Curfew in Aberdeen?

I received an email today regarding an issue previously covered by the Gaudie that may interest some of our readers.

It is the prospect of a "curfew" on pubs and clubs in Aberdeen. It would entail a mandatory 12:30 a.m. cut-off for entry into any drinking establishment.

Personally I don't see what the fuss is about, having to be in a club by half twelve is hardly that much of a burden. Where I live in the North East of England a lot of pubs are shut by 11 pm, and usually at the latest 1 am; so if you wanted to go to a night club you'd probably be in one by that time anyway.

But there are those who disagree and think that it will discourage young people from coming to Aberdeen, and staying in the city.

Don't let Aberdeen City Council Licensing Board hit the final nail in Aberdeen's coffin by creating a 12.30am curfew!

This will not only affect businesses like mine, but the city and general public as a whole. A thriving late night economy creates a healthy daytime economy. It's true, young people like to shop...and go out.

If we don't try and prevent this 12.30am curfew from going ahead, in September this year, we WILL be told what time we can and cannot go out. This also means, if you finish work late then you won't be allowed to meet friends in a bar or club. So all you restaurant staff and bar staff - it'll be home to bed at the back of midnight as the queues to get in anywhere will be massive by the time you get out of work.

Not exactly an attractive prospect for anyone under the age of 30. Students (we love to hate em, but with 35,000 of them, they do make up a huge % of our economy) will choose other more exciting cities to study, where they are able to go out to meet friends after their bar shift.

So, far less young people moving to the city, more young people leaving the city = less young people contributing to the economy. Which in a nutshell means the more interesting shops closing, independent bars and music venues closing, which in turn results in a downward spiral of gloominess.

Aberdeen is already a vunerable city, with little appeal for younger people. We need to be moving forward, not backwards!

There are other ways to tackle late night crime and drunkenness (read more on the facebook page)...in the meantime, unless we all want to like in a city that's populated by only narrow minded people who're happy with a just after midnight curfew, less choice in the type of shops or restaurants we like and only a small selection of multi national pub and club chains, and zero chance of the café culture the council so loves to hark on about, then sign the online petition here!

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-1230am-curfew-in-aberdeen.html


Thanks folks!

Amanda

Thoughts?

A bit of good news from the Council for a change

From the BBC comes the news that a factory that employs blind and disabled people is to be saved from closing by the council. [I should point out that the reason it was in danger in the first place was because the council cut its funding.]

"The troubled Glencraft furniture factory for disabled workers in Aberdeen has had its future secured, according to city council.

The council has agreed to buy the factory and lease it back to the firm.
Glencraft had its funding from the local authority cut as part of an earlier budget settlement.

Negotiations have been taking place since. About 60 staff are employed at the site which could now become home to other social enterprises."

Isn't amazing though how the council which had to slash its budget can somehow manage to balance the books and pay for things when they're really pushed to. Why not do this for other services in Aberdeen.

And a final note to the story would be to point out who it was that was campaigning to save this great place:

Union leaders plan factory fight

Union leaders representing staff at an Aberdeen workshop for the blind and disabled hope to legally challenge the council's decision to cut its subsidy.

If the £650,000 subsidy goes, the Glencraft factory which employs 60 people will have to close, possibly as early as April.

Aberdeen Council said it would try to help those who could not find work.

National officials from the Community union are meeting workers to discuss how to save the factory.

Great work from the Unions as always.

Peter's going to have a flash new neighbour.

Trump to site home at golf resort

Maybe they can go to the pub together or take their dogs for a walk through the (unfortunately crap strewn, not really :P)local parks. Or not...

US tycoon Donald Trump has announced he is to make his Scottish family home at his controversial £1bn Aberdeenshire golf resort.

The property tycoon is to convert Menie House on the Menie Estate near Balmedie into a personal residence.

I think the important phrase there is Scottish family home, maybe some will disagree but I don't consider one house of however many dozens he has to be his home. Your home is where you live, what's the betting that Trump will spend at most a couple of weeks there every year if that. This isn't a home it's a very exclusive hotel room that he'll use whenever he wants to play a round at the golf course or he needs to promote the houses he's going to have to sell.

Oh and a note to Peter, having looked on google maps I realise there's a distance between Balmeide and where you live but I liked this story so I'm not going to edit it.:P



Having said all that I'm now going to point out a positive:

He has hired a number of local companies to renovate and restore the 14th Century building.

There two pluses for me there, firstly the fact that he's going to give his business to local workers and secondly (presuming of course the restoration is done properly) the fact that a 14th century building is going to be restored. I think it's important to preserve some of the beautiful old buildings we have in this country and it's nice to see it being done even if I'm not exactly hot on his development plans.


Laudrup has mentioned issues related to this story before.

Christmas blood shortage warning

Some less than cheerful news from the BBC this holiday season on the problem caused by a drop in blood donation before Christmas:

"More people need to give blood to avoid a 50% drop in donations over the festive period, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service has warned.

The service said donations fell by 25% during the same period in 2007.

It fears the situation could be worse this year because Christmas falls on a Thursday, the most popular day for giving blood."

Donating blood is a fantastic thing and it's one very easy way to make a tangible difference in the life of a stranger.




But...

"If you have ever had gay sex, the NHS considers your blood contaminated for life."

If you get a tatoo of visit a country that has a high incidence of malaria you cannot donate blood for a year. If you have unprotected sex with a woman or if you're a woman you have unprotected sex with a man you can donate, no problem. However if you are a man and you have sex with a man (It doesn't matter if it's protected sex or not.) you are banned from ever donating blood. To some this policy is justifiable; gay men do have a higher chance of having HIV than other groups. However when you look at the risks this assessment is shown to be fundamentally flawed:

"The US epidemiologist and bio-ethicist Dr Scott Halpern crunched the figures for the court. Some 1 in 100 people who are infused with blood older than 14 days will die – and 13 per cent of infused blood offered by the Red Cross is older than that. This, he explained, poses a risk "thousands of times greater" than "the very worst predictions of HIV infection" if you let latex-loving gay men donate. Why? Because if the ban is lifted and gay men who practice safe sex are allowed to donate, a single HIV-positive blood donation will slip through clinical screening once every 5,769 years. That's one time between now and the year 7777 – or equivalent to it happening once since 3761 BC, when cities had not yet been invented."

I don't like having to employ caveats when I'm talking about something as selfless as blood donation, an act which is uncompensated and is to help someone that the donor will never meet. But i feel in this case it is necessary, the National Blood Service is discriminating against a group of people using very shaky reasoning and that weakens their ability to fulfill their purpose.

I have found an online petition that aims to convince the NBS to overturn their ban, I have signed it and I hope you will too.

Oh, and if you want to give blood in Aberdeen you can go to the Aberdeen Blood Donor Centre. There should be a chance to donate on campus in the near future but I couldn't find anything online, some organisations need to be a bit more internet savvy.

Congratulations to the Tenants

The following article appeared in the Press and Journal and was sent to me by my friends at the co-op party so a big thanks to both.

ABERDEEN-BASED Tenants First Housing Co-operative has been named runner-up for a prestigious National Home Improvement Council Award which recognises significant achievements in the UK housing arena.

Britain's largest fully mutual housing co-operative was nominated for the award for best brownfield or recycled building project, focusing on its recently completed Roanheads development in Peterhead.

The former fish-factory site was previously turned down by a variety of contractors put off by considerable levels of hydrocarbon contamination in the ground.

Tenants First saw the site as a prime development opportunity and, following a six-month demolition and clean-up, it now accommodates 45 purpose-built family homes and eight sheltered houses.

The development is also a Homezone project, an initiative which aims to reclaim residential streets back from traffic, with streets designed to encourage walking, cycling and community activity.

A Fine Public Servant from Aberdeenshire

The BBC reports on the recognition of the fantastic and devoted service given by a Special Constable from Aberdeenshire. Bob Ballantyne has faithfully served the community for 28 years, including over 200 weekends in a row, and for this he has been awarded the Queen's medal. He is the first volunteer officer to win the award.

He said: "It's a great honour and I am very flattered. It was quite a surprise.

"However, policing is about team work and this award is as much a testament to the hard work of those I have served with in Grampian Police over the last 28 years as it is to me.

"I would highly recommend the specials to anyone who wants to give something back to the local community." "

Our Club Secretary will be pleased to see that the Special in question is from Ellon.