Glasgow Save our Schools Campaign
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
School closures have become a national issue
Hi everyone
Just a note to remind you to keep the pressure on our newly elected council over the issue of school closures and to update you on the steering group's communication with them. None of the building has begun yet, and last time we checked planning had not yet been applied for.You will I'm sure have been following on the news that attempts have been made to apply the same types of cuts in other parts of the country, with, perhaps disappointingly if not surprisingly, different parties at the helm. It would seem that there is a tendency among some parties to act differently depending on whether they are in opposition or not ... It has been great to see, however, that pressure from parents, school students and local residents in Edinburgh has seen the Edinburgh process stopped in its tracks for now (see link below).
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1637&id=1483442007
You'll remember me writing shortly after the election to say that I contacted, on behalf of the steering group, all the new local councillors for the areas affected by Glasgow proposals J and K, as well as all members of the new Education Committee, to request that they move to re-open the issue in the council as a matter of urgency given the lack of representation we had seen previously. I'm sure many of you did the same. Although I had some communication with Phil Greene (SNP) and Christopher Mason (Lib Dem), they did not take any action that I know of and I have not heard from them in a while.
Martha Wardrop (Green councillor for Hillhead) responded a while ago and Heather Anderson and I recently arranged a meeting with her. It is good to hear that Martha is keen to re-open the issue and has been looking into the history of the objections etc in some detail. She is keen to speak with campaigners to gather further information. You can get in touch with her via the Council's website.
So, send a few emails, make a few phone calls and keep an eye on what's going on elsewhere - school closures have become a national issue.
All the best
Anthea
Bob, 1:01 PM
