After our summer break, the Community Council met again this month and what a packed meeting agenda we had, covering our AGM followed by business-as-usual meeting. Thanks to everyone who came along to join the discussions.
The cleanliness of the town centre, and in particular Market Square, was raised again by residents, who highlighted their concerns. This has been flagged again to Scottish Borders Council. The Community Council will also now be arranging quarterly community litter picks from October, trying to draw everyone together who already do their bit to keep the town tidy.
Another topic of discussion was parking around the town, and the lack of enforcement. Given the level of police resources and the higher priority emergency demands on the police, the decision was made to ask Scottish Borders Council to look at taking over responsibility for on-street parking issues as part of their ongoing wider review into on-street and off-street parking. I have written to Chief Executive David Robertson about this and await a response.
I was delighted to attend the BID for Galashiels Board meeting, where a variety of subjects were discussed – including Christmas (which did seem odd given that we were in the middle of a heatwave!). I also joined the monthly meeting with Energise Galashiels Trust and BID for Galashiels, and I can say with confidence is that we are all committed to working collaboratively on a range of matters, including the projects being developed by the Galashiels Town Team.
The Friends of Gala Policies Group met for the first time this month since the last chair of the group, Toni Coyle, stepped back from that role. On behalf of the Community Council, I would like to thank Toni for all her hard work over the last few years. Going forward, more volunteers will be needed to keep this group supporting the delivery and development of Scottish Borders Council’s ten year Galashiels Policies Management Plan.
Tour-de-France July 2027 – I am going to talk about this every month until it is here!
This month I’ve had conversations with the Social Impact and Legacy Lead from Scottish Cycling, as well as with the town working group and there’s lots of great ideas already. I also joined an online discussion arranged by Scottish Borders Council for representatives from towns across the Borders to share ideas about how we can make the most of this MASSIVE opportunity when the world’s largest annual sporting event comes to town. There are many logistical issues that need to be confirmed by the event organisers and Scottish Borders Council, but we are already planning how the town might be decorated and how we can get as many different people and organisations involved as possible.
If you don’t know much about the Tour-de-France, it attracts at least 12 million in-person spectators across the three-week stage race, with an estimated global television audience of more than 3.5 billion people. If you have any ideas for how you can join in and celebrate what is going to be a HUGE event, please do get in touch with me via our email address.
If you would like more information about what we are doing as your Community Council, or if you have an issue with which you think that we might be able to help, please get in touch by emailing galacommunitycouncil@gmail.com
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 2nd September at 6.30pm in the Burgh Chambers.
Angela Crow
Chair, Galashiels Community Council
