Have taken time out from blogging for a while, and I notice that some fellow councillor bloggers have done this as well – no doubt they experience the same difficulties as I do , ie; what is the best use of our time and what is the blog for ? Tempting though it is to weigh in on national and party politics, our focus is inevitably local and most of the positive feedback I’ve had about this vanity publishing exercise is about the value of local information about what’s happening in the ward, rather than any partisan party political comments or attempts at being a manque political reporter. So, notwithstanding all the upheaval in the body politic at present , I hereby pledge to keep this to Partick news from now on – and another reason I was wary of blogging this year is the Bridezilla effect, as my main topic of conversation is wedding plans and was concerned that might spill over onto the blogsphere.. So – the main news this week is the Big Lottery have finally come through with the grant for the second phase of improvements to Mansfield Park -over half a millon pounds, £677,743 to be precise , announced on Tuesday. I had an anniversary last week, on Friday 7th May it was 10 years to the day that I was first elected. One of the first meetings I had was with the director of the local housing assocation , who pointed to the derelict area outside their offices and said “Can’t you do something about that ?” . Better late than never…