244 January 2015 - Gryffe Advertizer

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30 the advertizer t: 01505 613340 e: info@advertizer.co.uk howwood & elderslie ..................................................... Elderslie Christmas Switch on Elderslie Community Council has called on Renfrewshire villagers to get more involved in community activities after sponsoring a successful Christmas lights switch-on event. The people of Elderslie came out in their hundreds to see the Christmas lights switch on and to take part in several Community Council organised activities including a children’s Santa parade, presents and carol singing, led by St Anthony’s School Choir. After local schoolgirl Ellie Whitehill did the honours, St Andrews Trinity Brigade Band continued the festive atmosphere with a selection of songs. After Santa gave out presents to delighted children, the crowds were treated to tea and refreshments kindly provided by The East Gate Church. Denis Wadsworth, Chair of the Community Council said: “It was the enthusiastic support of the people of Elderslie made the switch-on such a great evening, but special thanks to Forgotten Dreams for the Santa suit, local stores Nisa and the Village Butcher as well as Easton Estate Agents for supplying gifts” Mr Wadsworth, a retiree and father of two added: “There is no good reason why other communities can’t replicate our successful night here in Elderslie, all it takes is a little organisation, commitment and support from the local community and there’s no reason that with continued local support we can’t have many more fantastic local events” Howwood WRI Meet in Howwood Village Hall at 7.30pm Tuesday 20th January. Dogs Trust by Emma-Louise Livingstone. Competition - Animal Ornament. Hostesses - Eileen Smith & Jennifer Dell. Vote of thanks - Irene MacTaggart. Well that’s the Christmas and New Year celebrations over for another year. I hope you and your family had a good time. I am sure you will agree that the community council put on a great show at the switch on of the Christmas lights . Everybody seemed to enjoy the evening especially the children. Towards the latter part of the year I was involved in a series of events over a 16 day period. These local events were to heighten awareness of domestic abuse. For many of the women involved in the campaign it was a very emotional time. It was a very successful couple of weeks and I was pleased to play albeit a small part in the activities. During the December meeting of the Community Council the idea of a Christmas tree for the village was discussed . Please let me know your views on this issue. The administration of the council are preparing for its budget due in February. This will be the last budget before the general election and of course before the Smith reports recommendations are implemented. It will be interesting to see how councils and local services will benefit from this change in how Scotland is governed . I have had complaints about parking at the railway station in Howwood. Please let me know if you have any issues with cars parked in this area . My next surgery in the village hall is on the 22nd January at 6pm. The Planning Board will consider an application in the name of GMW Balrossie (in liquidation) at our January Board. The receiver is renewing the permission which was granted for 40 units (5 in Balrossie House, 1 Villa, 1 in Water Tower and 33 new build). This renewal is meant to facilitate the marketing of the site. Councillor McColgan and myself officiated at the switch on of the Christmas lights in Quarriers and Kilmacolm. Kilmacolm Primary were to the fore with a resounding performance of their choir at the Cargill. Santa’s helper and official switcher on was Ann Wright from KPS. The winners of the Community Council children’s competition were Alfie and Alistair (no second names) and the best dressed shop windows were Wild Rose (1st), followed by Gibb Stuart and Fernie & Florence. The KCC also had a prize raffle and are to be thanked for their support of what is a really well attended event. Raynesway Construction have been awarded the contract for the replacement of the Nittingshill Bridge in Quarriers Village. The contract is £279,000 and will replace the current temporary structure. The current situation has not been satisfactory, but the traffic lights have certainly acted as a deterrent to speeding. Work should start soon. As reported, the Corlic Hill Windfarm application was unanimously refused by the Planning Board in November, but because of its sheer size it had to be endorsed by Full Council. After some debate the leader of the SNP Group moved approval, but this was defeated by 14-3. The developer now has the right to appeal to Scottish Ministers. I hope he does not, 700 representations against and 1 in favour of the application is, in my view and that of the majority of my colleagues, pretty conclusive. The red pillar box has been painted to the delight of Hamish. We will have to be watchful during the demolition of the Institute that the box and the benches donated by the Scouts and Guides are not damaged. The Co-operative have been granted an alcohol license for what will be their new convenience store on the site of the Institute, in my view a bonus for the village. The New Year will be busy with the Westminster Election, but I hope will not be as emotionally draining as the Referendum. I have thoroughly enjoyed the nativities at KPS and its Nursery and will report on the KPS and St Columbus carol services in the next edition. My surgeries are 17th January 3 Sisters Bake in Quarriers 10am-11am and 24th in the Cargill 10am-11am. I can be contacted on david.wilson@inverclyde. gov.uk and on 01475 712727, 741969 and 07766 992294. Young People Projects Gryffe Valley Rotary’s programme of projects, aimed at helping young people to achieve their potential, is now well underway. Support was again provided to the Gryffe Photographic Club for their Schools Photographic competition, with John Douglas awarding the overall trophy to St Fillan’s school. Members were really impressed with the quality of the winning photographs which were displayed at a recent meeting. Rotary’s Young Chef competition got underway with the local heat held at St Columba’s. In a high calibre competition against the clock, Kirsty Louden of St Columba’s just edged out Erika-Jane Martin of Gryffe High to go forward to the Rotary District finals in January. Thanks are due to Gibb Stuart Home Hardware who again sponsored the event with the support of Le Creuset. Challenging topics were chosen for the local heat of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition which has just been held at the Royal British Legion Club in Bridge of Weir. “Violence in the Cinema” was addressed by the all boys St Columba’s team, and “The Invasiveness of Technology in our Lives”, featuring the impact of social media on the younger population, was explored by the all girls Gryffe High team. Following very close contest with some lively contributions, the Gryffe High team of Bethany Craig, Claire Cassidy and Rebecca McKay just won through to the Rotary District finals.
www.advertizer.co.uk january 2015 kilmacolm & quarriers ..................................................... Christian Aid Coffee Morning in Kilmacolm Christian Aid committee in Kilmacolm are holding a JANUARY SALES day, on Saturday 10th January at 10am-12noon. In Kilmacolm New Community Centre. Generous donations which will be on sale include a keyboard organ, two guitars, posh clothing including skiing gear, dvds, cds, and books. All proceeds will be sent directly to Christian Aid Scotland, the total will be matched by the UK government under a scheme open until 5th February, so we can double your money. If you have any items you would like to be included in the January Sale, please contact Jill Russell on 01505 872393. Please come along and support the Sale, and enjoy refreshments at the Hub. All proceeds are being directed to Christian Aid’s work in areas suffering Ebola. The Angel Voices Choir The Angel Voices Choir continues to grow and thrive. Our Music Director is Helen Knight and is assisted by piano accompanist Archie Morris. As well as professional training to sing, the children learn to read music and sing both sacred and secular music. Recently the Choir enjoyed singing at venues in Kilmacolm and taking part in St Fillan’s Advent Carol Service and the Nine Lessons and Carol Christmas Service. In the New Year Angel Voices will be rehearsing for their entry in the Mixed Choir category of the Inverclyde Music Festival - hoping to retain the trophy they won last year! We welcome new members at anytime – both girls and boys from the age of 6years. Contact Maureen Russell by email maureenmrussell@hotmail. com or 01505 872905. Looking for a Venue? Children’s Party? Regular Class? Kilmacolm Guide Hut has recently been re-furbished and is a fantastic facility in the village with easy access and parking for community events, parties or regular classes. If you are interested in hiring the Hut please contact Jackie on 01505 873488. Please see local paper and posters for my surgery dates. I wish everyone a very Happy New Year. We would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. December was a busy month with the highlights including the Christmas lights switch-ons in Quarrier’s Village and Kilmacolm. We were also pleased to attend the excellent Christmas shows at Kilmacolm Primary. Well done to the staff and pupils for the hard work they put in to making the shows such a great success. In our December column we discussed the difficult financial situation facing the Council and stressed how important it was for your views to be heard in the run up to the Council’s budget being set at a meeting in February 2015. Public consultation events have been held across Inverclyde, including one in Kilmacolm Community Centre on 11th December. The feedback from these events will help inform the decisions to be taken by elected members. There is still time to submit your views as part of the Council’s online interactive budget simulator. It only takes a few minutes and can be accessed at https:// inverclyde.budgetsimulator.com/. The tool allows you to analyse the savings proposals from the three directorates and then gives you the opportunity to balance the Council’s budget by selecting the savings you would take. The budget consultation is open until 17th January. It has been three months since the Council’s decriminalised parking enforcement scheme became operational. Following discussion at the November meeting of Kilmacolm Community Council it was agreed that an official from the Roads Service be invited to the February meeting to provide an opportunity for local residents and traders to inform the Council’s review of the parking strategy for Kilmacolm. We are now approaching the end of the second year of the implementation of the Council’s £29m roads asset management plan. At this point in the financial year thirty of the thirty-two originally planned carriageway projects have been completed and an additional three projects have been brought online from the approved reserve list. The remaining projects will be carried out over the coming months. Hopefully you are starting to see the benefits of this major investment programme by the Council. Officers are working on next year’s programme and a report will go before the Environment & Regeneration Committee in March. We will provide you with details of the approved programme in our April column. Councillor McColgan My surgeries this month are on Thursday 8th January, 6pm-7pm in Clune Park Resource Centre and Tuesday 20th January, 6pm-7pm in Boglestone Community Centre. You can reach me on 01475 712727 (during office hours) and 07881 280016 (anytime) or by emailing me at james.mccolgan@inverclyde.gov.uk. Alternatively you can write to me at Inverclyde Council, Municipal Buildings, Greenock PA15 1LY. You can keep up to date with my work as a Councillor by visiting my website: http:// jamesmccolgan.com. You can also follow me on Twitter @jamesmccolgan. Councillor McCabe My surgeries this month are on Tuesday 13th January, 5pm-6pm in St Francis’ Primary School and Tuesday 27th January, 6.30pm-7.30pm in Kilmacolm Community Centre. You can also contact me directly to discuss any matters that are of concern to you by telephone on 01475 712020 (during office hours) and 871368 (home) or by email to Stephen.McCabe@inverclyde.gov.uk. Alternatively you can write to me at 10 Victoria Gardens, Kilmacolm PA13 4HL. You can keep up to date with my work as a Councillor by visiting my blog: http://councillorstephenmccabe.blogspot.com/ and follow me on Twitter @ Kilmacolm1. 31 31
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244 January 2015 - Gryffe Advertizer

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