| StoreTags: bung, 'brown envelope, backhander'
Viewed 1068 times. 10 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
-->
Pollok Country Park is a large country park located in Pollok, south Glasgow. Prior to the building of the M77 motorway it was the largest urban green space in Europe (approx 361 acres).
In 2007 it was named the best park in Britain. The reasons given were "environment, access, maintenance and community involvement" The company presenting the award (Briggs Stratton) said that Pollok provides a "vital green breathing space for residents and wildlife" .
The then Manager of the Park, Tony Boyle, said "What we have here is unbelievable: outdoor activities, a stately home, and the finest art collection in Europe. And the wonderful thing is it is free!"
The park was originally part of the Old Pollok Estate, which was home to the Maxwell family for over 700 years. In 1966 Mrs Anne Maxwell Macdonald gifted the estate, including Pollok House, to Glasgow City Council with the condition that it remained a public park.
It was stated that the land should remain "for ever for the benefit and enjoyment of the nation and in particular the citizens of Glasgow and that the open spaces and woodlands should remain for the enhancement of the beauty of the neighbourhood as well as for the benefit of the public".
In the early 1990s the park was the site of a road protest camp, the Pollok Free State, which attempted to prevent the M77 motorway from cutting through the south west side of the park and separating it from the nearby housing schemes. The road cost £53 million and destroyed 5000 trees in a seven mile stretch of the park. Protesters, including local schoolchildren, attempted to prevent this using classic tactics like building and occupying treehouses and tunnels. There was also a “Carhenge” of burnt-out and half-buried cars from as far afield as Brighton placed in the path of the road. Eviction of the camp by Wimpey bailiffs and 32 vanloads of police began on March 23, 1995 leading to 15 arrests and one injury. Though the camp failed to prevent the road being built, it was a formative experience for many Glasgow activists who had no previous experience of direct action. It also led to the resignation of M.P. Allan Stewart.
Donald Maxwell, son of Anne Maxwell Macdonald said of the motorway construction:
"I personally thought the National Trust was wrong to agree in the end."
Fast forward to 2008...
The Council has invited Adventure Forest Ltd. to create a Go Ape centre in Pollok Park with a 21 year lease. The Council claim that the public consultation was overwhelmingly in favour. What they don’t tell you is that half of the respondents were young school children from Maryhill/North Glasgow (opposite side of the city) who were handed response forms by Educational Services, nor that most local residents are against it.
Donald Maxwell had this to say "Go Ape is not what anyone has ever wanted for Pollok in that it is a commercial enterprise," he says. "This venture, as I see it, promoted by the City of Glasgow, is something they are going to make up to £80,000 on and that's the reason why they are so keen to do it.
"As far as I'm aware no other enterprises in the park are there to benefit a company in this way." Sports clubs merely pay for themselves, he says, while the NTS ploughs money raised back into conservation concerns. "It is not laughing all the way to the bank as it were, which is presumably what the Go Ape people and the city fathers are looking to do."
Glasgow City Council is playing a dangerous game, he argues. If they can drive a coach and horses through the 1966 agreement in this case, what next for Pollok Park? "They are basically saying that if you make a gift and lay down conditions on it, those can later be disregarded," he says. "That might just discourage people from making such gifts in the future."
The Go Ape development would fence off 10% of the park and 30% of North Wood where wild deer live, felling apparently only 25 trees (though i'm sure this figure will rise) the construction of 2 buildings, bring with it more traffic, litter and noise - They expect 1,000 extra cars per week at high season - yet no new car parking planned (they say), will open from 8.00am to 9 pm but no toilet facilities will be built (they plan to use the existing facilities in the Burrell Collection, a free entry art gallery and museum that closes at 5.00pm)
Finally it will cost £25 for an adult and £20 for a child per session.
As a result a campaign has been run to Save Pollok Park.
Well...despite protests and meetings with hundreds/thousands being opposed to the Go Ape development it just got the go-ahead...
brown envelopes anyone???
but...
"The planning application will now be referred to Scottish ministers because of the level of objection and because the council will receive money from the scheme"
Time to lobby your SNP MSP then! 
Full story here
quoted mainly from Wikipedia and Save Pollok Park
Glasgow City Council also plan to open a commercial garden centre in Bellahouston Park, whatever next... | |
Comments
03/25/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Zanf
What a complete fucking liberty but unsurprising - some many councils have done this with land that has been gifted on condition that it remains free to the public.
What makes me laugh is the whole idea of a 'public' consultancy - they mean they asked a few senile people AFTER they had made the decision - I read so much of this in Private Eye every fortnight.
Whats most annoying about this is the complete lack of accountability of the councilors. We need to have capital punishment brought back but only for public officials: Get found guilty of corruption - face possible hanging. Get found guilty of defiling the spirit of public bequeaths - face flogging.
That would sort out a lot of this island's issues with planning permission fuckups etc
03/25/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
sAMsKi
grrrrrrrrr.......angry sam !
03/25/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
quip
Go Ape charges 20 pounds to go through the trees on cables, ladders and wires.
It looks like some kind of fun I just seen one up in Grizedale forest where i go mountain biking...
It does go against the wishes of the original owners. They stand to make serious money out of this
project. Protest!
03/25/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
reehc
twats!
03/25/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
ignatius
balls. what a drag. if that goes through it's only a matter of time until there's fucking water slides and go karts in the park. too bad there's no lawyer willing to work pro bono on the park's behalf and sue the city. oh, why not call bono? get some celebrity mojo involved.
zip lines are fun.. but not at the expense of all that...
03/26/08
+
PM |
QUOTE |
PERMALINK |
REPORT
Unknownforce
Register / login
|
^
EM411 is Copyright 2001-2008 EM411.com
All rights reserved. | Contact | RSS
|
