I’m surprised (pleasantly) about how quickly this Newtonhill project is moving forward.

It was on 18 December that it was announced that the Bettridge Centre had won its bid to get the solar panels and batteries for the centre from the Just Transition Participatory Budgeting Fund. More than £40,000.

And here we are, just a couple of weeks later … work begins.

It is going to start on Monday 13 January. There are no booked events to be held on stage so the scaffolding is up and ready for the contractors.

I was saddened to learn that my former council colleague Carl Nelson from Muchalls has died. He was 88.

I have known Carl for near on 50 years. He was chairman of the local community council at that point, a path I was later to tread too.

He became a councillor for the area in 1992, joining the then Kincardine and Deeside District Council. When local government was reorganised in 1996, he represented the area on the new Aberdeenshire Council. I joined him as a fellow ward councillor in 2007.

He held various senior posts during his 25 years, such as vice-chairman of the social work committee, and chairman of Kincardine & Mearns Area Committee.

When announcing that he was to stand down in 2017 he told the Press & Journal that one of his proudest moments was the decision to build the new town of Chapelton in the ward. I would agree.

He said at that time: “Since I was elected it has been so enjoyable. It has been great to meet so many people in the area and help them the best I can.”

He never seemed flustered and calmly dealt with any problems. A gentleman.

Before being elected as a councillor, Carl worked in the civil service, for which he was made an MBE.

Although we were of different parties, Carl and I never had a cross word. He has left me with many fond memories.

The photograph is from Carl’s days as an Aberdeenshire Council member.

I see 69,038 people used Portlethen Station between April 2023 to March 2024, according to recently released statistics from the Office of Rail and Road.

Meanwhile 448,104 used Stonehaven station, 80,682 at Laurencekirk, 118,514 at Kintore, 301,878 at Dyce, 311,448 at Montrose, and a whopping 2,287,858 at Aberdeen.

The busiest station in Scotland was Glasgow Central with 25 million passengers, followed by Edinburgh Waverley with 21 million.

The least used station that was open during the year was Denton (Manchester area), with 54 recorded entries and exits. Yes, 54. The least used station in Scotland was Kildonan, on the Far North line, with 240 entries and exits.

If you would like to see more, click here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/lvscie3h/station-usage-2023-24-statistical-release.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawHHq2JleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTDRjxbsQ0nV_XV_oCWEq8INaPJ8CW58JSkaC0FiPiTbvBFfsduwiRNYHw_aem_dNPMabsUX4aZ8ysC-PBK8A

Newtonhill Library is to close by the end of the financial year, along with 12 others across Aberdeenshire.

Low footfall has been a challenge for the library over the last few years, not helped by the pandemic closure and the poor state of the former building in the Coastal Park. The Portakabins had come to the end of their useful life, and face demolition.

I have been an occasional patron over the years for audio books when I travelled to work in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ellon. Once I retired, I borrowed real books which the service would source for me. Further back, when I was studying for my diplomas in PR, marketing and advertising they helped by getting me research books.

So I will be sad to see it shut up shop in the Bettridge Centre, its home for some months now.

More here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qlp357pyeo

The Bettridge Centre in Newtonhill needs votes to help secure grants to pay for solar panels.

These solar panels would cut the centre’s electricity bill dramatically, easing the pressure on what hall users have to pay. And it would mean that should there be a power cut in the village, there would still be somewhere warm and lit we could all go.

It only takes a moment or two to vote, but it will make a difference. Ask your family, friends and neighbours to vote too.

Please follow this link to vote: https://ava.tfaforms.net/f/AberdeenshireJTPBYear3VotingForm. The vote is open until 27 November.

We need over 2,000 people to vote for us to be in with a chance of getting the funding, so we really need everyone’s help to hit this target.

A new bus service from Aberdeen to Dundee and Edinburgh (including the airport) is starting soon. Ember will also drop off and pick up at Portlethen, on the A92.

Unfortunately according to the map on their website, no pick-ups in Newtonhill, only drop-offs northbound. However I am told that if you try to book tickets from Newtonhill to Edinburgh it comes up! Maybe it is their way of describing the Park and Choose? Strange. Maybe just teething problems.

The full launch will be on 22 October 2024, with 20 services per day running 24/7, but they are “soft launching” some limited stop services ahead of this.

It’s £15.50 for an adult single from Aberdeen to Edinburgh if you book online. Bus passes are valid too.

More here: https://www.ember.to/news/…

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.

I have been reflecting on the election results overnight. It is no secret I am a Liberal Democrat. So you would expect me to be over the moon with the results overall. To a certain extent yes. But in the main I am disappointed.

Not that we didn’t top the 71 seats total (so far; news awaited from Dingwall tomorrow). No, the seat where I live … we had a good long campaign but it didn’t fire the imagination of the voters in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine.

So congratulations to Andrew Bowie, re-elected as our MP. I didn’t see that coming. We will see if he can deliver on his seven promises (buses, investment, roads and bridges, fair share of funding for our council, stopping the pylons, protecting oil and gas jobs, and defending the union).

My consolation is that our share of the vote went up. We must await another day to take back the seat we held for 18 years.

You can find the Aberdeenshire results here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elections/results/uk-general-election-2024

Westminster hopeful Michael Turvey flanked by former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, North Kincardine LD councillor Mel Sullivan and supporters.

I wonder if Aberdeenshire Council will “fine” people for putting the wrong stuff in the wrong bin?

The Circular Economy Bill was passed this week by the Scottish Parliament giving local authorities new powers to improve recycling regulations, including the issuing of fixed-penalty notices.

So please no more plastic wrapping in the food waste bin, food in the general waste, nappies or plastic bags in the recycling bin.

More here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1rrwqx9ez1o?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1U_cfd57Sf-Xr0UGb9NMwWtLpf95wDcXRcLghZgxtFBo9D1qRW-P__aFY_aem_kBrB17ddTetfpcB9MzE9JA

It is now two years since I stepped down as a local councillor. I should leave the stage and let Councillor Mel Sullivan get on with things. But I can’t help it.

Here I am looking up council policies and manuals on Christmas lights in support of Mel’s campaign to complete the festive lights on Newtonhill Road. For some reason council officers don’t think Newtonhill Road meets the definition of being the area of main footfall in the village.

And I have just volunteered to join the Bettridge Centre committee.

Did I say I wanted a quiet life?