The term 'Clowncil' has been frequently used in the Eskbank and Newbattle Community Forum Facebook group when referring to Midlothian Council
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
A survey shared on a local Facebook community forum asked Midlothian residents their thoughts on the use of the term ‘Clowncil’ when referring to the local authority, after it was highlighted that the ‘denigrating’ comment was often used in the group.
The survey, started by forum admins Bill Kerr-Smith and Susan Goldwyre of the popular Midlothian community forum, Eskbank and Newbattle Community Forum, aimed to gather opinions on the term ‘Clowncil’ to understand if the word is appropriate to use.
Bill explained when initially sharing the survey on 27 February:
“Last week a number of comments included the derogatory term “Clowncil”. Now, everyone is entitled to think what they like, but does denigrating our Council in this way actually help our discussions?”
Collecting over 100 responses from the survey, the responses clearly agreed that the term negatively contributes to discussions in the community and it should be banned from the Facebook forum.
Despite being only able to share 100 responses out of 204 collected due to the restrictions of the free trial survey software used, the 100 responses that were shared a week later on the forum showed that 90% said that the term negatively contributes to community discussion and 86% agreed it should be banned from the group.
Survey responses
The responses to the survey question “Would you support a different approach to moderating language on the community Facebook page? If so, what would you suggest?”:
Asking them to be polite does not work. Never does. Just keep deleting.
Facebook don’t attempt to moderate language..so if one can’t take criticism then remove the forum. It’s dominated by one mans political agenda every week.
No, I think you do a grand job.
No. I agree you should reject any posts such as these that are derogatory to the Council.
We can express our frustration/ disappointment without being rude and disrespectful. We would be better to make contact directly and have dialogue with the relative department. We do not know what challenges the council are facing. We have to work together.
Possibly issuing a warning, but that could mean a lot of work for admin.
No censorship at all
ENCF is too nice and accommodating. Just delete comments. No explanation needed.
As long as there no personal offence remarks .about an individual or comments on race or religion .people should be allowed within reason to post there view.
Facebook forum community rules should make it clear that disrespectful language will not be tolerated and posts detected accordingly.
Simply ban swearing and any nasty personal vitriol. Keep dictatorial rules to a minimum.
Could it be noted somewhere than when a comment is received, referring to the ‘Clouncil’, it will revert to the ‘Council’?
Other reporting unacceptable language is fine. Perhaps encourage unacceptable language to be reported?
The responses to the survey question, What are your reasons for supporting or opposing the ban on the term “Clowncil”?:
I truly believe to a point that they try their best. Sometimes party politics gets in the way but they are honest, underpaid and work hard. People who use the word Clowncil are the same ones who talk about brown envelopes. Personally I think it would be better if we had 18 councillors and no parties. They want to be a councillor for the better of Midlothian.
My colleagues and friends at the council are doing their utmost to fulfill their duties under continuous cutbacks etc and derogatory comments such as this only adds to their despair.
It should be allowing as it shows a general disappointment with them .as long as no particular person is named .this is really an expression of lack of confidence with a number of issues they prioritise that people see as not important to the general needs of the public road works schools social care. Total apathy with ie 20 mph limits cost of the survey .an replacing signs .no thought or lack of oversight on multiple road works .waste of council funds on course s ie learn to speak gaelic etc as
It doesn’t help with positive discussions with our council. They won’t take us seriously when we need to make contact about our services. Regardless of our disappointment , be it bin collection or roads etc we do need mutual respect.
A term used by the feeble minded to insult an entire organisation rather than target the criticism at the decision makers.
They act like clowns at times.
It insults the work our council employees do day in day out. People think they’re being clever, but it’s the opposite.
They are making decisions on increases in charges across the board without consulting with stakeholders or the constituents in their wards. The Council need to meet their public in open meetings. But they never do.
Surely people can express their opinions about council actions – positive or negative – without using insulting or derogatory terms?
The council historically has not performed well as an entity, the current council are victims of past councils errors.
Immature comment that belittles all staff not just those responsible for poor decisions.
The senior leadership are appalling but unfair to tarnish all staff in this way.
It’s a way to show disgust/unhappiness in a friendly non abusive way. There’s too much of this ‘oh don’t say that you’ll upset someone’. Big enough to stand for a position of authority or happy to take their salary and over inflated final salary pension then big enough to take what comes with it.
I think it adequately describes our council without using profanity. Sometimes it is difficult to find the right words of despair at the actions of the council and I found this term to be useful in describing my own frustration.
Freedom of speech. I really cant understand why some get so excited about Clowncil being used. Ban any swearing, otherwise the less dictatorial the better. And there is surely a mass of issues and evidence to argue that Midlothian Council are a bunch of clowns. How in touch are they with the views of average voters, not much I would argue.
It’s how people feel. We are allowed to feel and express. It’s not offensive just a play on words it’s absolutely ridiculous you even have this survey.
Although it sometimes feels like the Council don’t have a clue about issues affecting Midlothian residents, they have massive responsibilities, some of which are statutory. They are responsible for so much, a lot of which the general public don’t know about. It’s easy to criticise and in some cases it’s deserved, especially when they do something that people don’t like.
It is not helpful and not amusing. There are times I have seen it used when it impacts people working hard for little pay and they are placed in the ‘Clowncil’ category when simply doing their jobs and not the decision makers.
Despite receiving support on the survey and in the Facebook comments, some residents did comment against the need to conduct a survey with one saying: “I think it expresses a negative opinion of a council without using swear words. If the council was seen as competent no one would use it.”
One comment also highlighted that being only able to share 100 responses did not fairly represent people’s thoughts on the matter, explaining: “With respect, you have collated less than half of the survey responses due to restrictions, this isn’t representative of those who took part. Not sure anyone can say this is overwhelming…genuinely with respect.”
Responding to the survey results, admin Bill Kerr-Smith commented:
“I would like to point out that the survey asks a question. It does not propose any particular approach and asks people why they might want to keep using the term, as well as if they find it objectionable.
“As has been pointed out above, there are many civil ways of pointing out any shortcomings in Midlothian Council’s activities and there is no intention to limit that criticism.
“As Admins our aim is to ensure that decent people can argue their case on this forum without being subject to casual disparagement or, in the worst cases, foul language. We are genuinely interested in whether our community cares about this kind of thing or not.”
One Facebook comment explained the term as ‘a lazy, hackneyed, cliche used largely by the ill-informed and, I suspect, poorly-educated’.
Another said:
“When the term is used it’s massively targeted at the hardworking employees who largely aren’t on huge salaries and are not making decisions about how Midlothian is ran. Censor Clowncil and allow ‘Clowncil’ if people feel so strongly about pointing out who the ‘clowns’ are.”
Mayfield, Midlothian
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Community Councils play a key role in Scotland – and the wider UK’s – local democratic landscape, being one of the primary voices for local residents away from a government body.
A community council can be described as a voluntary body of local residents that act as the most local representation for their community, influencing decisions and providing a voice for the community to authorities. Despite not being decision-making bodies, community councils are a recognised part of Scotland’s local democratic structures.
First established in Scotland, they serve as a grassroots democratic body to voice the community’s views.
With approximately 1,200 active community councils in Scotland, Midlothian is home to 15 (after Poltonhall and Bonnyrigg merged last year), who all play a vital role in the county’s towns and local communities.
An example of recent community council action in Midlothian is the Save Kippielaw Campaign, where a member of the Mayfield and Easthouses Community Council ran a campaign that eventually stopped a housing development proposal on a large area of natural space in Midlothian.
Speaking to the Midlothian View, the Chairman of the Mayfield and Easthouses Community Council, Robert Hogg, described community council’s as ‘the only people who stand up for the local community’, he explained:
“A community council is there to represent the local community, first and foremost, and that’s what it’s all about.”
First established in Scotland, Community Council’s operate under the Local Government Act 1973, which requires local authorities (the Midlothian Council) to establish schemes for them, giving them a statutory role to represent community views, especially on planning and licensing, which can be seen in the case of the Save Kippielaw Campaign. Despite other forms of local governance existing in the UK prior, such as English Parish Councils, Scotland’s 1973 Act created ‘the specific statutory framework for modern community councils’.
Robert has been the chair of his community council for over 15 years, playing a key role in the council reforming in 1995 after it stopped operating in the early 70’s.
“I got involved because we used to have a community council before in the early 70’s but for whatever reason it fell away”, Robert explained, “Back in 1995, there was a demand for one, after the miners’ strike and other things and we saw a community demise, things weren’t getting done and a lot of local residents were unhappy.
“So a group of us got together and contacted the council about how to go about restructuring the community council again because we thought it was a good thing in the past. So we managed to get the Midlothian Council to organise a public meeting and we went and established the Mayfield and Easthouses Community Council through normal protocol, got a public meeting and we all got elected as officials.”
Alongside being chair of the Mayfield and Easthouses Community Council, Robert is also the chair of the Midlothian Federation of Community Councils, serving as the top member of the 15 council collective.
A Federation of Community Councils isn’t one single body, but instead a federation of all the local community councils that come together to share ideas and tackle common issues that are seen across the region.
Robert explained: “Midlothian’s federation is made up of 15 community councils including Midlothian’s rural areas and bigger towns. It is basically made to represent the whole of Midlothian.
“So you have your individual community councils representing the local community and the local area but the federation is a combination of all the community councils to basically have a bigger voice within Midlothian.
“So rather than one community council shouting, if we all shout together, you get your voice heard a lot clearer within the Midlothian Council and beyond. There’s one voice rather than 15 independent voices so it is better if we all get together.”
Midlothian’s federation allows for shared issues to have a stronger voice and effect, allowing for a higher chance of change.
“It’s all about merging together and having the same voice, that carries a lot more strength.”
Every federation member from the 15 community councils can have two representatives to join them. Once elected in, these representatives will attend federation meetings and feedback any information to the local community council.
Robert added: “Another thing good about the Federation is, if we get a Chief Inspector to come in and they want to speak to the community it’s hard for them to go round every community council, but if he comes to the federation he can target the 15 in one go. He can get a message out and that’s the same for anything regarding planning, education and so on.”
This format has been effective so far with Robert explaining about visits from inspectors and the Midlothian Council leader, Kelly Parry, who has attended a number of different meetings.
Taking over from Archie Pacey, the old Headteacher at Greenhall High School, in 1995, Robert has had a strong effect on the Mayfeild and Easthouses Community Council with the community council being the largest in Midlothian.
Having the most members in the county, Robert believes a portion of the success may be due to his strong performance as chair.
“First and foremost, not being big headed, but succes comes from having a good chair. You are controlling the meetings and that is very important. If you can control a meeting and give everybody a chance to have a fair say it is important as you do get a fraction of people who are very unhappy and they should have a chance to speak.
“You have to show that you are listening to the whole community, not dictating them as that’s the wrong attitude.”
Despite Mayfield and Easthouses having the most members, Robert explained that across Midlothian there are challenges in getting new members, especially amongst the younger population.
With their youngest member being around 17 years old, Robert and other members turned to Facebook to both attract overall new members and younger residents.
He explained that since starting the Facebook page, it has grown to have over 17,000 members despite their local area only having a population of around 9,500. He described this as one of the main reasons for their large numbers and success in making change in the area.
He also explained that a lot of members come and go due to having a specific local issue of interest.
“You get a lot of people who move into the community and are intestersted in a certain issue, such as local schools being threatened, and they come along and will maybe stay for about a year and then naturally leave.”
Having 17,000 members on the Facebook page, the community council only has around 15 steady members with a turnout at meetings of around 25 to 30. Despite being the largest in Midlothian, the community council find it hard having local residents stick around, with the Save Kippielaw Campaign meetings attracting over 90 attendees.
With past success’, it is evident that community council’s are important in Scotand as the voice for local communities. For local voices to be heard in governance, Community Councils need to continue to attract more members as they are at the forefront in making change and addressing local issues.
An aerial view of the land where the relief road is planned to be built.
This View has been written by the Damhead and District Community Council
Midlothian Council have submitted their £55 million plans for reliving congestion at Straiton (25/00521/DPP. The Council claims a number of benefits ALL of which are either reliant on other developments and/or planning or based on inaccurate out of date information.
Benefits claimed:
– It will ease congestion around the Straiton Junction. FALSE
These claims are reliant on the delivery of the Sheriffhall level separation. This development at Sheriffhall is highly contested and does not as yet have planning permission. Even if Sheriffhall were to proceed, congestion modelling shows that traffic at Straiton Junction would worsen, not improve, under the Relief Road proposal.
– It will boost the local economy by £189 million (the timescale for this is not given). FALSE
This estimate is based on data including the roundabout between the A702 and Bush Loan, which already has planning permission (24/00520/DPP) and has funds available. The estimated boost has not been revised and as this new junction overcomes the restriction on development at Easter Bush, it is likely to have a considerable effect on the estimated boost from the Relief road. Neither has it been updated given the spiralling costs of the project.
– Will improve active travel. FALSE
The “Sustainable Travel Corridor” is independent of the Relief road, that aims to deal with the “issues with congestion on the route had impacted on local communities and pedestrians and cyclists”, and t is hoped that Midlothian Council deliver this in a way that overcomes the “Existing active travel routes are of poor quality, and safety issues have been identified for cyclists and pedestrians at numerous locations along the corridor.”
– Allow for the continued expansion of Midlothian Science Zone and the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush. FALSE
This has already been accomplished by the Council through the roundabout between the A702 and Bush Loan and is not reliant on the Relief Road.
Midlothian’s plans, we have compiled a list of the negative impacts of the Relief road that are likely to affect the local communities and the City of Edinburgh, as noted in the submitted plans.
Negative impacts:
– Increased traffic at the Straiton roundabout with or without the Sheriffhall level separation.
– Increased congestion at the Straiton Retail Park.
– Increased congestion at the A701/Burdiehouse junction and increased traffic at the A702/A703 traffic lights.
An almost doubling the number of vehicles on Old Pentland Road and the introduction of a staggered junction with the Relief road. This will be a high accident risk.
– Almost double the number of vehicles on the A703, directing traffic passed the planned Beeslack Replacement High School (24/00415/DPP).
In excess of 6,000 additional cars will be expected to drive through the school site which spans the A703. This section of road is at high risk of flooding and not suitable as a route robust to climate change. A road far narrower than the A701.
– Increase the risk of flooding in vulnerable high risk water courses, Boghall Burn (that feeds into the Esk) and Pentland burn (that feeds into Niddrie and Burdiehouse burns). This is as a result of unrestricted piping of surface water from the Relief road into both these water systems. This is highly likely to increase flood risk in both Biston and Burdiehouse.
– Remove prime agricultural land from this greenbelt area negatively effect the surrounding rural businesses. Impacting food security and climate resillience.
Result in loss of vulnerable wetland/marsh habitat and destruction of a valued ecological system. The resulting loss of green space has known welfare implications.
It is a missed opportunity to develop active and green travel options/networks including to the expanding Easter Bush Economic Area. It has no provision for buses and will separate the new housing in Bilston and Loanhead from Easter Bush.
Social media sites indicate little to no support for this development in the local communities of Bilston, Roslin, Loanhead or Penicuik.There is no evidence that this planning application for the Relief road has support from the businesses at Straiton and Loanhead or the University of Edinburgh. It will divide the rural communityof Damhead and restrict houses development in the sites for housing put forward in the MLDP2.
At a time when money for essentials such as the replacement Beeslack’s High School is so tight, why is Midlothian Council pursuing this?
