Sunday, April 30, 2023

Claimable benefits and other anti-poverty measures, Dumfries version

 This is a work in progress and is probably not complete.

Use this in conjunction with other sources of information.

The main working age benefit for people with no or low incomes:

Universal Credit

Also useful is the Social Welfare Fund

 

Elderly

In addition to your State Pension elderly people on low incomes may get 

Pension Credit

 

 Got kids?

Best start grant and best start foods

Child benefit

 

Caring for someone?

Benefits for carers

 

Housing costs, rent

Housing benefit

Warm Home Discount 

 

Social tariffs

Social tariffs are discounts that you can get if you're in receipt of certain means-tested benefits like Universal Credit or Pension Credit.

 Cheap broadband/phone line

 

Useful references:

Benefits calculator

Dumgal Cost of Living web page

Policy in Practice paper on unclaimed benefits

Sunday, March 19, 2023

They want to pave paradise, put up a parking lot at Greensands Park, Dumfries


 

DG Council want to pave paradise and put up a parking lot.

 

Thoughts on the council proposal to build a car park over Greensands Park, Dumfries


 

 

-         DGC plan to bulldoze this park.

-         To build a carpark for the Whitesands Flood Defence Project.

-         However that has recently been made uncertain by the change in control of the Council.

-         It may not happen.

-         Meaning they will bulldoze this beautiful park for nothing.

Objections for social reasons:

The  quiet route through the park is a much used active travel route. In particular children from the more deprived areas of North West Dumfries use it to travel to school, principally to The Academy and Loreburn Primary School. Siting a busy car park here means those children will be at risk from all the motor traffic as well as being exposed to the motor fumes.


Indeed there will be heightened conflict for this space because the car park is likely to generally be used by working people as it's not obvious enough for tourists to easily find so if completed this project will see workers arriving 8-9am and leaving 4-5.30pm at around the time this route is being used by the children.

 

There’s a kid’s playground here.


 

 

-         People walk their dogs here.

-         People cycle and walk here – it's an important active travel route

-         It’s a safe place for kids.

-         It has a boathouse.

-         It has a memorial to a young man, lovingly remembered.

 


Objections for biodiversity reasons:

-         Sand Martins nest by the bridge and love to fly and roll on the grass.

This is where the Sand Martins nest and play

 

 

-         Small Tortoiseshell and Orange Tip butterflies live and breed in the verge by the river.

-         Ducks, swans, herons and moorhen swim here and local people love to feed them.


 

 

-         A large colony of crows and jackdaws live and nest here.

That's a lot of nests!
...for a lot of crows!


 

 

-         Toads can be found here.

 

Objections because of flaws in the scheme:

-         The proposed car park has totally inadequate road access.

Access from George Street


Access from Buccleuch Street

 Nor will the proposed new access road adequately solve the traffic needs of a site that will get very busy in the rush hours and which is inadequately served by the adjacent quiet suburban roads including George St and Castle St.

It's entirely possible that people won't want to park here. Car drivers like to park in the very central car parks such as Loreburn car park and Whitesands car park but parking use dramatically falls off even a small distance from the town centre. Brooms Road car park for instance, which is about as close as this proposed new car park, is never full.

-         Indeed there’s already a small car park here – and it’s nearly empty most of the time.

 

Does this place really need expanded car parking?




 

-         Procedural reasons for objection:

The money for these works failed to get passed in the Council budget.

-         So no one knows what services may get cancelled if they squander money on this daft project.

In Mott McDonald's Supporting Statement they (the contractors for this work) state that the "Greensands improvements (sic) should be treated as a standalone operation." Source: page 4 of 12 of this document.

If it's standalone it's wrong to use flood resilience money from Scotgov to pay for it. As it's not part of the Whitesands flood defence project, it's standalone.

Also in that document I don't think the point made at 2.1 a. on page 2 of 12 is reasonable. This car park will not be a suitable alternative to the Whitesands when that car park is flooded as it's only a little higher so no sensible person would see the Whitesands car park under water and think "Oh I'll put my car in a nearby, almost equally floodable, car park."

 

Flood impact:

-         This is an important flood plain – concreting it over means higher floods in the town.

 

Climate objection:

 

The building works are a huge cost of energy and materials adding to global climate change.

-    

 

Value objection:

-            The contractors are based out of this region sucking wealth out of our community. (Contrary to community wealth building best practice).

 

Object to the planning application here.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Iceland supermarket directing customers to a dodgy cashback service

 I just ordered groceries from Iceland. (It's an excellent service, I'd recommend it).

However after finishing my order an offer popped up seeming to give me £16.87 off my next shop. That sounds good, right?

It's always worth checking things out. This is what I found when I googled them.

The cashback club that could cost a packet.

If you're unfortunate enough to follow the breadcrumbs it will cost you £180 a year.

So this is what I wrote in a complaint to the supermarket:

I just placed an order with you for a grocery delivery and after I placed my order a form popped up for me to enter my details for Complete Savings. This service has been criticised in the press. https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-10061167/Shoppers-fury-180-year-cashback-club-Complete-Savings.html


The form follows placement of my order and feels like part of Iceland's service rather than an offer from a completely different (and very overpriced) company.


This feels like a scam and I am asking you to review your relationship with this company.


I would not expect to order on Iceland.co.uk then get a request pop up from a Nigerian prince who just needs a few hundred quid to get him millions out of the country.

Kind regards

Simon Jones 

It's very sad that even a reputable company like Iceland can succumb to the bullshit of financialised greed. I imagine many of their customers feel scammed.

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Pride. A poem


 

 

Pride

A young woman dances, round and round she twirls
Hand in hand with one of her favourite girls
The streets are chaotic with excitement and sound
The Gay Pride parade has turned up in town
A young man passes dressed in colourful clothes
His eyes heavily shadowed he's powdered his nose
There's so much to look at a feast for the eyes
Men walking tall on the arms of their guys
They've stared deep within at the forest of doubt
Then bravely they've chosen that they would come out.
And in celebrating love with the person they chose
They simply affirm what everyone knows
That it is right and it's good to be true to your heart
And that living in love is the finest of art.

We live in a world that can be mean and so cruel
Where people wave flags as they vote in a fool
In the States we mourn the loss of Roe versus Wade
The bigots delighted in a freedom unmade
But all causes are lifted when people gather in joy
When a girl loves a girl and a boy loves a boy
For the determined assertion of people's gay rights
Feeds and inspires all equality fights
And all humanity is lifted when people are bold
To show that they're more than what they've been told
Our communities are strong for their diversity
And strongest of all with all of us free

An old man watches a strange to him sight
Of his son with a man, eyes locked in delight
And he ponders how love has set his son free
After the boy chose who he really should be
And he feels a warm glow spreading inside
That he could not possibly feel greater pride
So thank you my darlings for your smiles and your glee
The happiness you feel sets all of us free.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

How to do progressive politics


 

 

 Ask for the moon. 

Accept the small grubby wooden step they give you as their compromise solution with warm thanks. 

Step up onto it. 

Ask for the moon again. (But this time you're slightly closer).


Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Poetry for Ukraine #2: Zelenskiy

 Zelenskiy Zelenskiy
He gives hope to you and me
As he fights for his country
So that Ukraine will soon be free.
he's handsome and he's brave
And he's always up for more
He'll never be Putin's slave
And he's going to win this war.
He's handsome and he's funny.
He's really the best of men.
And we all know we can count on him
To win and win again.
They clapped and clapped and clapped him
When he spoke to the UN
He inspires, gives hope, he's so damn brave
He's truly the best of men
He spoke to the House of Commons
In London by the Thames
And promised he would fight and fight
again and again and again.
He's clever he's delightful
He's eloquent and he's brave
He's defied six efforts already
To put him in his grave
But in truth he's a man
That Putin can never kill
For if flesh falls his spirit
Will live on in all of us still
To everyone who hopes that Ukraine will soon be free
Why not pour a dram of whisky
Toast the champion of liberty
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Sawney Bean: a pome.

 Ah'm the famous Sawney Bean
The terror of Bennane Head
Ah eat people who're still wriggling,
Ah eat people freshly dead.
My bride is Black Agnes Douglas
She's bonny and she's braw
She kens richt well how to cook men
The wee yins she eats raw.
Oor hame is in a cave
And beware if you draw near
For around this glen all kinds of men
Ha been known to disappear.
Some dinners scream and some dinners squeal.
Some dinners curse and say "it cannae be real,"
But ah'm the famous Sawney Bean
And you're ma next meal

Claimable benefits and other anti-poverty measures, Dumfries version

 This is a work in progress and is probably not complete. Use this in conjunction with other sources of information. The main working age b...