Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council tonight with Tim Stephen, Aberdeenshire Council’s operations service manager with Live Life Aberdeenshire. This brought good news about the library and the tennis courts.

Mr Stephen was asked about developer obligation – there is £10,000 that can be used for sports and recreation in the Newtonhill area, though that will increase as new houses are built. That could be spent on the tennis courts or at the primary, but not on maintenance or repairs.

For maintenance or repairs, such as at the tennis courts, that would come via Landscape Services. Their priority currently is making sure such spaces are safe, he said. Quotes are in place for re-lining, repairing the fence and new posts, totalling about £10,000. He invited the community council to press for this.

There was also discussion about provision of a multi-use games area at the primary school. Sarah Chew, the new chair of Friends of Newtonhill, said they are keen to press ahead and fund-raise for this.

The existing library building is past its sell-by date, almost at the unsafe stage. It was a temporary building in 1996, when built. He said that in the short term they are working with the Bettridge Centre to deliver a basic service, possibly towards the end of next month. They have longer-term aims about the co-location of a library service in community buildings.

One comment was made that more hours would be better in order to attract more customers. Another comment was that access to books was being restricted which particularly impacts on children.

The meeting also discussed the state of the roads, and noted the repairs which were carried out today. Questions were asked about why there was no forewarning of the work.

At the next meeting a representative of Stonehaven Rugby Club will be invited to talk to the community council on their quest for a new pitch. Many youngsters from this area use the facility. The next meeting is on Wednesday 16 March at 7.30pm (hopefully in the Skateraw Hall), and will be open to the public.