Local councillors were given a briefing today about progress with the planned Hillside Primary School. A rezoning exercise will take place affecting all North Kincardine primary schools (Portlethen, Fishermoss, Newtonhill, Lairhillock and Banchory Devenick).
Details will be made public shortly, with the opportunity to contribute. The whole process can take up to nine months, starting in October.
Over the coming weeks Aberdeenshire Council will be holding a consultation on the provision of early learning and childcare. This will provide information to help create a more flexible and integrated service.
The council is consulting on the implementation of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, including flexibility of early learning and childcare provision and also on out of school hours care.
The views of parents/carers, professionals and other interested stakeholders are being sought on how best the services can meet their needs. There will be drop in sessions across Aberdeenshire (locally at Portlethen Primary School on Monday 6 October from 3.30pm to 6pm) and a Survey Monkey, which will be available on the council website from next week.
The link for the Survey Monkey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WH8QJGS
The consultation drop in sessions will give all stakeholders the opportunity to look, compare and comment on the current model of delivery and two alternative models.
Current model:
Alternative models:
Each of these alternative models represents a step change in how the council delivers 600 hours of early learning and childcare in local authority settings.
The council will also seek the views of the community on:
What they see as the ideal model for them
Out of School Hours Care
This consultation will give families the opportunity to comment on:
The provision they currently access
The B9077 South Deeside Road will be closed for three days from 9:30am on Friday 10 October from Burnside Cottages to the C30K near Batchart Steadings. This is to allow W M Donald carry out carriageway surfacing, drainage works and install road crossing ducts for utility services to serve the Blairs housing development. The best alternative route is via the A93 North Deeside Road.
Aberdeenshire Council is to spend £6,274,000 upgrading hundreds of residential properties – including work in Newtonhill.
The works were approved by the Policy & Resources Committee on Thursday.
The forecast budget spend on housing improvements and new build housing in Aberdeenshire will be around £50million this financial year.
Major structural repair work to 17 semi-detached blocks at Pitcaple, Lumphanan, Blackburn, Newtonhill, Banff and Huntly, was approved at an estimated cost of £2,387,000.
The work, expected to start in January 2015, includes repair of the structural frames of the properties, increasing thermal insulation, replacement of doors and windows and upgrading of heating installations, bathrooms and kitchens.
This is the third phase of works to upgrade the Swedish-type houses and tenants and householders have been kept informed of the proposals.
Improvements to the front and back doors on 810 houses across Aberdeenshire was also approved, at an estimated cost of £2,556,000. The contract will now be put out to tender, with work due to start in November, to be completed by March 2015. A number of homes in Newtonhill are included, at Fulmar Court, Turnstone Court, Sanderling Court, and Tern Court.
A £710,000 project will see the removal of timber windows in 149 houses and two housing complexes and replacing them with A-rated high performance double-glazed windows across Aberdeenshire including Banchory, Fraserburgh, Gourdon, Ellon and Kemnay.
Councillors also approved a further £345,000 to be spent upgrading the windows and doors in 77 residential properties in Peterhead and Aboyne.
An additional £276,000 is to be spent on electrical upgrades to properties in Banff, Huntly and Stonehaven after the work was approved by the committee. The upgrades, to affect 107 properties across the three towns, will start in November and is due for completion by March 2015.
A long day today. Started with a meeting to hear about plans for the employment land north of Hillside, and continued through to late afternoon with the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee. Here are some of the key points affecting the North Kincardine ward.
– Chief Inspector Allan Ross gave a quarterly report on Police Scotland’s work in our area. I raised the issue of overtly armed officers on routine duties. He said the force executive is reviewing this policy with “public confidence is what it is all about.” Good. The increase in stop-and-search was also highlighted. I was astonished to see that there have only been three speeding offences in the April/June period in North Kincardine. Chief Insp Ross explained that officers had been doing more to educate drivers about speeding rather than issuing tickets.
– The challenges facing Portlethen Primary School until Hillside Primary School opens in August 2016 also came in for discussion. “Capacity will be managed until then,” said the report from education officers. Meanwhile Fishermoss Primary faces a falling school roll. Newtonhill Primary’s roll is also rising and will continue to do so with pupils coming from Chapelton.
– A planning appeal to convert a “stable block” at Alhamra, Blairs, into ancillary accommodation has been turned down by Scottish Ministers. The proposal was described as inappropriate development in the green belt.
– An appeal against refusal of a new house at Devenick Heights, Ardoe, has been turned down by the local review body as being contrary to the green belt policy.
– The new community being built on the South Deeside Road is to be called Riverside of Blairs. Other options were on the table, but the developer’s preferred suggestion of Brig O’ Blairs found no support as there is a property with that name nearby.
– There has been a fall in the speed of street light repairs due to staff turnover. Just over75% are fixed within seven days of being reported.
– Plans for 10 houses and 10 flats opposite Coull Cars at Hillside were approved subject to a satisfactory consultation response from the education department, given the pressures on Portlethen Primary School. A motion to refuse the application on the grounds of overdevelopment found no seconder. The proposals for affordable homes are from Langstane Housing Association.
– A planning application for five five-bedroomed houses at Ceolmara, Findon, was turned down on a 7-3 vote. This proposal caused much controversy in the village. A 2012 application for seven houses on that site – to replace a demolished house called Ceolmara – had also been turned down as overdevelopment and amid concerns about the impact on the landscape. Scottish Ministers turned down a subsequent appeal. The applicant can appeal against today’s decision too.
– A six-bedroom house is to be built on the site of a two-bedroomed 70s house at Mid Ardoe.
Full information about the reports for today’s meeting can be found at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees/detail.asp?ref_no=802572870061668E80257C3C005708E8
The re-opening of Newtonhill railway station has moved a step closer, according to a report before the North East of Scotland Transport Partnership Nestrans this week.
The report updates board members on the inaugural meeting of a North East Rail Forum in Aberdeen which was attended by ScotRail, Network Rail, Transport Scotland, Nestrans, Aberdeenshire Council, Aberdeen City Council the chamber of commerce, and the Scottish Association for Public Transport.
It also refers to the Scottish Government allocating £30m over five years to a stations fund for new and improved stations.
The initial focus remains of a new station at Kintore – due to open in 2019 – and transport interchange at Inverurie station. Bids to the stations fund are expected later this year.
The report to Nestrans goes on to say: “It was also suggested that preliminary work should be undertaken to ascertain the potential for further stations, including high level business cases, initially at Bucksburn/Persley and at Newtonhill to enable progress to a point where future bids could be made if a similar fund is available covering 2019-2026.”
Newtonhill resident Councillor Ian Mollison commented: “Although this seems a long way off, this is very encouraging. This will be first steps in re-opening the station. It takes many years from making the case to seeing trains stop in the village Newtonhill once again.
“There is a strong argument for giving residents an alternative to getting in the cars to join long queues on the A90 at Bridge of Dee. Petition after petition has shown there is a demand for a station in Newtonhill. The success of Laurencekirk re-opening and the increasing numbers of people using Portlethen shows people like trains.”
“Newtonhill station closed in 1956, and the building of the new town of Chapelton nearby only strengthens the case.”
The report to Nestrans also says that other station upgrades and proposals are being progressed.
“It was announced at the Rail Forum meeting that a ticket vending machine will be implemented at Portlethen and that platform extensions are programmed for Insch, Portlethen and Stonehaven.
“Nestrans are also in discussion with local authorities and rail industry regarding enhancements to accessibility and potential for car park improvements at various stations.”
The Nestrans meeting is being held on Thursday (21 August).
It is estimated that at least one in four Scots are either unregistered or won’t bother to have their say in the 18 September poll.
That’s around a million people – many of whom will be among the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. No matter which way you’d like to see the vote go, having your say is important.
To find out whether you are registered to vote, please visit: www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
To vote in this referendum, you must be registered to vote by 2 September.
There is fresh hope on the horizon that a new cycle link between Muchalls and Stonehaven could be on the cards. Aberdeenshire Council plans to bid for a share of extra funding which is being made available nationally for such projects.
The original bid to Sustrans – the charity enabling people to choose healthier, cleaner and cheaper journeys – included a £30,000 scheme for this financial year which would have been matched by a similar amount from Nestrans, the Transport Partnership for Aberdeen City and Shire. Aberdeenshire Council was not funding the project. This £60,000 would have been used to take a feasibility study undertaken by BEAR Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland and take it to the stage of detailed design and costed tender.
This would have been used to inform a bid for £400,000 funding (£200,000 sought from Sustrans, £200,000 from other sources) for construction in 2015/16. The £400,000 figure is based on the feasibility but would most likely have changed as the detailed design was undertaken.
Unfortunately this bid for this year failed so no work is being done on the project.
The route that was being shown on the BEAR feasibility study showed an upgrade to the existing footpath. Aberdeenshire Council officers have argued unsuccessfully that any path should be remote from the live carriageway and be behind the fence line but this has not been supported by Transport Scotland. If the bid had been successful one of the first actions officers had in mind was to revisit this view with Transport Scotland.
As mentioned however, there is one note of optimism… Sustrans has been given an extra £5m to spend this financial year and the first action will be to revisit projects that failed the first time around to see if they could still be delivered. As this year was design, documents, tender etc this is still entirely feasible before 31 March 2015. Council officers are expecting an approach from them soon.
On how any path would physically link with Stonehaven it would be via the cycle way behind the barrier on the Den of Logie Road then on road past the Golf Club and into Stonehaven on the road network.
Locally, the most significant issue at Aberdeenshire Council’s infrastructure services committee in Inverurie today was where to build a major supermarket in Stonehaven. The answer seems to be nowhere.
Here is the background.
The local councillors on Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee did not accept the planning officer’s recommendation that the recreation site be zoned for a supermarket in the local development plan. One Stonehaven councillor – Peter Bellarby – was in favour but could not find a seconder. The other councillors present agreed that the best site for a supermarket would be at Mains of Cowie. Not Stewart Milne’s proposals for 400 houses, but just a decent-sized supermarket.
That outcome went forward to today’s meeting of the infrastructure services committee. I am a member of that committee too.
Fellow local councillor Carl Nelson and I put forward the view of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee that this site be included in the local development plan. The supermarket would be tucked up beside the railway line. However we were outvoted by 9 votes to 2.
The outcome is that no site is now earmarked for a major supermarket in Stonehaven.
All the councillors on today’s committee had been lobbied by Stonehaven residents who were opposed to the proposal. As they were entitled to do.
To be clear, the recreation grounds are not zoned for a supermarket either.
What happens next is anybody’s guess. No doubt the developers who have various sites in mind around the town will put their point of view to the Scottish Government’s reporter (a civil servant) who will make the final decision. That’s the way it works.
For those who are not avid followers of the council’s planning processes, the local development plan is the key document against which alll planning applications are judged. It is far more difficult to get a planning application approved if the land in question is not zoned for what you want to do.
Turning to a different matter now, I raised the question of whether the council would reapply for grant funding from Sustrans for a cycle path cum walkway between Muchalls and Stonehaven beside the A90. Although other projects had all been given the go-ahed, this would didn’t make it in a recent funding round.
I am pleased to say that the answer was soundly “yes”. Officers will assess why the last bid failed and polish the next application when the opportunity arises.
Also being mentioned at the meeting were pressure for a Newtonhill Station (still a long way off), and a park and ride beside the A90 at the Findon interchange.
A primary school is to be built at Chapelton, and the first steps are being taken to make this process as smooth as possible for the new residents and for the people of the Newtonhill area. Our community council is looking for a volunteer to take part in a new stakeholder group. You could have a crucial role in ensuring that all goes as smoothly as possible. Get in touch with me if that could be you, and you’ll be co-opted by the community council. The first meeting will be held on Monday 30 June at 7pm in Newtonhill Primary School.
Other issues discussed tonight included:
– A planning application has been lodged for the park and choose at the Newtonhill flyover. There would be 49 parking spaces as well as the bus halt.
– Community councillor Rob Peaker and fellow Newtonhill Environmental Action Team member Scott Annand have been spraying the Japanese Knotweed in the Elsick valley. They are spending two hours every Monday tackling this invasive and dangerous plant. It will take them five years to kill it completely.
– Applications for the Meikle Carewe wind farm community fund will be accepted from 1 July to 30 September. More details from Kincardine and Mearns Area Partnership.
– Aberdeenshire Council is due to launch a review of community council to ensure that constitutions are up to date with recent changes in legislation.
– A resident is proposing to obtain two defibrillators to be available for public use in Newtonhill. Details are still be finalised.
– There was discussion about the crumbled wall at the Lomonds on the A90 at Walker Drive, Muchalls. Transport Scotland and Bear officials are to examine the situation first hand and make a decision about the best option for repairs. Transport Scotland has also said that the southbound slip road from Newtonhill on to the A90 will be extended before the 803rd house is occupied at Chapelton.
– All this and more were discussed. But the community council needs more members from Newtonhill. Interested?