East End Ward

Have to admit I haven't posted for a while so feel quite guilty as really should be keeping all who read this updated with the work that both Christina and I do.

However on many occassions the work of a Councillor is actually quite personal.

Ok, I could report every pothole, missing street sign or unemptied bin on this blog but I don't think that is the point and it would become very boring very quickly.

Also as I have said a lot of the work is personal which would mean divulging information which people who have come to me would not want divulged!

However, I will try to update this as often as possible and appreciate any feedback that is given.

One last bit of (belated) good news. The ABB factory is finally coming down. The protective fences have gone up and have been painted (why paint a fence for demolition - I don't know but I am not going to complain about it) and I was quoted in the press recently as saying "are they blowing it up? Can I press the buton?" - Good news indeed -

some images below from the factory including ones from people who have actually managed to enter the building which was apparently under the watchful eye of security all the time.

I have contacted the Director of Planning and Transportation in relation to the dangerous buildings notice served on ABB's factory on Kingsway east. ABB had until the 13th of August to make the building safe and were due to start demolition by the end of the year.

It saddens me to report that the management of this company have decided to appeal the notice therefore giving the building a stay of execution. Even though the company freely admits that in its current state thier is nothing that can be done with the building and it is unlikely that someone will be able to find a use for it.

This basically means that the company will go through a legal process to say (in their opinion) that the building is safe and does not need to be demolished.

I will obviously be taking a close interest in this and will update with more information when possible.

Dissapointed to hear of the fire that caused havoc to the Kingsway and surrounding businesses yesterday. Thankfully no one was hurt and through the good work of the Police and Fire Service it is lucky that nothing more serious happened.

I was worried that people may have to be evacuated from the surrounding area and put the housing department on alert once I knew what was happening. Luckily, the houses around the factory were outside the exclusion zone and no one had to be put up in other accomodation for the night.

I've had a response from the owners of the factory assuring me that it is not a forgotten site and that they do take the security if it very seriously but I hate to think what could have happened if this had been a malicious fire.

Both myself and Christina are still calling for the building to be demolished as we believe that this will be the only thing that will solve the problem of this eyesore.

Following todays Courier article and a spot on Tay FM, I have continued to take up the case of the derelict ABB factory on the Kingsway.

To see the full article follow this link

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2007/06/04/newsstory9807224t0.asp

Both myself and Christina are dimayed at the state of the building and are following on from the work previously carried out by John Corrigan in trying to get something done. We are both under the impression that no one wants this building anymore and the longer it stays in it's current condition the less likely anyone will want to move into it.

I have written to ABB and will update the blog when more is known.

Fingers crossed ABB take some notice and live up to their responsibilities