A Very Very Lucky Girl Indeed

The above picture is taken from the Rumbling Bridge, a beauty spot in Perthshire between Dunkeld and Crieff. It's one of these unspoiled beauty spots which is tucked away from the main tourist track and mainly used by those undertaking the Hermitage walk from Dunkeld.

You leave the main road a few miles from Dunkeld and drive down a steepish hill towards the bridge. Parking is provided some 200 yards from the bridge, although cars can cross to access the properties set up on the hill on the opposite side. This is a spot which I find tranquil although not relaxing, because I can't look over the north side owing to vertigo. It is steep. The River Braan drops away to a deep gorge (90ft deep) from one side of the bridge to the other.

There was a near-tragedy there at lunchtime on Wednesday. A 16 year old school pupil from Dundee plunged down the 90ft gorge into the river. She was part of an organised group from the Dundee City Council-run Ancrum Outdoor Centre who were biking in the area and apparently lost control of her bike and collided with the bridge. The RAF airlifted her to Ninewells Hospital, Dundee where her condition is said to be non life threatening.

Tayside Fire and Rescue station manager Kevin Lennon described the area as "very dangerous" adding that the girl was "very very lucky to be alive."

"It is a very tight and narrow ravine covered in rocks. She had fallen down and been swept into the water to the other side of the bridge and into a pool where she was located."

The sooner Ancrum Outdoor Centre is investigated for taking children anywhere near this bridge (which has no safety barriers) the better. I wouldn't even take children to this spot far less riding a bike. This appears to be gross irresponsibility by the organisers who allegedly often use this area for recreation.

Why weren't the children in school? We have a literacy and numeracy problem in Scotland these days and biking round the countryside, spectacular as it is, is not going to improve these skills.

Close this place down. The Ancrum Outdoor Centre has previously been in the news for endangering the lives of children.

Pupils should be in school or on educational day trips and not on jaunts. If they wish to cycle round the countryside they should be encouraged to do so at weekends.

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Dundee Sees The Light

Several days ago I posted this and am now delighted to report Dundee has seen the light and is now to include the Christmas message in the Winter Light Night event. Representatives from the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church will join the procession and be allowed to address the crowds gathered for the celebrations.

Mr Letford, the Lord Provost said: "There has been great disappointment with the way {this issue} has been handled. It was a vague policy document that seems to have caught us on the hop. It is very disappointing the city's reputation has been tarnished."

He vowed the situation. "will all be sorted out for next year and we will not allow this to happen again."

Well done Dundee, it would have been quite easy to ignore the public protests and I commend that fact that an error was admitted and is now corrected.

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Dundee's Lord Provost in the Dark about Winter Lights

Lord Provost Letford

A real stooshie has broken out in Dundee and now the Lord Provost has intervened saying he wants to set the record straight.

Lord Provost Letford has been inundated with emails and telephone calls from angry Dundonians. He accepted that an item about the Winter Light Night had gone through committee and he had not opposed it, but said that was because he believed what was being proposed was in addition to the traditional Christmas lights event, rather than a replacement.

"As I am being attacked over this I feel I must point out that it was not my doing and I am not in favour of it."

I accept perhaps Lord Provost Letford didn't understand the item put forward at the committee, but surely if he's not in favour of it then he can do something about it. The committee sat only last Friday.

Today's excuse from a council spokesman is, "As has been seen with the injuries at the Christmas lights switch-on in Birmingham, large groups of people congregating in one area can present safety issues for the public."

Birmingham had 30,000 at their event when they only expected half of that. Birmingham has a population close to a million people, Dundee has 170,000 at most. Over the years I've been to many events in Dundee City Square and there has never been a crowd problem. I'm sure the council spokesman will be receiving some emails and phone calls of his own today.

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Dundee's Shame

It's with embarrassment and some irritation that I read of the major deficiencies within Dundee's child protection services. How can a council allow a department to get into such a state where HMIE found 9 of the 19 quality indicators were either weak or unsatisfactory during an inspection? This is the council department which insisted, during the baby Brandon inquiry, that their handling of the case was proficient.

The answer is incompetent management combined with lack of independent supervision.

Alan Baird, Dundee's director of social work and recently appointed chairman of the committee overseeing child protection in the city says he can take the service forward yet his leadership was called weak in the report issued yesterday. Nevertheless, council administration leader Ken Guild pledged support for Mr Baird and said there were no plans to seek resignations from members of the social work department. "Alan is the right man to address the issues and responsibilities highlighted by the report and we are already working to improve the areas indicated in the report." Oh really!

This smacks of the days when labour ran Dundee. People in positions of power but lacking abilities. Protect the man at all costs syndrome.

One councillor, with 46 years experience, said the report left him wondering if the council's entire structure was at fault. He may well be right. "We held briefings and received assurances that things were being well managed." Not a good enough excuse Mr Borthwick. What head of department would admit to being useless at their job? Councillors should be making their own investigations and not solely relying upon council staff's reports.

I do hope the new SNP administration act swiftly to ensure this department is overhauled from top to bottom and the right people are doing the work. Here's their chance to prove they can make changes for the better and give the children of Dundee the quality of protection they deserve.

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