NORTH KELVIN MEADOW CAMPAIGN

Meadow carrots: the Council plans to give them the chop - and we're not talking about julienning

The North Kelvin Meadow Campaign has learnt that Glasgow City Council has made plans to destroy the Meadow without informing the campaign group. Destructive actions could be taken as early as Monday, 21 September 2009.

After the Council’s legal action against the campaign group in July resulted only in two named individuals – Douglas Peacock, Campaign chair, and Karen Chung, treasurer – being prevented from putting up bat boxes and installing raised beds, it seems the Council went back to the courts in order to obtain a ‘decree of ejection’ – but didn’t tell us.

Wrongly addressed

The matter has been handled most peculiarly. Although Karen is appealing the interdict against her, and the Council obviously has her and Douglas’ contact details, papers relating to the ‘decree of ejection’ were not sent to them, but were instead addressed to ‘North Kelvinside Green Space, Clouston Street, Glasgow G20′ by the Sheriff Court – presumably the address given to the Court by the Council. Had it not been for the good offices of the enterprising Clouston Street postie – who delivered the papers to a well-known local personality, who passed them on to the campaign group – we might have known nothing about it.

Something is rotten in those marble-lined City Chambers, wethinks – unless we are to assume there is no one at Glasgow City Council who knows how to address an envelope properly. And it all doesn’t seem quite in order from a legal point of view. Ms Chung’s lawyer has therefore contacted the Council asking for clarification and that no eviction take place until a meeting can be arranged between the campaign group and the Council.

Watch this space!

To read the press release click here

For an object lesson in how NOT to address and envelope, click here.

Questions have been asked in the Scottish Parliament about the use of derelict land by local communities. The questions posed was:

Bill Kidd (MSP): Asks the Scottish Executive what support the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment provides to local authorities to allow local residents to make use of unused derelict lands in urban areas for the purpose of community growing projects, gardens and orchards. (S3O-7631)

Click here to see the transcript of the Minister’s response and the ensuing debate

Bill mentions the North Kelvin Meadow in his supplementary question as an example.