The Borders Party

Borders subservient to an Edinburgh Regional Assembly. No thanks!

2008-11-27T22:12:00.003Z

Neither of the Councillors who represent the Scottish Borders attended yesterday’s City Region meeting, (the Joint Committee of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Strategic Development Plan Authority). No apologies were given and no substitutes sent.

Scottish Borders Councillor Nicholas Watson, who attended as an observer, believes an important opportunity was missed. “The possibility of a Regional Assembly was discussed and this would have been the perfect opportunity to shoot it down before it got any further. I know Councillor Riddell-Carre is opposed to a Regional Assembly and judging by the reaction from other Councillors after the meeting she would have received support. But it’s now been continued to another meeting.”

A Regional Assembly was recently proposed, to the surprise of many delegates, at the Capital City Region Conference on 5th November, by Dave Anderson, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Director of City Development.

Councillor Watson, who leads The Borders Party, says “Perfectly good mechanisms already exist for working together at a regional level. There is no justification for yet another costly and unaccountable layer of government.”

Watson has also written to Tom Aitchison, Edinburgh’s Chief Executive, to ask if moves towards a Regional Assembly have been through the political process of the City of Edinburgh Council. “If they haven’t then I want to know what a council officer is doing proposing a major step of huge political significance,” he said today.

The Borders Party opposed the inclusion of the Scottish Borders in the City Region, claiming that Scottish Borders Council should not cede the role of strategic planning in the Borders to a body over which it will have little control. “But the constant plea of the administration at Scottish Borders Council was that “we must be at the table”; why on earth, then, were they not at the table on Monday? People I have told are furious. Borders councillors seem blissfully unaware of the sort of moves being made by City Region thinkers; they’d better wake up before it’s too late.”

Watson has asked SBC Leader David Parker to explain why Councillors Riddell-Carre and Davidson did not attend.

Borders Railway Finally Derailed?

2008-09-16T10:33:00.006+01:00

I've just got hold of the Due Diligence Report into the Borders Railway prepared by Cyril Sweett and it makes far from sweet reading for those who have supported the project with such fervour. Yesterday the information I had came from the Sunday Herald article but in the full report there are even more damning indictments of this crackpot scheme.

• No provision within the programme to secure and undertake the necessary modifications to link the existing Network Rail track to connect to he Borders line. Nor is there even any time allocated to this task.
• The cost estimates appear understated by approximately . . . the figure is blacked out. • The programme is overly optimistic • The management of risk is logical but the financial provision is low.

In the business case analysis things go from bad to worse.

• Mathematical and methodological errors are found in the business case
• They urge caution over the economic benefits
• There is unexplained growth in the railway's patronage up to 2016, so much so that they exceed the capacity of the railway
• Given the optimistic traffic forecasts it is worrying when they are allied to significantly higher capital costs.

This is the closing paragraph in the report that is better seen than reported (click to enlarge)

If the train was hitting the buffers this report is in danger of derailing it. Given the economic climate, the recent history of schemes that are over budget and over burden the electorate, surely it's better to stop this madness now rather than just push on blindly in an act of hope of reality? This railway has always been unfit for purpose. A cut price solution aimed at justifying the building of new homes against a background of an ill thought through economic plan by a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs. The above picture from the report is surely proof of that? All too often people find it hard, having committed themselves to something, to change tack. There needs to be leadership from the Scottish Government to stop what is, on paper, a good idea that is being addressed by the wrong solution.

Is The Border's Railway Going to Hit the Buffers?

2008-09-15T07:50:00.004+01:00

So the plans for the Border’s rail link are flawed! What have we been saying for years? According to a report obtained under FOI, “significant mathematical and methodological errors" are included in it as well as "inappropriate application of economic techniques". Now a first year statistical student or transport planner on a university course could have told them that, so why has the whole thing continued to be pushed through by Scottish Borders Council, Holyrood and applauded by a number of MSPs who ought to know better? Well of course it’s politics isn’t it, nothing to do with what is really right for the Scotland, the Borders or the people that live here.

The latest report into the folly of the ‘tram to Gala was compiled by Cyril Sweett, a London-based international construction and property consultancy. The report highlights the fact that the costs of the project had been underestimated, the management had been inadequate and vital information is missing. "The technical and financial elements of the business case are not considered as robust as they should have been. They go on to say that "a number of potentially significant flaws", are contained in the plan and it is. " Overly optimistic and not robust in its structure." This includes,

• The cost of land or the effect of inflation.

• No provision seemed to have been made for buying land necessary for connecting the Borders line to existing tracks.

• The rail link plan rested on "significant unexplained growth" in demand for new homes in the Borders, the report argued.

• Assumptions implied rush-hour trains would become overcrowded, with some expected to be carrying double their maximum capacity by 2035.

Perhaps most astonishing of all are reports in the Sunday Herald that quote a member of the Waverly Trust who are supporting the line’s reopening.

"Many of the criticisms in this report are valid. We've long had doubts about the way this scheme has been managed. To survive and prosper the Borders rail link needs to be rethought, and we're hopeful that under the new management of Transport Scotland that will happen."

So here we are then, the Waverly Trust helped push through a scheme they thought was flawed, probably knowing full well that if the correct figures and information were laid before Holyrood et al then it would have hit the buffers before we even got started. However, according to a Transport Scotland spokeswoman. “The report did not reflect the most up-to-date information, for example on patronage levels, train timetabling and expected housing developments.” So why didn’t Transport Scotland give them the most up to date informant having commissioned them to do the report? Apparently the agency therefore overhauled the business case, which improved the project's cost/benefit ratio. "

In my world that means they fudged the numbers.

The absurdity of this situation is beyond belief. We have a plan approved by parliament based on dodgy numbers. When it final gets under way the budget will be way over the £295 million that they are currently working on. The obvious questions about how on earth can this project make money remain. Even more so given the revelations that the railway line has passenger forecasts that are way too high. Don’t forget, even with the high passenger numbers it was still set to fail to cover its operating costs.

In 2000 the costs of restoring a railway to Tweedbank was estimated at £73m. When MSPs voted to restore it in 2006 the costs quoted were £155m. Next we were told that the costs will be £178M - but don't worry. According to local MSP Jeremy Purvis "detractors of the rail project had been proved wrong, and maintained: It will be delivered on time and on budget." Apparently the reason for the increase were due to a, "much more detailed technical assessments. These identified that significantly more work was required on structures such as bridges and tunnels than originally estimated. In addition, costs have increased due to general increases in track, signaling, earthworks and other factors such as environmental mitigation, some land acquisition and design and management. In addition to inflation, there are also new costs such as landfill tax that has now been built into the revised cost estimate.  

When the scheme was approved the SNP Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said the cost had increased because of additions such as an extra station at Stow. Increasing land costs and extra strengthening work on bridges on the line.

All this proves it’s a railway built on the politics of creep. Many people have a vested interest in seeing this line built because it supports their political aims, they have investment riding on the project, jobs depend on it and egos are at stake. However, whether or not it’s a good thing for the Borders, and Scotland seems to be getting lost in the mix. We need to stop this madness and the latest report is a timely reality check.

VisitScotland and the Real Definition of Green Marketing

2008-08-18T12:08:00.002+01:00

It's either the silly season or VisitScotland have finally tipped over the edge. You'd think in this difficult times for marketing Scotland to the world, with a strong pound vs. the dollar and in these troubled economic times that the organization charged with increasing tourism would be focused on the main job in hand. Not a bit of it, they've now decided to introduce yet another marketing scheme. According to their latest scheme. "Hotels, guest houses, restaurants and visitor attractions will be challenged to change long-standing habits, adopt new energy-saving measures and promote eco-friendly initiatives. Guests will be urged to 'go green' on holiday by ditching their cars, hiring a bike or going on a walking trip, and cutting down on the amount of water they use."

Among VisitScotland's ideas to help businesses improve their environmental record are collecting rainwater for re-use, installing low-energy lighting systems, recycling all glass, cans and plastic, and installing water-efficient toilets. Apparently once a business has signed up to the new "Going Green" initiative they will be coached throughout the year by experts at VisitScotland, with the aim of securing accreditation to the organisation's Green Tourism Business Scheme. Then they will get a little green plaque to go with their VisitScotland rating's plaque.

This is madness! A plethora of initiatives continue to flow out of the national tourist organization from people who clearly have little idea how marketing tourism works. VisitScotland's much-vaunted web site revamp still leaves me, and probably many others, cold. Just take the Scottish Borders, forty one places are listed in their place guide to the region, of which nine, 22%, have in their description." A full description of this location will be added shortly." It's been like that now for years and still nothing new. But it gets worse. Under Kirk Yetholm there's this picture. It's probably closer to twenty years old than ten! The fact is that until someone gets a hold of visitScotland and addresses its fundamental weaknesses will continue to drag it down – they should start with their dull and boring, clunky website.

The Chimes of Freedom?

2008-07-25T11:29:00.000+01:00

The chimes of freedom are no longer going to ring out in Gala because of Scottish Borders Council. The environmental health officers of SBC have decided to silence the bells between midnight and 7.15 a.m. because they have received one complaint from a local B&B owner. According to the council they are just "moving with the times". Their spokesperson added: "The council had a legal obligation to act based on the findings of environmental health and consultation would not have changed that fact." How is affecting our health? Is it Quasimodo who complained?

The clock stands above a statue of a Border Reiver and the war memorial carries the names of 635 men from Galashiels who died in World War I. Yet SBC decided that the complaint was “not unreasonable.” What has that got to do with environmental health grounds? It’s like someone saying, “I hear what you say.” It normally means they are about to ignore you. According to the spokesperson “The clock dates back to the time when most people would not have had clocks at home and relied on the chimes to help them tell the time, day or night." Oh please! Who are they kidding? So for £850 we’re going to silence the bells. I can think of a lot better ways to spend the money….and that’s not counting how much it cost to investigate the whole affair.

The Hypocrisy of Wind

2008-07-09T10:52:00.001+01:00

All we ever hear from the renewables industry and the Scottish government is how building windfarms is good for Scotland's economy; how they boost jobs, bring untold wealth into Scotland. Well how do they explain what's happening here in the Lammermuir Hills. Work is about to begin on the extension to the Crystal Rig II wind farm. The 51 turbine site will create one of the largest windfarms in Europe when it's added to the existing Crstal Rig turbines. The company that owns the wind turbines is Fred Olsen Renewables, a Norwegian company, and they've awarded the £16.5 million contract for the infrastructure to a Welsh civil engineering company.

Education Education Education

2008-07-05T14:16:00.003+01:00

Time we started a blog debate on this very important topic.

The Borders Party ranks include several professional educators. I agree that this is an important area and that for many people the education provided to their children is the most crucial council service.

It has suggested that public meetings be held to consult. But before that we can chat online and hopefully folk interested in education in the Scottish Borders will join in. This will at least help to identify the areas of greatest concern, before any public meeting.

I feel that the new SBC policy, yet to be adopted, of saving money by combining headships and reducing the number of promoted posts will save small sums at the expense of risking the culture in well run schools by spreading management too thinly. It will give financial savings on paper but may lose value in terms of educational outcomes.

Is this a Borders Party theme? To take account of value rather than just cost?

It is much easier for the Council to listen to the bean counters and look narrowly at cost, but a Borders Party administration will look more widely at value for money, which involves listening, thinking and making balanced judgements.

Already, parents are reacting angrily to Transforming Children's Services as cost cutting dressed up as something else. Surely, it is all too typical of modern government, local and national, to try to hide the truth under a layer of spin.

Another favourite tactic is to bewilder the public by providing such a weight of argument as to defy all opposition. That's weight as measured on the scales rather than in the halls of debate. I have been sent a pile of Transforming Children's Services documents as part of the public consultation exercise and I guess I'll have to try not to get bogged down thinking about how much it cost the council taxpayer to print and distribute these glossy 48-page tomes and start ploughing through.

Borders Party thoughts on education hitherto have been:

a) to retain local schools in rural areas wherever possible

b) to oppose entering into Public Private Partnerships, which entail long-term debt

c) to stress value above cost.

Of course the council has to take account of cost but it is just as important to recognise value. As has been said elsewhere, flinging money at education has clearly not worked. This has been true nationally in the last ten years or so, where expenditure has risen enormously, standards are seen by many as falling and teachers feel so wrapped up in targets and testing that they cannot teach! I'm told of a sign in a teacher's office which read 'The more I test, the less I teach. Soon I will know with absolute certainty that they know nothing!'

One of the problems with national targets and an over-centralised education regime is that local education authorities have less and less room for maneouvre. Our challenge is to identify ways in which resources in the Borders education service can be used more effectively for better outcomes for Borders youngsters.

Over to you.

Waste Watch

2008-07-05T12:13:00.002+01:00

The news that our portfolio holding councillors are to get blackberry phones so that they can get email access makes me laugh. Is it really necessary for councillors to be in touch 24/7? I don't think so. This is a classic example of, 'we can so we will.' It is indicative of all that is becoming increasingly wrong in our society. Instant communication is no substitute for reasoned thought.

The Waivering Waverley Line?

2008-06-19T09:12:00.006+01:00

Does anyone really know what's happening with the Waverley line? Time just seems to drift along, all we hear are rumours about rising costs coupled with a quirky financial plan to get private investment into something that’s unlikely to ever give investors a return. How does this all make sense? Any hope of seeing this line built and operating by 2013 or 2014, even if someone is foolish enough to invest in the project, must be out of the question. In the meantime all that is happening is mounting expenditure, to which I assume Scottish Borders Council is contributing. This vanity project needs to be stopped and sensible thinking about the transport needs that are required across the Borders should begin. What sort of sophisticated bus network could have been operating by now with the many millions that have been spent on the folly of ‘a tram to Gala’?

Our Cultural Challenge in The Borders

2008-06-19T09:10:00.000+01:00

According to the BBC web site, plans to transfer control of Scottish Borders' libraries and museums to a charitable trust could fall foul of the law. This is according to Unison, the trade union whose members would be most affected.
According to Unison, moral reasons made the plan a non-starter.
As they were unlawful, under the 1887 Public Libraries Act.

Are they serious? An act brought in over one hundred years ago when our society operated in a wholly different way should be used to stand in the way of a discussion and possible change that might allow for our cultural improvement in the 21st century?

The legislation imposed a statutory duty on councils to run library and museum services. The union said the Act had never been repealed therefore hiving the service off would "clearly breach" that legislation. Unison mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge to Glasgow City Council's decision to transfer cultural and leisure services to a charitable trust last year. The union has condemned the "uncertain future" of a "democratically accountable public service".

For me what we should be exploring is every possible way to improve and invigorate our cultural facilities in the Borders. With the internet, changing reading patterns, our ability to travel more freely and the financial demands placed upon us by our changing economy we must look at new and innovative ways to meet this challenge.

Museums, Arts and Libraries in the Borders

2008-06-18T07:27:00.004+01:00

Interesting item on the BBC web site today about our libraries, museums and the arts. It suggests that Scottish Borders Council would hand over direct control of Museum, art gallery and library services to a trust rather than directly by Scottish Borders Council. This is as part of a reshaping of education and social work.

It's similar to the system that's already in use for swimming pools and leisure centres. The proposals will be put out for public consultation and a final decision will be taken in November. Councillor Graham Garvie said it was a matter of adapting to changing needs. Running the services as a trust could mean it would qualify for tax breaks and fresh funding not available to the council. Under employment law, pay and conditions of existing staff would be protected.
But the Unison union said nationally such charitable trusts had meant cuts in leisure facilities because of reductions in local authority subsidies.

A very important debate to be had, but as important as the concept is the who will run it? The Trustees? How will funding be assured from SC and how can we seek to improve this area of Border's life not just save money?

Economic De-generation

2008-05-20T17:32:00.003+01:00

Scottish Borders Council is advertising to appoint an 'Economic Development Manager' salaried at £40,233 - £43,074, with two subordinate 'Principal Officers' at £33,373 - £35,904. Together with their pensions, national insurance, office space and other costs, these posts represent an annual cost to Borders taxpayers - and therefore the Borders economy - of at least £150,000. And that's before whatever budget it is they will be in charge of.

There's no evidence that economic regeneration policy by government boosts the economy at all - ceretainly not at the local council level. What can they possibly do with their money that would be more productivly spent than if left in the private sector? How can they possibly assume they know how Borderes should spend their money better than they do themselves?

Presumably thier budget will be spent on subsidising various business activities or providing services. Who can tell whether these are worth it, or if they wouldn't be undetaken anyway without help?

Surely the lesson of the last century is that governments are bad at economic activity. Has SBC never heard of the USSR?

That £150,000 is pure waste, taken out of hard pressed families' budgets. Economic de-generation more like!

Kelso Traffic

2008-04-28T10:39:00.003+01:00

Alarm bells are ringing round Kelso at the council's plans for better 'traffic management' in the town centre. The main idea is to make lots of street one-way and prevent the use of the Square for through traffic.

The rationale is that up to 30% of journeys are 'rat runs' and other unnecessary journeys.

But it's hard to think of any journey from points outside Kelso that would be quicker using the town centre rather than the bypass and bridge.

Meanwhile it's now well known that interference in traffic flow tends to make things worse rather than better - witness the disastrous changes in Edinburgh recently. One-way streets in particular casue speeds to go up and caution to be thrown to the winds.

Indeed the new trend across Europe is for traffic controls to be removed rather than imposed, following the example of Makkinga in Holland. There they have foud that courtesy and caution in drivers is encouraged by the removal of signage, and accidents have gone down.

Kelso is doing just fine without much signage. And its pretty streets are mercifully free of 'street furniture'. Sure, it could probably do with a couple of zebras to help pedestrians cross (and these would slow things down thus deterring through traffic further), but that's about it.

Let us hope that the urge that 'something must be done' is resisted at council level in favour of cautious, minimalist measures.

Was it Reagan that said "Don't just do something, stand there!"?

2008-04-19T18:17:00.002+01:00

FOI

We have an interesting story in the Southern Reporter of 10th April concerning a Freedom of Information request. Following stories about toxic waste sites, such as Violet Bank in Peebles which came to light in the discussion of the highly contraversial decision to site the town's new primary school at Neidpath Grazings, the Southern asked SBC how many other toxic waste sites it is aware of across the Scottish Borders.

SBC declined to answer. The Council claims that the relevant Act gives them a get-out; the Council has not yet completed a survey of the toxic waste sites of which it is aware, and to give out information ahead of completing a full survey might cause public confusion.

Fair enough, perhaps. Public release of information about potentially dangerous toxic sites will have to wait until completion of a full survey, so as not to cause unnecessary consternation.

However, nothing is ever simple in life. The Council cannot give a date when the survey will be complete. In fact, the Council does not have any employee qualified to carry out the survey.

The Southern has decided to take its FOI request to the Information Commissioner for Scotland.

Meanwhile, we are left with several unanswered questions. When will the Council complete the survey of toxic sites? Perhaps never? I don't know if the Council intends to take on a person able to survey toxic waste sites.

Presumably, Scottish Borders Council has in mind a list of sites about which it is not releasing information. How will planning applications for land which includes possible contaminated areas be dealt with? If planning permission is refused, will the reasons be given?

I am surprised that the Act gives the Council such an easy get-out, but I am not surprised that SBC is prepared to deny the public information on the grounds that knowing the facts might cause the public to get confused. It seems that all too often, public bodies are not prepared to tell the people who pay their wages the facts until after those facts have been digested, decisions have been made and a suitable public line has been agreed.

Exercising The Mind

2008-04-13T07:44:00.000+01:00

According to Scotland on Sunday the SNP is planning to get rid of the two hours physical education pledge that had been a hangover from the last administration for something called ‘outcome policies’ – whatever those are? Figures obtained under FOI show that the average PE for Scottish kids is now a shade of an hour and half each week.

There really is a complete nonsense going in when it comes to PE in schools. The drive to get children to perform, ever better, at exams seems to be taking a precedence that is unhealthy; a lack of PE is also clearly unhealthy. I’ve no idea what the figures are for Border’s schools when it comes to PE but I assume they are not wildly off the national average. Given that we place so much store in the success of our rugby team, our Olympic athletes and our football team how do we think this is going to continue to have success if we reduce PE times.

I went over to the Melrose 7s yesterday, drove past the new Berwickshire High and the new secondary school at Earlston. Both are taking good, though ugly, shape. Would this not be the opportunity to get PE back further up the school curriculum? Should we as a party be pushing SBC to buck the national trend? The correlation between obesity and lack of PE is clear. But there’s an even more important reason for there to be more PE. As there is evidence throughout life that exercise sharpens the mind it doesn’t dull it. We will have higher achievers if we have more PE. The Borders party should make this a priority.

Local Authority Value For Money?

2008-03-28T08:29:00.001Z

According to the Tax Payers Alliance there are fourteen people in UK local authorities that earn more than the Prime Minister. It appears that there are none in Scotland although we cannot be sure because of the 32 listed by COSLA eleven local authorities refused to answer questions on how much they pay their senior staff. The best 'excuse' for not responding was Edinburgh City Council who said. "“… There is no aggregate corporate statistical information in existence that would meet your requirement”

There are six authorities where no one earns more than £100,000, but there are two where they earn more than a cabinet minister (South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire), although I wouldn't mind betting there's a couple that are saying nothing who also earn more than the £137,579 paid to a Westminster cabinet minister. Alex Salmond gets £77,000 as First Minister, which means that the majority of council chief executives get paid more. Here in the Scottish Borders the CE earns over £113,00. Based on the population of the Scottish Borders he earns more than a £1 per person living here, well above most other Chief Executives. Though to be fair the Chief Executive in the Outer Hebrides earns £102,991, which is around £4 for everyone living there.

Comparing salaries is always tricky but it does throw up some interesting questions and makes one think. For more on the Tax Payers Alliance report go HERE

How To Finance a Railway

2008-03-15T17:32:00.000Z

Is it that politicians think they can somehow defy the basic principles of business just by speaking or am I missing something? Then again maybe once they enter the rarefied atmosphere of government they somehow stop having rational thoughts. Well it certainly seems so with what is going on with the Borders rail project. According to reports in the media this week, Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, is “heartened by the response from firms who saw the project as an excellent investment opportunity”. The proposal for a private/public partnership that would plough profits into community projects ranks up there with the Darien scheme of the 17th century as a triumph of hope over reality.

The cost of the line is estimated at somewhere between £235 and £295 million – an awful lot of investment. To get any kind of return on this investment the line has to carry enough passengers to cover the train operator’s costs and other costs which is where there appears to be a fatal flaw in the scheme. The last figures I’ve seen indicate operating revenues of close to £7 million per annum. What will the profit be on this level of revenue? The answer is very little. Let’s look at the potential for upsides.

If £7 million is the annual revenue that would probably be somewhere in the region of 560,000 passengers at an annual one way fare of £12.50. That’s a little over 1500 passengers a day – there will be a lot less at weekends. It certainly puts into perspective the scale of the business opportunity. Let’s assume they do 50% better than they predict in passenger numbers. Let’s also assume that the £7 million in revenue covers their operating costs – total pie in the sky but stick with this. As in any transport business extra passengers do not come at the average yield they are generally produced by competitive pricing. Therefore an additional 280,000 passengers per annum might produce additional revenue of £2.8 million. Given the construction costs then it would take a month or two under 85 years just to pay back the construction costs without any consideration being given to interest charges….and the small point of the private investors wanting to make some money.

No doubt there have been enquiries to the Scottish government from the private sector about this ‘opportunity’ but quite how anyone could see a sensible business case eludes me. Or am I missing something?

Goodbye to the Local Income Tax?

2008-03-14T16:33:00.002Z

Thank goodness the SNP / Lib Dem Local Income Tax received such a terrible reception that it looks dead in the water. It would have hammered the Borders.

Economically, anyone with a choice between Scotland and England as a place to hire staff or start a business would have gone South. Some people were even considering moving their domicile across the Border, and our region would have been affected most of all.

Second, it would have been a disaster for local democracy. Scottish Borders Council may be wasteful, but at least there is some kind of financial accoutnability to its electorate. Bad government becomes worse government very quickly if it doesn't have to pay its way.

Finally - awful for the environment. The LIT would have removed any financial incentive to live in a smaller home, increasing the housing squeeze on working families and thus the pressure for more development. And any green schemes to replace council tax with charges for, say, rubbish collection or road use would have been impossible.

So a lucky escape. What will they think of next?

Non Profit Vehicle

2008-03-09T16:53:00.003Z

The capital costs of the Borders railway, which are between £235m to £295m, are to be funded by an aptly named "non-profit distributing vehicle" (NPD). This apparently means that the cash will be borrowed from the financial markets. It will be repaid by annual charges met from the budgets of the national agency Transport Scotland, and with contributions from councils.

Now all this sounds very simple but it is potentially a huge financial hole for Scottish Borders Council. With funding apparently capped at £30 million it is potentially good news for the Scottish Borders Council but the risk to tax payers is huge. The fact remains that the forecasts of passenger numbers are very superficial, with a whole lot of assumptions that will make operating profits very unlikely. Given the continually rising capital costs of the project then the whole scheme could become a millstone around everyone's neck. How many of these NPD's have been tried on projects like this?

While the Borders party is dedicated to every aspect of Border's life there's no escaping the fact that the Waverley Line is skewing the thinking of the council and many other organizations. Our continued opposition to it must remain as a core policy.

The Tram To Gala - Stop the Madness

2008-03-07T09:00:00.002Z

Back in March 2007 I wrote the following on my own blog.
"The train has been approved by a parliament anxious to be seen to be doing the right thing. However, I’m prepared to wager it will not be built. The costs that have been forecast are woefully inadequate for the job and I reckon we will get to the point where someone is going to question the budget overruns that will soon start to be mentioned. We cannot have another Holyrood fiasco."

In 2000 the costs of restoring a railway to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders was estimated at £73m. When MSPs voted to restore it in 2006 the costs quoted were £155m. Next we were told that the costs will be £178M - but don't worry. According to local MSP Jeremy Purvis "detractors of the rail project had been proved wrong, and maintained: It will be delivered on time and on budget." Apparently the reason for the increase in the last year are due to a, "much more detailed technical assessments. These identified that significantly more work was required on structures such as bridges and tunnels than originally estimated. In addition, costs have increased due to general increases in track, signalling, earthworks and other factors such as environmental mitigation, some land acquisition and design and management. In addition to inflation, there are also new costs such as landfill tax that has now been built into the revised cost estimate.

So first of all we now have it onfirmed the start of the work on the 31-mile line will be delayed at least a year to 2010, and it would not be finished until 2013 – two years later than expected. Sorry Mr. Purvis your first mistake. He's now saying "I do not believe the government's heart is in the project. If it was, they would have used traditional funding methods. People in the Borders will not forgive the SNP if this jeopardises the Borders railway." You're probably wrong again we might be very glad it's scrapped and for another very good reason.

The scheme, previously estimated to cost some £175 million (£217 million at 2012 prices) is now expected to reach £235 (295 million at 2012 prices). According to the SNP Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson (no stranger to controversy) the cost had increased because of additions such as an extra station at Stow. Increasing land costs and extra strengthening work on bridges on the line, which closed in 1969, had further increased the total. Interestingly most of those excuses have already been used.

Our former illustrious leader Jack McConnell called it - “the tram to Gala" and my bet is the tram'll still come off the tracks. But nothing will happen unless we have proper leadership and government. It's all very well people sniping at each other but this is a poorly conceived idea, it's been poorly managed to date and it's still nowhere near starting. Does anyone really think it will stop at £235 million in today's prices? It's highly likely that the blame game will continue while we all suffer - and especially us in the Borders who will end up paying for it. Come 2012, or whenever it finishes, then the over run will be hotly debated, most of those involved in government will have moved on and then we'll have a public inquiry to apportion blame and so forth (further costs of £5, £10, £15 million in expensive lawyers and QCs)

Even on the previous construction costs it was going to take something over 31 years just to repay the capital costs of construction. That's without paying a penny towards finance costs or operating costs.

Stop the madness Now...

A third way for Berwick?

2008-02-29T09:52:00.002Z

Amusing public debate has resumed on the status of Berwick upon weed, with an SNP bid to recapture the town for Scotland. Such irridentism begs all sorts of other thoughts based on the fluctuating history of the Border. Should it pushed yet further south to its earlier line along the Tyne in the East and Ribble in the West? Or, in a new age of regionalism, should the kingdom of Northumberland be exhumed, with the most Anglo Saxon parts of Scotland - the Lothians and Berwickshire - reunited with England down to the Humber? Scope for such territorial argument is near endless.

A more fruitful approach might be to build on the nebulous legal status of the town. At various times it seems to have existed as a sort of crown colony, neither in Scotland, nor properly in England. This is reminiscent of other parts of these islands that enjoy autmonomy from orthodox governmental status such as the Isle of Man. Could Berwick be established as a kind of Free Port on a similar model? Able to set low taxes to attract commerce and industry to the region? A vision, perhaps, of a mini Hong Kong, a dynamo of prosperity and enterprise that could reinvigorate the neglected fringe of both countries.

No doubt such a proposal would receive short shrift from everyone from the Treasury to the EU to Holyrood. Politicians hate to relinquish power. But it might be an idea usefuly deployed as a counterbalance when our battier tribunes come up with power-grabs based on dodgy historical precedent.

Waverley Rail Project Dead & Buried

2008-02-22T11:19:00.004Z

You'll be amazed to know that the Waverley Rail Project has issued a press release; it's first in five months. In it they tell us that 'The Waverley Railway Project is on track to re-establish a passenger service from Edinburgh through Midlothian to Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders.'

Slight problem here. Work on construction is supposed to start this year. Any sign of it happening? First trains to run by 2011?

They also say. 'As a result of the planned change in Authorised Undertaker to Transport Scotland, Scottish Ministers are conducting a due diligence exercise, at the end of which they will state the way forward for the railway.' Does the appointment of an undertaker mean the project is dead and buried?

Funnily enough still no mention of a revised budget. Makes you wonder how much has already been spent on consultants and other preparatory work.

An SNP Minister Speaks....Possibly

2008-02-21T08:02:00.001Z

In the Scotsman this morning there's an article entitled 'Seeing ourselves as others see us in drive to promote vital and diverse rural communities.' It says it's been written Richard Lochhead, the rural affairs secretary. If it has been he's clearly a man whose first and last names have become muddled. It actually reads like something produced by a RPSG. Why do I say this? here are some crackers.

Opening lines.

Since taking office, I have been impressed by the level of commitment among farmers, businesses and service industries to developing vibrant rural communities.

I was particularly struck by the comments about the fragmented delivery landscape.

We are committed to creating a well-connected, safe and reliable transport system providing good-quality public transport which is integrated, accessible and affordable.

I agree with the OECD's assertion that rural Scotland has unexploited potential. We must realise this and, to do so, we have to get the relationships and context right. Through our economic strategy, we have focused central government and the wider public sector on increasing sustainable economic growth.

An RPSG? A Random Political Speak Generator...

Dick Lochhead begins his article by saying. "I was pleased to note the complimentary remarks made yesterday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) about the level of innovation, both in quantity and quality, throughout rural Scotland."

He finishes it by saying "I look forward to examining the detail of the OECD report and considering what lessons we can draw for it to help meet our aim of supporting vital, diverse and sustainable rural communities."

Rather than launching off in some self serving drivel perhaps it would have been as well to read the whole thing first. It may well be that the devil is in the detail. He could then tell us in language that makes sense and makes us rural dwellers feel like someone is listening. All he's done is read the Executive Summary.

What does it have to say about putting up wind turbines and descamating the main source of income for most people in rural areas - tourism?

Scotland, England? (Daddy, Chips?)

2008-02-18T14:07:00.000Z

All this talk about Berwick-Upon-Tweed becoming a part of Scotland again (The town has changed hands between the two nations at least 13 times) is typical of the media driven political world in which it's our joy to live.

According to a 'referendum' for Monday's ITV1 Tonight programme, 1,182 voters in favour of becoming part of Scotland and 775 in favour of staying in England. Now that is clearly a 'vote' in favour but I wonder if it would stay that way if a real vote was taken . A vote in which all the pros and cons were considered in a more thoughtful and less simplistic way. Particularly when it's considered how much it will cost to make all these changes, and who is going to pay for them?

According to the survey it was better financed public services, including free personal health care for the elderly, which were the main reasons for a pro-Scottish Berwick. However, how will that really shake down if suddenly the perceived advantages of being part of Scotland were to change? We can assume that Berwick-U-T will become part of the Scottish Borders. How will they like being administered from Newtown St Boswells - it's almost 50 miles away? Already the focus of Scottish Borders Council is very 'central Borders centric', will this make any difference? Could it even put up council charges for the rest of us who live in the Borders?

It's a Scottish SNP MSP that is behind the current talk and of course it suits their purpose well to try and highlight how much better 'living in Scotland' is. But, most of what is perceived as being better was as a result of the Labour administration and may well not be deliverable in the long term.

Tartan Week? Nice Work If you Can get It

2008-02-18T13:54:00.003Z

At the Scottish Borders Council meeting on Thursday 21st February the first item on the agenda (of course it is not necessarily the most important despite being first up) is ..... pause for effect....

Visit To Tartan Week
Consider report by Chief Executive seeking approval for travel and accomodation expenses for representatives to go to Tartan Week in New York. (copy attached)

This item is scheduled to last 5 minutes and I assume the attached papers set out how much this is going to cost. Do we seriously need to even consider it? Who plans to go on this junket, what is it supposed to achieve? Given the time allocated to discussion I assume the Chief Executive is not expecting much opposition?

Who needs SBC?

2008-02-15T16:14:00.004Z

The news that Scottish Borders Council has been helping itself to the Galashiels common good fund prompts the question: why don't local communities in the Borders run their own affairs more?

Instead of pilfering from these funds, SBC should be adding to them, by devolving its budget to towns and communities acorss the region on a proportionate basis. Locally elected community councils could take charge of everything from street management, to rubbish collection, to schools, to parks to libraries.

Maybe it's no coincidence that the heyday of Borders towns in terms of civic pride and architecture was when they ran their own affairs.

SBC was created in an optimistic bid for economies of scale. In fact it has contributed to waste and excessive Council Tax because it is too distant from its electorate. If the people of Kelso (to take a topical example) are unhappy wih the lack of zebra crossings in town, they can do nothin about it. Such decisions should be made locally.

There would be no problems with economies of scale. Towns could shop around nationwide for the best contractor to collect the rubbish or mow the lawns. Instead of paying a distorted fee for ill-defined services from SBC, they would pay a competitive price for the best service on offer. Costs would fall and quality would rise. We might even see a cut in Council Tax!

Newtown St.Boswells

2008-02-11T09:07:00.000Z

In the local papers, we see responses to the proposal by Persimmon to build 500 houses near the dump at Easter Langlee and also to the proposal to build nearly 100 houses at Innerleithen.

The repondents are worried about the scale of those developments. There is a suggestion that 500 new houses at Easter Langlee is just too many and will overwhelm the local infrastructure - schools, roads, health services and so forth.

Again, people in Innerleithen are worried that the proposed development is simply too much for a small town to cope with.

Well, what about Newtown St.Boswells?

Here, we have proposals for a total of well over 1200 new houses to be built in and around a village with, at present, about 500 houses. The proposals, which would more than treble the population, will transform our village into the sixth largest town in the Scottish Borders. Comparable in size with Eyemouth and Jedburgh.

The comparison is unfortunate, as both of those places have been much in the news for street crime, vandalism and yobbishness which prevents most people from going out of doors in the evenings.

So it is understandable that Newtonians are worried about the damaging social change which will result from the proposed over-development.

These proposals, which were brought forward by Scottish Borders Council with no prior consultation, were and remain against the expressed wishes of the people who live here.

Objections to the scale of what has been proposed have been submitted by the village's Community Council, other village groups and many individuals. A petition signed by the majority of Newtonains opposed the Council's plans for a massive 'village expansion'. The Council's response to this tide of opinion was to reject every one of those submissions.

There has been a public inquiry into the Council's Local Plan, however the inquiry remit did not extend to a consideration of whether the houses were needed but the narrow question of where they should be built. The inquiry found in favour of the Council's plan.

So I don't hold out much hope for those people worried about the scale of developments at Easter Langlee and Innerleithen.

Rail link will do more harm that good – scrap it before it's too late

2008-02-10T11:36:00.000Z

This is Nicholas Watson's piece published in the Scotsman's Comment section on Friday 8th February.

So, the ungrateful natives of the Borders don't want the railway? At a recent meeting, SNP MSP Chris Harvie's motion in favour of re-opening the Waverley Line was defeated by 206 votes to 67.
How can this huge majority have been hidden behind Scottish Borders Council's claims of "overwhelming support"? Simple: this, at last, was a public debate, widely-advertised, open to all and in stark contrast to the process that has excluded many people with genuine concerns. The debate's results should not be ignored.

This was not a battle between good, train-loving people and the wicked tarmac lobby: the two sides' aspirations for the Borders are probably much closer than it seemed. We all like trains and we all care for the future of our planet. However, detailed scrutiny of the Waverley project reveals a scheme that will do more harm than good.

A train service taking more than an hour from Tweedbank to Edinburgh is useless to all but a tiny part of the Borders around Galashiels. Passengers on a slow, inconvenient and underused service would be right at the top of the carbon footprint scale, and top of the public-subsidy scale, too.

If we are serious about improving public transport, then we must remove sentimentality from the process. A first-rate, flexible bus service connecting our towns and villages to each other as well as to Edinburgh, and serving the whole of the Borders, could be provided at a fraction of the cost to the environment and to the public purse.

Delivery of the Waverley Line is tied to a very damaging pattern of development, which threatens the vitality of places such as Hawick and Jedburgh, as much as Galashiels itself.

Are ministers aware that Lochcarron Mill, described to the Waverley Bill committee as Galashiels' prime tourist attraction, has been demolished to make way for a new retail park, which is proudly supported by the Waverley project?

Even steam enthusiasts are troubled: steam specials are not on the menu – no turntable is planned at Tweedbank.

The proposed line cannot carry freight. Calls for freight services to the Borders are minimal, but the strongest case for extending the line to Carlisle – the prospect of relieving the main north-south lines of freight traffic – has been extinguished.

Many of the 17,200 who petitioned parliament for the return of real Waverley Line now feel betrayed.

Even the sensible option of building only the northern part of the line to Midlothian has been spitefully prevented by clever wording in the bill.

Full marks to the government for commissioning a due- diligence review.

Some MSPs may be indifferent to rising costs, and ill-briefed on both the scheme's detail and its wider consequences, but others recognise the environmental and financial folly of the Waverley Line, and we call upon them to talk to ministers before it is too late.

There is no need to fear losing votes: the present scheme is, regrettably, flawed. Borderers would welcome its rejection.

Is there a crisis in Borders schools?

2008-02-06T09:49:00.000Z

Last year's exam statistics showed an alarming slump in the performance of Borders state schools. What had been a statistical blip is turning into a serious decline.

On the key measure - the percentage of pupils at S4 (the last year of compulsory education) getting five good grades including Maths and English - the stats are as follows:

1997: 54%
1998: 53%
1999: 55%
2000: 55%
2001: 57%
2002: 58%
2003: 50%
2004: 49%
2005: 51%
2006: 50%
2007: 46%

This is over a period of enormously increased resources being pumped into our schools. Latest figures from the government show that, over the last decade, spending per pupil has DOUBLED.

Based on the figures above, that suggests that we are now getting LESS THAN HALF the productivity, value for money, whatever you want to call it, than we were ten years ago. Or, in other words, a lot of taxpayers money has been squandered. And the situation is getting worse.

What is going on here? Our economy is being damaged by unnecessary taxation while the future of our young poeple is being undermined year by year. Does Scottish Borders Council have an explanation?

The Desecration of The Lammermuir Hills

2008-02-05T09:28:00.000Z

In all the rhetoric and argument over the Lewis wind farm proposal what is happening on our doorstep is largely ignored. Of course it is not such an emotive argument as that concerning the Outer Hebrides, but it is arguably more significant. Last week the Scottish Government's approved a 68-turbine site in Perthshire, it’s great news according to the energy minister Jim Mather. "There is no doubt that this country can become the green energy capital of Europe." This mantra's beginning to wear a bit thin and its time we started to think in a more holistic way about of impact of wind farms; especially as it affects tourism. This is especially important in the Borders where tourism is our single biggest industry. And as some of you may recall Alex Salmond said, before the election, that there needed to be a curb onshore wind farm development.

Over the past six years the Lammermuir Hills have steadily been allowed to become the wind farm capital of Scotland - and arguably Europe - as there are already 188 turbines either operating, being erected or approved. Today a public enquiry is to begin in Duns over the latest scheme, the Fallago Ridge wind farm, on land owned by the Duke of Roxburghe.

This latest wind farm, if approved, will increase the number of turbines in the Lammermuir Hills to 236, which would represent 15% of the total turbines in Scotland. Naturally it will be argued that the scheme will help to make Scotland the green energy capital of Europe and little attention will be paid to how much money is to be made by both the developer and the landowner. Unusually in the case of Fallago Ridge the landowner and developer are inexorably linked because the Duke is also a shareholder in North British Windpower. This means that some of the huge subsidies that are paid to developers will benefit the Duke to the tune of tens of millions of pounds over the lifetime of the wind farm. We can also assume that he will also receive some additional benefit as a shareholder in the development.

On the Duke's web site he proudly announces. "I have endeavoured to expand the Estates operations into the more commercial tourist related areas, which complement the stunning Borders countryside I and my family are fortunate enough to live in" Does he think the Fallago Ridge wind farm will become a tourist attraction? Or is it that they are sited far enough away from his estate at Kelso as to not affect his tourism income? The fact is that local councils and the Scottish Government have allowed the systematic ruination of the Lammermuir Hills in the pursuit of the elusive green energy ‘goals’. Areas of Great Landscape Value, SSSI's and local opinion have been ignored. Meanwhile one of the south of Scotland's last wild places is steadily being taken by stealth allowing the rich to get richer while Scotland becomes the poorer.

The Waverley Line Borders Terminus?

2008-01-19T09:42:00.000Z

I missed the debate on Wednesday because I was in Sheffield. The following morning I had to go to London and that menant arriving at the 'new' St Pancras. I wondered as I walked through the magnificent station if this is what the planners have in mind for Tweedbank?

The Great Railway Debate - Result

2008-01-17T08:04:00.000Z

News of the debate has spread far and wide across the land and not just the Borders. Curret;y exiled in Sheffield for 48 hours I can bring you the result.

The motion - “That the proposed rail link between Edinburgh and Tweedbank should proceed.”

For: 67

Against 206

First Public Debate on the Waverley Line.

2008-01-07T21:03:00.000Z

The first public debate on the return of the controversial Waverley Line will take place in the Borders next week.

Scottish Borders Councillor Nicholas Watson and Christopher Harvie MSP, both known for their passionate views on the project, are preparing for the debate which will also involve input from the audience. Jack Clark, Managing Director of John Swan Auctioneers, Newtown St. Boswells, will take the chair.

Nicholas Watson says “The only real debate about the return of the Waverley Line seems to have been in the pages of the local press. At last we can have a public debate and we’re very grateful to Chris Harvie for his willingness to take part, and to Jack Clark for agreeing to see fair play. Everyone is welcome, especially if you haven’t made up your mind yet. This is a rare opportunity to ask questions and hear both sides.”

Professor Chris Harvie, of the Scottish National Party, has long been an advocate of traveling by train and has close links to the Campaign for Borders Rail.

The debate will take place on Wednesday 16 January in the Village Hall in St Boswells, (next to the bus station). The meeting is open to members of the public and starts at 7.30pm. There is no entry fee.

The event is organised by The Borders Party, which was founded in the Autumn of 2006. Nicholas Watson is leader of the new party and opposes the return of the Waverley Line, claiming it can only serve a tiny part of the Borders, that it is driving a damaging pattern of development and is a colossal waste of public money. “Good planning,” says Watson, “is about relating development to local needs and local employment. Planning for people to live forty-odd miles from their place of work is sustainable development turned on its head. Hardly anyone in Holyrood seems to realise how unpopular the Waverley Project is in the Borders.”

The Crook Inn

2007-12-17T20:49:00.000Z

Planning officials have recommended the approval of a proposal to convert an inn first licensed in 1604 to housing. Inverwest Ltd has sought permission for its plans for The Crook Inn in the Peeblesshire village of Tweedsmuir. Under the proposal to Scottish Borders Council it would turn the building into four flats and one house.

More than 150 objections have been received to the scheme but planning officials have recommended approval by the Tweeddale Area Committee.

The housing development has been the subject of an opposition campaign since it was first proposed. Opponents have also formed a community company with a view to buying the property and running it as a pub. However, it now appears that plans to develop housing on the site will be given the all clear.

Yet again the Planning Department ignores the views of local people. One might expect them to pay more attention after the Local Plan debacle.

A visit to The Crook Inn was always a great experience. The combination of the 17th century bar, the Art Deco dining room and, of course, the amazing Art Deco Ladies and Gentlemen 'retiring rooms' which surely merit a preservation order, makes for a most unusual and very historic building.

Lets hope that our councillors will stand up for this fantastic building and give the community a chance to keep the inn open.

Sandy's Christmas Message

2007-12-15T13:30:00.000Z

One of the big films of recent years which I did not see was “The Titanic”. I told people I didn’t go because “I knew the ending! True. I come from a generation of boys who thought women in films spoiled things! Love interest spoiled a good picture! So why go and see a ship sinking especially when the picture was of questionable factual accuracy! No, I knew the ending; I didn’t need to sit for three hours to see what happened.

Seems strange then that there is another story where I know the ending yet I never tire of hearing it!! We are charging headlong to Christmas and all the emotions that that festival creates. It is a strange mixture of happiness and melancholy with as many tears as smiles. It is a time of reflection and hope, of family fun and abject loneliness. It is a time when we are bombarded with sentiment, greed and desire but also extraordinary kindness and friendliness. And all because two thousand years ago a baby was born!

Personally I love Christmas, the real Christmas – not Xmas, I don’t know what that is! I mean the Christmas of carols and trees, decorations and lights, kindness and happy children’s faces, nativity plays and hopefully snow, our Queen’s Christmas message and the message of Jesus Christ himself.

It is such a shame that children don’t get the opportunity to hear that message loud and clear. Sunday schools are nearly a thing of history; a nativity play is nearly as rare as the Passion Play of Oberammagau. The extraordinary influence of the politically correct has pushed another agenda, which rejects the celebration of this Christian festival because it is seen by the misguided, as divisive. They have missed the Christian message!!

Before I am criticised again! I attended a church service in Galashiels recently when the brave step of inviting an Islamic guest to give a reading from the Koran was accepted. It was an extraordinary moment but it worked, and worked very well. I spoke to the reader after and we both agreed the importance of such an event and we also agreed we celebrate the same God.

If you love Christmas as I do, do not deprive your children from hearing the story that you heard when you were a child. Don’t leave it to the school or the television to tell the story. If you have been away from church for a while go back and hear the story again. Most of the regular congregation will welcome you, some may not, but does it matter? Remember there is somebody more important watching you. Take the children to a service before Christmas day itself, enjoy advent in church not on a calendar, even take them to the midnight service and let them sing the carols as you did. Let them sing the carols, hear the readings and feel the atmosphere of the real Christmas, they will enjoy the other Christmas all the more – and so will you!
Singing in the choir I will feel Christmas in Stow, Fountainhall and Heriot – how lucky am I?

It’s a great story, even although, like the “Titanic”, we know the tragic ending. As I have said before, “Christmas was made in Bethlehem not China”. Merry Christmas to everybody.

Sandy Aitchison

Scott Wilson and the Waverley Line Project

2007-12-13T09:48:00.001Z

Scott Wilson has announced a big increase in both profits and revenue for the half year ending October 2007. They are of curse the company that were appointed by Scottish Borders Council as the engineering advisor for the Waverley Railway Project. The value of the contract to Scott Wilson is expected to be up to £9 million over the duration of the project. That's out of a total, so far declared budget of £174 million. Difficult to see how the project is going to keep within its declared position. Of course the figure of £200 million is currently in the frame as the projected costs. It will be fascinating to see once the dust has settled a little more just how much has been spent so far. I feel a little FOI question or two coming on.

Duns, Almost Well and Truly on the Map

2007-12-11T11:50:00.000Z

See what a little complaining will do. A few weeks ago I got on my hobby horse and complained about VisitScotland's shameful under-treatment of Duns on their web site. Well lo and behold the Duns entry has been rewritten and is now substantially bigger than most every one of the other Border towns. Sadly they haven't added it to their map on the web site, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Unfortunately they've taken some of the information from I know not where as they claim Duns is near to Greenknowe tower. In actual fact it's 12 miles away and nearer to Melrose than Duns. VisitScotland also claim that the "small kirk at Ellemford" is nearby to Duns. The kirk at Ellemford was destroyed a hundred years ago and now all that remains are a few grave stones. I'm being picky I know but you'd think they could get it right.

Not A Gala Man!

2007-12-10T20:37:00.000Z

One of the things that always excites me about living in the Borders is our proud history and culture. Just the feeling of being different! I, like most folk, have joked about the “Pail Merks” the “Japs” and the” Teris”. I have joked about “posh” Melrose and Royal Gattonside, always in fun, harmless fun if not strictly politically correct! Coming from Stow I had to suffer the jibes of “Jungle Jim” Gray the geography teacher at the Academy, but I knew it was a joke, I took no offence. But some people seem to take their local loyalties a bit far!.

Since I was elected to the council in May of this year, to represent Galashiels and District, I have been told many times I am not a Gala man! This has been said, quite seriously, by some apparently intelligent people as if they were describing somebody of a much lower intellect! Because of this defect, they consider that I, therefore, cannot represent Gala properly and do not understand the needs of Gala.

I have three fine sons whose partners or wives all come from Gala. They, like me, attended Stow Primary School before Galashiels Academy. I played rugby at school. I have played football at the “Vickie” the “Scott” and the “Public” parks. I ran round the gas works for Jim Shearer and I got the belt from most of the teachers at the Academy. I’ve had chips from Vlada’s and sweeties from Ernie White’s. I’ve bought spam from Low’s and butter from the Ayrshire Market, bread from Tod’s and steak pies from Hogg’s, haggis from Findlay’s and steak from Headspath’s. I’ve danced at the Palais (badly), I’ve cuddled in the Playhouse and snogged in the “Piv”. Drank in the Auld Mill, Salmon and Railway, and slept in the bus station. I’ve bought wallpaper from Mill’s, a newspaper from Frater Davidson and nails from Webster and Thomson. I’ve bought shoes from Rogerson and kilts from Lochcarron. I’ve drank Noble’s juice and Forte’s milk shakes. I’ve bought cigarettes from Walker Brown’s and pies from Dalgetty’s. I’ve cheered the Braw Lad and admired the Braw Lass. My first date was at Gala Sports, when it was sensibly on the Saturday, and had my first real kiss at the shows at night. I’ve left from the railway station and come back again months later. I’ve bought cars from Purves and McQueen and toys from Dick’s. I’ve banked in Gala and my lawyer was A.T.Little BUT I was born in Stow – I am not a Gala man!

Whenever I hear this I think back to when I was at Leith Nautical College, a while ago now! I and my mate, Jock Aikman from Gorebridge, used to walk round the docks at dinner time (midday to posh folk who have lunch then!). I loved the beauty of ships, I still do. I have no difficulty calling them “she”, because they are as varied and lovely as any lady. On approaching a large trawler called “Explorer”, there were three officers in uniform at the top of the gangway. Unusual for a trawler but this was a government research trawler so sailor suits were “rig of the day”. We stopped at the bottom of the gangway and one of the officers shouted “Which one of you is the galley boy?” I replied “Oh that’s me” and we were asked to come aboard. I began to sense there was a problem when the officer asked me “Where’s your gear?” I then had to explain that I was not the “galley boy” but a boy from “Gally”. He did not understand, an explanation would have taken too long! We left quickly. Lucky escape, she was off fishing at Iceland and Greenland for 3 months, I doubt I could have explained that to my mother!

I passed my exams eventually and did go to sea. Jock though, did not and he joined the army, the Royal Signals. I lost touch with Jock as we went our separate ways. I heard about him again years later in the newspapers. Sergeant John Aikman of the Royal Signals was killed, shot by the “heroes” of the IRA. A bitter sweet tale!

I, like my three colleagues, will do our best for the people of Gala and the whole of the Gala Water. We took on the commitment when we stood for election. If we fail it will not be because we live elsewhere!

I’ve been to, and seen, a lot of places but there is nowhere I would rather stay than in the Gala Water. I want it to be Utopia just as much as any Gala man or woman. Meanwhile each time I hear the jibe I think of Jock Maybe some good in that.

Sandy Aitchison

A Borders Domesday Book?

2007-12-10T11:52:00.000Z

Visiting the Borders towns is a treat at Christmas time - the lights, the festivals. Every one has a string of enteratining events, from pantomines to concerts.

Wandering around, I can't help noticing the number of buildings owned (or at least used) by Scottish Borders Council. Some of them are very pretty, especially decked out in festive colours.

In Kelso alone there must be at least half a dozen, and that's not including school buildings. We have a Victorian mini-St Pancras occupied by the 'technical services' department. A Georgian terrace where you can pick up extra rubbish bags (when it's open).

How much are all these buildings worth? Glancing at SBC's accounts, there's a very low asset valuation , and reading the notes it seems to imply this is calculated every 5 years or so.

This prompts the thought, do SBC's breaucrats need to be housed in pretty but presumably inconvenient town centre buildings? Surely more sensible to rent modern offices where they could all do whatever it is they do together. If the rubbish bag issuer was on her tea break, a services technician could hand out the purple and whites in her absence.

The SBC could sell all those pretty buildings to developers, thus alleviating the housing shortage and returning millions of pounds to coucil taxpayers at the same time.

Let us have a Borders Domesday Book-style survey of Council properties so we can find out exactly how much of a gold mine we're sitting on.

Everyone would be a winner!

Can Council Tax come down?

2007-12-06T18:01:00.000Z

There has been exhaustive commentary in the media on the new SNP executive's plan to 'freeze' council tax with a view to replacing it with a 'local income tax'.

The idea has been widely debunked, even in it's half-way form. Professor David Bell of Stirling University - a sound head if ever there was one - has pointed out that the 'freeze' will benefit the rich more than the poor.

Numerous other comentators have pointed out that a local income tax will destroy local democracy becasue it will be fixed and so will remove any financial accountability that councils have. It will also provide a powerful incentive for wealth creators to move south of the Border - an effect likely to be felt most acutely in the Borders

But for the time being we're stuck with the freeze.

But what if a council meanwhile wanted to cut council tax?

Scottish Borders Council obviously has much scope for trimming. Today's Southern Reporter told us about the absurd Tai Chi facilities available to council workers in St Boswell's. The region is littered with lavish but ungrammatical signs produced by SBC. They run extensive and fruitless progammes to boost economic growth. Services such as rubbish collection are clearly run in a costly and inefficent way. etc etc.

If a dynamic administration (hint hint, Borders Party!) ran tight ship, could they return funds to taxpayers under current or future arrangements?

Anyone out there who can let us know? Perhaps someone from the SNP will know the answer.

Waverley Line - The Latest Attempt At A Fudge...

2007-12-04T13:37:00.000Z

According to today's Scotsman the Waverley line could be the first in Britain to be run separately from the rest of the rail network, under radical plans to bridge its funding gap. Apparently the Scottish Government is considering whether the line should be built, financed and maintained by a single company - rather than handed over to Network Rail when it is completed.

Reopening the 31-mile line, which closed in 1969, is a contender to be the first project carried out under the SNP's Scottish Futures Trust, a non-profit version of the private finance initiative. It is thought this could be cheaper than traditional government funding. The estimated cost is £174 million, but The Scotsman reported in September that this had risen to nearly £200 million. Most of the funding is due to come from the Scottish Government. Stewart Stevenson, the transport minister, said in June the funding package "will not be sufficient to deliver the project" and the planned opening date of December 2011 "is not achievable". Construction has already been put back from 2008 to 2009.

Meanwhile the review of the project by Transport Scotland, which was expected to be completed in September, is still under way. According to an agency spokesman. "We are examining the funding and procurement of Borders rail and considering non-profit distributing models, such as the proposed Scottish Futures Trust. It would be a value-for-money decision, and the winning bidder would build and maintain the railway for a pre-determined period."

It strikes me that the Government in Holyrood are up a bit of a gum tree. The costs are out of control and they're desperately tying to find a way to get the project financed out of their tight budget - which will be impossible without some kind of investment. Anyone with half a brain can look at the proposed passenger forecasts to tell that there is no way that the line can make any money - so an investor in whatever form is going to be hard to find.

It's never going to happen....

VisitScotland

2007-11-22T19:49:00.000Z

Some of you may have noticed an article in the Berwickshire News today about tourism and VisitScotland. I've followed it up with a letter to the Scotsman.

The VisitScotland web site has come in for a fair amount of criticism over the last few years, criticism that appears to go unheeded because it gets no better. On the VisitScotland.com home page there's a section headed 'walking', clearly something that attracts many visitors to our country from around the world. It proudly announces - 'Scotland. Created for walking'. There follows a paragraph that seems to have been written by someone for whom neither English or Scots is their first language, then again it is marketing-speak. On the same home page there's an offer to 'sign up for our E-newsletter and a chance to 'view the current newsletter'. You, like me, will probably be amazed to know that "Spring is underway..." The latest newsletter is so out of date that it's promoting spring 2007. There's even a chance to enter a competition that closed on 30th September 2007.

I could catalogue countless failings, mistakes and other crass things that are to be found on the VisitScotland web site - but even if I do, will it get any better? In the meantime they spend close to £30 million of our money on marketing Scotland. They need a lesson in getting the basics right and need to start paying attention to detail. The fact is their site is a joke - the only problem is it's costing Scotland and our tourism businesses millions of pounds while no one seems to care enough to do anything about it. VisitScotland had close to £50 million in 2005/6 from the Government, does anyone think we're getting value for money?

Libraries, Our National Treasures

2007-11-14T19:55:00.003Z

In tonight's Edinburgh Evening News there's an interesting article about WIFI in West Lothian Libraries.

FREE wireless internet is to be made available at four West Lothian libraries.

Wi-fi hot spots have been introduced at Bathgate, Carmondean, Linlithgow and Whitburn libraries, which will allow the public to bring in their own wi-fi enabled laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA) or mobile phone, and access the web for free.

Open information and sign-on sessions will be taking place in each library during the next two weeks - and as an added incentive, West Lothian Council's Library Services will also be giving away a 120 126MB flash storage drives, one each to the first 30 people who sign up for the sessions at each of the four libraries involved.

The scheme has been supported by the Scottish Government's public libraries improvement fund, and each wi-fi user will be asked to fill in a questionnaire

It strikes me that this something we should be encouraging in the Borders? I'm worried that our libraries maybe under threat, they are all over the country. What could we do to come up with innovative proposals to do more things in libraries.

Author readings/talks
Reading groups based on libraries
More talks

What other ideas are there?

Borders Healthcare

2007-11-13T09:26:00.000Z

An interesting post on a blog by someone living in the Borders about healthcare locally. It's well worth a look. Click HERE to read it.

Waivering About The Waverley Line

2007-11-02T18:01:00.001Z

According to the BBC, Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has set up a new group under a local councillor to "tackle the shortage of affordable homes in the Scottish Borders.". The report says "average property prices were now running at eight times the average salary in the area. The proposed reopening of the Waverley Line has also driven up housing demand." It goes onto say that Eyemouth has seen some of the sharpest increases in the UK with prices rising 82% in three years.

Well Eyemouth is 48 miles and around an hour and twenty minutes away from the central Borders terminus of the Waverley Line, so the railway has little or no affect on prices. The fact is that house prices in many areas of the Borders are driven by four factors. The ease of commuting to Edinburgh (by road), the attractiveness of the lifestyle, coupled with prices, for people moving from the south of England in particular and the opportunity for people to buy second properties here in the Borders for holiday homes. Last, but by no means least, is the fact that the ripple effect from Edinburgh as people move out to get cheaper housing has driven prices at a faster rate, off the lower base price that Border's housing enjoyed (?) for many years.

According to the councillor in charge of the new group. "The average income has to be multiplied by eight times to allow somebody to buy a house round here given the average house prices. We are going to have a wide-ranging look at what other people in other parts of the country are doing. We're going to get examples of best practice and nothing is off the table, in coming back to council, so that we can get some fresh ideas and see what we can do to make a real difference to this major problem."

Well good luck, but unless the council take control of the supply of affordable rental housing then there's little hope of any change. Developers who are building new homes for sale have no imperative to supply affordable housing, whatever that means, and so in general bigger, more profitable housing is built.

As for the railway line boosting things it's even more doubtful that it is going to be built. Having said that nothing is slowing down the expenditure on the project by SBC, a burden on the taxpayer and a diversion from the real problem. Meanwhile the Scottish government is saying no more money can be allocated to the project. All this is against a background of everyone knowing that the budgeted figures are way too low. It is disingenuous of the council to be ploughing ever onwards, probably diverting money from other schemes across the Borders, to support the white elephant of a railway line that is unfit for purpose.

Whose Language is it Anyway?

2007-11-02T17:58:00.000Z

A row has erupted in the Borders after councillor Sandy Aitcheson of the Borders Party used the words ‘immigrants’ and ‘indigenous’. when he tabled a question regarding the Additional Support for Learning Act of 2004, in which English language training is a right of all immigrant children. He asked. “Due to the massive increase in immigration into the Borders, what extra provision is being proposed by Scottish Borders Council to provide a better service for the benefit of immigrant children, indigenous children and the staff who are providing an excellent service with the limited resources available to them?”

He was accused by Councillor Bahtia of, “using the emotive language of the far right which has no place in Borders. It is quite legitimate to ask about how the council is supporting children who do not have English as a first language, but to label children as either ‘immigrant’ or ‘indigenous’ is absolutely abhorrent.”

This is typical of what is restricting our society from tackling such an important issue (and it’s not restricted to the Borders of the subject of immigration). Instead of dealing with the problem it turns into an attempt at political points scoring. It’s also political correctness gone potty and it’s exactly what happens when national party politics are imported to local issues.

Just for the record, Ms Bahtia should be reminded that using the word indigenous about people who come from or live in a particular area is an absolutely correct use of English. Similarly ‘immigrant’ is a word to describe someone who comes to live permanently in a foreign country. The truth is that this is a pathetic, childish politics about a subject that is of major concern not just in the Borders but across the country. It is perhaps a bigger problem for the Scottish Borders Council to tackle given the vast area that the Borders covers and the fact that traditionally there have been few ‘immigrants’ in the Borders and there’s been a net out flow of people for years. Accusing someone of using the language of the BNP does nothing but play into the hands of racist bigots and encourages them to think they have control of the language.

Interestingly in answer to the question about what support there is in the Borders for English language teaching. There are two teachers covering 36 schools and arguably they spend nearly as much time driving between schools as they do in schools.

Tourism Tinkering with the Targets

2007-10-04T07:29:00.000+01:00

VisitScotland’s latest attempt to prove their worth is as an empty a plan as they’ve ever conceived. In a speech today to the Scottish Tourism Forum in Dundee, according to the Scotsman Philip Ripple the organization’s Head will describe a plan to attract higher-spending tourists to Scotland that will (hopefully) see one in ten visitors spending an extra £250 during their holiday by 2015.

According to the Riddle ‘encouraging tourists to stay longer or visit more attractions will be among the most important ways of growing Scottish tourism by 50 per cent over the next eight years. A key part of his plan is to generate an extra £9 per visitor per day by "cross-selling" techniques such as serving locally sourced food in restaurants or selling local crafts in cafes. VisitScotland also believes the industry can make 12 per cent extra by filling more hotel beds during the low season from November to May.

"There is no reason why we can't aspire to the success of countries like Switzerland in realizing high returns from the delivery of high quality. VisitScotland also hopes to make more money from business tourists who come to Scotland for conferences.

This is the latest smoke and mirrors scam from the redundant and moribund VisitScotland who try to blind us all with targets and figures. The fact is that this is not a measurable target and because they are falling way short of where they need to be on actual visitor numbers this is their attempt at fudging the figures. They are a discredited organization that needs to address the fundamentals not tinker with the targets.

We need a debate on membership of Edinburgh City Region

2007-08-21T14:38:00.000+01:00

Consultation has been launched by the Scottish Executive on the formation of a new planning body for the Edinburgh City Region, which would produce Strategic Development Plans for the whole of South East Scotland. Sandy Aitchison and Nicholas Watson will urge both Scottish Borders Council and members of the public to respond to this consultation and is likely to oppose the Borders’ membership of a new level of planning authority.

“The future strategic development of the Borders should be a matter for the whole Council, not just two members, however diligent, on some joint committee made up from several Councils,” says Nicholas Watson.

It is not yet clear whether Scottish Borders Council is preparing to respond to this consultation, but Nicholas believes they should. “We trust that members of the Council will be given a proper opportunity to debate this issue before a response is made to the consultation, and that members of the public will make their views known too. Personally I believe that this new layer of authority will be focussed on the needs of the city region and, yet again, the real needs of the Borders will be sidelined. We are extremely wary of such moves and will be giving our detailed reasons over the coming weeks.”

Have your say

Consultation on Strategic Development Planning Authorities, which would cover the four largest city regions, around Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, can be found on the Scottish Executive website.

Our Founding Principles

2007-08-21T13:50:00.001+01:00

Our Founding Principles clearly hold us to openness and accountability.

We will put the best interests of the Scottish Borders first
We're is commited to the principle of consulting with and representing the interests, views and ideas of Borders residents
We're committed to supporting local communities and consulting with them in an open, honest and comprehensible way on all matters which are of concern to them or which might affect their lives
We support the drawing up and implementation of environmentally responsible policies
We support sustainable development
We support developments that improves the quality of life of Borders residents and provides better educational and job opportunities
We recognise the importance of Borders heritage, including social, cultural, environmental and man-made legacies and will encourage building on past strengths and the natural resources of the Borders
We will oppose all proposals which will threaten or destroy the Borders way of life and diminish the quality of life of Borders residents.