DUMBARTON NOTEBOOK by BILL HEANEY
Talk about selling off the family silver? West Dunbartonshire Council has outdone everyone in this community on that score.
Not just by doing the equivalent of sending off the silver trophies, paintings and medals, proudly displayed over the past century by Dumbartonians, to the likes of Bargain Hunt, but by putting the Municipal Buildings on Homes Under the Hammer. They are a disgrace.
THE MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS IN COLLEGE PARK STREET ARE BEING ADVERTISED FOR SALE.
Even though we are in the middle of a Cost of Living Crisis, made worse for the residents by having to meet the new tax council rates imposed by this cack-handed council, the gauleiters in Church Street have decided to sell the house.
So there you have it. Wrecks in the River Leven and a FOR SALE sign up outside the Municipal Buildings. Even I couldn’t make that up.
We might occasionally have had some good reason to be proud of our council and our community in the past, but that has now been destroyed.
This travesty began when the council literally let the grass grow under our feet and imposed a multitude of cuts in public services, some of which were stupid and completely unnecessary.
Proof of this is that the council later overturned the grass decision in the face of fierce criticism from the press and public. But for them, it was too late.
They have been found out on so many things, from abusing their employees by bullying them and failing to make even a (very) expensive bin collection scheme and waste disposal service work, which has led to Dunbartonshire becoming one of the dirtiest counties in Scotland.
They can’t even make the new Dumbarton Cemetery a place to bury us in by turning a blind eye to neglect and anti-social behaviour at Garshake.
Then there is the Health and Social Care Partnership.
Imposed on councils by the SNP government, it has become clearer by the day that it doesn’t work.
The Carers Service is currently falling apart. All the community care homes were shut down, and the old folk were banished up the hill and out of sight and out of mind to Crosslet House. Up a steep brae and off the bus service route, and costing a fortune for their relatives to visit them in taxis.
One of their remarkable achievements was to unjustly sack a popular GP at Dumbarton Health Centre in the middle of the Covid pandemic and then face the ignominy of having to reinstate him after I gave evidence on his behalf at an appeal before a judge at an employment tribunal.
That was more public money squandered. The case notes are thicker than the Epstein files.
No wonder the Council Communications team won’t answer questions from me.
The cover-ups have been endless.
Fortitudo et Fidelitas was the motto of the Royal Burgh of Dumbarton from its inception 800 years ago.But that has now gone – no more fortitude, no more faith. Dumbarton no more.
It was decided at one of the many meetings to change the name of the council, and that the motto should be changed to Aonaichte, which in Gaelic means Together.
However, it soon became clear that the council was not together at all but was bitterly divided into factions – political factions.
As the number of resignations shows, the members were fighting like cats in a sack, and they were made up of time servers and placemen — the Labour Party had been in control almost constantly since 1950, the Independents (aka Conservatives), and the SNP.
The standard of debate at meetings in the not fit for purpose council chamber in the old Burgh Hall, which had £16 million, yes £16 million, spent on modernisation, can only be described as puerile.
That money plus was squandered on providing a platform for them there, and another £1.4 million and counting on the Municipal Buildings.
There are now three council chambers, including Clydebank Town Hall, and none of them is fit for purpose. Lucky us, and I don’t think.
Then there is the forever-unfinished Dumbarton Town Centre and the Glencairn House debacle, with another £20 million being spent to create chaos there. We already have a perfectly good library and museum in Strathleven Place.
Excuse me while I laugh, even though it’s not funny, but the Lennox Heritage Society is running tours of the High Street to highlight how interesting the history is down there.The actuality is vape shops and empty premises, and a concrete monstrosity that can’t be completely demolished.
Has anyone seen much difference since Jackie Bailie MSP teamed up with councillors to get things moving there?
Jackie Baillie MSP with Labour councillors David McBride and Gurpreet Singh in the Artizan Centre.
The electorate can give its verdict on that, come the Parliamentary election on May 7.
We will have politicians prancing around and posing and pretending they have something to be proud of before then. They haven’t. Would you vote for any of them? Would the last person to leave Dumbarton please switch off the lights?
What’s for sale?
The Municipal Buildings in Dumbarton are a prominent landmark on Glasgow Road, originally built to serve as the administrative heart of the town.
Construction and Design
- Opening (1903): The buildings were designed by Glasgow architect James Thomson (of Baird & Thomson) and officially opened in 1903 at a cost of approximately £15,000.
- Architecture: Built in the Scottish Baronial style using red sandstone, the structure features a three-storey tower with the town’s coat of arms and a pyramid-shaped roof.
- Stained Glass: The interior is known for its ornate stained glass, including windows representing science, truth, and justice, as well as a memorial window for the coronation of King Edward VII.
Historical Significance
- Council Headquarters: It served as the headquarters for the Dumbarton Town Council until the burgh was abolished in 1975. It continued to host council meetings and provide office space for subsequent local authorities, including West Dunbartonshire Council.
- Site History: The buildings sit on the former site of College Park House, land donated by John White, 1st Baron Overtoun.
- Medieval Relics: The grounds contain the College Bow, a 15th-century pointed arch that is the only surviving remnant of the Collegiate Church of St Mary (founded in 1454). It was moved to this site in 1907.
- War Memorials: A Celtic cross war memorial for the Second Boer War was unveiled in the grounds in 1904.
- 2018 Refurbishment: A £1.4 million restoration project was completed in 2018, which included extensive roof repairs and the restoration of the Council Chamber.
- Current Use: Today, the building houses modern office accommodation for council staff and serves as a venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies.
Top of page picture: Local people at a meeting in the Municipal Buildings, where the interior is known for its ornate stained glass, including windows representing science, truth, and justice, as well as a memorial window for the coronation of King Edward VII.
I see that’s not entirely true though, is it? The building is listed for lease, not for sale. You’re just a grumpy old man, no doubt with a Facebook page full of middle-aged people spitting feathers. Your moaning serves only to satisfy your own delusion.