I hear that the council is going to upgrade the path at the Elsick mill in Newtonhill. That’s great news as I had asked officers if they could do something. It is rather muddy underfoot to say the least, and youngsters use the route to get to school.
Here’s what council officers have to say: “Upgrading work is due to take place on the Retreat to Elsick Mill path in Newtonhill in the week beginning 20 March and is scheduled to run for three weeks.
“Works will include a new retaining wall, improved drainage and complete resurfacing of the existing path.
“Unfortunately the path will be closed to public access during this period as it will be a construction site and will require to comply with site safety legislation.”
This will obviously cause some inconvenience in the short term, but a price worth paying. There have been issues in the past with members of the public ignoring “Path Closed” signs. For example when the floods washed the path away at the mill, people still barged through. It is not worth putting yourself at risk where heavy plant is operating.
Officers say they will endeavour to complete the works as soon as possible.