Larkhall Community Council attempt to bar Advertiser from meeting

Mar 31 2011 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

THE row over the handling of the controversial £50million Dovesdale incinerator application took a fresh twist this week when Larkhall Community Council attempted to bar the Advertiser from their public meeting.

Community councillors voted eight to one in favour of excluding us from the meeting.

This follows a report in last week’s issue on how Dovesdale campaigners had called for an investigation into the conduct of community council secretary Sheena Campbell.

However, a South Lanarkshire Council spokesman said that the Advertiser were right to attend the meeting and the community council wrong to try to exclude us.

Our reporter decided to stay to report on proceedings before chairman Ally Dawson, the former Hamilton Accies manager, decided to call an abrupt halt to the meeting at Glengowan Primary School on Monday evening.

But community cops who attended the meeting to deliver their police report spoke to the Advertiser reporter and advised him to leave.

By that point, office-bearers were about to ask a janitor to escort the reporter from the building.

Three of the four members of the public who attended Monday’s meeting described it as a “farce”.

Jim Baxter, of Carlisle Road, who lives 500 metres from the proposed incinerator at Dovesdale Farm, said: “I live in this ward and can’t get an answer out of the community council.

“I think the secretary (Sheena Campbell) should resign.

“The community council closed the meeting as soon as possible because they don’t want criticism.

“You wonder why so few members of the public attend these meetings.”

Another man said the meeting should have gone ahead with the Advertiser reporter present.

“We attended the meeting to hear about the issues published in the Hamilton Advertiser last Thursday and see how the community council would answer the questions, which they didn’t,” he added.

“People get to know what is happening in the town by the press being there. The press should be here.”

SNP councillor Peter Craig, who attended the meeting, did not want to be drawn on the issue and declared: “I wish it hadn’t happened.”

The eight community councillors who voted to bar the Advertiser from attending the meeting were chairman Ally Dawson, secretary Sheena Campbell, minute secretary Margaret Brady, Elizabeth McLachlan, Anne Rankin and Jean Strang, Mary Jamieson and John Jamieson.

Former chairman Jim Cochrane was the only community councillor who voted against the motion to bar the Advertiser.

A South Lanarkshire Council spokesman said this week there were clear guidelines set out for community councils.

“All community council meetings must be open to the public and the press,” he insisted.

“All times and places of meetings must be advertised either in a local newspaper or displayed in prominent places where the notice could be seen by members of the public (this includes libraries and similar places) throughout the area of the community council at least one week before the meeting.”