Police Community Surgeries in the West End

The next West End Police Surgery takes place at the Mitchell Street Centre today – details below :

Police Community Surgeries in the West End

I am pleased that Police Scotland is now running community surgeries in the West End.

The surgeries at Blackness Library start tomorrow – see below :

There are also surgeries at the Mitchell Street Centre (first Tuesday of each month) – further details available here.

Police Community Surgeries in the West End

Last night, at my weekly ward surgery at Blackness Primary School, I had the pleasure of meeting the West End’s new Community Police Inspector, Martin Pattie, and discuss some local matters. The introduction of locality-based Inspectors is a good initiative by Police Scotland that I discussed with Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Anderson, at a meeting just before Christmas.

The West End already has an excellent Community Police Sergeant in Elise Wilson and she advised me yesterday about another positive initiative in the West End – regular police community surgeries – to quote Sergeant Wilson :

“We are due to launch a police community surgery next month which will then be held every month thereafter:

Location : Mitchell Street Centre (Room 1)

Time: 1300-1600 hours

Date: 1st Tuesday of every month

(includes 7/2, 7/3, 4/4, 2/5, 6/6, 4/7, 1/8, 5/9, 3/10, 7/11 and 5/12)

Location : Blackness Library

Time: 1300-1600 hours

Date: 2nd Monday of every month

(includes 13/2, 13/3, 10/4, 8/5, 12/6, 10/7, 14/8, 11/9, 9/10, 13/11 and 11/12)

The aim of this will be to engage with the public outwith a police environment which may encourage more people to speak with their local officers in relation to the ongoing issues effecting them directly within their community.”

You can read more about our local West End police team here.

Hope that Ryehill Police Station will not close following community campaign

Yesterday, the Chair of West End Community Council, Peter Menzies, and I met with senior Police Scotland representatives to hand in a petition from 300 West End residents to make the case to retain Ryehill Police Station at the Pennycook Lane/Perth Road junction.

We met with two senior police officers, Superintendent Andrew Todd and Chief Inspector Gary Ogilvie, and stressed that the community is strongly of the view that the Ryehill Police Office is a crucial resource in the West End and closing it would be highly detrimental.

Peter and I made the point to Police Scotland that a possible way of ensuring that the police office can remain open is to consider additional uses for it through shared use with partner organisations. That way, the station could continue as a police office but could also be used as a community base for other services, possibly local authority or third sector.

At the meeting, Police Scotland indicated it is prepared to look into the viability of this and while such a proposal can be fully investigated and a long-term solution is developed, it further committed to keeping the Police Office open whilst this proposal is being fully considered.

We are hopeful that a long-term solution can now be found to ensure the Ryehill Police Station is retained.

Stop the closure of Ryehill Police Office!

Earlier today, I was given confirmation by our local police Chief Inspector that Police Scotland intends to consult on the possible closure of the Ryehill Police Office at the Pennycook Lane/Perth Road junction.

I made clear to the Chief Inspector that I am wholly against such a move – the Ryehill Police Office is a crucial resource in the West End and closing it would be highly detrimental.

Later today, at the West End Community Council meeting, I reinforced this view and it is clear there is strong community support to stop any proposal to close this local police office.

The proposal to consult on the closure is just another detrimental example of a centralised single police force. At the time the abolition of Tayside Police was proposed, I warned that the centralisation of police into a single force would lead in time to cuts in local police resources and those who supported the single police force should reflect on the error of centralisation.

Our local police do an excellent job but a nationwide rationalisation of the police estate is a really bad move and I have no doubt the West End community will rally to the cause of saving the Ryehill Police Station.

Police 999 and 101 call responses in Dundee

At tonight’s meeting of the City Council’s Policy and Resources Committee, I moved the following motion :

Committee notes, with concern, the decision by the Scottish Police Authority, to transfer all 999 and 101 call responses to three sites located in Bilston Glen, Motherwell and Govan, on or after 21st June 2016.

This will mean the loss of the 999 and 101 Dundee response centre, with the resultant loss of local knowledge in call handling, which committee views as a detrimental step.

Committee therefore instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Chair of the Scottish Police Authority Board and to the Police Scotland Chief Constable expressing concern at this decision and asking for this to be reviewed to allow the call handling of 999 and 101 calls in the Tayside and North Fife areas to be handled by the response centre in Dundee into the future.

My motion was unanimously accepted by committee, subject to a minor amendment to refer to “seeking assurances” rather than “expressing concern” which I was agreeable to, in order to obtain all-party agreement.

Wednesday meetings …

A very busy day yesterday with numerous meetings, including :

* Attending two tenants’ meetings organised by Home Scotland at Blackness Court and Sinderins Court for the residents there and at Pennycook Court, The meetings were to review the revised warden/support arrangements that were introduced last year and get tenants’ feedback. The meetings were a good opportunity for all the tenants who attended to raise any issues or concerns, not just about support issues but also on other matters, such as repairs.

* A meeting with two senior Police Scotland officers to discuss the proposed loss of the 999 and 101 calls Dundee response centre, with the resultant loss of local knowledge in call handling, which I view as a detrimental step. We had a useful exchange of views and information on the matter and I will be raising the issue at the council’s Policy & Resources Committee next Monday.

* A meeting of the Harris Academy Parent Council, which took place at Menzieshill High School. This was followed by a joint meeting with the Menzieshill High School Parent Council – an excellent initiative, given that that the two school communities come together later this year. It was a very positive meeting and planning for the future is well in hand and very reassuring.

* The formal opening of the High Mill at Verdant Works took place. It was a very well-attended event and the restoration of the High Mill is simply superb – I would thoroughly recommend a visit. Sir Neil Cossons, the eminent historian and leading authority on the industrial heritage, performed the official opening. I had the opportunity to speak with Sir Neil, who is very pleasant and interesting. A few photos from the opening of the High Mill :

Large turnout for the High Mill formal opening

Part of the High Mill restoration

Sir Neil Cossons performs the official opening

The beautifully restored Boulton and Watt steam engine

Dundee City Council to debate closure of Dundee’s call-handling operation

I have secured a debate at the council’s Policy and Resources Committee over fears following Police Scotland’s decision to axe Dundee’s call-handling operation in June as part of controversial reforms. I have strongly criticised moves to close the facility in Dundee’s Bell Street and relocate it to the central belt.

I am very concerned by this further centralisation of police resource away from Dundee. The call centre has served Dundee well over the years until the creation of Police Scotland. Police Scotland has said it will “plan to work towards” moving all 999 and non-emergency calls from Dundee to the national centre from late June.

Now all 999 and 101 calls will be answered by police staff in the central belt rather than locally which is really bad news with the loss of staff with local knowledge.

I have therefore secured this debate at Policy and Resources Committee on 14th March to discuss this serious concern to the city. It is important that the City Council makes clear to Police Scotland our concerns over the loss of this vital facility to Dundee.

I spoke on Wave 102 News yesterday about the situation. You can listen to the interview by clicking ‘play’ below :

Tuesday meetings

Jericho House

Earlier today, I attended the latest meeting of the Jericho House support group, a regular meeting at which a number of us discuss fundraising and other projects to support this important facility in the West End Ward, that assists those recovering from alcoholism.

We had a useful discussion about promoting the work of Jericho House across the city.

Later today, I had a helpful meeting with Chief Superintendent Eddie Smith, the police area commander, and two of his senior colleagues, about local policing matters affecting the West End and the wider city area.

Frank’s Law supported by Dundee City Council

This morning I had a very useful and productive meeting with the new West End police sergeant about local policing matters and later today I held my weekly Monday ward surgeries at the West Park and Mitchell Street Centres.

Tonight, I participated in City Council committees.

At Policy and Resources Committee, I was delighted that the City Council unanimously supported my motion to call for the adoption of “Frank’s Law” following a very moving address to committee by Amanda Kopel, wife of the late Frank Kopel.

Following Angus Council unanimously agreeing to back “Frank’s Law” to recognise the need for free personal care to dementia suffers aged under 65, my friend and colleague, Montrose councillor David May, had contacted me to suggest it would be highly appropriate for Dundee City Council to also back the campaign, given Frank’s long association with the city and the importance of this issue.

Having spoken with Amanda, I was pleased to support her tireless campaign for proper recognition of the personal care needs of dementia suffers aged under 65, and it was excellent to see the strong support support across Dundee City Council tonight, similar to that in Angus Council recently.

I have the upmost respect for Amanda’s work to highlight this hugely important issue. She has raised the profile of the campaign to improve access to care for people under age 65 who are battling dementia. Amanda has made her case to the Scottish Parliament petitions committee and to the previous and present Scottish Health Minister.

This is a question of equality, fairness and an end to age discrimination of younger dementia sufferers. My motion read as follows:

Policy and Resources Committee notes that, currently, legislation enables personal care to be provided free for people in Scotland aged over 65, provided they are assessed as needing it.

Of the 85,807 dementia sufferers in Scotland, 3,201 are under the age of 65 and therefore not entitled to the help.

“Committee commends the campaign by Mrs Amanda Kopel – “Frank’s Law” – to request that Scottish Government extend free personal care to under-65s with dementia.

Committee therefore instructs the Chief Executive to write to the First Minister requesting her to consider the introduction of a ‘Frank’s Law’ so that free personal care is extended to under-65s with dementia.

Amanda, David and I are pictured below just before tonight’s committee meeting:

Also, at Environment Committee, I welcomed new regulations that should assist the City Council tackle wheelie bins left permanently on pavements and also welcomed the proposed new South Road skatepark that will benefit Lochee and the wider area including the West End.

At Housing Commitee, a report was considered on the future of council owned lock-ups, which included the recommendation to demolish the Glenagnes Street ones.

Residents will recall the survey on their future I helped to promote last year. The lock-ups have almost half the units unoccupied, are in a poor state of repair and the survey indicated little future demand.

Tonight, I sought assurances that efforts would be made to find alternatives for existing lock-up tenants and also that the Logie community will be consulted on the future of the site – eg possible parking or other possible uses.

Wednesday activities

This morning, I had useful site visits with roads inspection staff from the City Council looking at poor pavement condition in part of Perth Road and also the poor conditioned road surface at the busy Balgay Road/Blackness Avenue/Blackness Road junction (see right).

With regard to this roads junction, I am pleased to say that the junction will be reinstated with work starting next Monday (12th May) – weather permitting. The work will take a maximum of 2 days but might be completed in one day. As temporary traffic lights will be required during the improvements work, these will be put in place only after the rush hour on Monday morning.

Later this morning, I had a very useful meeting with our new senior police officer for the West End (and the remainder of what the police term ‘Dundee South’) Inspector Gary Ogilvie, at which we discussed West End policing issues.

Earlier tonight, I attended the Annual General Meeting of Community Spirit – the community group for the “north” part of West End Ward, covering Tullideph, Pentland, Ancrum and the Cleghorn area. The meeting took place in the Mitchell Street Centre.

Guest speaker was Ian Ford of the Friends of Riverside Nature Park, who gave a very interesting presentation on the development of the park. Thereafter, I had the pleasure of chairing the actual AGM part of the meeting. Sandra Myles stood down as Chair after four very successful years in the role and we all thanked Sandra for all she has done for the group and the local area – I’m pleased to say Sandra will still be attending Community Spirit’s meetings.

New Chair is George Chalmers and Len Jamieson is continuing as Secretary.

One final update for today. Residents complained to me that the dog bin in Logie Avenue at Ashbank Road was “rather full” – as you can see (left) that’s rather an understatement! The Environment Department has assured me this will be urgently tidied.

Concern over bogus callers

The recent frightening experience of Logie resident Kathleen Killett from a bogus caller at her front door was helpfully highlighted in the local media, including the The Courier. It is important to spread the message, particularly to elderly residents not to let cold callers into your home and that Kathleen did the right thing by requesting ID from the person who called at her door.

The concerns about bogus callers has been discussed at meetings of West End Community Council in the past.

Police Scotland, on its website, has useful advice to beat bogus callers.

Last couple of days …

Over the past couple of days I have had a number of useful meetings regarding West End issues, including speaking with constituents on a number of local matters.

On Tuesday morning, I had a very useful discussion on local policing matters with Inspector Alistair Black of Police Scotland, our local police inspector. I also met with Iain MacKinnon, the new President of Dundee University Students’ Association and thereafter, along with Angela Mehlert, the Chair of the Friends of Magdalen Green, I met with Dr David Rodley of the University of Dundee’s School of Engineering, Physics and Maths, together with four students. The purpose of the latter meeting was to discuss progress with the renewable energy lighting project at Magdalen Green, and it was good to learn about progress towards this being installed, hopefully towards the end of 2013/early 2014.

The Friends’ Committee met later on Tuesday and Angela and I were able to update the committee on the lighting project progress. In a very positive committee meeting, we discussed progress with the Roseangle Playpark Campaign, including the upcoming orienteering event and the photographic competition. We also agreed that the Friends of Magdalen Green event as part of West End Christmas Fortnight will be a Soup and Pudding Lunch at Dundee West Church on Saturday 7th December. More details to follow!

Yesterday, I had a very worthwhile meeting with a constituent and her family members along with Valerie Busher, Community Fundraising Development Manager at Maggie’s Centre. The issue is the access to Maggie’s Centre from Ninewells Hospital for those travelling on foot, particularly for patients and those with mobility difficulties and we discussed matters like improved signage and promotion of the hospital’s mini-bus service. I’m very grateful to Valerie for the time she spent with us yesterday and she is kindly progressing the issues with NHS Tayside.

Last night, I attended the Harris Academy Parent Council Annual General Meeting, the first meeting the Parent Council has held in the Lawton Road site. It was an extremely well-attended AGM at which Mandy Trickett was elected the new Chair and Lesley Teviotdale was elected the new Vice Chair. Graham McKay, the retiring Chair was thanked for all his work as Chair. Harris Academy opens this morning for the first time at its decant site in Lawton Road and I was able to update parents on the bus transport situation. We had a tour of the school after the meeting and thanks go to all the staff who have put in a huge effort to get the building ready for the 1000+ pupils who will return to school today.

Dundee City Council meetings

Last night saw the first City Council committees take place following the end of the council’s summer recess.

At the Development Management Committee, there were two very positive – and unanimous – decisions – the approval of the V&A building at its slightly revised location and the approval of the new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the rail line at Seabraes.

There were, however, two applications I had concerns about and I attempted to move refusal of both. Firstly, an application for a licensed off-sales shop in City Road had resulted in twenty valid letters of objection and two petitions against (with 29 signatures in total). I moved refusal on the following grounds:

“Development Management Committee – Monday 12th August 2013

Item 1 – 116-118 City Road, Dundee, DD2 2PW (13/00318/FULL)

The proposal is contrary to Policy 1 of the Dundee Local Plan Review 2005 as it is considered that the use of the premises as a licensed off sales shop would have an adverse impact on the environmental quality enjoyed by local residents because of potential noise disturbance and litter from the site and increase in parking and traffic movements.

There are no material considerations that would justify approval of the proposal contrary to the development plan.

Cllr Fraser Macpherson”

The vote was close but unfortunately I lost 13-11 (with one abstention). The decision means that the unit can be converted into retail use but it would still require an alcohol licence and the Licensing Board will have to give that matter consideration should a licensing application come forward at a future date.

The other application I had concerns about was for an external cash machine on the front of the supermarket at 306 Perth Road. Although the applicant applied for planning permission on 30th May, he went ahead and installed it without permission on 14th June, and we have already seen an increase in bad parking (such as parking on waiting restrictions and bumping up on the pavement) at this location. There are already a number of other ATMs in this part of Perth Road (and the supermarket itself already had an ATM inside the shop). I moved refusal on the following grounds:

“Development Management Committee – Monday 12th August 2013

Item 7 – 306 Perth Road, Dundee, DD2 1AU (13/00312/FULL)

The installation of an ATM on the front elevation of this property fails to meet the requirements of Policy 1 (Vibrant and Sustainable Communities) of the Dundee Local Plan Review 2005 as it encourages very short-stay parking of vehicles adjacent to the site to the detriment of traffic safety, pedestrian safety and the free flow of vehicles in this location which is subject to periodic traffic congestion.

There are no material considerations that would justify the approval of planning permission.

Cllr Fraser Macpherson”

Again, a close vote but unfortunately I lost 14-11. There will be a real need for parking enforcement by City Council officers and the police here in the future to prevent parking on the pavement and congestion caused by parking on waiting restrictions.

At the Policy and Resources Committee, I asked a question of the local senior officer of the Fire and Rescue Service regarding the number of erroneous fire signal calls from non-domestic properties in the city and how these might be reduced in the future.

I also asked Police Scotland representatives about the intended expanded role for Community Police Officers. We were advised by a police representative that the number of community police officers in local communities in Dundee will be increased but they will be given additional tasks. Whilst the increase in the number of officers is to be welcomed, I questioned the type of additional work they will undertake and was given examples including road policing and dealing with domestic violence incidents. Crucially, assurances were given that the community-based role of officers will continue.

In the West End, we are lucky to have excellent community police officers who have excellent local knowledge. I am meeting our local police inspector for the West End and Lochee today to discuss the local policing changes in more detail.

Policing plan for the West End 2013

Police Scotland has recently published its policing plan for the West End for 2013.

Having plans for every ward across Scotland is a very good initiative and the West End Policing Plan highlights local priorities including tackling vandalism and graffiti, dealing with housebreaking and thefts and tackling anti-social behaviour and drugs and alcohol abuse.

You can read the West End Policing Plan here.

We are lucky in the West End to have a superb team of community police officers and the team can be contacted at westendcpt@scotland.pnn.police.uk.