So who really runs Edinburgh? – Steve Cardownie

I was more than a bit bemused by the article in Monday’s paper under the heading “Community centres will stay shut until October, say council officials”.

In the article, SNP Councillor Kate Campbell reportedly said that she has been frustrated at trying to get answers about why management committees at community centres were not permitted access.

She was quoted as saying: “What we are talking about is limited access. It’s not about being open to the public, it’s about having a very small number of people able to access the centres to carry out really important activity.”

She said that she has been trying to get answers from officials for weeks.

It beggars belief! As a councillor, particularly as a member of the Council administration, why is she not getting answers from Council officials and why has she been putting up with it for weeks?

Elected members run the Council, not officials, the clue is the term “elected”. They stand on manifestos and it is they who will be judged by the electorate on their performance – not salaried officials.

They are there to carry out councillors’ instructions – not to thwart them.

So if the Administration wants community centres to be accessible to management committees so that they can carry out “really important activity” then instruct the officials to get on with it and don’t take no for an answer.

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