A lively meeting of Portlethen and District Community Council tonight in the academy. Here are a few snippets on some of the issues.

There was much discussion about how developer obligations arising from housing in Hillside.

Council officer Paul Macari was present to explain how the process works and how much is available. He fielded many questions about the funding.

Community councillor Paul Melling said he had been re-elected chair of TRAK – a transport pressure group representing Kincardineshire.

He also told the meeting that Scottish Water had flushed the sewers and the smell which had plagued the community for years appears to have stopped.

The meeting heard that the Men’s Shed will no longer hold its soup and sandwich events due to declining numbers attending.

We heard the Jubilee Hall held its AGM recently and really needs more volunteers. A lot of funding has been spent recently upgrading the hall, with work in hand, but more folk are sought to help run the hall.

Chairman Ron Sharp said the Cloch magazine is due in the next few days, ready for delivery.

Ron told community councillors that Aberdeenshire Council’s area manager Willie Munro has taken early retirement. Local Landscape Services officer Iain Thomson is also taking early retirement at the end of next month. He also outlined the process for the annual general meeting on 25 June. Five community councillors will continuing however that leaves a similar number of vacancies. The deadline for nominations is 5 June. He thanked all those who were standing down.

There were glowing references to Portlethen Primary School which is undergoing an inspection by Education Scotland. Reference was made to the period of “hardship” while it hosted the fledgling Hillside School before its premises were built.

A meeting of the Portlethen Gala committee takes place on 12 June. More stall holders are coming forward. A robust session took place about waste collections, with a plea to residents to use the food waste caddies.

Recycling rates are around 43%, but if waste was put in the right bin that figure could be 70%. This list gives details on what goes where: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/waste/household-rubbish/a-z-list-of-materials/

Many more issues were discussed … if you are interested in such matters you would be made most welcome at meetings.