New Portobello High School - PPAG/"Save Porty Park"

[Epykat]

[seanie]

The 'we're being bullied' response to criticism has been employed almost from the beginning, but I only noticed it being emphasised from the planning committee hearing onwards. Cllr Hawkins only had a short time to speak but wasted the first couple of minutes on how parents opposed to the school were too scared to speak out due to the fear of threats and bullying.

At the time I thought it odd; you've only got a few minutes, surely you'd concentrate on substantive planning issues?

But look at it another way. Years of telling all and sundry that you represent the "significant majority", only to find that, when it comes to the crunch, more local people support than object to it. That's got to induce some cognitive dissonance. How to resolve it?

The significant majority of the area, some 20,000 people, are cowed in fear by the extreme sarcasm of me and about a half dozen people, on this forum and the Evening News comments.

What other explanation could there be?

[seanie]

Bullshitting and lying are different things. I've provided the dissertation on it before. It's worth reading.

[seanie]

Epykat, is the new school an open plan design?

You've made that claim a number of times, I've disputed it, and we can't both be right. It is or it isn't (to a close approximation). This may seem trivial to you but it actually highlights a key problem here.

Is your claim an accurate description of observable reality?

[Porty]

[seashell]

[Betty Windsor]

[seanie]

And accusations of hypocrisy, that's just you expressing an opinion is it? When Epykat attributes opinions to people that they don't hold and have never expressed, that's just expressing an opinion is it?

Looks more like insulting bullshit to me.

[wangi]

[Betty Windsor]

R-I see you have removed your previously posted deeply offensive, mysogynystic remarks. Don't worry I took a screen grab so if anyone wants to see them whch really shows up RM for what he is I'd be happy to send you a copy.

[seanie]

Whatever...

The arguments for and against building the school on the park have been gone over again and again, for the best part of 6 years now. I've heard nothing new in those arguments for some time now, and the same zombie arguments keep coming up again and again. And they're largely irrelevant. Whether or not the school goes ahead now rests entirely on the outcome of the legal action that's been initiated. And the outcome, either way, is going to hinge on fairly obscure points of law.

[Porty]

[rmolehusband]

[Betty Windsor]

[Betty Windsor]

[seashell]

[Porty]

[wangi]

[Makaveli]

So above you say you did not ask the site admin team to remove your post but then the site admin team have just said you contacted them asking them 'to take action'.

Not helping your credibility are you Betty?

[seashell]

Reading Betty's increasingly frantic posts, one can only imagine that 'where she comes from' small things like truth and consistency don't actually count for very much. When it gets to the point that she and the increasingly vituperative Epycat can only snipe at other posters, one has to wonder if they have lost all faith in their somewhat tenuous pseudo-arguments.
For the record: in an ideal world, no green space would have to be built upon. We live in the real world, where there were a limited number of choices and of those, Porty Park was seen to be the most suitable. We now await the judicial review on a point of law, although previous decisions of the court have found that there is no case to answer.

[Betty Windsor]

If you look back on my posts you will see that I have not made any personal remarks about anyone. I don't know any of you personally. I found the remarks made by RM hurtful which presumably was the point of them.
For the record I do think it is hypocritical for a person to be part of a pro-environment group and at the same time advocate building on green space in a built up area. That is my opinion.
I am new to this forum (although I did join some time ago) so am not as au fait with the setup as yourselves. I contacted the moderator (I didn't know who that was at the time) as I felt the guidelilnes were being broken and because I was upset by the comments.
You should really ask yourselves why you're getting so wound up about me that you feel the need to revert to calling me names. I find it odd that many of you claim to have thought long and hard about this issue and have expressed regret. If that really is true why then would you feel the need to undermine someone who also thought long and hard about it but came to a different conclusion?

[seanie]

You accuse people of hypocrisy, say they should be ashamed of themselves, and that no right thinking person could possibly hold the views they do. These are all needlessly personal comments that don't address the substance of the issue at hand in any way, shape or form.

[Makaveli]

Betty that is the problem I have with you - you are trying to make people feel bad about the opinions they have.

There is nowhere on this forum that you will find anyone celebrating the loss of Porty Park. I will say this to you for the last time (although I fear you will not listen) everyone on here wants the new school and unfortunatley we can't have that without the loss of Porty Park.

And the only reason people are 'getting wound up' is because you won't listen!!!!!!!!!!

Take your time to read what people say and please stopping writing your responses as if we are all one person - we are not. We all have different views on plenty other subjects - it is just unfortunate for you that the majority on here hold a different opinion to you on the subject of the new school.

[rmolehusband]

[rmolehusband]

[Porty]

Brilliantly put molehusband. Such a pity its likely to fall on blinkered eyes and deaf ears.

[Puerto bella]

What - no mud slinging for 4 days now - are you all feeling ok or could it be that you have called a truce for Oct hols?

[seanie]

PPAG have posted about the Edinburgh Leisure board apparently discussing the possible closure of the golf course.

I don't know how accurate that is but it's been floated as a possibility in the past. If so it would raise some interesting possibilities; would a Community golf course be viable? If not, how would people like to see it being used?

Then again I'm sure the Council were considering a 6 or 9 hole course specifically tailored for kids; maybe some changes would make it a candidate for that.

[seanie]

Turns out the PPAG claim isn't accurate (what a shock eh?).

The board were discussing how they might close an expected financial shortfall, but not any specific proposals for closing anything. Whether such options are considered in detail will very much depend on the outcome of the Council's budget setting for next March which is only just underway.

So it may be something to watch for in the new year as budget options are floated, but there's nothing happening at the moment.

[Porty]

[urlhttp://www.scotsman.com/news/education/brewery_switch_is_step_closer_as_school_deal_agreed_with_bank_1_1961113[/url]

Good news for Boroughmuir and by my reckoning St John's are next up. How they must be relishing a move to the Pitz or another "Brownfield" site- NOT!!!

[seanie]

[Mark Cameron]

Can we start a 'our kids deserve a new school list'? Me thinks it might be somewhat more extensive than their list.

[Betty Windsor]

[Bob Jefferson]

Boring, boring. Not rising to the bait.

[Betty Windsor]

You only posting under your own name tonight Bob?