Half way up the hill I suddenly felt very unwell. It really was an exhausting climb with the added weight. A glass of water c/o the Commanders wife and all was well.

Lunch included some of Jo's home made apple tart and the afternoon session was ready to go. The girls left the boys to do the bridge and we started on major pruning of shrubs along a vague pathway leading to an old Lime Kiln. This was better - girly chat and work at the same time.

When we worked our way back to the bridge around 4pm we were asked to appraise the fixings on the new bridge. Rock solid with 6 inch screw bolts throught the posts. The top decking wasn't finished, simply laid in place to allow us to appreciate the final look. I wonder - did the boys do more talking than the girls? or was it a competiton to see who could over engineer the fixings? whatever, it will be a lovely bridge when it is finished next week.

Didn't take my camera but next week I'll be able to photograph the finished article and post some pictures.

Jacqueline McDonnell

A bit of an off-the-wall entry today. There is a connection though.
Jacqui McDonnell is a lady with a story to tell. She worked in advertising in London and New York in her hey day. Her husband Dennis died in 2002 and she has recently launched a book on her experiences since his death, called "The Wacky World of Widowhood". It's a fascinating book because of Jacqui's inspirational writing, but also for Gerry and I, to read about Dennis and learn more about this wonderful person, whom we knew briefly.
Dennis composed our water tower brochure and that was no mean task. Gerry had prepared a precis for an advertising brochure for our "restaurant" and struggled to document the concept as well as keep it brief. A good friend Jim Gardiner read it through and said he was asleep by page 2. Hmmmm. At last we have something that Gerry is not good at!
The water tower restaurant is not really a restaurant. Here is Dennis's interpretation
This is not a traditional restaurant.You book me, and the place, for lunch and/or dinner. You bring
family and friends; or a team of colleagues from work; or some selected clients. (Seminars seem to
work very well here.).
The brochure can be downloaded if you want to read more.
http://www.gerrygoldwyre.co.uk/pdfs/GerryRestaurant.pdf
I remember when I gave this brochure to a training manager at a course in Dunblane on self awareness. She was so impressed with the text and said to me it was written from the heart and so different to the usual corporate stuff that she read.
Currently the details on our brochure are no longer accurate since we have built RP9 in the woodland garden. The brochure still shows the old gazebo which has been demolished. A new web site and details should be completed by Spring next year all being well. Would have loved Dennis to contribute to that but I know that a lot of his original text will be re used. So that's nice.

Getting back to Jacqui's book, clearly there was a lot more to Dennis than we knew from his work on our brochure and I feel sad that we didn't know him better. Read her book and I promise you will enjoy it. It is not a sad tale of widowhood but a inspirational read about life, widowhood and taking a look at yourself. Here is a verse from Widows' Weeds, one of my favourite poems from the book.

"The people-crows wait,
solemn faces, sighs and tears.
High black heels descend.
A Jackie Kennedy dress and coat,
shocking pink buttons,
shocking pink pill box hat.
Smoke grey eyes peering from beneath
a frail lace curtain,
a bold red mouth,
bright red nails under black lace mittens.
As the whispers start to grow,
I hear my husband in my heart -
that's my girl!"

 My other favourite is Mussels and Buses but you need to buy the book to read it yourself.

You can purchase a copy via this web site.

http://www.yellowmagnoliapress.co.uk/

The book that it can also be bought from Amazon through Durnick Books.

The cover of Jacqui's book.

Friends Of Ironmills Park

I was reading back through the blog and realised I had not posted the outcome to date of trying to establish a Friends of Ironmills Park group. Whilst the group has not managed to get going, it's not to say that someone might manage to get it up and running. If that does happen, here is the vision statement and the draft plan that emerged from last years meetings.

1. Vision Statement

Although a lengthy statement, the group agreed to go with the following based on the proposal from xxxxxxxxxxxx. The group considered it important that any prospective group members had a full and detailed appreciation of the objectives of the group.

Objective of The Friends of Ironmills Park 1. Aim to play a proactive role in the management of Ironmills Park: * to define and drive forward a park management strategy; * for prioritisation of work, efforts, projects whether ours or others; * for partnership with Council and other organisations (local, national or international); * to apply for funding, support others' applications and co-ordinate with sister programmes. 2. To encourage broad community involvement and to seek local mandate where appropriate and possible in the above management.  3. To consult and co-ordinate on local development plans that may affect the park, access to it or its users. Why 1.  To act for the benefit of: * local residents and other park users. * wildlife (flora and fauna). * heritage. 2. To preserve the park's current "semi-wild" naturalistic character.

Priorities for FoIP – pending approval

Priority	Initially Noted By	Relevance to FoIP	Likliehood of being tackled by FoIP	Funding Level None/ Low/High(Grant req’d)	Proposed Action / Lead Person(s)	Time Line
Improve awareness of the History of Ironmills Park		High	High	Low – small grants or donations from CC’s,	Next “Walk and Talk” event planned for 30th May.  Ongoing project.	Immediate
Eliminate Dog Poo problem.		High	Med – Midlothian wide problem	None or Low. Some funding might be expected to come from local authority budgets.	'green' solution - use biodegradable poo bags - supplied beside bins along the walks. Composting poo boxes.	End of 2010
Broken Glass and Litter problem		High	High	None	Ongoing task, utilise volunteer groups keen to do litter picks.	Immediate
Steps from water tower to Park – poor state of maintenance		High	High	None	School volunteer groups/ Green Teams.	May 18th and 21st
Steps from water tower – improve lighting		High	High	High – grant required.	Possibility of using solar power?	End of 2010

Priority	Initially Noted By	Relevance to FoIP	Likliehood of being tackled by FoIP	Funding Level None/ Low/High(Grant req’d)	Proposed Action / Lead Person(s)	Time Line
Need for long term woodland management strategy. Clearance of dead wood.		High	High	High – Grant required.	Seek grant. WIAT Woodlands in and around Towns.	End of 2011
Maintenance of the weir required.		High	Low?	N/A	Seek information and likely costs	?
Stop sewage discharge into the North Esk		High	Low?	N/A	Research status and options.	?
Restrict parking/driving on the grass		High	High	None	Seek options to prevent drivers using the grass verges. TBD	End of 2010
Improve poor state of road repairs		High	Low?	?	Seek  temporary repair  with Jet packers. Seek longer term option for road	End of 2010
Reduce invasive Japanese Knotweed		High	High	None	Assess extent and seek advice from J Cooke. TBD	End of 2010
Reduce Ivy in woodland, esp on the south side of the river		High	High	None	School volunteer groups/ Green Teams.	May 18th and 21st

Priority	Initially Noted By	Relevance to FoIP	Likliehood of being tackled by FoIP	Funding Level None/ Low/High(Grant req’d)	Proposed Action / Lead Person(s)	Time Line
Need for grassland management		High	High	None	Agree strategy with local council TBD	End of 2010
Need for community to be involved in local developments.e.g. Waverly line project.		High	High	High	Seek routes to improves communication. TBD	Ongoing
Visitors Centre to display historical info and provide hot drinks.		?	?	?	?	?
Levels of Iron in river may be harmful		High	High	?	Research subject, contact EVT.	?
Drains for houses in the Park require maintenance		N/A	N/A	N/A	Request action by local council	?
Expose the duck pond in the park		High	?	?	Research options	?