Maxine Smith

THE shameless fly-tipping of large commercial fridge-freezers, a pool table and a sofa on a forestry track close to houses in Ross-shire has been condemned as “thoughtless vandalism”.

Northern Constabulary has discovered that the abandoned junk on a road between Jamestown and Contin came from a shop after the owner paid someone to take it to the local recycling centre.

Now police are trying to trace those responsible, while the landowners, the Forestry Commission, are faced with the headache and financial repercussions of disposing of the bulky rubbish.

The above is an extract by Lynne Bradshaw, but this is an issue right across Highland. In recent responses to surveys I put out, I was inundated with reports from Ardross especially and rural Invergordon/Alness about fly tipping in woodland, farms and ditches in the country.

In 2009 the Independent-led Administration in Highland Council began charging £15 for bulky uplifts, when they had previously been free of charge. The SNP Group in Opposition in the Council strongly argued against this but were out-voted by the Coalition, made up of the Indies/Lib Dems and Labour councillors.

“At the time the SNP said it would lead to more fly tipping and further costs, but they refused to believe us. They still deny it is an issue and yet we see it time and time again in the local papers and people report it – when will they wake up to the reality of this?”, said Cllr. Maxine Smith, TEC Services spokeswoman for the SNP in Highland Council.

Fly Tipping in Contin

http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7723DD5A-0D50-4838-BB2D-BF58CD182081/0/Item13TEC8611.pdf

The Council has reviewed its street cleaning zoning over the summer, in an attempt to more equalise the service, which currently directs more resources to the city. At Thursday’s TEC’s Committee, the SNP TEC’s spokesperson, Cllr. Maxine Smith, Cromarty Firth Ward, said that she wished to “voice concerns” about this review, saying that it didn’t for far enough when looking at making the service roll out equitable across Highland.

She said after the Committee, “Other areas need cleaning services too, and many small urban areas rely on the street cleaners to keep their towns in check and I am concerned that they are not getting enough attention.”

Welcoming in Council the advert on MFR for Highland Council’s zero tolerance on litter droppers though, Cllr.Smith, said “that it would take some time to educate people that no dropping of litter or cigarette butts is acceptable, as this not only looks bad, is unhygienic but costs the public to have it cleared up.”

Highland Council have introduced litter wardens, who will issue instant fines to people who are caught dropping litter and these wardens will work their way through all Highland wards on a cyclical basis.

Maxine further said, “The SNP are keen to work with the Scottish Government initiatives to keep Scotland Tidy, but Highland Council need to make sure this service is carried out fairly and effectively. I have therefore asked for them to review this in one year and they agreed in Thursday’s committee. So the SNP Group will keep a close eye on service delivery and see how it is progressing. I would urge the public to give us any feedback on what they think to the street cleaning service over the coming year.”

It was reported to Council on Thursday that there are still many vacancies, which, under the Council’s agreement to freeze posts will have to remain vacant for some time more. “This policy has been in place for almost two years and is really affecting the Council’s service to its public,” said Cllr. Maxine Smith, who is one of the SNP’s representatives on the TEC Services Committee. She went onto say, “In my own ward previously I could report small problems such as weeds growing on pavements or edges of the road, signs needing replaced or potholes and they would be done within a few weeks, sometimes the same week. Now I have to wait months, sometimes up to 3 months to get the smallest of jobs done. I also have to report it endless times – this is not the service the public expect and deserve. This is no reflection of the community works officers and managers who are trying to cope in the most difficult of circumstances, being short staffed and trying to work whilst under-resourced.”

Speaking also in the TEC Services Committee, Dingwall and Seaforth Councillor, Angela MacLean, commented that she too had seen a huge drop in service delivery in her own ward. As an Administration member, Cllr. MacLead was criticising her own team. Cllr. Maxine Smith, who is in the Opposition has spoken out before on these issues. After the Committee, saying, “It is really frustrating as the public think we are not doing our job, but I report things over and over again. This year we have had weeds 3 foot high in some areas and still several areas in my ward have not been sorted. I realise money is short, but we should not be allowing vacancies to remain in place where these are frontline workers, who we need to deliver a reasonable service. When things are not done it has a knock on effect with people’s attitudes in general, an non-respected town encourages a lack of pride, disdain and vandalism. We must lead by example and keep up the appearances of our towns and villages, even in hard times.”

Three weeks ago families who use the Isobel Rhind Centre as a day centre, were suddenly told that after years of getting there and home again safely in a mini-bus the service would be withdrawn. This was met with grim disbelief, firstly due to the imminent nature of the withdrawal of the service, which they were told would be August, 2011, and secondly, because they were expected to simply put their loved ones who were all have learning difficulties, onto a normal service bus or pay for a taxi. Neither of these solutions is acceptable, as there are issues of trust, confidence, ability and the appropriateness of putting people who may not understand the situation, in an insecure environment where they could panic and anything could happen.

Cllr Smith had been invited to the Isobel Rhind Centre, the day the story broke, to open their annual fete. The IRC has now operated for 20 years and is a huge success, makes so much difference to people’s lives. Maxine immediately called for an investigation into this from the Council. The bus driver didn’t even know if he was going to have a job in a few week’s time. The Chair of Social Work, Cllr. Margaret Davidson agreed to a meeting with me, so along with two officers we discussed these events. In hindsight Cllr Davidson agreed that her Independent/Lib Dem/Labour Administration had acted very quickly without fully consulting the families and parents involved and as the lease was up on the mini buses in August and this had prompted the knee jerk reaction to cut the service.

Councillor Smith also liaised with Sheila Fletcher, who works for the Highland Community Transport Forum, who had also been contacted by worried families about this situation. After lengthy discussions, there was talk of community transport being a possibility but funding would be needed. Maxine and Sheila intend to try and contact some of the parents and meet up with a delegation to gain views and look for acceptable solutions, as it is clear that the Council are not thinking this through with full clarity. The next steps are to have a meeting and form a steering group. With Sheila’s expertise in her field and Maxine’s enthusiasm, the two hope they can help the parents and users of the Isobel Rhind Centre, to find a way of getting around this and achieving a good outcome for these adults.

Dancers at the IRC Fete

Highland Council has invited communities, landowners, developers and agents to suggest sites for protection or development by Friday of next week.

Highland councillor Maxine Smith said: “This is the most exciting thing I have been involved in since becoming a councillor for this area. We discussed at length the issues in Invergordon and what the community’s aspirations were.

“Our aim is to give out the message that Invergordon is open for business, with availability for all types of housing, retail and supermarket potential, given our easy access to the A9.

“Gone are the days when we wanted to attract dirty industry such as incinerators and waste transfer stations.

“We emphasise that clean industry is required for Invergordon.

“We have had our fair share of dirty industry. Industry must be palatable to the locals and fit in with an area of growing tourism, as well as offering local jobs.”

For full story in the North Star click on

http://www.north-star-news.co.uk/News/Locals-to-spell-out-Invergordon-incinerator-message-20032011.htm

At yesterday’s SNP Highland Councillors’ Group meeting held in Glenurquhart Road, Inverness – there was a unanimous decision for the whole group (16 councillors) to oppose the incinerator application lodged for consent for an incinerator in Invergordon.

The Cromarty Firth Ward Councillor Maxine Smith and some of  her SNP, as well as some Administration colleagues on the Planning Committee in 2009, rejected proposals for an incinerator in Invergordon.  However, the applicant, Glenn Jones went to appeal to the Scottish Government’s Reporter, who overturned the Highland Council decision. 

Following intervention by local campaigners (ICARE) and Mr Al Fayed’s team at Balnagown Estates, the original appeal decision was quashed due to several errors.  The town now awaits a decision as to the new method of determination by the newly appointed Reporter of the Scottish Government – Mr Richard Dent.

The public were urged to write letters or emails to the afore-mentioned Reporter asking for a Public Local Inquiry or Hearing rather than allowing him to decide the fate of Invergordon by taking account of written submissions, which was previously the case with the original flawed report by Mr. Danny Onn. 

Now in an unprecedented move by SNP councillors over a major Highland Planning issue, the whole Council Group has come out in support of its Cromarty Firth Member, Cllr. Smith and the SNP Group’s Chief Whip and have asked their Secretary, Cllr. George Farlow, to write to Mr. Richard Dent, the new Reporter, who is set to determine this new appeal and wholeheartedly request that he take account of the people of Invergordon’s wishes – and determine the new appeal by a Public Local Inquiry, which will allow the good folk of Invergordon and the councillors who voted against this in the first place, to put forward their spoken views and have a full and transparent hearing over the course of several days, to decide whether or not there should be planning consent for an incinerator in Invergordon.

The SNP Group will also write to the SNP Planning Minister in the Scottish Government, requesting the same thing.  Previously and currently Rob Gibson, the Highlands & Islands MSP for the north, has come out strongly against this incinerator application and is also doing his best to lobby the Reporter in this case.

Speaking after the SNP Group’s decision, Cllr. Maxine Smith said, “I am delighted to have 100% backing of my Council Group – we are a strong team and I hope our unified stance will send a strong message to the Government’s Reporter in this instance.”