IMAGINARY SHOPPING COMES TO PAISLEY

With 23 empty store fronts on the Paisley High Street between Moss Street and Storie Street, 8  having tacky  imaginary  frontage makes a total of 31 empty shops. Of some of the rest, 6 being charity shops 1 a pawn shop 1 a 20p card shop and 1 an office block up for sale, Imagine the future of Paisley.

Imagine Council Leader Derek Mackay is a silly wee boy and likes playing with dolls houses, putting up make-believe shop front displays in the High Street. Maybe his mummy wouldn’t let him play with his sister’s dolls house when he was a little boy, about 6 months ago. This is possible after seeing his latest campaign to fool the good people of Paisley, it’s called imaginary shopping, and some may wonder how long the people of Paisley have to put up with this current SNP administration I know I do.

Councillor MacKay I must admit has not confirmed this he just keeps promising me a meeting and never keeps his promises; maybe he suffers from spoilt brat syndrome!    

What is happening to Paisley, in particular our Town Centre? Shops have closed all over Paisley Town Centre and the Renfrewshire Villages at an alarming rate. Every other shop in the Paisley High Street is without a tenant, and apart from a few actual retail shops the rest being a charity shop a pawn brokers, and  many empty shops deceitfully having been given imaginary frontage/makeover displays by the Council.

Albeit this is to disguise the real amount of empty stores, so people will not be alarmed by the lack of retailers at all, let alone quality retail stores Paisley High Street could attract. “Imagine your business here.”   The signs above the doors and in the window displays read, if you are observant enough to notice at all, if you didn’t notice the real number of vacant shops then you won’t be upset by something you are no wiser about. The Council is happy to try to fool the good people of Renfrewshire and Paisley into thinking the current administration is doing a great job with running our gaff however we know different  don’t we.  In Derek MacKay's wee world Paisley is now busy with Imaginary shoppers.

 It is time for voters to change the way they think and vote, looking to local people who they know and trust, in particular candidates who are Independent of any party. Independent Candidates are few and far between and frequently are excluded from any election events such as public debates and the subsequent press coverage going to the Party Candidates. Imagine a Council with even one true Independent Councilor who is only too happy to tell the people they serve the truth about their Councils operations, such as the Labour Party’s illegal Housing Policy which was imposed on Renfrewshire Citizens for 20 years, covered up and denied by both Labour and SNP.

In fact the SNP tried to keep the illegal Housing Policy only for the motion to be voted down by the Labour Party who had the benefit of being a bunch of Cowboys who DISCRIMINATED against homeless people in Renfrewshire for 20 years. No wonder our housing stock is a disgrace,

Who is to blame for the illegal Housing Policy, certainly our Public Officials in Senior Management in our Councils as well as the Councillors who knew about the illegal Housing Policy and were too week or corrupt to stand up and be counted, there were certainly enough Councillors on the board to state without a doubt a CONSPIRACY of ENORMOUS MAGNITUDE befell the good Citizens of Paisley and Renfrewshire?

Mugged by the Council for Whistle Blowing Part One.

In early 2000 I was the principle of a large construction company carrying out many types of contract. After being mugged by Renfrewshire Council for a 1.9 million pound refurbishment grant earmarked for the Grade B Listed (with prominence) Ranfurly Castle Terrace, in Bridge of Weir, I was contemplating a legal battle with the afore mentioned council just as the refurbishment of one of Renfrewshire’s grandest buildings was coming to an end.

Remarkably Renfrewshire Council asked me to tender for a 3 year remedial works program, I was skeptical of why they asked me to tender however I did and won the contract. After 13 months I had a meeting with Renfrewshire Council due to the council’s interference.  Surveys were coming back from the quantity surveyors contracted to ensure costs were correct. I refused to change certain wording used to describe the condition of the property’s being surveyed, seemingly Renfrewshire Council did not like the term, unfit for habitation.

I was asked to reconsider my decision in regards to terminating the contract and was reminded the contract value was 2.5 million pounds over a 3 year period. I explained I was unhappy at the interference by Renfrewshire  Council who had instructed the contracts quantity surveyors to sent back surveys if the term UNFIT FOR HABITATION  was used on a report. This happened regularly, however reports were changed if the council showed a schedule of planned repairs with an imminent start date that would remedy the problems.

On refusing to alter 13 surveys, if my memory is correct, all of which the properties were in a terrible state of repair.  I was told that I didn’t understand that the term UNFIT FOR HABITATION would put the council in breach of the law, it was illegal for the council to have tenants inhabit such dwellings. I was also told that I didn’t understand the implications of dealing with the complexities of decanting OAPs showing signs  of senile dementia. The council would have to involve the social work and the courts etc, even claiming the disturbance could be enough to kill some of the weaker OAPs affected.

I explained this was not my problem and that my only concern was the survey report was accurate. I also explained to the council I found it hard to sleep at night thinking about their tenants who were in the main in Senior OAPs who lived in squalid conditions and cried for help some even begged me for help complaining their homes were cold and damp with foul smells, normally from the mould and dampness within their home.

The council suggested if my conscience bothered me then they would get another firm to resurvey these properties, regardless no action would be taken. I felt sick; I realized what mattered to the council the most was the appearance of running a clean ship, not actually having a clean ship, if you will pardon the pun. I picked a few choice words to call them and left the meeting.I went to a major newspaper with the story shortly afterwards around 2002, who did include some of my findings.  Since that day my life has never been the same.
Part two of this article will show just how malicious Renfrewshire Council were and still are!