Call for report over winter roads

A number of local items of note at today’s Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee.

– The roads service has been instructed to provide a report on gritting and winter treatment after two petitions were received from residents in the Banchory Devenick area and in the U63K Maryculter road area. My motion to call for the report was seconded by ward colleague Colin Pike.

– We received a report on attainment at Portlethen Academy. A mixed picture, though attainment levels at S6 in 2017 were relatively strong. We also heard from head teacher Neil Morrison that the Portlethen cluster of schools is to be trial area regarding mental health. Mr Morrison confirmed that the academy is fully staffed, though it is a constant balance. The academy is forging a stronger relationship with Robertsons (who are responsible for the building), and Stewart Milne Homes.

– I was pleased to gain the backing of the committee for awarding a £2000 grant to Bourtree Pre-School group to assist in purchasing outdoor storage, flooring and a static canopy to allow the children to spend more time out of doors.

– We also granted full planning permission for the erection of hotel rooms within the walled garden at Ury House. The 32 bedrooms will be part of the project to transform Ury House into a five bedroom hotel and golf clubhouse.

BT work closes local road

I have just been told that owing to BT renewing telegraph poles it will be necessary in the interests of public safety to close the C5K country road at Cowford.
This will take place on Monday 19 February and the following day.
 
Emergency and pedestrian access is to be maintained. Vehicular access to affected properties to be maintained whenever possible.

Pop-up station at Newtonhill?

An interesting idea from the Green party – pop-up railway stations at places such as Newtonhill to test whether there really is a demand for a new station.
I’m not sure how easy that would be though as presumably it would have to tick all the safety and engineering boxes just like a permanent station.
Apparently Network Rail built a £300,000 temporary station in six days in Workington after the Cumbria floods in 2009 split the town in two. It was constructed using scaffolding and planks, with a portable waiting room and gravel car park.
I have written to Nestrans, the North East transport partnership, asking to consider the suggestion.
The report in the Scotsman says that the Transport Scotland has not proposed any new railway projects since 2007. All the projects since then – the Borders railway, Kintore station etc – were as a result of the preceding Liberal Democrat / Labour Scottish government.
It will be interesting to see what the Scottish Government decides to do.
The Scotsman was first with the story:
And tonight (12 February) the Evening Express gave it a good spread, including a photograph of a train in Newtonhill Station: https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/temporary-train-stations-could-benefit-communities/?utm_source=facebook

A90 fully open at last

This is really good news about the A90 at Stonehaven being fully open. That’s taken nearly a year to replace the bridge over the B979.

For some reason I can’t find anything to confirm this on Transport Scotland’s AWPR website: https://www.transport.gov.scot/traffic-update/southern-section-stonehavencharleston-to-river-dee/

However local radio station Original FM has been reporting this:

Original 106 FM

9 hrs · 

Travel: Motorists rejoice! The Southbound A90 at Stonehaven has now been restored to 2 lanes with the ending of the contraflow that has been in place since spring last year. ???????? #Abztravellisten.originalfm.com

Slow progress at Chapelton

The first homes in a retirement village of 94 units – 50% flats and 50% houses – are likely to be ready in May. It is centred on a main building with centralised facilities and a range of care options.

Aberdeenshire Council is in negotiations with Places For People to build 25 affordable units. These will be offered on shared equity or mid-market rent bases. It is hoped that these will be completed by spring 2019.

There will be an area of commercial development on the north corner of Liddell Park to include seven units of differing sizes, with flats above. They will be suitable for people looking to start or bring their business to Chapelton, providing facilities for residents.

Also on the cards is a temporary retail and leisure area of affordable commercial units in fully-serviced container units initially situated to the south of Liddell Park.

The laying out of the first of the allotment parks, down by Nether Cairnhill farm, has started. This should be completed in the spring if there is sufficient interest from Chapelton residents in having a plot.

There have been some misunderstanding regarding the provision of a travellers’ site in Chapelton. The obligation is set out in what’s called a Section 75 Agreement, part of the planning process. This requires the developers to provide a site within Chapelton, failing which an alternative site outwith the development, failing which a commuted sum of £100,000 to be used for development of a site. The requirement is only after 1745 houses have been built and so it will be many years away at the current rate of development. Aberdeenshire Council’s preference is for a site at Chapelton rather than elsewhere or the sum of £100,000.

Bus contracts terminated

Two school bus operators, J & M Burns and Kineil Coaches, have had their school contracts terminated after the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency carried out safety checks.
Maria Walker, Aberdeenshire Council’s director of education and children’s services, said: “Given the serious nature of the two immediate prohibition notices, termination of contract notices were issued to the two operators in receipt of these prohibition notices.”
J & M Burns are appealing against the decision. There is more on the Evening Express website: https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/bus-operator-contracts-terminated-after-safety-checks-on-vehicles1/
UPDATE 21 February
Both contracts have been reinstated after the two companies won their appeals. There is more background at

Decision on school period poverty policy

There has been some inaccurate information on how my colleagues on Aberdeenshire Council’s education and children’s services committee voted yesterday on a policy paper on period poverty.
 
Our schools already provide free sanitary products. This vote will make sure that they have uniform access across all of our schools and that young women know that.
 
It is my understanding – I am not on the committee – that administration councillors voted for the policy copied below, which maintains the free service in all schools.
 
“Schools continue to provide sanitary products to pupils at no cost to pupils.
 
“Guidance would be developed to support schools to enable young people to easily and readily access sanitary products at no cost in school establishments.
 
“This guidance would include recommendations for schools to provide free products and remove any barriers that may currently exist in accessing these products (such as having to ask a member of staff) in both primary and secondary schools.
 
“This guidance would assist schools in reviewing and where appropriate, amending any existing approaches that are currently in use to become more formal, clear and consistent across Aberdeenshire.
 
“Strengths:
 Continues current local arrangements to meet needs identified locally
 Addresses removal of barriers through guidance
 No additional cost to schools or Service.”
 
A number of headteachers had been contacted and they had no issues with the current arrangements. If a pupil was regularly asking for sanitary products then this might help pinpoint a welfare or poverty issue, which they would not necessarily know about if there were a dispenser.
 
Concerns were expressed at the committee meeting over the use of dispensing machines – possibility of bullying of anyone using it, and misuse of products by those who don’t need them. Another issue is that a lot of new-build schools have unisex toilets – separate sides for the actual toilets but shared wash basin facilities which is where dispensers would be placed. There is also the issue of transgender pupils.
 
The cost of installing dispensing machines and the provision of sanitary products in secondary and special schools would be £60,480 a year. To extend it to include primary schools would be £498,240 a year. This was option 3.
 
According to the Press and Journal today the author of the report tabled at the meeting, Audrey Hendry, said: “The vote was essentially about how we distribute the products – not if they are available or not.”
The next steps will be to make sure all young women know free products are available in schools and how to access them easily.
 
You can read the full report on this link (scroll down to item 10) and judge for yourself: http://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees.aspx?commid=494&meetid=18749

11th hour windfall for council

Well, a week before council set their budgets for the coming year the Scottish Government comes up with extra cash for local authorities. That’s good news because it should mean that some of the cutbacks we were reluctantly having to consider won’t happen now. But it’s all very 11th hour stuff.

Under the new settlement Aberdeenshire Council is poised to receive an extra £7.747 million. Even with that, we still face difficult times so it is not sunshine and roses, by any means.

The Press and Journal has more: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/holyrood/1404871/budget-deal-s

UPDATE: The agenda and reports for Thursday’s council meeting are now available at http://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees.aspx?commid=1&meetid=18734

Settlement plan work continues

Further progress this evening on the Portlethen Settlement Plan with a meeting in the academy involving residents, the community council and council officers. The focus was on the town centre, amenities, facilities and outdoor spaces.

Public transport concerns are being raised with Stagecoach and the council’s public transport unit.

If you would like to be involved, let me know.

Firm helps primary school

Interesting to hear tonight that KCA Deutag has formed a partnership with Hillside School with children having visited the firm and a meeting with the school council being lined up.

I also heard tonight at the parents group meeting that the school is looking for sand, among other items, for the children to play with.