Saturday, May 06, 2006
Market Park Crieff, Gathering Storm.....
Market Park Crieff, Gathering Storm.....
For those of you yet to experience the delights of Crieff, here are a few links that will tell you all about our delightful wee market town in the big county of Perthshire, in Scotland;http://www.crieff.org/ Residents Association site - nice people with good intentions but a bit Big Brother inclined ... want to festoon the town with CCTV cameras, errr, no thanks.http://www.perthshire.com/ Web site of Perth and Kinross Council, with links to other sites. Fairly typical local government site, not very user friendly, highly selective and very much spun for the Council.
The purpose of the Crieff Street is to allow freedom of expression by the people of Crieff, about their town and the issues affecting their lives today. The Crieff Street team are all professionals and community members tired of the limited coverage of key issues provided to the local press and keen to widen the local debates beyond the limitations of the numerous vested interest groups. The Strathearn Herald does a fine job, but is limited by its weekly publication. Members of the Crieff Street team are involved in the community through business, social , sporting and cultural association.
Local Public Inquiry - Market Park
The local public Inquiry into the refusal of planning permission for a hideous retail park to be built on the town historic green open space the Market Park took place in July. This was a result of the towns very own League of Gentleman, colloquially know as the Games Committee , but correctly Crieff Highland Gathering Limited (CHGL)- having been lured into a multi million pound deal by London based English wanabee property developer (Geoffrey) Spencer Cooper. Spencer is the monkey for organ grinder Roland Pickstock of Pickstock Homes in Oswestry. Roland has a pile of cash to invest and building supermarkets on parks is one place to put it. There has been much speculation regarding the Genesis of the deal, but it seems that Spencer has developed very close relationships with a few Games Directors, who have been able to get the rest to nod their heads and shut up. Naturally there has been outrage in the town that a formerly respected body unilaterally decided to sell out and alter the towns landscape without any public consultation.
What is also raising eyebrows is the central role being played by one Colin Grassick, Perth based secondhand car dealer ( psst wanna buy a park ?) . Wee Colin is now Mr Big it seems, controlling the Property Development Division of Crieff Highland Gathering Limited from his Garage hideout in Perth. Reports of Colin sitting into the night stroking a big fluffy pussy called Spencer on his lap have been circulating for some time. Crieff Street Brief wants pictures, can you help? Now of course Colin and his fellow directors have been keen to stress that there is no personal financial gain accruing to any of them, and we have no evidence to thecontraryn of feathering nests, home improvements, overseas property and foreign holidays are,for now , categorised as scurrulous tittle tattle, watch this space.
What was disappointing for the good people of Crieff was to see a "Games Committee" member so obviously being worked from behind by a property developer, what happened to independent integrity? Wee Colin has taken aconsiderable personal interest in this deal, but other Crieff Highland Gathering Limited directors are now very concerned about the damage to their reputation. Let us all hope that the Games on Sunday 20th August are not the last to be held in the Market Park.
Public Inquiry Decision Date..
The Inquiry Reporter, Trevor Croft is currently considering the claim by Crieff Highland Gatherings camp for expenses for the Inquiry. It seems they want the Council Tax payers of Perth and Kinross to pay for the entire circus - Geoffrey Spencer Cooper , his QC , and the other hired help they brought along with them. On which note, we don't know if Jennifer Tainsh was an expert witness or just a volunteer helper for KEE. She has long been a staunch supporter to (Geoffrey) Spencer Cooper( who looks like Danny La Rue) Of course she has a strong vested interest in the deal,her family owns the field proposed as the site for the replacement park. Helpfully, her brother Ian Boag , is a Director Crieff Highland Gathering Limited , giving him a foot in both camps, which is nice. In the run up to Games Day on Sunday 20th August, it's ironic that the decision over the appeal is held up by this, and won't be available now until late August or the beginning of September, according to a Scottish Office official.
Crieff Highland Games Sunday 20th August 2006
Whatever the controversy over the Games Committee plan to put a megastore on the footie pitch and games venue , the majority of the directors will give generously of their time this week to prepare for the Games this Sunday. Rumours abound that Spencer Cooper will be doing his ventriloquist act with Colin Grassick on one knee and Paul Turek (Crieff Highland Gathering Chairman) on the other. How that will go down with the RAF dogs we don't know, perhaps they'll smell a rat. Crieff Highland Gathering Limited have a web site on which they extol the virtues of their property development aspirations, and it also tells you about this Sundays games.
http://www.crieff-highland-games.co.uk/
For those of you yet to experience the delights of Crieff, here are a few links that will tell you all about our delightful wee market town in the big county of Perthshire, in Scotland;http://www.crieff.org/ Residents Association site - nice people with good intentions but a bit Big Brother inclined ... want to festoon the town with CCTV cameras, errr, no thanks.http://www.perthshire.com/ Web site of Perth and Kinross Council, with links to other sites. Fairly typical local government site, not very user friendly, highly selective and very much spun for the Council.
The purpose of the Crieff Street is to allow freedom of expression by the people of Crieff, about their town and the issues affecting their lives today. The Crieff Street team are all professionals and community members tired of the limited coverage of key issues provided to the local press and keen to widen the local debates beyond the limitations of the numerous vested interest groups. The Strathearn Herald does a fine job, but is limited by its weekly publication. Members of the Crieff Street team are involved in the community through business, social , sporting and cultural association.
Local Public Inquiry - Market Park
The local public Inquiry into the refusal of planning permission for a hideous retail park to be built on the town historic green open space the Market Park took place in July. This was a result of the towns very own League of Gentleman, colloquially know as the Games Committee , but correctly Crieff Highland Gathering Limited (CHGL)- having been lured into a multi million pound deal by London based English wanabee property developer (Geoffrey) Spencer Cooper. Spencer is the monkey for organ grinder Roland Pickstock of Pickstock Homes in Oswestry. Roland has a pile of cash to invest and building supermarkets on parks is one place to put it. There has been much speculation regarding the Genesis of the deal, but it seems that Spencer has developed very close relationships with a few Games Directors, who have been able to get the rest to nod their heads and shut up. Naturally there has been outrage in the town that a formerly respected body unilaterally decided to sell out and alter the towns landscape without any public consultation.
What is also raising eyebrows is the central role being played by one Colin Grassick, Perth based secondhand car dealer ( psst wanna buy a park ?) . Wee Colin is now Mr Big it seems, controlling the Property Development Division of Crieff Highland Gathering Limited from his Garage hideout in Perth. Reports of Colin sitting into the night stroking a big fluffy pussy called Spencer on his lap have been circulating for some time. Crieff Street Brief wants pictures, can you help? Now of course Colin and his fellow directors have been keen to stress that there is no personal financial gain accruing to any of them, and we have no evidence to thecontraryn of feathering nests, home improvements, overseas property and foreign holidays are,for now , categorised as scurrulous tittle tattle, watch this space.
What was disappointing for the good people of Crieff was to see a "Games Committee" member so obviously being worked from behind by a property developer, what happened to independent integrity? Wee Colin has taken aconsiderable personal interest in this deal, but other Crieff Highland Gathering Limited directors are now very concerned about the damage to their reputation. Let us all hope that the Games on Sunday 20th August are not the last to be held in the Market Park.
Public Inquiry Decision Date..
The Inquiry Reporter, Trevor Croft is currently considering the claim by Crieff Highland Gatherings camp for expenses for the Inquiry. It seems they want the Council Tax payers of Perth and Kinross to pay for the entire circus - Geoffrey Spencer Cooper , his QC , and the other hired help they brought along with them. On which note, we don't know if Jennifer Tainsh was an expert witness or just a volunteer helper for KEE. She has long been a staunch supporter to (Geoffrey) Spencer Cooper( who looks like Danny La Rue) Of course she has a strong vested interest in the deal,her family owns the field proposed as the site for the replacement park. Helpfully, her brother Ian Boag , is a Director Crieff Highland Gathering Limited , giving him a foot in both camps, which is nice. In the run up to Games Day on Sunday 20th August, it's ironic that the decision over the appeal is held up by this, and won't be available now until late August or the beginning of September, according to a Scottish Office official.
Crieff Highland Games Sunday 20th August 2006
Whatever the controversy over the Games Committee plan to put a megastore on the footie pitch and games venue , the majority of the directors will give generously of their time this week to prepare for the Games this Sunday. Rumours abound that Spencer Cooper will be doing his ventriloquist act with Colin Grassick on one knee and Paul Turek (Crieff Highland Gathering Chairman) on the other. How that will go down with the RAF dogs we don't know, perhaps they'll smell a rat. Crieff Highland Gathering Limited have a web site on which they extol the virtues of their property development aspirations, and it also tells you about this Sundays games.
http://www.crieff-highland-games.co.uk/
