A busy 90 minutes at tonight’s meeting of Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council in the Skateraw Hall. About a dozen people there and three councillors. Here are some key points:
• POLICING: PC Marc Camus gave his monthly report, including an appeal to cyclists to wear light clothing and use lights now that the dark nights are here. Officers have been stopping cyclist and giving advice, and on occasion providing lights.
• POTHOLES: A contractor has been appointed to patch potholes in Newtonhill, Muchalls and Portlethen, with a start dues in three weeks in Newtonhill.
• MISSING: A lamppost in Dunnyfell Road, Muchalls, has been missing for four years. Only the stump remains. This is classed as low priority work by the Roads Service but will not be replaced for some time, and not this calendar year.
• LED CONVERSION: A handful of street lights on Park Place, Newtonhill, have not been converted to LED. The rest of the village was upgraded pre-pandemic. Aberdeenshire Council’s street lighting team is being asked to action the replacement of the remaining units.
• OVERGROWN: The pavement heading south from west Cammachmore on the former Aberdeen-Stonehaven main road is overgrown with weeds, meaning pedestrians are more likely to walk on the road. Aberdeenshire Council says that the weed spraying programme is complete for the year. Officers will look at taking action in the spring, by way of seed spraying and/or some form of mechanical intervention to bring the footway back to a suitable standard.
• DROPPED KERBS: Aberdeenshire Council has a small budget for installing dropped kerbs. A request for this in the courts area of Newtonhill will be considered by the Roads Service, on advice from an access panel.
• HEALTH: Portlethen Medical Centre told the community council it is gradually returning to face-to-face appointments.
• SCHOOL: Community council heard that the provision of an artificial surfaced multi-use games area is being considered at Newtonhill School, beside St John’s Walk.
• LIFE SAVER: A defibrillator is to be housed in Newtonhill Bowling Club for use by the sports club members who use the nearby pitches.
• A92 UNDERPASS: Community council plans to turning the disused underpass into use for pedestrians have been passed to the transport partnership Nestrans. If opened up it would link Newtonhill with Cammachmore.
• CLIFF PATH: Some work has been done of the path at Muchalls following flooding, with more needing to be done. Aberdeenshire Council has said nothing further will be done this financial year.
• DONATIONS: Grants of £100 are to be made to the food banks in Stonehaven and Portlethen.
• PHONE BOX: Muchalls has been given a special dispensation to keep using the former phone box as a community library. Ownership of older traditional-style phone boxes can be transferred to community groups, but the Muchalls one is a newer version.
• GARDEN WASTE: A letter of thanks is to be sent to Aberdeenshire Council to recognise how helpful waste service staff are at the summer-long garden waste pick-up in the Coastal Park in Newtonhill.
• SPEEDING: A resident raised concerns about speeding on Newtonhill Road after family members were injured by a vehicle on the crossing. Ideally she would like the zebra crossings replaced by traffic lights.
• PLAYPARK: The wooden play equipment in the park to the north of the Courts in Newtonhill has been fenced off for safety reasons. The community council would like it repaired or replaced. I have asked council officers for more information.
• LIBRARY: I told the meeting that the Newtonhill Library will not reopen in the near future due to structural concerns and its small size in pandemic restrictions. Council officers are looking at options.
• AND FINALLY: My first Christmas tree of this winter was on display in the Skateraw Hall.
Ian Mollison
Liberal Democrat councillor for North Kincardine 2007-22
I note the mention of an accident on the Xebra Crossing which comes as no surprise to me as I see it all the time. In fact I have been overtaken on Newtonhill Road and I was doing 27 mph!
As previously communicated to Ian Mollison the flashing beacons do not meet the regulation height. What will it take for the Roads Department to sort this Zebra Crossing? How many more accidents?
The Roads Service gave me the following response: “The gentleman is correct in that the beacons should not be mounted at a height in excess of 3 metres. The majority of the units come with the bracket arm welded onto the main column at the correct height, others have an adjustable arm height and am unsure exactly what has been used at this location. The issue of beacon height was not raised following the safety report into the incident in January 2020 but will however arrange for the height to be checked and adjusted if appropriate.”
The Roads Service has a long backlog of works to be carried out, which is not helped by the serious staffing shortage due to long-term illness, retirals, resignations and significant challenges in recruiting.