A very interesting community council meeting last night in Newtonhill.

First up was a presentation by Paul Finch from Nestrans, the regional transport partnership for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

He spoke about the possibility of a station being re-opened in the village. If it were to go ahead, it would need to be where the original station was.

One major issue to consider is parking. Could there be spaces provided in the Coastal Park or the wee park north of the Courts? I asked if there could be room at the old sidings. Maybe for disabled drivers, he said, but that would all have to be considered in a detailed assessment.

I also asked him to comment on the much repeated rumour that there would have to be compulsory purchase of properties. He was surprised by that as he had never heard that discussed.

There was much discussion with the pros and cons being aired. One other concern was the impact on the local bus service.

Paul said he is planning to hold a public drop-in session in the coming weeks to hear what villagers have to say. It would be in the Skateraw Hall or the Bettridge Centre, and would run into the evening.

Other topics included progressing a pedestrian/cycling route from Stonehaven to Aberdeen. Perhaps this could be provided alongside the A92 with, say, a 10ft buffer between it and the live traffic.

Among the many other issues discussed last night were the on-going work on rebuilding the Elsick Burn bridge, the opening of a primary school at Chapelton in 2026/27, the current bother caused by some youngsters in the village, Japanese knotweed at Cammachmore, the state of the tennis courts, and the A92 underpass.