Here is an update on road repairs within Newtonhill. I’m disappointed that it will take slightly longer than expected to repair Old Mill Road and potholes in the village. Most folk have been very patient, but patience can grow thin …

The statement from the Roads Service about the works programme for financial year 2021/22 covers four projects planned for Newtonhill:

• The resurfacing of Old Mill Road.
• The reapplication of high friction surfacing at Newtonhill Road zebra crossing.
• The reapplication of high friction surfacing at Tesco roundabout.
• The carriageway patching contract for Portlethen, Newtonhill and Muchalls.

Officers write: “During preparation for the works in Newtonhill we had meetings with Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) to discuss their plans to replace the water main on Newtonhill Road and following completion of that, Muirend Road, Portlethen.

“At that time, we were expecting the CWA works to take place in the summer of 2021, so the decision was made to hold off on any of our own work until this was complete.

“Unfortunately the delays with the CWA programme has had a knock on effect to our programme and it’s now highly unlikely that we will be in a position to complete any of the above works until CWA works are off site.

“On a positive note, our plan for next year is to prepare a patching contract solely for Newtonhill, thereby allowing us to repair more defects than we would have been able to through the current contract; this in turn has also meant we have been able to realign the budget and repair more defects in Portlethen and Muchalls.

“We will be marking up the extents of the proposed works on site, and preparing the documents for the contract, in the coming weeks, so it will be ready to go out to tender at the beginning of financial year 2022/23. We will therefore be in a position to appoint a contractor to start the works on site, hopefully in early May.

“We already have a specialised contractor appointed to carry out the high friction surfacing at the two locations in Newtonhill and will have them programmed to carry out the works as soon as CWA have left Newtonhill, which will be around mid to late April.

“As regard the resurfacing of Old Mill Road, with an expectation of increased budgets next year, we are now proposing to extend this resurfacing scheme, to include the junctions of Elsick Place and Park Place.”

I have asked officers if temporary repairs can be carried out in Old Mill Road, as a minimum. This has been promised previously, but I will keep trying.