Councillor Update, April / May 2023
It’s now a year since many of you placed your trust in me to be your councillor. Thank you so much for doing so and for contacting me for help since then. I’m still loving the job and have worked hard to take on your issues, get answers to your questions and find solutions. Read on for some highlights of the year and what I’ve been up to recently.
This month I’ve been responding to individual queries on dampness in housing, fly tipping, parking and energy bills. Contact me to meet when and where it suits you. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates. Look out for my ward newsletter when it pops through your letterbox over the coming months.
Top 10 highlights of my first year
1. Hazelhead Park refurbished
2. Gained support for better play areas across South Lanarkshire
3. Fences & paths fixed up – Nithsdale & Glen Doll
4. New pitch equipment at Long Calderwood Primary with Parent Council
5. Community street audit led improvements around Morrishall Road
6. Won action on responsible investment action at the council
7. Improved community entrances to Calderglen Country Park & volunteering
8. Many community clean ups and volunteering sessions
9. Pushed for action on energy efficiency and climate at the council
10. Early improvements to kick about area at Cornfoot Crescent
Recent Ward action (EK East):
I helped litter picks at Whin Hill and around the woods at Allers Allotments. EK Community Litter Picking volunteers can help you spruce up your local area https://www.facebook.com/groups/ekcommunitylitterpickers or contact myself.
In Morrishall Road, and many other streets in my ward and across South Lanarkshire, people have been concerned about speeding traffic and road safety for years. The community and I did at street audit and are getting some improvements, including drop kerbs to improve access to Glen Esk park. With it being a busy road, with many children crossing it going to and from school and noise disturbance at night, many residents would like it to be limited to 20mph. I have now put in a formal request to the council making the case for including Morrishall Road in a list of new proposals for roads to be 20mph. Please sign and share the petition to show your support to roll out 20mph to Morrishall Road and where you and your family live, work and play in South Lanarkshire.
https://www.change.org/p/introduce-20mph-where-people-live-across-south-lanarkshire
Improving our greenspaces for people and nature: I had a wander round with the council and local ecologists looking at sites that could be enhanced. If you are interested in this project, please get in touch.
Other local visits: I went along to an interesting event mapping community health assets in Calderwood with the Scottish Community Development Centre, local organisations and residents. I’m continuing work with the Long Calderwood Parent Council on improving the pitch and with Hunter Primary to improve their facilities. I also went along to Calderglen High Parent Council and popped in to the Islamic centre to say hello and build connections there.
EK / Council-wide action:
Getting ready for future budgets, I’m part of the council’s new budget sounding board, learning more, contributing ideas and engaging constructively with officers and other councillors.
I’ve just started being a councillor rep on the EK Arts Council and went along to their AGM. It’s a registered charity and aims to promote interest and participation in the arts in EK and surrounding areas. They can promote and support local events, assist with formation of new organisations and give financial support to local community organisations in the Arts. Facebook and contact here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/792792172263978/, ekartscouncil@hotmail.com.
I had a great night at the East Kilbride Sports Council awards with excellent entertainment from Calderglen High School jazz and drama departments. Congratulations to all the winning and nominated teams, coaches and individuals. Sports enriches our lives and the volunteers behind the Sports Council are passionate in celebrating and supporting that. They support events, teams and individuals so contact them if you wish to affiliate your sport with them. They are also looking to expand their committee to keep doing what they do long into the future. Contact them via their secretary Bob Anderson bobanderson@talktalk.net. More info https://www.slleisureandculture.co.uk/info/136/sports_councils
The recent climate committee heard papers on the current energy efficiency standards in council domestic and non domestic buildings. This is ahead of a report on the motion I got passed at full council last year. I asked how higher standards of efficiency are considered so that the council (and tenants) can save money on energy bills (and cut carbon emissions) for the whole life of the building. We also got a list of targets that the council and partners need to work on that will cut emissions and improve quality of life. I asked that we get stats at a future meeting so we can see how we are getting on towards those targets so we can better judge the scale of the task ahead of us. Questions at 23.44 and 43.51 at https://youtu.be/1IzStLllQgc.
And finally I attended a ceremony for International Workers Memorial Day to remember the dead and fight for the living. And also I visited striking PCS workers at HMRC Centre 1, fighting for a decent wage and supporting their Stay in EK campaign.
