PDE Column, 13th April 2009 – Paisley Law Centre, Local Football, Arkleston Road Roundabouts, Parliament Trip

Paisley Law Centre battles for Homes Repossession clients

Paisley Law Centre is on the frontline of helping Buddies facing repossessions hold onto their homes. Jon Kiddie and his colleagues are inundated with tough repossession cases. I want more help for those facing repossession. Many legal firms refuse to take on repossession cases and Paisley Law Centre steps in to ensure Buddies are represented in court to help them hold on to their homes.

I questioned the Justice Minister Kenny McAskill in Parliament on the case for more help for Law centres such as Paisley who protect people from the worst consequences of the credit crunch. In his response the Minister indicated in the Chamber he would in principle be willing to meet with Scotland’s Law Centres to discuss the issue of mortgage repossession cases.

Along with colleague Hugh Henry MSP for Paisley South I went to visit Paisley Law Centre recently to hear more about their valuable work.

In 2008 there were 1200 eviction cases raised at Paisley Sheriff Court – this year they expect a significant rise in repossession cases.

Increasingly Paisley Law Centre is dealing with tenants facing eviction because their private landlord has defaulted on their mortgage. These vulnerable tenants need better legal protection – and Paisley Law centre does all it can assist.

I will be pursuing with Ministers, who are the lenders who are putting borrowers under most pressure when they get into difficulties.
Local football in the community
I am disappointed to report that so far the council appears to be unsympathetic to the plight of local football men’s team Linwood Amateurs who risk being expelled from their Scottish Central League due to difficulties trying to secure a regular decent home pitch meeting the mandatory requirements of the SFA.
Linwood Amateurs secured entry to the higher Scottish Central League after repeated successes in the Paisley and District Leagues. The PDE also covered the story recently when I met up with the coach and some players. A recent example of difficulties meant that the condition of the only available pitch booked led to the referee refusing on the day to let the game go ahead, and the opposing team, coming all the way from Edinburgh, were sent home with 3 points in their pockets. Linwood on the other hand received a £150 SFA fine and a warning.

The council admit that in Renfrewshire demand exceeds supply for football pitches. Apparently there are unused pitches at Linwood Sports Centre – but the council say ‘that’s no us it’s Renfrewshire Leisure’. So I’m not finished yet. I will pursue the matter further with Renfrewshire Leisure, and pursue the fact that if, according to 2008-09 council literaure they are to take possession of 11 high quality playing fields, constructed by Transport Scotland as part of the Glasgow Airport rail Link project, then will pitch booking problem for all teams in Renfrewshire be eased?  I hope too to approach local large companies such as Chivas & BAA to see if they can help Linwood Amateurs in some way.
In the meantime another local well known youth football club, Glennifer Thistle, now face an invasion of inconsiderate, damaging seasonal travellers breaking into the field they had been recently loaned by BAA to turn in to a home pitch for the start of the new season! Training has now been postponed.  I am urging the police to take whatever action they can as soon as possible before the hard work Glennifer has already put in is ruined.

Arkelston Road Roundabouts
Local residents have continued to lobby for improvements at the double roundabouts at the top of Arkleston Rd. They gathered compelling evidence of many drivers simply disregarding the existence of the roundabouts in some cases. The council had indicated their intention to take action last Autumn but apparently had difficulty in securing a window of opportunity without causing major disruption. They now assure me work will commence this Spring.

Visitors to the Parliament
I and fellow Renfrewshire MSPs, Trish Godman and Hugh Henry welcomed a bus trip of local residents to the Scottish Parliament. They enjoyed a tour of the building, the repartee of First Ministers Questions, rounded off by a nice lunch. Reports back tell me they had a wonderful day – maybe Buddies who have not visited yet might consider it over the summer?