Grants available for insulating homes

I was asked to find out if Aberdeenshire Council provides grants towards the cost of insulating private houses. Here is the answer:

A number of homes throughout Aberdeenshire have had energy efficiency measures installed through funding from Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programmes Scotland : Areas Based Schemes (HEEPS :ABS). This included cavity wall insulation and external wall insulation.

Funding for 2017/18 is fully committed but the council will be bidding for further monies for 2018/19 shortly. The council is usually awarded its full allocation around April/May.

All installations are subject to a technical survey to ensure the property is of suitable construction for the energy efficiency measures available providing adequate funding is available.

The HEEPS : ABS scheme is available to householders in suitable property constructions which are within council tax bands A-C.

Aberdeenshire Council has sought permission from the Scottish Government to extend this to council tax band D in certain circumstances including where the majority of the other properties in the area are in council tax bands A–C, or where there is mixed tenure work being undertaken which includes council-owned properties in council tax band D.

There are a number of other initiatives/interest free loan schemes available and householders can contact Home Energy Scotland on freephone 0808 808 2282 to obtain information on what is available at this time.

Grants for good causes

North Kincardine Rural Community Council members were in a generous mood tonight. Grants were given to:

– £250 to Portlethen and District Voluntary Community Ambulance Association towards the cost of replacing the vehicle.

– £280 to Maryculter Driving for the Disabled for the replacement of tyres on the trailer which takes the carriage to events.

– £300 to The Way Trust, a social enterprise which has a workshop at Maryculter, to purchase replacement ladders. The trust provides opportunities for the long-term unemployed with the aim of helping them return to full-time work.

The meeting – attended by nine members of the public – also discussed many other issues such as planning applications, broadband provision, the local development plan, the AWPR, local roads, winter road maintenance, shooting on estates, the sale of Maryculter East school, and a tour of the area by Aberdeenshire Council’s chief executive.

A date for the diary: the annual South Deeside View / community council plant sale and coffee morning will be on Saturday 19 May in the Corbie Hall. Over the 20 years the event has raised £9000 for local causes. Any such group which wishes to benefit from this year’s event should ask to make a pitch at the next community council meeting.

The date for the next meeting is Monday 19 March when it it hoped there will be a presentation by INEOS, the owners of the Forties pipeline. It starts at 7.30pm.

Who inspires you?

Nominations have been extended for Inspiring Aberdeenshire 2018.
 
The awards in June celebrate the very best of what makes Aberdeenshire great and promotes the unsung heroes.
 
Nominations will stay open until the end of February, giving an extra fortnight to get names in contention. In particular, organisers are looking for nominations the categories for young people (Aberdeenshire’s Future), environmental champions (Beautiful Aberdeenshire) and courageous residents (Local Hero).
 
There is more information on the council website. including a link to making a nomination: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/news/release.aspx?newsid=4897

A longer wait for the AWPR opening

Well, there’s a surprise. It seems that the AWPR won’t open after all during the winter of 2017/2018 as promised.

Given the collapse of one of the main contractors Carillion and snags during the course of the project many people were always doubtful that deadline could be met.

The spring of this year was being mooted as a likely opening, but now I hear there is talk of a partial opening during the summer. Time will tell.

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/dont-know-can-stick-spring-deadline-awpr-says-minister/

Pay-outs over vehicle damage

Aberdeenshire Council has paid out £48,852.11 since 2014 arising from claims for compensation for damage caused by road defects.
Over the four years there have been 615 claims of which 146 were successful. Aberdeenshire Council maintains 3,425 miles (roughly 5,600 kilometres) of roads.
The local authority’s head of roads Philip McKay said: “Aberdeenshire Council consistently ranks within the top five of all 32 local authorities in the annual Road Maintenance Condition Survey.
“However, it is fact that potholes can appear at any time on any standard of road. All of Aberdeenshire’s roads are inspected on a regular basis in line with national standards, but potholes do appear between inspections.
“If members of the public make the council aware of a road defect we will arrange for it to be attended to and made safe or repaired. The best way to notify the council of road defects is online at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/faults or by phone on 08456 08 12 05.
“The council’s independent insurance representatives deal with all pothole-related insurance claims and each case is dealt with on an individual basis. However, claims are unlikely to be successful if clear evidence of a road defect is not subsequently identified, or if the council was not aware of the defect prior to the incident.”
Response times for pothole repairs are related to the severity of the damage and can vary from within 24 hours for emergency work to within one month or longer for minor defects. It is sometimes necessary to temporarily fill a pothole prior to making a permanent repair.

Date set for bus forum

The next Kincardine and Mearns area bus forum will be held on Thursday 29 March, from 7.30-9pm in Stonehaven Town Hall (in the main hall).
There were many complaints when the new timetable was introduced, so this is the opportunity to speak directly to Stagecoach managers.
More details – including minutes of the previous meetings – are on the council website: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/public-transport/area-bus-forums/

Last chance for sports awards nominations

Next month sees Aberdeenshire Sports Council’s annual Sports Awards evening, and there is still time (just) to nominate if you know someone, or a club worthy of recognition in 2018.
 
There are two award categories that thus far have had a much lower number of nominations than normal:
 
Male Athlete of the Year 18+
The award recognises the sporting achievements of an individual at any level. Whether they have shown outstanding potential at a new sport, have achieved new personal bests or perhaps broken records. Achievements must have been reached in 2017.
 
Club of the Year Award (Development)
This awards aims to recognise clubs applying: best practice; development and initiatives.  This award applies to all clubs.
 
So if you know anyone in Aberdeenshire worthy of consideration for these awards do please click on this link to find out more: http://absportco.org.uk/news.php
 
Completed forms should be emailed by the close of TODAY to sports.council@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

Inspection for local school

A new style of school inspection is being carried out at Banchory Devenick Primary by Education Scotland. The school with be inspected week beginning 5 March.

However before that takes place they wish to gather the views of parents, staff, learners and others through an online survey. Further information should be forthcoming from the school.