It WILL be built       

By Craig Robertson

A SECOND children’s hospice for Scotland WILL be built with the money raised by Sunday Post readers.  That is the defiant message from everyone involved in our campaign. Despite objections to the proposed site at Balloch on the banks of Loch Lomond — which goes to the vote on Tuesday — this much-needed second hospice will happen. This week its future is before the 10 members of the National Park’s planning committee. It is no exaggeration to say our children’s lives are in their hands. Everyone — with the possible exception of some members of that board — agree that the best available site is Balloch and we will fight every inch of the way to ensure permission is granted for building there. But even if the worst happens and planning permission is denied on Tuesday then it is far from the end of the matter. CHAS would still have the right of appeal to the Scottish Executive. In the unlikely event that is unsuccessful then another site will be found — although it might take time that some children simply do not have. The new hospice WILL be built — it is as simple as that. The needs of the children of Scotland and the mammoth efforts of our readers demand it. As the only newspaper campaigning and fund-raising for the second hospice, there is no way we will let bureaucratic wrangling stand in the way of a facility that is needed more with each passing day. If the members of the National Park Authority board require convincing of the argument for the new hospice then all they have to do is listen.  Listen to Agnes Malone, chief executive of the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland. “The initial news about the planning permission was shattering but it is not as bleak as some headlines painted it. We remain extremely positive. “We will continue to fight to ensure the members of this committee are aware of the true facts about the hospice. We hope we will get the chance to explain the very good reasons why it deserves to be an exception to the rule in the National Park. The local people want it there and it is so badly needed. “We knew there had been planning issues, but everyone had been very encouraging that we would be granted permission. We still feel strongly we will win the day.  “We are so aware that we must continue to fight for the sake of the children but also for the people of Scotland and Sunday Post readers who have been so supportive of us.”  Listen to Murdoch Cameron, Balloch Community Council chairman. “We are the neighbouring community council and we are 100 per cent behind this project. It is extremely annoying that the Loch Lomond area is expanding so fast with golf courses and shopping developments yet they cannot provide for our dying children. “We have conducted surveys of local people and there is no doubt they support the building of the hospice. Our only slight concern was the purple colour of the building but one local man — who lives just a stone’s throw from the site — told us he didn’t care if they painted it tartan as long as the children had somewhere to go.”  Listen to young Tina McGinley, whose 21-year-old brother Paul uses Rachel House. “My brother suffers from muscular dystrophy and his life span has been shortened by it. With another hospice there would be more people and more time to spend there. I have met lots of people, some who have died but everyone loved it, it made their precious time there special. “Help to make more children’s time here special by letting them have such a beautiful scenery for them and their families to enjoy. We have all our lives to look forward to and probably won’t die for a long time. These children don’t, so why not let them, and my brother, end their lives peacefully!”  Listen to Glasgow’s legal community who are outraged at the prospect of permission being rejected. Bill Scouller, chief executive of Glasgow Solicitor’s Property Centre, spoke on behalf of 200 law firms. “We are profoundly concerned that the planning application may be rejected. CHAS is the GSPC’s elected charity for 2003 and we are planning a year of fund-raising activity. It is hard to believe that a relatively small-scale development that would do so much for so many could be blocked. If this happened we would not be the only ones to be outraged by the apparent victory of bureaucracy over compassion. “If ever there has been a case where planning guidelines should be adapted to foster the greater good of the community as a whole then this must be it.”  Listen to The Princess Royal who says she wants the park to be for all the people of Scotland. When Princess Anne formally opened the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park on July 24 this year she said she hoped “that it would be a park for all of Scotland and be used by the people of Scotland”. We are sure she would agree that there could be no better use than building the hospice and no people more deserving than terminally ill children. But above all, we say the planners should listen to their own consciences and their hearts. Granting planning permission isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the ONLY thing to do.

You can e-mail us at: hospice@sundaypost.com