TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

Not long ago I wrote about the head count of Scottish Screen staff and how on their website that number suddenly shot up from the 30s to the 50s. The question I asked – surely this couldn’t be connected to the whereabouts of the new Creative Scotland headquarters?

Well I never. Today’s Scotsman and Herald report on a posse of Edinburgh campaigners, led by the head of the city council, arguing to base the CS HQ in the capital. According to them, Edinburgh is the capital, and that includes the cultural capital. Besides, the Scottish Arts Council that’s based there has more staff than Scottish Screen – 90 over 54.

Judging by the reader’s comments – example – more gays live in Edinburgh and they like art – the debate’s turning into the usual playground tiff between Embra and Glesga, with both ends of the country claiming the yet to be created mega arts agency as their own. But wait a minute – why does it have to be either of these two cities? And isn’t there a thing called a consultation going on to decide whether the Culture Bill – the legislation to rubber-stamp Creative Scotland – gets through parliament?

What nobody’s asking is this – what’s the point of forcing two very different public bodies together anyway? SS can’t seem to decide who and what it’s for while the SAC, like a nervous bride, isn’t too sure if she really fancies that bit of Glasgow rough enough to get into bed with it. Like a lot of mixed marriages, neither side can decide where they should live – the flash pad on the Clyde or the run-down genteel townhouse in the New Town.

Here’s an idea – Easterhouse! After all, the National Theatre of Scotland doesn’t want to live there. And at least it’s on the M8.