It's just a shame no-one told Glasgow City Labour party. As the minutes from the new council meeting show [.pdf file], the oligarchs of George Square are as determined as ever to brook no dissent from their Five Minute Plan. Take a look at the make-up of Local Community Planning Partnerships (LCPPs). No, stop yawning, these things are pretty important. Basically the in-thing at the mo is 'community engagement'. In theory this means actually asking folk what they want done to their area. In practice it tends to be a fig-leaf for unpopular decisions taken by cooncillors - "But the LCPP okayed, so it must be great!" kinda thing. So they do have a fair bit of clout, should they choose to exercise their power.
Cllr Purcellski: "By converting this ancient, run-down area into overpriced rabbit hutch flats, we are building the Glasgow of the future. Can you smell petrol?"Page 9 of the council minutes gives the breakdown of councillors on each LCPP. But look at the conveners of each. Can you guess which party they all come from? And which party has an inbuilt 3 - 1 political majority on each, regardless of voting patterns for the area? Stop yawning, I said! There are 15 other 'non-political' members of each LCPP, but the conveners will be (literally) setting the agenda, and giving the line to the main planning committee back at the City Chambers. Anybody thinking the opposition will be able to stop the familiar pattern of buildings 'going on fire', with plans for replacement executive apartments nodded through remarkable quickly, is in for a disappointment. They will get the odd victory as the sozzled booze-hounds and jakeys within the Labour group miss a few meetings, but overall it's business as usual for the builders, architects, developers, planning officials and big business who've reaped many a reward from the Council's insane 'Dash for Flats'.
More fascinating bits from the Cooncil tomorrow. You can't wait!
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