Before yesterday’s full council meeting there was a protest held outside NLC HQ, against the 39 community facility closures which had been agreed by the NLC Policy and Strategy Committe. The following members voted for the closures:
Alan Beveridge (Airdrie North) Independent
Angella Campbell (Bellshill) Labour
Chris Costello (Airdrie Central) Labour
Kenny Duffy (Motherwell South East & Ravenscraig) Labour
Andrew Duffy-Lawson (Motherwell North) Labour
Tom Fisher (Cumbernauld North) Labour
Jim Logue (Airdrie Central) Labour
Helen Loughran (Thorniewood) Labour
Michael McBride (Airdrie South) Labour
Lorraine Nolan (Motherwell West) Conservative
Louise Roarty (Murdostoun) Labour
Sandy Watson (Airdrie South) Conservative
Geraldine Woods (Coatbridge South) Labour
Councillor Heather Brannan-McVey(Kilsyth) Labour abstained.
I had organised the protest at short notice and the text of my speech is below:
My name is Jim Cassidy and I called for this protest today when the news broke that our local swimming pool in Airdrie was one of the many facilities across North Lanarkshire which was to be closed down by North Lanarkshire Council.
I’ve never organised a protest rally before, so to have them back down before it was due to take place was amazing. I’ll need to organise them more often! Joking aside, the ruling group within the council only reversed their decision after pressure from individuals and groups from across our council area, groups like the Bellshill Sharks and the WKC Karate Club in Holytown, and from over 21,000 signatures on numerous petitions online, and from people contacting their councillors, MSPs and Mps directly.
A total of 39 locations which form the heart of our communities was to be ripped out, ranging from the larger facilities which serve the towns and surrounding areas, such as the Aquatec in Motherwell, and the John Smith Pool in Airdrie, to community libraries, and to smaller community centres in our villages. No part of North Lanarkshire was to be untouched, from Kilsyth in the North to Motherwell in the South, from Stepps in the West to Shotts in the East. The facilities available to the 340,000 residents were voted out of existence by just 13 councillors, with just ONE vote tipping the balance in favour of the destruction of facilities which they had been entrusted to protect!
This issue united people across North Lanarkshire in a way previously unseen. It didn’t matter who you voted for at the last election, whether you were Labour, SNP, Tory, Green or otherwise: every single one of us would be affected, and there was no positive to take from this for anyone. Who cares if you can turn round and try to put the blame on the opposition party, or Holyrood, or Westminster? What GOOD does that do? How does that HELP your community?
Our politicians, especially the ones who made this horrendous decision, were more than happy to play petty politics with OUR communities. Well, WE, THE PEOPLE of North Lanarkshire are here to tell you that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. You can no longer rip apart our communities, demolish our history and destroy our future and claim that “A BIG BOY DONE IT AND RAN AWAY”. That’s why those responsible are shamefully sneaking in the back door today, and we are standing here with our heads held high. Because we stood up for our communities when they didn’t.
Even after their decision they behaved in a manner which suggested that they were immune to criticism. Politicians like to tell us that “WE ARE LISTENING” when in reality they are putting their fingers in their ears and hoping we little people go away. North Lanarkshire Council blocked replies on social media. Councillors refused to respond to residents questions. Comments on certain Facebook Community groups were deleted if they tried to question the decision made by the committee or promote events such as this one. Well, they are listening now, aren’t they?
And they will still be listening when the next by-election is held, and when the next council election takes place in 2027. I am not going to tell you who to vote for, but I am going to ask that whatever happens you do two things:
- GET OUT AND VOTE. In the 2022 Council elections turnout across North Lanarkshire was appalling low, in some wards as low as 37%. In the recent Bellshill by-election the turnout was just 22%! That’s pitiful. For anyone who thinks it’s just the “cooncil elections” and they don’t matter, it’s days like this that drives it home that they DO matter!
- DEMAND BETTER FROM THE PEOPLE WE ELECT. Paying attention to their promises and manifestos is one thing, but as communities we not only need to scrutinise what they are offering, but we need to make our demands to them clear! We will not elect them to rip apart our communities. No, we elect them to protect them, and it should be made clear to them that among all the things their party wants they must include guarantuees for the things we want. We need to draw OUR red lines.
Now that we have their attention, one final message.
HANDS OFF OUR COMMUNITY FACILITIES. We are watching and what you tried to get away with today, you will not get away with tomorrow. We will not accept closures by the back door. We will not allow you to pick us off one by one, reducing opening hours here, cutting jobs there. That stops TODAY! NLC have for years reduced opening hours to the extent that our own community facilities become unusable, then they commission reports which say that “low footfall” is the reason for them closing! They created the low-footfall in the first place! Death by 1000 cuts stops NOW! If you can find the £5 million overnight to reverse these cuts, you can look a bit harder and do better.
Video footage of some of the speakers is below.
An Independent Scotsman 