Yesterday was a busy day even for me ! Busy in a good way though. In the morning I had a meeting with Council officials to discuss the problem of statutory orders of repair covering properties that have no access to the communal stair. Seems pretty clear cut legally - if there is no firewall between the attics then two properties are considered one for communal repair purposes. This , obviously, could come as a shock to some householders.

The afternoon was almost entirely taken up by the launch event for the Everybody Online project being piloted in the Gorgie Dalry area (1pm - 5pm. I was there till 4). I was speaking at the launch event as the Convenor of the South West Neighbourhood Partnership. It was made all the more relevant for me though by the fact that I was the Executive Member for the Smart City until May last year and and am now the Labour Group Spokesperson for same. See below my speech although I managed not to look at it so there may only be a rough correlation between this and what I actually said....

I am delighted to be here as convenor of the South West Neighbourhood Partnership today to mark the launch of the EverybodyOnline project. I have been closely involved and felt passionate about this project from the beginning being then the Executive Member for the Smart City.

¨ The City of Edinburgh Council has a Smart City’ vision; a 10 year investment programme with BT Scotland to deliver efficient, joined up interactive public services using a wide range of new technology. For example, Council Papers Online, paying for council services online and providing free internet access throughout all local libraries.

¨ We realise however that not everyone has yet mastered the online world and recent research in Gorgie Dalry, commissioned by Citizens Online, showed that although most of the new young professionals were avid internet users nearly 40% of the 55+ year olds, and those not in work, didn’t as yet understand the benefits of the new technologies

¨ It is important that we give everyone in our communities the same opportunities to participate and so I am delighted that the City of Edinburgh Council, Capital City Partnership, the Gorgie Dalry Partnership, BT Scotland, Age Concern Edinburgh IT and Citizens Online have created a partnership to actively promote the use of Information & Communications Technology amongst those who would otherwise be excluded through this EverybodyOnline project.

¨ There will be an emphasis on developing new skills, greater confidence and more active participation in the local community. Results elsewhere have demonstrated that these will in turn lead to the creation of new jobs and opportunities and a more vibrant and prosperous local economy.


¨ The success of this project will depend on everyone working in partnership and partners working together and I call on you all to grasp this opportunity with both hands so that all the residents of Gorgie Dalry can be online citizens and realise the benefits and opportunities that this new world brings.

¨ This project is dear to my heart for two main reasons first it opens up the Smart city to all – always felt that in a sense the more successful we were developing services on line the more , potentially we contributed to the digital divide – widening the gap between those with access to the new or improved services and those without. This is the other side of the coin – at the same time as you are moving services onto for example the internet like Council Papers or Planning applications you have to be working to ensure that everyone has access. 2nd One of the hardest things to do is take the benefits of new technology out to local neighbourhoods. Edinburgh cannot be a truly Smart City unless it includes everyone and engages local people.It is not just about access it is about encouraging people , providing training , showing people the benefits of the new technologies.

¨ Thank you to once again to City of Edinburgh Council, Capital City Partnership, the Gorgie Dalry Partnership, BT Scotland, and Citizens Online. I wish the project every success!

There was a good attendance and people representing a wide variety of local groups, voluntary organisations, Community Councils, the Neighbourhood Partnership, Council E-Government Division etc. as well , of course as local people who just dropped in to see what it was all about. It was very enjoyable for me as well as seeing the project getting under way to be able to chat to such a wide collection of local groups such as Health Help for All at Springwell House and ACE IT at Caledonian Crescent.

Gorgie Dalry and the surrounding area is truly lucky to have such a large number of dedicated, hard working and largely under appreciated local groups and organisations. The Gorgie Dalry Partnership for example, which has on its Board a unique mix of representatives from the local Business Association and Community Council and provides a broad range of services to help local people into work, has been central in bringing forward the Everybody online Project. Fountainpark (Gorgie Dalry Partnership Member) provided the venue for the launch - free of charge. The Partnership also organises events like the Gorgie Dalry Christmas Lights Switch on Ceremony (as well as organising the lights themselves); the Best Dressed Christmas Window Award; the Annual Gorgie Dalry Customer Care Awards; administrative support for the Gorgie Dalry Community Association, The Gorgie Dalry Community Forum; providing premises for surgeries, meetings consultations on local developments and a drop in shop where local people can be given advice and find out information on a wide variety of topics. The list is almost endless. If I seem to be laying it on with a troul it is because the Partnership had it's just over £20,000 budget cut by £2000 in the last quarter of this year and on the basis of the answer to a question on the subject posed at full Council in which Economic Development stated that it did not fit with there core objectives (which is clearly untrue!) , I think we have to conclude that there is a threat to the rest of the funding in the new budget due to be set on 21st February. Of course the SNP / Lib Dem Administration have not set their budget yet but there is nothing wrong with emphasising how important groups like this, the Gorgie City Farm, the Gorgie Dalry Gazette etc. are to the local area and what a disaster it would be if they were lost through short sighted, short term, relatively minor cuts when perfectly pheseable alternatives are being put forward which would not hit direct front line services to local citizens. Sometimes these services are for the most vulnerable and in greatest need and sometimes they enhance and enrich the lives of local people (like Everyone Online).

I know Christmas has really started when we do the Gorgie Dalry Christmas lights switch on. It is always a heart stopping moment when this years celebrity, Iain Waugh from Forth 1, throws the switch, hoping they will actually come on. They did. All credit to the Council's engineers. I MC'd the proceedings which, along with the traditional carol singing featured the wind section from Tynecastle High School and the Choir from St.Martins Church. The Reverend John Conway also from St Martins gave the Christmas message and Cllr Nick Elliot-Cannon presented the Best Dressed Christmas window (won by The City Florists on Gorgie Rd.) . Joining us on the stage were Cllr Eric Milligan - my fellow Labour Councillor for Sighthill Gorgie and MSP Sarah Boyack. The grand finale of course is Santa who hands out presents to all the kids. Santa's sleigh organised by the Edinburgh Lions Club. Afterwards all those involved retired into Robertsons Bar who for several years now have been kindly donating a free drink and a buffet. The whole event is organised by the Gorgie Dalry Partnership who do a fantastic job but it is typical of Gorgie Dalry to see so many local companies and groups getting involved. Multi Party, multi organization all coming together in the Christmas spirit. Great!

I never seem to get time to do this, post an entry that is . Time time time. As Christmas gets closer I get busier - happens every year. Same for everyone I know. I love Christmas though and really look forward to it. Some of the things that make me busy are a a joy as well of course like the Gorgie Dalry Christmas Lights Switch On tonight. I love the carol singing and the Christmas spirit. Its at Gorgie City Farm on Gorgie Road at 6pm if anyone wants to come along. There is a children's party beforehand in the Tynecastle Community Association centre in Mcleod Street then everyone comes along in a group for the switch on ceremony. The actual switching on of the lights this year is being done by Ian Waugh of Forth 1.

There is a cloud of course in the form of the terrible murder which occurred in the Ward last week. Terrible not just because of the nature of the crime itself but the effect it will no doubt have on residents and perceptions of the area. All I can say from personal experience is that since becoming a Councillor for the Ward in May I have met hundreds of residents in the vicinity and found them all - without exception to be genuine, good, friendly people. Not saying everyone is like that of course but I've met enough now to know there must be a good number. A terrible thing.

This has to be a record - I had a feeling I had been at meetings every night for a while but I've just checked back three and a half weeks and it's true - a meeting every night (also two out of three Sundays). Before anyone gets the violins out I should add that I am thoroughly enjoying it. The geographic area of the new ward is vast but it is good to get out and meet different groups and people. There is a sense of foreboding out there though after last months drastic cuts were pushed through being directed as they were at the voluntary sector, the elderly, people on low incomes and the vulnerable in general. The Gorgie Dalry Partnership, for example has received a letter stating that its funding will be reduced by £2000 in this financial year. When the total budget is just over £20,000 this represents a serious blow to the viability of the organisation. Areas like Gorgie Dalry, Sighthill, Wester Hailes, Broomhouse etc are all bracing themselves for the impact of the cuts to be felt - and it will be! See the report that went to the Council by clicking here. Of course the SNP / Lib Dem 'Coalition' will claim that it is all our fault for running up an overspend but the fact is that whatever its size or its cause these cuts are the choice of the current administration and we have put forward alternative measures which would not have impacted on front line services the way that their measures do.

Well - I've just about calmed down - or at least stopped shaking with rage at the hypocrisy of it all. Yes, I'm talking about last Thursday's Full Council meeting. Supposed 'Liberal Democrats' and SNP denying the citizens of Scotland's Capital City their traditional right to address all the councillors on a subject as important as our children's education and the centres in our communities! ....And all the time talking about citizen participation and increasing involvement of people in decisions of the council!! In the first few minutes of the meeting I found myself bouncing to my feet to contradict Lib Dem assertions that deputations had been spoken to and had agreed not to speak preferring a 'more appropriate forum' - not true. The public gallery, the European room and the quadrangle were full of angry parents, an MP and an MSP who had come along with speeches prepared and were not allowed to. As the Evening News said they left angrier than they arrived. 'Point of information Lord Provost' (with hindsight I suppose it wasn't really a point of information but I was too angry to care at the time) I shouted 'that's not true - there are deputations here now in the gallery waiting and wanting to speak'. Other than the obvious I was angry because this had undone in a single blow everything I and the previous administration had tried to do, creating Local Development Committees and then the new Neighbourhood Partnerships, to increase citizen participation in the affairs of the Council. An 'affront to democracy ' as Andrew Burns rightly puts it.

All this is before we even begin on the proposal to close 22 school and community centres. Along with my colleagues I spoke at length on how these cuts did not make any sense. Click here to see what I said. Taking the Gorgie War Memorial Hall as an example, I said, you can't sell it or close it because it is a War Memorial. It gets a tiny grant from the council for all the varied work that it does with the local community and it doesn't even have a single full time community education worker! So why is it on the list for closure. The whole report is poorly thought out. No one has talked to the staff or visited the places on this list. I ended by calling it a 'disgrace'.

It's amazing how the summer holidays from the school fills up with other things to the extent you wonder how you ever managed to fit it in! In my case of course the school holidays are just an opportunity to concentrate on the council and constituency stuff. Also the opportunity affordes itself to do major renovations on the house. I feel a growing sense of urgency to get it all fitted in before the 20th of August when the school starts back all be it I am only part time.
Renovations took an ugly turn when on my way to bed I heard a rustling and saw a dark mouse sized object shooting along the exposed under floor pipes. Sigh - why do these things always happen just as you are off to bed?
I have just done a couple of updates to the Labour Groups new vision statement 'Labour's Priorities for Edinburgh'. It was poorly received at the Council (as you might expect) from the other parties but we had hoped they would see past the old adversarial politics and take it for what it was - a completely positive look at what we would like to see for the city. This is us being serious about the new politics. I have always believed that citizens are not interested in politicians just contradicting each other for the sake of it but want us to work together to find solutions to the problems we all face. I know this is naive given that we work within a party political system but I also believe that there is an opportunity here with the new system to be less adversarial and more positive.
Speaking of communications the Labour group will be producing a Labour Group leaders report roughly every month (to coinside with full Council). Jenny Dawe is reviewing the official 'Leaders Report' which we brought in and has made it plain she is not really in favour of it. I think anything that lets the people know what we are doing is a good idea. If you would like to be emailed a copy of the Labour Group report let me know on donaldwilson@edinburghlabour.com .

The duties of a Bailie are varied indeed! One of the most interesting recently was the commemoration of the Scots who died in the American Civil War. The news wrongly reported prior to the event that there were up to 500,000 casualties. I discovered however that this was the number of Scots who took part on both sides (since the total number killed was less than 800,000 it seems unlikely that the vast majority of them were Scots). A truer figure was apparently likely to have been between 100,000 and 200,000 which of course is still a staggering number.

The event itself was excellent drawing attention as it does not only to the involvement of Scots but also to the only War memorial to the fallen in the American Civil War out side the States. And a magnificent memorial it is with its statue of Abraham Lincoln and a crouching slave reaching up.

The event was the first of its kind but it is hoped to make it an annual event.

Here is what I said (if interested) :-

"I am honoured to be here this morning, representing the Lord Provost and City of Edinburgh Council, at this memorial service to commemorate the first Battle of Bull Run on 21 July 1861. This was the first major land battle of the American Civil War during which many Scottish soldiers fought and died.

In particular I would like to welcome Mr Peter Ferrier who is here as a Guest of Honour and is the grandson of an American Civil War Veteran.
Sir, we are delighted that you are able to be with us this morning.

There can be no more fitting location for this service than here at the Lincoln Memorial, thought to be the only American Civil War Memorial outside the USA.

This wonderful statue was erected in 1893 after the widow of a Sgt Major McEwan, who served in the 65th Illinois Voluntary Infantry, approached the American Consul General for financial assistance. Having discovered that Sgt Major McEwan had been buried in a pauper’s grave, the Consul – Mr Wallace Bruce – approached the Edinburgh Corporation for a burial site for Scots who had served in the Civil War.

I am very pleased indeed that the city fathers of the day donated this piece of land so that the American Consul could raise funds to erect this memorial and statue of Abraham Lincoln.

As you can see, the memorial also depicts a freed slave – a most appropriate image in the year when we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery Act here in the UK.

Finally, I would like to thank the Rev Dr Bill Mackie and the One O’Clock Gun Association for putting so much effort into organising this event to commemorate all those, and particularly those from Scotland, who fought and died in the American Civil War.

Thank you."