Already, concerns are being raised at the proximity of the new Queen Margaret Drive shop to a whole row of locally-owned businesses, from  coffee shops and cafes to a greengrocer and newsagents, that sit adjacent to the new Tesco. A low
profile sticker campaign – urging people to support local shopkeepers – has hit the street, with residents and shopkeepers alike expressing concerns that the arrival of the new store could have a detrimental affect on the street – and the wider community.

Local shops are in many ways the heart  of our  neighbourhoods. Yet thousands of small independent stores are being forced to close every year – leaving our high streets and local communities ghost lands, while consumers flock to out of town malls and huge hypermarkets along the lines of Tesco Maryhill. Here, the Burgh Angel seeks to bust some of the myths surrounding supermarkets and their supposed ’benefits’:

Jobs?

Any job creation is obviously a good thing. But we need to keep things in perspective – most of the jobs big supermarkets create are low paid and insecure. In fact, Tesco recently trialled stores in which every employee – bar the managers – were on temporary contracts. It’s a far cry from the kind of mass investment in skills, training and secure jobs our communities need – and it gets even worse when big supermarkets have actually been proven to lead to a net decrease in jobs in the local area, given their impact on smaller businesses.

Cheapest food?

Popular logic would have it that supermarkets stock the widest variety of goods and have the lowest prices. Yet research has actually shown that supermarkets, especially when it comes to healthy food like fruit and vegetables, can actually be more expensive than smaller retailers.

The Angel View

Let’s be honest: most of us shop in Tesco – it’s hard not to. Many of us have friends and family employed there as well.. It would be madness to suggest that people should stop buying stuff from Tesco – but spare a thought for your local corner shops, and the long-term consequences on our high streets, as well. After all, Tesco are a huge, multi-billion profit making business – and the money they make for their shareholders has always been what comes ahead of the needs of
local communities like Maryhill – no matter how much their corporate spin might suggest otherwise.

Maryhill locals among those workers on strike at the Western Infirmary.

On the 30th of November Scotland celebrated St Andrew’s day with a huge strike by council workers, civil servants, dinner ladies, teachers, hospital workers, carers and service workers: nearly everyone in the public sector. In plans which will see hard pressed families being forced to work longer, for less, the government is raising the retirement age and making workers pay in more. The average pension for public sector workers is only £5,600 per year. George Osborne however would receive £32,977 per year, until he dies, if he retired tomorrow. The pension scheme for public sector workers, which was negotiated only a few years ago, was actually set to generate a profit for the government. The SNP condemned the move, but did not observe the strike, crossing picket lines. Labour observed the strike in Scotland, but attacked the decision to strike at the UK level, attending Westminster during the strike, prompting confusion and anger among many workers. As Scotland’s main political parties are confused and out of step about how to approach this issue, they are being left behind by dinner ladies, school teachers, cleaners, millions of ordinary people. Glasgow saw protest marches on the day, and rallies which were bigger than any seen in workers disputes in more than a generation. Negotiations continue, as government attempts to force through “final offers” of deep cuts seem, for now, to have become unstuck.

and Scotland’s poorer folk up: not just about jobs for those in the know, or for those from the right background. It is time for real power in our communities.

We heard this month from the Association of Scottish Community Councils that they will be ‘winding up,’ because the Scottish Government did not provide them
enough grant to continue to exist. There is no point in “devolving” power, or Scotland becoming independent, if Scottish communities are to be left with less
control over their own destiny than ever before. The Association – the umbrella body for Community Councils – made it clear that they believe many Community Councils are in crisis because they are not granted any real decision making power, and so many local people believe them to be irrelevant. The Angel understands two Community Councils in Maryhill are now considering merger. Community Councils need to be given the powers to act, if we are to have real local democracy at a community level. But Community Councils and residents groups often do not have a deep enough base in their communities, or a tradition of mass community action that would force government to take them
seriously.

Scottish communities need to organise to assert their right to control their own destiny, and for the people of Scotland to lead the debate on what we in our
communities and in the workplace believe any new powers should be used for. It is time that Scotland’s citizens led the debate. It is time that we ensured any changes and improvements to the economy sought by Government are used to
raise people up. Together. That would be real democracy.

—

The Burgh Angel will be giving extensive coverage to the “Social Home Swick” throughout the local election, to see if justice can be done by Maryhill.

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Power In Community Organiser Nick Durie, who is working to strengthen and increase the power of local residents groups in the area, commented to the Angel that, “This is exactly the sort of thing that happens when leaders are not held to account. They behave without any kind of accountability. We don’t know yet if there is something dodgy about this deal, but the fact that it has been signed off on – apparently in secret – arouses suspicion.”

The Angel asked the Housing Minister Keith Brown, and the former Housing Minister Alex Neil (who signed off on the deal) to comment, but they are yet to provide a reply. We also went to the Councillor leading on the development ( a “Tranformational Regeneration Area” or “TRA” which the council has a committee for) and asked for a comment. Councillor Stephen Curran, the Chair of the TRA Committee unfortunately was too busy to comment.

New social homes – not in Maryhill?

“Social Home Swick”
One Maryhill resident on the waiting list said, “It is tough enough to get housing. We’ve been waiting so long now, but to find out that the politicians have been doing deals to actually stop housing being built seems totally wrong.”
Maryhill Anti Cuts group member, and local community activist John Lawson told the Angel that this looks like a cut to homes. “At a time when housing is becoming scarce and people’s bills are rising, to find out that hundreds of homes have been cut by the Council and the Government seems like a Social Home Swick. There are hundreds of families that have been waiting for too long now for a home they can call their own. We need to find out what went on here. There is an election coming up. Heads should roll for any dodgy deals made. Lining pockets by cutting family homes in Maryhill is an outrage.”

The Burgh Angel will be pursuing this story over the coming months to uncover what went on to deny the building of hundreds of social homes in the Maryhill Burgh area, and who, and what, was behind these unprecedented housing deals.

It snaked its wet way through torrential rain, which could not dampen the spirit of those attending, to protest against the coalition government’s attack on ordinary people’s living standards and services which are being cut.

The protesters raised the question that while the current financial crises in Britain has been caused by reckless greed and profiteering of the bankers, why should ordinary people be punished for this crisis?

The rally although curtailed by the weather was briefly addressed by Tony Benn who is currently national president of The Coalition of Resistance against the cuts. Maryhill Anti Cuts Group work together with Coalition of Resistance Glasgow and others to organise the defence of our social services. Tony Benn contended that the present government is mounting the biggest attack ever made on the British Welfare State which was created after the Second World War, and that the Coalition government’s aim under Clegg and Cameron is to finish the the work begun under Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.

Benn went on to say that when people returned from the Second World War in 1945 the view was that it was the responsibility of government representing the people as a whole, to provider affordable homes, free medical care, education for all, and key public services. Those attending the Put People First march assert that these social gains are now under threat from the UK government’s programme of austerity and privatisation, which they argue will take our society back 80 years.

Maryhill Anti Cuts can be contacted on 0141 576 4773 (answering machine available) or emailed at, maryhillanticuts@googlegroups.com.

From 4 December 2010 until 14 March 2011, a square mile of Possil,
including Saracen and Hamiltonhill, was covered by a dispersal order
giving police the right to disperse groups of two or more people.
Anyone refusing to disperse was for a fine of up to £2,500 and/or
imprisonment for up to three months.

This is a transcript of a group discussion Dawn Hunter held in March
with seven children, aged between 10 and 13, in Possil. They have been
named A to G to protect their privacy.

Have any of you had any direct contact with the police regarding the
dispersal order?
A: Every one of us probably. Every night you go out you see the
police. They just hassle us.
C: When you’re walking about they just stop you and question you.
E: They ask you for your details.
A: Your name, address, date of birth, phone number, school.
F: What you had for dinner.

Do they ever split you up?
A: All the time.
F: I was dispersed when me and my pals were walking home from school.
B: Even if we’re just walking to the shop, they’re just waiting to
disperse us. Like if I have to go down the shops for my mum, I can’t
go with any of my pals because we’ll get dispersed.
D: Me and three of my pals were walking home from football and a
couple of older guys started shouting stuff and the police dispersed
us but not them.

Do they tell you where to go?
G: They don’t care as long as its outside the zone.
F: Me and some of my pals have been told just to get right out of an
area altogether.
D: Aye, excluded, that’s called.

That’s called an exclusion?
D: Aye, so if you stay in the jungle [semi-derelict residential area
just off Saracen Street] because of the dispersal order the police
just stop you even if you’re by yourself and you’re walking down to Possil.
A: I’ve been pulled up hundreds of times for breaching the exclusion
because I stay there.

So how does that make you feel?
A: Pure raging because they’re pure cheeky to you sometimes.
B: They make me feel really disrespected. They treat us like we’re
not part of the scheme and that we’re just out for trouble, when all we want to do is just play football and hang out with our pals.

Do you think the police are targeting you specifically?
G: They don’t bother stopping everybody. See if a group of older
people were to be walking by, the police wouldn’t bother with them.
F: The police are rude to us, there’s just no need. We’re normal
people and so are they, so why do they act like this?
B: But the thing is, see when they’re being cheeky to you, you don’t
want to talk to them. See if they speak to you like a human, then I’m
alright with them.

So what kind of activities is this stopping you from doing?
F: We got pulled up for standing at the bus stop on the way home from school.
D: If you’re walking along the road at night going to get a big game
of football, the police will pull you up.
B: We were going out to the bowling and we decided to stop and get
something to eat and they stopped us all and searched us. I had some
money on me for something to eat, because the club was paying for the
bowling and the police were like, “that won’t pay for your bowling,
where are you really going?”

How many of you have been searched?
[7 out of 8 put their hands up]

Do they tell you why they’re searching you? Do you tell you what law they’re searching you under?
(Several) No.

What about if you were to leave here tonight in a group?
G: We’d get split up.
B: We got pulled up and dispersed leaving here last week.
D: Usually after this we’d leave here in a group and go and get
something to eat but we can’t.

How many people round about your age do you think are being affected by this?
B: All of us.
A: I’ve heard of wee weans at 6 being told to disperse.
B: Aye, and because of that people from different schemes have
started coming down here.

People from different schemes are coming to Possil? What have they
started coming here for?
B: To cause trouble, start fights and that. Usually it’s because they
know you’re not going to be cutting about with your pals.
A: I’m wondering, though, if there’s four police cutting about, can
we tell them to disperse?
E: Aye exactly!

Have any of your families said that they’re sick of you getting pulled up?
(Several) Aye!
F: My granny complained, my dad complained, my mum complained…

Who can they complain to?
F: Haha, the police!

How do you feel about the police now?
G: I can’t stand them.
B: They’re a joke.
F: I never had any bother off of the police in my life before this
all started and now I’m getting booked left right and centre.

What do you think about the police and the council, who decided there should be a dispersal order on Possil?
B: Why this scheme?
E: Why us? This place had really calmed down before the dispersal,
it’s not like it used to be.
G: There should have been a vote for the people in the area about the
dispersal order.
E: Aye, everybody over the age of 12 should have been allowed to vote about it.
B: Definitely, we should have had a say because it’s gave us a bad name.
F: It was on the news and all that, now people think that everybody
from Possil is scum.

Do you have anything else you want to say about the dispersal order?
E: Aye, it better no come back!
A: My attitude has changed because I never used to bother with the
police, I used to quite like them. But see if they’re going to lift me
now, I might as well give them something to lift me for.

You can read the full interview at
http://thecommune.co.uk/2011/05/22/possilpark-dispersal-zone/

The survey will ask, ‘What are the biggest problems in the area?’ and,
‘What makes you angry?’. Teams of volunteers from across Glasgow are to be
put at the disposal of community organizers in a plan that will be
determined by the local community, and the civil society groups in the
area.

The listening exercise is to form part of a plan to rally the
community in Maryhill over the coming months to prepare the community
during what is widely thought to be a time of widespread change.

Asked to comment, Lead Organizer for Power In Community, an
organization which specializes in community organizing, Nick Durie,
noted, “This is a time of change for Scotland.  Many different things
may happen to the nation, this city, and our communities over the next
few years.  We need to listen to our families, and our communities, so
that we know what it is that concerns us most, and what priorities
of the new alliances our communities are rapidly forming should take
on.  If change is happening all around us, we can’t just allow our
needs and desires to be neglected; if we do that we risk just being
blown about in upheaval.  That isn’t good for families.  We should be
in charge of our own destiny.”

In an era where ‘local’ and ‘Big Society’ are words that get bandied
about frequently in the media, sometimes it can seem that in the rush
to consult, change, or in the next big local upheaval the actual views
of communities can be hidden by box ticking exercises.

The listening exercise is to take place over the autumn. Look out for
teams of volunteers in the Wyndford this October.

The occupation began on the 1st February amid fears that Glasgow
University management were planning a broad programme of cuts to courses
and student services. These fears were confirmed later that month, when
the Senior Management Group (SMG) announced that Slavonic languages,
nursing and the Department of Adult and Continuing Education (DACE), among
others, were destined for the axe.

Matters came to a head on the 22nd March, when SMG attempted to evict the
occupation. Campus security began the eviction, and Strathclyde Police
became involved, resulting in numerous injuries, including one concussion.
Following an occupation of the plush Senate Rooms lasting several hours,
management were forced into a climb-down, allowing the students to
reoccupy the Hetherington late that night. Occupiers remarked at the time,
“It’s not an eviction覧it’s an upgrade!”

Following the eviction, the occupiers redoubled their efforts, and were
rewarded when the consultation on the measures recommended that several of
the courses, including archaeology and anthropology, be saved. These
recommendations, which still left several courses under threat, were
upheld by the University Court on the 22nd June, while hundreds of
demonstrators gathered outside.

A Maryhill resident involved in the occupation said, “This is an
unprecedented victory for the student movement, and I’m thrilled at what
we’ve achieved. However, we shouldn’t rest on our laurels. DACE is vital
to many people accessing higher education later in life, and it has lost
its public funding, meaning more of the cost is passed onto the end user.
There are also plans to introduce fees of ｣9000 per year for students
coming from outwith Scotland. Both of these risk making university a
privilege of the wealthy elite.”

Workers are fighting back against these miserly cuts. Membership of
Unison, the union that represents Quarrier’s staff and other charity
workers, has grown – in-house membership has increased by 25% in the
last six months.

The union is organising meetings for Quarrier’s staff, advising staff
not to sign the new contract and arguing the case for decent wages
with politicians in the Scottish and UK parliaments. Meanwhile,
Quarrier’s Human Resources director continues to harass staff with
letters warning them to sign the new contract and accept wage
reductions of up to 19.5% from 1st October or be sacked and re-hired
with wages reduced by up to 23% and an increase in workers’
contributions to the pension scheme. Management have frequently
ignored attempts by Unison to get them to sit down and negotiate a
compromise with the mediation service, ACAS. The one time Quarrier’s
bothered to show up they refused to participate.

On 6th September, Unison members went out on strike for 24 hours.
Quarrier’s staff managed to maintain the quality of care to the
vulnerable people they support, while at the same time causing
disruption to Quarrier’s management. A rally held outside the Glasgow
City Council building at George Square was packed with Unison members
and supporters from Maryhill and throughout Glasgow.

Since the strike, Unison has stepped up its campaign with politicians
and remains determined to protect workers at Ruchill
Street and Wyndford Road. The “What If?” project is still desperately
needed in North West Glasgow, and the staff who work there should be
treated far better by their employer.