With the council election only a short time away it is time to make the graving docks a key issue in the election in Govan. This means voters who are at all concerned about the future of the docks have a right and a need to know where the candidates stand. We wish to refrain from taking a party political stance and the maritime park campaign and CDPI will continue to remain apolitical in a wider context. However we are backing the election of Green Party candidate Allan Young as an individual candidate in the Govan Ward. Our recommendation to voters in Govan Ward who want to see the graving docks saved, regardless of which party you normally vote for in national elections, is to select Allan Young as first preference candidate. The Scottish Green Party at all levels have put their weight fully behind the campaign to save the graving docks and ensure they are not lost to housing development. They stand alone in doing so and SNP, Labour, Conservatives and Lib Dems remain silently on the fence on this issue. Allan Young and his campaign team held a public meeting specifically about the graving docks early in March ahead of the developers’ first "consultation" exhibition and they are helping to raise awareness of the plight of the docks at national level. We were invited and made a well-received presentation at the public meeting about our proposals for the graving docks. We are ready and willing to present our alternative vision for the docks at meetings of any other parties putting up candidates in Govan. Govan needs fresh ideas and new councillors who will support community driven projects without attempting to interfere or obstruct them as certain incumbents have done. Allan has been very helpful in having the graving docks brought to the attention of the Scottish Parliament. His party backed the campaign to save the North Kelvin Meadow, where the Scottish Government blocked planning consent for a housing development by New City Vision, the same developers who own the graving docks. If Allan Young is elected it will send a deafening message to New City Vision, to City Chambers and to Holyrood that the people of Govan do not want a major housing development on the docks. Whatever party you normally vote for it’s time to put that aside if you want to save the docks from gentrification. This election isn’t about where you stand on any national political issue. In Govan the election is about Govan and the biggest issue in the ward right now is the future of the historic Graving Docks. SNP incumbent Councillor Stephen Dornan has repeatedly voiced his objection to the actions of the Clyde Docks Preservation Initiative and has accused us of seeking to turn the graving docks into a “cash cow” (along with several other false allegations he has directed at us). A strange perspective since we are not the ones who want to build hundreds of luxury flats on the docks. We are absolutely convinced he is on the developers’ side so if you want to save the docks, be sure to bear this in mind when casting your votes.