Community Spirit Meeting

This evening I attended the July meeting of the Community Spirit Action Group.  There was an excellent presentation on the work of Starter Packs in Dundee.  Starter Packs provide some basic household goods for people taking on tenancies.  Starter Packs do a great job in Dundee and they deserve support.

There was a discussion on the future of domestic waste collections in the city and the ongoing problems caused by the closure of the Marchbanks recycling centre and the restrictions of the materials which can be recycled at Riverside and Baldovie.  It is clear that people are still very unhappy with this change.  There was also a discussion about the way in which the council cuts grass in communal areas of the city.

It was also great to see a presentation on the graffiti clean-up which took place in early June. This was a great community effort which made a real difference to the local community.

Great to see new Olympia Open - Hope Dundee Wins National Performance Centre

I am delighted to see the new Olympia opened, a project started when I was Convener of Leisure, Arts and Communities.  I am now delighted to support Dundee's bid to gain the new National Performance Centre in sport.

I am delighted to see the response to the opening of the new Olympia.  Having visited the swimming pool I am pleased to say how impressed I was with the new facility.  It is great and I hope that Dundonians and visitors to the city will enjoy the new pool.  I think that it is important that we promote sports facilities in the city. I am proud to have played my part in the delivery of the new Olympia, along with the new regional gymnastics centre at the Dick McTaggart Centre.

I think that it is now crucial that everyone in Dundee gets behind the bid to bring the National Performance Centre for Sport to Dundee.  Dundee needs to get its share of national institutions.  I think that the National Performance Centre for Sport would be a great addition to the city and would help in my long-held ambition to bring an international football match to the city.  My colleague Jenny Marra has done a great job promoting this and I hope that Dundee is successful in this bid.



Campaigning with Jenny Marra MSP to bring National Football Academy to Dundee



On behalf of the Labour Group on the City Council I have said to the Administration that we would be delighted to work with them to build a united front to campaign to bring this much-needed and overdue investment from the Scottish Government to our great city.  I have welcomed the fact that the City Council is committed to a capital investment of at least £5million in sports facilities no matter what the outcome of the bid.  I think that Dundee has a very very strong case and I fully expect Dundee to be successful in its bid for the National Performance Academy for Sport.