Wednesday 21 May 2008

Wednesday

A busy day today - this afternoon, after a couple of site visits about traffic issues in the West End, I attended the first meeting of the Magdalen Green History Group which is meeting in Blackness Library on Wednesdays 1.30pm-3pm until 25th June. It was a good start and many useful ideas raised for future activities. The photo (right) shows some of the resources available today. Click on the headline above to read more.

Earlier on, I was delighted - along with two of my fellow City Councillors, the Council's Chief Executive and others - to view the new Claypotts Castle Primary School, which opens to pupils in the next few days - see photo below. The facilities are absolutely fantastic, and everyone was very impressed. And ... a case of PPP projects delivering real schools and on budget.

I watched John Swinney on "Newsnight Scotland" last night - an able and highly competent Minister fail to convince anyone that the Scottish Government's plans for PPP replacement in any way stands up to scrutiny. The Herald today sort of summed it up : "SNP trust for public projects launched into storm." The bottom line is that well-delivered PPP projects have resulted in quality improvements in the public sector infrastructure - as Claypotts Castle Primary demonstrates. What is not so clear is - will the SNP so-called "Scottish Futures Trust" deliver anything?

Alex Salmond claimed he'd match the previous government's building programme "brick for brick"; thus far not a single brick delivered.