Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Parking charges and centre closure are ‘shameful’
When I decided to stand as an MP five years ago, it was because I wanted to do something to improve the lot of the people that I had been working with for several years in my post as Alex Neil MSP’s office manager.
Elected office is about service to the people we represent.
I struggle to see how voting to close the Kilbowie outdoor centre, or voting in a way that allows that to happen, could ever be seen as a public service.
Kilbowie has delivered experiences for generations across North Lanarkshire, and beyond, that many would otherwise have missed out on.
I simply cannot believe this decision; it is utterly shameful.
The damage to our already fragile town centres in North Lanarkshire that will be delivered from car parking charges will also be staggering.
The parking charges will hit not only drivers but local businesses and services. The town centres are a pale imitation of the way they used to be and to insist that shoppers have to pay to park when large retail complexes are a short drive away could mean even greater decline in our high streets.
I sincerely hope councillors will reflect on the outcome of the Scottish Government’s budget and reverse these ill-judged decisions as quickly as possible.
Alex Neil MSP and I have started petitions against both decisions which are available online and at our office.
If the council is so desperate to make savings, they should start by looking to find a way to get rid of the disastrous PFP/ PFI deals from previous years, currently costing the council around £25 million a year.
Away from North Lanarkshire, the failure of this Tory UK government to deliver a fair social security system was again laid bare this week.
They have been forced to delay the roll out of Universal Credit by a further year, now delayed by seven years in total, because of fears about the harm being caused to recipients.
The great irony is if Tory ministers would listen to what I have been saying in support of expert charities and Universal Credit recipients for the last five years, and if they would properly invest to fix Universal Credit, these delays would not be necessary. Instead we have a failing system.
It’s time Tory ministers woke up to the reality of the damage they are causing, and the poverty they are inflicting on people in and out of work on Universal Credit, and fixed it.