Pilton Sucks dotCom

Has anyone seen our MP Mark Lazarowicz or our MSP, the aloof and arrogant, Malcolm Chisholm. We know that Mr. Lazarowicz is wrapped up in furthering his carreer but he should remember that he has the distinction of managing to slash labours majority in the constituency to its lowest ever and if he is not careful he will be removed by the very people he is ignoring.

As for our erstwhile MSP there is no words fitting, to describe his lack of interest in the people he proposes to represent. It is allright Mr. Chisholm to suck up to and fool a few well meaning community activists and of course the almost non existant local party membership. It is another matter when he to concentrates on his fading career and has done absolutely nothing for this community in his laughable role as Communities Minister.

If ASBOS are to be handed out then instead of hounding working class kids who they say they represent look at real measures of investing in our futures both at uk and scottish levels - hand the asbos to Lazarowicz and Chisholm for their anti-social behaviour and their reluctance to get their hands dirty. So come out of your ivory towers and get involed with whats happening in the community not just stay close to those parasites who cling to your every word hoping to replace you at the first opportunity

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH and every other month

Friends and readers our green spaces are quickly dissapearing to be replaced by housing mostly private mostly out of reach for the average punter in the greater pilton community. The enviromental problems are plainly obvious as is the running down of the existing community. Now our rulers have a good excuse for not investing in the existing stock, blame the tenants who voted no in the recent ballot that took place on stock transfer.

We are now facing the reality of a concrete jungle, only part of the jungle will be substancially richer than the other. In their obscene haste to sell any part of land that our rulers can get away with they forget that as human beings and not just voting fodder we need to be able to see and breath in greenery.

We at PiltonSucks.com are saddened that our rulers have no vision when it comes to green space just a desire to make money and dam what anyone else has to say, in fact completly dissmissed and written off as trouble makers.

You in the near future may reap what you sow or in this case what you allow to be built, so stop and think for a moment and see what you are allowing to happen, green replaced by grey for the sake of greed

Friends and readers. We at PiltonSucks.com have been contacted by a former employee of the Muirhouse social work department who has told us that he too was bullied and harrased by the same person who is currently being protected by the social work department.

This person told us that they were in despair at how they were treated and felt the only course of action was to leave. They also told us they were more than willing to come forward if an investigation takes place.

PiltonSucks.com now urges anybody, past or present, who has been a victim of this bully to come forward and make themselves known to us. We will, if you wish, protect your identity and pass the information to the investigation team if and when this takes place. We believe this bully to be a serial bully and there will be more victims who have suffered at his hands. Do not be afraid to come forward in many ways it is your duty to expose this horrible little man and put a permanant stop to his behaviour.

PiltonSucks.com pleads that Lord Provost Lesley Hinds will get involved as both the Muirhouse Six Circle and the Muirhouse social work department are, or in the Six Circles case, were in the ward she was elected to represent. Let us see what lies she is told.

If Councillor Hinds wishes she can contact us and we will furnish her with the names and details of the MUIRHOUSE TWO. We are also happy to give her the details of the former employee who has contacted us. If Councillor Hinds does not wish to take up our offer she could ask in the community, we are realiably informed that one of the MUIRHOUSE TWO is well known and respected in the community.

Well friends and readers, PiltonSucks.com would like to offer a challenge to any member of the community. There are no particular ground rules, you can phone a friend you can hold a public meeting and ask the audience you could even be daring enough to question your elected member at his or her surgeries.

The challenge is simply this, who will be the first person to spot an affordable house on the new waterfront development.  Of course you would not expect the challenge to be that easy, although you have we believe, more chance of landing on the moon.  That aside there is a supplementry question.  If or when you spot this very elusive affordable home you have to guess how much it will cost,easy is it not?

We at PiltonSucks.com are so confident that no-one will be able to win this challenge we are putting up this fabulous once only offer.

One month from today if no-one has spotted and costed an affordable home PiltonSucks.com will ask our elected members to resign all at once Messers Fitzpatrick, Maginnis and Hinds.  Oh and of course, Mr. Communities Minister and moral coward Chisholm.

PiltonSucks.com are reasonable people we will give you a clue in your hunt for this prized treasure.

We were promised 23% of homes built would be affordable, should not be too hard to find one then should it?

 

Friends and readers it is almost the end of an era, as Granton primary school is to be closed and the land sold off for, would you believe even more rabbit hutches passed off as houses. The schools educational standards under the stewardship of head teacher Mr. Burns have been excellent but that cuts no ice with our local councillor Elizabeth Maginnis who along with her cronies have decided that out with the old and in with the pasturised and sanitised new.

PiltonSucks.com like many other residents fail to see why this school has to close and re-open on Granton Hill.  Surely it could not be to impress the new residents who will be moving into those splendid new homes being built on the waterfront.

But alas as you can guess the truth of the matter is clear, get rid of the school because it is in the way of so called progress, sell off the land to the highest bidder (which of course has already been Pre-decided) and fob off the punters with a third rate building built and leased to our rulers by private enterprise.

So readers PiltonSucks.com asks quite reasonably so what about the kids education?  Surely the peoples party has the interest of working class kids at heart or have they become an embarrasment to Labour as they suck up to private enterprise, only to happy to forget abut who put them in their position in the first place.

Pilton sucks.com offers a thought you may wish to take on board, while those elected members are busy shutting down your community and selling off anything they can, where does that leave the local punter?   Answer, up the creek without the paddle.  So friends and readers what next in the greater Pilton auction where the shout can be clearly heard -EVERYTHING MUST GO! 

 

Friends and readers a new dawn is approaching us with a new purpose built community centre in the grounds of royston school. Sounds good does it not but let us dig a little deeper and what is revealed is not quite so exiciting and dynamic.

Some time ago a survey went out into the community asking them about their preferences regarding a new centre. A clear majority of surveys returned suggested a demolition and rebuild on the same site in pilton drive north. So far so good ah but wait on this did not happen what the residents were first offered by our rulers was a community wing used mainly for meeting places for outside organisations thereby geting rid of the old centre and all its baggage and replacing it with something that would exclude the community.

It is worth mentioning that public money had been used for a feisability study, pilton sucks believes it to have been around 9000 pounds to tell the community what it already knew.Two scale models were also produced and at a public meeting option b was chosen.

Somewhere along the line major changes were made without any consultation with the community and the end product as mentioned was a community wing. So a debate started which at times became quite heated as emotions ran quite high,but instead of looking to our rulers to explain themselves as to why they were selling us out a depression fell across the community feeling once again they had been let down.

But fear not after a long and somewhat heated debate the community has its new centre complete with a sports hall of comparable size, all’s well that ends well - not quite.

It would now seem, according to one source that after being promised a new centre, once again the community is about to let down again because we are now told that there is a million pound shortfall. This is completely unaceptable - promises were made they must be kept! Our local rulers seem to be to pre-occupied with forelock tugging to the land speculators of the waterfront development, they seem to have forgotten that it is the people who put them there, it is the people who will remove them.

The desperation to grab the land on which the community centre stands and sell it to their developer friends is reaching fever pitch.  What even more shoe box like houses to be built surely not but it would seem thats what will happen, as our rulers are tucked up in bed even more tightly with the speculators than before, so the community is really just an irritant getting in the way of progress

Progress my friends! We at PiltonSucks.com think not.

We have a suggestion to make and the elections are next year. Why not punish our rulers at the ballot box they will take it for granted at being re-elected as one party member let slip to us. This is safe labour territory we will walk in. Oh will they be complacent indeed.

We at PiltonSucks.com have followed events in greater Pilton for some considerable time and in particular our attention has been attracted to an activist who has been suggesting it is time for a community candidate to step forward and plug the gap. We suggest this person stands and puts back some dignity into a community which has had its self-respect and dignity slowly stripped away over the years.

Be in no doubt readers, the community of greater Pilton needs political change as a matter of urgency to save what is left of the community’s heart and soul.  So act now be ready to take up the baton and run with it.  It is your community it is not the property of some past its sell by date political party, but the living breathing embodiment of its residents. 

The proposed new centre is an opportunity to grab the initiative and let our rulers know that it is the residents of Royston Wardieburn who will demand nothing less than a community centre for all the residents and encourage everyone all over the community to use and support it. This new centre is long overdue, do not let our rulers sell us short.

Friends and readers, late last night we were informed that Unison, the union that represents many of the council staff are stretched to breaking point with cases of bullying and harrassment within the Council. This evil which plagues the city and social work in particular is in danger of reaching meltdown.

Our source also tells us that with regard to the MUIRHOUSE TWO both are receiving medical help and one is also receiving psychiatric help. We now once again call for an investigation into what is going on in this city with regard to bullying. In particular PiltonSucks.com is extremly concerned, as should everyone else be within the greater Pilton community that a bully exists and is allowed to continue in employment, the MUIRHOUSE TWO are being punished for bringing out into the open what has clearly being happening in Muirhouse social work department for some considerable time .

The MUIRHOUSE TWO both of whom are now known to PiltonSucks.com are suffering ill health as a direct result of bullying and management have turned their backs on them punishing them further downhill by hounding them and in one of the cases trying to force him back to work in Muirhouse social work department where, as readers you can imagine, life would be unbearable.

The city of Edinburgh must now investigate what is going on in Muirhouse social work department. Stop hiding give us the truth of the extent of bullying and put a stop to it before it is to late. We will not go away, the MUIRHOUSE TWO will not go away even though they are being threathened by the social work department.

We at PiltonSucks.com are appalled at what is going on in Muirhouse social work.deparment and we believe, elsewhere in the city We request a reply from the city as to what they are doing to help the MUIRHOUSE TWO after all they have a statutory obligation to care, and they surely would not wish to neglect that in the same way as the local Muirhouse social work department has certainly done.

Friends of PiltonSucks.com and fellow readers we in greater Pilton are about to enter into an elaborate hoax, namely, community councils. It is important that residents understand, as they did in the stock transfer debate and subscequent vote that anything that our rulers think is the best thing since sliced bread are merely being led up the proverbial garden path.

Democracy is not in the gift of our great and visionary leaders who promise you mana from heaven only to find that you have been eating stale bread all along.

Community councils are being forced upon us in someone elses vision of democracy, you will have less say as the desicions are moved further away from you and become more centralised. One reader here wrote that the decisions in this community are taken by a handful of people.

Let me enlighten you there are almost certainly only three people who meet privately and take the important decisions in this community Ms. Hutchison, who has commented here guessed two of them there is one other a lady by the name of Christine Docherty, unelected to anything employed to serve the people of greater Pilton, however certainly does anything but that.

If there were to be true democracy in these community councils we the people who are after all the real power could call these power mad people to account.  But will we be able to do that, of course not, don’t be so silly.  It will only be a talking shop designed to hem you in and stiffle ideas leaving Ms Docherty Ms Pickering and Ms McGuinness and their hangers-on to take the real decisions.  Those three, make the decisions and their hangers-on hand them down. So tell me friends and readers, where are your community councils in all this activity, very simply, nowhere.  Just a group of well meaning people kidding themselves on that they are movers and shakers and shapeing community policy.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Until you rid yourselves of the parasites feeding off this community, and you know who they are, then you will just be fed scrapes from the masters table beggars at the feast.

 

It would seem that our article on bullying in Muirhouse social work centre is just the tip of the iceberg in what can only be called a mass cover-up. We have it on authority from a senior manager in social work based at the head office in shrubhill, that bullying “is widespread but we can’t do anything about it for fear of being sued.”

If this is remotely accurate then this city has a real problem that needs to be exposed and brought into the public domain. We at PiltonSucks.com and our friends over at EdinburghSucks.com condems all forms of bullying and harrassment and demand a full investigation into these allegations. We would also like to ask Unison, the union which represents many council staff exactly how many cases of alledged bullying and harrassment they are presently dealing with.

We would also like to know if possible how many of these people involved in these cases and we know with some certainty there are quite a number are receiving medical help to deal with the problems brought on by bullying.

Both EdinburghSucks.com and PiltonSucks.com are outraged that this kind of unaceptable bulling behaviour is seemingly allowed to thrive unchecked and unchallenged by weak managers who seem only to willing to cast blame on the victims of this terrible sickness.

The city has a moral and duty of care obligation to its staff which it is quite clearly not carrying out this is outrageous and cannot be tolerated. So Muirhouse fear not you are not alone in the bullying stakes there are more like you.

SHAME ON YOU.

PiltonSucks.com does not profess to be the voice of the people more a watchful eye for them. However, it would seem we have to have eyes in the back of our heads to try and keep pace with what is going on at the citys new Jerusalem.

Community consultation is nowhere to be seen and the powers that be are more than happy to allow this to happen. Building goes on at a relentless pace without a by your leave to the residents of greater Pilton. Originally residents of greater Pilton where told that potentially there were to be up to 9000 jobs available.

PiltonSucks.com asks how many local people are being employed on the development. Why was there no local labour charter put in place before development started to allow for this. We would also like to know how much cheap foreign labour is being employed on the development and for how long.

It would seem that the chief executive Stephen Izatt and the City’s appointed Chair Councillor Elizabeth A Maginnis (pictured left) have some serious questions to answer but of course they seem to be only answerable for how much profit can be squeezed out of the development bypassing any local concerns.

In an area of high unemployment you would have thought that a great opportunity had presented itself in the form of job opportunities but alas we at PiltonSucks.com have to report that no significant dent has been made in local unemployment and running alongside this is the ever growing poverty industry with jobs for the boys the order of the day.

Surely our rulers should have seen this opportunity present itself and demanded a stake for the local community but alas again PiltonSucks.com has to report this is not the case. Even the local news sheet the North Edinburgh News which is in the pocket of the labour council has not taken any kind of stand on local employment issues. Shameful but unfortunatly true.

What are we to do? PiltonSucks.com has a small suggestion, the residents of greater Pilton should show their disgust at the ballot box and throw out those they feel have let them down while feathering their own nests. PiltonSucks.com has a further suggestion elect community candidates and let the community set the local political agenda.

PiltonSucks.com knows of at least two and potentially more candidates who would more than suit the bill. To save embarrasment we will not name them but they are very experienced community activists who we at PiltonSucks.com are sure with a bit of encouragement would take up the challenge and put this community on a sure footing.

Incidently readers, one of these people is as we understand a former labour party member who became alienated at the lack of opportunities for local people and increasingly concerned at the ever growing poverty empire employing people from outwith the community to teach self help to us poor wretched people of greater Pilton.

It is time to change to empower the people to take decisions for them selves not to be kept down by a nest of vipers. Time to make the waterfromt boards accountable to the community not a secret conclave of faceless nameless people determined to keep the community at arms length and at any cost. No longer can the residents of greater Pilton be fed scrapes from the masters table but more seats at the table where they to can drink from the well of prosperity not resigned to a lfe of patronising waffle.