Thursday and Friday activity

Thursday was the public hustings meeting in Kirkwall, organised by the Kirkwall Community Council and hosted by Bryan Taylor.  But before that I was in the Scapa Road and Glaitness area delivering leaflets and speaking to people.  Dog dirt came up again, on more than one occasion, as did garden refuse collections.  One suggestion was for a single collection at the start of the year and another at the end of the year.  I have sympathy with the people who do need help to manage their gardens (people who are getting frail or people without a vehicle) however I have also witnessed wealthy fit people with cars and trailers putting out loads of stuff they could and should dispose of themselves.  How to get the right balance will be tricky, so the folk that need the help get help but those that should be doing it themselves - don't.
I visited Old Scapa Road, where residents are experiencing parking problems from vans and works vehicles blocking drives.  Someone called in to the radio hustings programme about the problems so I thought I would like to see it and speak to residents.  The problem was not bad on Thursday morning and I didnt see any residents to speak to, however it was very bad one other day I drove past.  Phoning the police is the immediate answer and we will need to monitor it after the works stop and the residents move in to check the site parking is adequate.
The Hustings on Thursday night went well.  There were 9 candidates and about 30 in the audience.
I nailed my colours to the mast on a couple of issues - rather than a change to the Deballasting Policy for tankers in Scapa Flow, I would favour a reduction in the size of the Orkney Towage operation - to help reduce the huge losses the Harbours operation is making every year.  With less than 30 tankers a year entering the Flow it is crazy having 3 fully staffed tugs doing very little 24/7.  The changes to the deballasting policy is meant to bring in more ship to ship trade, but even if it poached all the trade over the last year in Shetland (12 transfers) there would still be a half a million loss.  I am not prepared to back a change to the deballasting policy that could lead to deballasting of foreign waters and organisms into Scapa Flow, and possible jeapordising of other local fishing industries when it will have a negligile impact on the Harbours losses and just prolong the inevitable cuts a bit longer.  What the Scapa Flow towage operation needs is a part time service that can respond to need (when a tanker is booked to come to Flotta) rather than a 24/7 service that is doing very little and lossing a fortune.
I also said I would ask for a review of the decision to spend £1.3million on wheelie bins and new recycling lorries, as I am convinced what is proposed is not the most workable or economic option.

Then on Friday I visited Wellington Street and the Queen Sonya Kloss to Glaitness Park area.  Many of the houses are OHAL houses.  I know there are still problems with dampness and heating bills in some of the OHAL houses with the underfloor heating - and this came over as largely uresolved in conversations with residents.  However what also came over is the lovely setting and how close it is to everything (e.g. shops, Picky Centre, Glaitness School).  Several people I spoke to commented on how lucky they were to be living in this area.  One lady commented on how helpful the OHAL staff had been.  Some gardens in the area are lovely and easily the best shared space in a block of flats is in Glaitness Park (lovely flowers arranged in pots).
Two people asked how they could recycle more - and I expained the proposal to change from black bags to wheelie bins will lead to more recycling, however I also explained that I believed there may be better ways to achieve it, than spending £1.3m on bins and lorries.

This is always an enlightening eperience, geting out and speaking with residents, I regret not doing it more often.  It will be a "New Years Resolution", if I get in, to visit different residents across the ward every year.