We Like Milngavie meeting on 23rd November

We Like Milngavie are inviting community groups to a presentation by Page\Park Architects of their “Urban Design Framework” for future development of Milngavie Town Centre.

This will be held on Wednesday 23rd November, 7.30pm at the Fraser Centre.

Page\Park have carried out a public realm study of the town centre, including the Tesco site. They have come up with a very exciting vision which unifies and connects the two sides of the town centre, presently divided by Woodburn Way.

We Like Milngavie plan to present Page\Park’s “Vision for the Community” to the Council in the near future, and hope it will influence their response to Tesco’s forthcoming application.

It is important that this initiative is owned by all the community groups of the area, so we would encourage you and others from your group to come along and see the Page\Park ideas.

Posted on behalf of We Like Milngavie group.

Heritage Week, 27 August to 3 September 2011

Milngavie Heritage Centre Group is holding a Heritage Week from 27th August to 3rd September 2011. The venue will be the former Court Room attached to Milngavie Town Hall. It will be open from 9.30 a.m. till 4 p.m. each day during the week except Sunday, and there will be an official opening ceremony at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 27th August 2011. There will be displays and a competition.

The Heritage Group would like to establish a permanent site for a Milngavie Heritage Centre and have identified the former Court Room as a possibility. However, more importantly, they would like to build a collection of information and pictures regarding the local and surrounding areas. If anyone has information or pictures which they can either copy and bring along, or bring them along and have them copied on the spot and returned, please do so. The group would be delighted to receive them.

Douglas Academy local history group will also be in attendance. They hope to get people to sign up for their "oral history" project, and they, too, would love to hear from people, so come along and support this worthy project.

For further information, see the Milngavie Heritage Centre website.

Allander Consultation Findings

The Final Report and Executive Summary resulting from this consultation on the future of leisure services have now been published on the council website.

More than 1700 responses to the survey were received.

Park development features in Milngavie Herald

The Milngavie Herald is also featuring the new play equipment this week.

See "Game on as Milngavie kids get new playpark"

Academy Way - cleaning

Following concerns raised at our AGM, Cllr Jim Gibbons has made a request to ConnectServices that the footpath to be named Academy Way (between Falloch Rd and Hunter Road) should be inspected and cleaned.

Park development features on EDC website

The council website has a feature about the recent addition of play equipment in the park.

See "Opening of £30k Milngavie playpark goes with a swing"

MERA AGM - revised date

The Mains Estate Residents' Association AGM will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 8th June 2011 at Clober Primary School.

Please note the change of date.

All residents will be very welcome. Please come along if you can.

Storm damage in the park

Several trees were damaged and at least one blown down in the Mains Park yesterday.

The main path across the path was blocked.



One of the trees along the north side of the park was also badly damaged

And Hunter Road was littered with debris

MERA AGM postponed

Please note that the AGM has been POSTPONED. It will NOT now take place on 1st June. The new date will be posted here as soon as it is known.

More direct trains to Edinburgh

Scotrail has now published a new train timetable which runs from 22nd May to 10th December 2011.

The timetable can be found at
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/North_Clyde2011.pdf

Note that there are now direct trains to Edinburgh half-hourly during the daytime on Mondays to Saturdays. The timetable for this line including all the intermediate stops is at
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Glasgow-Edinburgh_via_A2B.pdf

Park development

We are having a small ceremony to officially open phase 1 of the park development on 2nd June at 10am. You are invited to attend.

The provost will perform the opening ceremony.

MERA AGM

The Mains Estate Residents' Association AGM will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday 1st June 2011 at Clober Primary School.

All residents will be very welcome. Please come along if you can.

This year we will be bringing you up to date on the progress made regarding the improvements in the park and our future plans for the next phase. There will be up-to-date information available on Hunter Road and the new roundabout at the junction of Duntocher Road and Baljaffray Road.

We have invited “We Like Milngavie Group” representatives to give a presentation and discuss the Tesco development.

New Tesco proposals

Tesco have announced that they are making fresh plans for a new store in Milngavie. For further details, see the Milngavie Herald website.

Milngavie Heritage Centre website

The Milngavie Heritage Centre now has a website at
www.milngavieheritage.org.

The Heritage Centre Group will be holding their AGM on Thursday 19th May 2011 at 7 p.m. within the former District Court Room attached to the Town Hall. A warm invitation is extended to all within the community.

They are now looking to increase their committee and create a proper membership of all those interested in Heritage matters within Milngavie and Bearsden and the surrounding area. It is felt that, with current Council cutbacks, valuable information could otherwise be lost.

Looking further ahead, once a centre is established, volunteers will be required to help with manning it. This could be a very rewarding job as there will be the opportunity to meet many interesting people.

Water problem

For the latest information on the current problem with the water, see Scottish Water's special incident site, which is being continually updated. It can be found at
http://www.scottishwaterresponse.co.uk/

The Future of Allander Leisure

East Dunbartonshire Council has launched a survey to get feedback from local people regarding the future of leisure facilities in the Bearsden and Milngavie areas.

If you have an interest in this, please collect a questionnaire from one of the places listed on the EDC website and return it completed by 8th April. The form can also be completed online.

For further details, please see the information on the council website at
http://www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk/news/latest_news/allander_consultation.aspx

Tesco appeal refused

We have just heard today that the Reporter has refused the Tesco appeal. Further details will be published on the welikemilngavie website.

Mains Estate Park play area in progress

All the play equipment is now on site with only the roundabout to be fitted once the safety surface has been put in place. This is being done by an outside Company and then East Dunbartonshire Council will complete the project with hedging.

The pictures below were taken on 8th March.

Milngavie in Bloom Clean-up

Milngavie in Bloom is trying to encourage and co-ordinate clean-up activities with volunteer groups in and around Milngavie. The National Keep Scotland Tidy Campaign was launched last week and runs from 14th March until 14th May. Milngavie in Bloom has a planned "Clean-up" during the week Monday 28th March till Friday 1st April at various spots throughout the Village. If anyone would be interested in joining in this very worthwhile activity, please contact them via their website at
http://milngavieinbloom.webplus.net/

If you want to arrange your own clean-up, that would be great too. Just visit the Keep Scotland Tidy website at
http://springclean.keepscotlandtidy.org/aboutSpringClean.asp
but do it quickly if you want to take advantage of their free clean-up kit, as time is getting short.

Milngavie in Bloom is a very worthwhile organisation which tries to bring colour to Milngavie by planting the various bedding areas around the Precinct and also by placing barrels and planters within the pedestrianised streets. It is an entirely voluntary organisation which relies on donations to buy the plants, compost and planters. They are always looking out for practical help as well. They have regular “Weed-Ins” or plantings which last no more than a couple of hours. If you would like to lend a hand, I'm sure they would be extremely grateful. Just visit their website for further details
http://milngavieinbloom.webplus.net/

Mains Estate Park update - March

The latest development is that the play equipment is starting to go in.

We would be grateful if residents could be vigilant and try to keep an eye on the area. If you see anything untoward, please report it to the police.

Cuts to local library services

Do you use the local library services? Are you aware of the threats to this service throughout Scotland and including East Dunbartonshire?

If so, please read the following, visit the website and show your support by signing the petition.

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland CILIPS) has developed a new website, www.lovescottishlibraries.org, which aims to harness the support of the Scottish public to show politicians and policymakers just how much libraries are valued within our communities.

Financial constraints and budget cuts are affecting libraries in all sectors, and this at a time when people will need their libraries more to help with job seeking and retraining, to access the internet, or to skim money off the household budget by borrowing that expensive text book or latest best-seller.

Visits to Scottish libraries are actually increasing, showing just how important our services are to cultural life and economic development in this country.

To keep enjoying access to libraries and their services, CILIPS is encouraging people to please make their voices heard for libraries by entering a comment of support in an online guestbook, or by signing an online petition, which has already gained the support of top Scottish authors Theresa Breslin and Quintin Jardine.

We encourage everyone to lend their support for libraries of all kinds by visiting www.lovescottishlibraries.org and making their voices heard for libraries!

Community Support Officers

We are happy to report that our two Community Support Officers, Allan and Michelle, have been successful in retaining their posts in the local council reorganisation. However, they will now be the Community Support Officers not just for Milngavie but for the whole of East Dunbartonshire.

Mains Estate Park update

The workmen started yesterday to prepare the ground for the new play equipment in the park. The drainage is being done first and the rest will follow. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but hope you agree that it will be worth it in the end.

Tesco Public Hearing and Inquiry - update

WeLikeMilngavie have just learned this evening that the Scottish Government Reporter now hopes to complete the Appeal in the first week. The schedule expected is:

Tuesday:
- Design issues, Listed Buildings and Conservation Area

Wednesday:
- Traffic impact

Thursday:
- Retail impact

They very much hope that as many who can will sit in for these sessions, now less spread out in time.

Mains Estate geese

About a week ago one of the geese at the pond went missing. It is not known what happened to it. To save the other goose from being distressed and lonely, it was taken to a sanctuary last Thursday.

Tesco Public Hearing and Inquiry - further details

We have received the following further information about this hearing from WeLikeMilngavie:

"This is to remind you that the Hearing and Inquiry for Tesco's Appeal starts at 10.00 am this coming Tuesday, February 1st at Kessington Hall, Bearsden*. The sessions will finish at about 4.30. From Wednesday they will start at 9.30 and most likely continue into the following week. (There's no session on Friday afternoon or next Monday).

"This is our last chance to show our opposition to the monster store (larger even than the one at Maryhill) which Tesco are trying to force upon our small community.

"Please, please come along as audience, for as long as you can at any time, even for an hour between other commitments. This will be invaluable in showing the Government Reporter that the local Community really cares about what happens to Milngavie.

"The opening Hearing deals with design, layout and the effects of the proposed building and decked car park on the Town Centre Conservation Area, and on listed buildings such as Gavin's Mill and the station. Tesco will claim that their building will improve the street scene on Woodburn Way by filling a void! Our team for the Hearing, led by Peter Swinson, will include Community Councillor Margaret Dunn, who has lived in Milngavie all her life, LUC landscape professional Martin Tabor, local historian Don Martin and Milngavie-resident traffic expert Grahame Lawson. They will emphasise the loss of much-loved views and many severe disadvantages from the massive building.

"See this aerial view of Milngavie with the monster inserted by computer graphics:

http://www.welikemilngavie.org/aerial.jpg

"Later in the week, more formal sessions of Public Inquiry will follow, first dealing with the viability and vitality of our Precinct, followed by the effects on local traffic. (Tesco claims there will be no effect on either!).

"HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

"WeLikeMilngavie"

Tesco Public Hearing and Inquiry

The hearing will start on Tuesday 1st February at 10am and will continue until 10th February. It is planned to be held at Kessington Hall.

For further information on this, see

Jo Swinson's website

EDC website


Further documentation can be found at

http://www.dpea.scotland.gov.uk/CaseDetails.aspx?id=qJ12561

Jo Swinson's website

and on the We Like Milngavie website