Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Reporting bad news to the local area gets too depressing after a while although of course it is virtually impossible to find a positive side to the closing down of the Gorgie Dalry Gazette, the West Edinburgh Times and the Gorgie Dalry Partnership to name but three. Given the enormous contribution these organisations have made in the Sighthill Gorgie area the 'disinvestment' strategy employed by the Lib. Dem. / SNP administration is doing catastrophic and irreparable damage to the local community.
There is a sense of shock and anger at every community council, neighbourhood council and residents association I attend. Even the organisations that are left have received cuts that threaten their future. This administration clearly does not believe in the voluntary sector at all!
The relatively small sums of money involved represented fantastic value for money including as it did volunteers and local support that could not be replicated in straight council services. No doubt the administration would try to blame this, as they have everything else, on the previous administration but the fact is that from the second Jenny Dawe signed on the dotted line to take the money from the Scottish Government and freeze the council tax they forfeited the right to blame anyone but themselves. If they were not being given enough to do the things they wanted to do then clearly they should not have signed! Supporting these local groups and organisations is obviously something they do not want to do then.