January Update from the Glasgow Residents Network
Nick Durie
Hello and welcome to another Glasgow Residents Network Update.
Contribute to this bulletin
Part of a residents group? Then send us information about events,
meetings, campaigns, information, leaflets, you name it! This is our
city - we need to talk to one another, and let all our communities
know what each other is up to.
[Don't forget to send us any newspaper coverage of residents struggles,
or information on any meetings being held!]
Upcoming Glasgow Residents Network Events:-
Glasgow Residents Network at the January Clearout, Saturday 20th, 12:30 PM at the Pearce Institute, 840-860 Govan Road, Govan
The Glasgow Residents Network will be attending the "January Clearout", a day of workshops, stalls and events organised in association with the Glasgow User Manual. We will be giving some background to our network, in a workshop entitled The Glasgow Residents Network, what's in it for me?. This will be starting at 12:30pm
The January Clearout will take place from 12pm till 4pm this Saturday; we think it'll be well worth the trip. If you're looking for further details on the January Clearout, these are available on http://www.glasgowusermanual.com/ & http://www.citystrolls.com
January Business Meeting of the Network, Saturday 20th, 2:30pm at the January Clearout, Pearce Institute, Govan
January's business meeting will be likely to include discussion of the homeowners march and demonstration, a number of ongoing campaigns and whatever member associations bring along to discuss. It's the first meeting of the year since the Christmas break, so it's likely quite a lot will be under discussion. Isn't it time you got involved? :-)
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Public Meetings:-
A number of local homeowners have organised public meetings across the city to let Glasgow residents know about a march that is taking place to highlight the right-to-buy homeowners' struggle against outlandish bills from their Factor, the GHA.
Sandyhills
In Shettleston Community Centre, for Monday 22nd January, starting at 7pm. Speakers include Tommy Sheridan (Solidarity MSP), Sandra White (SNP MSP) and Sean Clerkin (Glasgow Save Our Homes Campaign), among others.
Knightswood
Tuesday 23rd January, knightswood, 7pm, venue to be confirmed (email us for further details). Meeting organised by the Knightswood Residents Group.
Carntyne/Riddrie
Wednesday 24th January, at St. Thomas' Primary School, Carntyne, 7pm . Meeting organised by CARTAG. The flier for the event is online at our website: http://glasgowresidents.wordpress.com/files/2007/01/microsoft-word-the_carntyne_and_riddrie_tenants_jan07.pdf
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Demonstration
To highlight the continuing struggle of right to buy homeowners who are facing massive unfair bills from their Factor the GHA, a de monstration is being held onf Saturday, the 3rd of February, at 10AM, starting from Blytheswood Square. The march will terminate in a rally in George Square.
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Our 2006!
http://glasgowresidents.wordpress.com/2007/01/14/our-2006-a-review-of-the-first-year-of-the-glasgoe-residents-network/
Our 2006!
A Review of the 1st Year of the Glasgow Residents Network
The Glasgow Residents Network was launched in April 2006. It aims to involve as many residents organisations and ordinary citizens as possible from across the city in fighting for a more fair and just city and better communities for us all. The following is a collation of views taken from our latest meeting where we discussed how the network had been progressing. We present it here for the purposes of discussion among the Residents Movement. Hopefully 2007 will bring further victories for residents struggles everywhere.
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Our Communities!
Our network was launched following 'The Tenants And Homeowners Networking Coference' in April. Most agreed that it was good to see our early discussions around homeowners and tenants had progressed to discussing tenants and homeowners issues as just part of the picture facing our communities. All communities face problems and some of the problems faced by many of our communities were those of right-to-buy homeowners and tenants of the GHA.
Over the course of our set-up a number of right-to-buy homeowners had become involved in a struggle against mammoth bills. This has came on the back of increasing anger among homeowners and residents groups across the city about the issue, but an active city-wide campaign is now fully underway. There have been several, very visible, large city protests, huge public meetings, film screenings, discussions, and a homeowners handbook, as well as negotiation meetings. The Citywide committee now has over 60 members and the residents movement more generally is growing with the involvement of so many new faces who are fighting for a fairer deal. There is however still work to be done. Many potential residents groups might arise from the homeowners movement, to exist beyond any resolution on the issue of bills to RTB owners. We want to see that happen. However, fortunately a number have already been formed, or are in the process of formation and are active in their communities.
Some people felt however that the tenant
involvement in the Residents Movement, which saw off attempts to do away with
the concierge service last year, was at a low ebb, although a few
majority-tenant residents groups were seen as being quite active. There was perceived also to be a real
motivational problem for a number of tenant-led anti-demolition campaigns. The way landlord demolition schemes are being carried
out makes it hard for tenants to stay active in fighting demolitions. Many would say that the protracted running
down of communities was designed to achieve this. The phenomenon of 'end loading of demolitions'
[i],
and of protracted neglect is designed to demoralise and encourage residents to
leave. Anti-demolition campaigns have to
fight for years and years in order to be successful. It is important to be able to support
campaigns like this meaningfully to avoid their participants being simply
ground down. This goes hand in hand with
the work of supporting new associations.
2006 saw a number of new groups emerge in the North West, for example, only to disappear
quickly because they lacked the support, advice and involvement of long-term
residents campaigners, and were isolated from the rest of the movement. We need to get better at this as a movement
if we are to become more of a force for change in this city.
Our Ideas!
We felt that there was a role for the network to play in the national tenants and residents movement. Many felt the network should be working closely with the Scottish Tenants Organisation. Others still felt that we could and should seek to play a role in the big discussions of a national tenants and residents movement; discussions like the role for tenant management co-operatives, or community land trusts, or about alternative housing strategies, or participatory budgeting. Some associations involved in the network are already active in looking for innovative solutions to problems and the new year offers us a real opportunity to build upon this. We are developing a strategy and policy of our own as a network, with our targeted protests of the worst LHOs, and our strategy for building the profile of residents concerns in the May elections. This kind of activity can continue to be built on in future as well.
People Power!
We also discussed how we had been growing as a network, from the initial aim of establishing a federation. The network now has begun to enjoy the support of a number of active local residents associations, and has been able to mobilise increasing numbers of people for a variety of activities. It comprises a dozen associations at the moment and has seen participation from even more groups. There was a feeling that we needed to build on this initial success and bring many more associations into the network. As one person put it we can remain small voices nibbling away or get together and have one big voice for residents across the city. There are challenges too in adopting more secretarial arrangements to spread the workload but everyone agreed there is a lot of opportunity for growth. With rising bills, higher rents, a massive increase in evictions, decreased services, unwanted development on the increase and no real investment in housing stock a network to represent Glasgow's communities is need now more than ever.
[i] "End Loading" refers to the GHA's operational practice of leaving untouched those tower blocks and other flats destined for demolition, until such time as a the organisation is to demolish these properties en masse, probably around ten years from now.
In The News
Residents struggles in the news:-
Local Residents Defend Refugee Neighbours:-
http://news.scotsman.com/education.cfm?id=1911282006
Campaigners Fight to Save Drumchapel Resident:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6258005.stm
Local Residents Struggle For Clean Sanitation & Sewage Free Streets (Govanhill):-
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1087818.0.ive_reported_this_stream_of_sewage_but_still_nothing_is_being_done.php
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Environment & Development :-
Glasgow City Council Guts Much Loved City Park:-
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1092831.0.blythswood_bare.php
Councils Cashing In On Mobile Phone Masts:-
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1887032006
Unwanted Partick Thistle Flats Given The Go-Ahead:-
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1082553.0.partick_thistle_given_flats_plan_green_light.php
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Society:-
Michael Lennon's Departure Gladdens Housing Associations, Pushing Second-Stage Transfer:-
http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/article.aspx?articleid=1448466
Recruitment Agency Paid £50,000 To Find Replacement Boss For GHA
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1101793.0.headhunter_move_sparks_housing_fury.php
One In Ten Homeless Former Soliders:-
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1089966.0.one_in_10_of_city_homeless_is_a_former_soldier.php
Youth Project In Pollok Focuses on Young People's Creativity:- http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.1090391.0.rapping_to_beat_the_gangs.php
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And that's it from another Glasgow Residents Network Bulletin. January is a good time to make changes, why not get more involved in the Glasgow Residents Network?
Contribute to this bulletin
Part of a residents group? Then send us information about events,
meetings, campaigns, information, leaflets, you name it! This is our
city - we need to talk to one another, and let all our communities
know what each other is up to.
or information on any meetings being held!]
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Join the Network Today!
Telephone 07976718111, or email agahs...@hotmail.com, and leave details of your Name; Address; Telephone Number; Email address and Organisation (if applicable)
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