Welcome
Welcome to my blog, which I'm going to call From The Editor's Chair. This is the first time I have ever set up a blog - no matter how much of a dinosaur that makes me sound. I'm told that the idea of all this internet wizardry is that it gives me pretty much free rein to get things off my chest, so to speak. So here goes...
Archie Plunkett
Group Editor
Galloway Gazette Group Ltd
Published Date:
01/02/2008
Modified Date:
01/02/2008
Keep hospital on our doorstep
A QUESTION mark seems to hang over the future of Newton Stewart Hospital.
The Gazette understands staff have been briefed on two totally different options.
One would see the unit - which has served the town and surrounding area for many years - close and its elderly and infirm patients moved possibly 25 miles away.
As well as the potential impact on patients, would staff be willing - or able - to switch to jobs somewhere else in the region’s NHS?
If change has to come, by far the better option would be a new facility in Minnigaff - somewhere close to the existing pool of medical expertise at the health centre.
Officials weren’t terribly forthcoming this week, although they did promise that more details on their proposals will be made public next week.
It is to be hoped this will remove a lot of the mystery.
But health care services delivered as locally as possible seems a straightforward concept to us.
Published Date:
22/01/2009
Modified Date:
22/01/2009
Shame on tree vandals
WHAT is it about human nature that is so opposed to efforts by people to better themselves?
A great deal of time and effort - not to mention cost - went in to improving the festive lights display in Newton Stewart this year.
But then - possibly before Christmas Day was even over - the vandals were at it again, pulling the bulbs off the tree in Dashwood Square and leaving debris strewn around the flagstones.
Even if this was just drunken revellers, it would still be inexcusable - but it seems abundantly clear that whoever trashed the Christmas tree went out of the house that night with criminal intent in mind.
The cables appear to have been cut cleanly, as if a knife was used.
It is depressing - yet at the same time hardly surprising - that efforts for the common good should be treated in this way.
And it is also a good measure of the mentality of the yobs who just couldn’t let Christmas be what it should represent - a time of peace and goodwill to all.
Published Date:
30/12/2008
Modified Date:
30/12/2008
Pros and cons in bin fees row
COUNCIL tax-payers in Galloway are likely to be outraged at proposals to shake up the refuse collection service.
People won’t take kindly to plans to resurrect charges for excess household waste and binmen just not emptying wheelies if the lid is not completely shut.
And a £30 levy to take away old fridges and cookers is likely to go down like a lead balloon with folk - especially as the service has been completely free up to now.
At the same time, it’s hard to argue against the council’s desire to become the greenest local authority in Scotland. Recycling and the reduction of waste should be important aims for all of us.
And axeing blue box collections in favour of sorting the rubbish dumped in wheelies would seem to save a lot on carbon emissions.
Labour have vowed to fight the moves at a full council meeting next week. So get on to your local councillor with your views.
Looks like we’re in for a lively debate.
Who will win?
You decide!
Published Date:
11/12/2008
Modified Date:
11/12/2008
Many reasons to feel proud
ALAS, it was not to be...
Port William’s brave bid to be crowned the Scottish or UK village of the year proved to be just out of reach this week.
But the Machars village did still pick up its tremendous accolade as south of Scotland winner at an
awards ceremony in London.
And competition organisers again heaped praise on the Port, describing it as a “worthy” winner of its category.
They added that the tight-knit community is a fantastic example of a thriving village, with people and businesses working together to make it a great place to live.
These are sentiments and values with which we wholeheartedly agree. In an age where our sense of community - just being a good neighbour, really - has never been more under threat, the Port is a shining example to us all.
So we make no excuse for repeating our congratulations to all those who drove the Port bid forward.
Be in no doubt - all your efforts really were worthwhile.
Published Date:
05/12/2008
Modified Date:
05/12/2008
Time to justify Post Office axe
PENSIONER Margaret Wellbelove has had enough - and plans to take Post Office bosses to court over their decision to axe the Sheuchan Street branch in Stranraer.
Good on you, Margaret.
Someone had to step up to the plate and challenge the Post Office over such a baffling decision.
So it might as well be you.
By all accounts, Liz McIntyre’s branch was extremely popular with customers. And that meant it was always BUSY.
A glance at our readers’ letters this week reveals one business alone spent a whopping £500 on postage at the branch in the space of just a few days.
How can the Post Office put business of such magnitude at risk?
Has anyone actually seen the figures the Post Office must have used to justify its decision?
Probably not.
Maybe it’s time for Post Office chiefs to prove their case here - or for someone high-up in authority to start making moves for some form of public inquiry.
Published Date:
20/11/2008
Modified Date:
20/11/2008
Post Office worth the fight
WE are delighted to wholeheartedly support the efforts that are being made to keep Sheuchan Street Post Office in Stranraer open.
A determined group of campaigners are doing all they possibly can to overturn the controversial decision by Post Office Ltd bosses to close the busy branch.
Good on them.
Residents are rightly furious about the move, which will leave just one Post Office franchise to serve the entire population of Wigtownshire’s biggest town.
How ridiculous.
Those able to cast their minds back to the 1960s see the closures as somewhere on a par with the Beeching axe, when Britain’s rail network was torn to pieces.
As part of Post Office’s plans, they have highlighted Kirkcolm as an alternative branch. Yet the one at Lochans is actually miles closer.
To our way of thinking, this geographic blunder DOES smack of the same cold-hearted approach Dr Beeching must have taken.
Published Date:
14/11/2008
Modified Date:
14/11/2008
Ho-ho-hope it goes well
WE’RE into November now - and the shortening daylight hours can be a bit depressing.
So the unveiling of proposals to make Newton Stewart a cheerier place over the forthcoming festive season is all the more welcome.
The town has taken a fair bit of flak in the past over its lacklustre displays at Christmas-time.
But this time round the action group formed by Cree Valley Community Council at the turn of the year does seem to have put in a power of work.
Street markets have worked really well in the past - efforts in Kirkcudbright and Castle Douglas in recent years spring readily to mind - and there is absolutely no reason why such an initiative should not prove a hit here.
Similarly, the torchlight procession is hugely popular when Gatehouse celebrates its gala.
With a bit of luck, 2008 will be the year that sees Newton Stewart finally shake off its unwanted tag as the “Ebeneezer Scrooge” of Galloway’s towns and villages.
Published Date:
07/11/2008
Modified Date:
07/11/2008