Last night we had a meeting of the Chapelton liaison committee, where developers, residents, community councils, local councillors, NHS Grampian, builders, Aberdeenshire Council and contractors come together for an update on the new town. Here are some key points:

– The first houses will be built by a Dorchester firm called ZeroC, who have been involved in projects including Prince Charles’ Poundbury development. Rooms in their properties are 10% larger than standard. They will build 11 flats and 26 houses, commercial properties and a nursery on Greenlaw Road (the main entrance route) and Hume Square. A contractors will be Bancon.

– The initial houses will be larger, but as the development progresses there will be “full offer of all types” according to David Southesk. Nearer the centre of the new twon there will be smaller houses.

– Sales cabins will open on site tomorrow, but at this stage is by appointment only. The sales office will be open from 11am to 5pm from Thursday to Monday. The Heras fencing surround the site near Newtonhill will be removed imminently.

– NHS Grampian is more optimistic now about providing local health services and is confident of bridging the gap with help from the Portlethen Medical Centre which can “increase its capacity.” There is a recognition from Scottish Government down that there is a need. NHS Grampian’s spokesman said they are committed to providing medical services in the new town.

– Chapelton youngsters will go to Newtonhill Primary School or Portlethen Academy. Both have capacity. The first Chapelton primary school can open in August 2017, and indeed can be brought forward a year if necessary. However a public consultation about rezoning take a year – a statutory requirement.

– The bus stops will be moved from the A90 at the Newtonhill flyover before the first house is occupied in the new town. The park and choose site will be up and running once 50 homes are occupied. A minibus service will link the park and choose with Chapelton.

– The two objections to the closure of the Bruntland Road junction on the A90 at Bourtreebush have now been dropped. That means the work can go ahead, for safety reasons. There is no timetable yet. 

– Rising mains will needs to cross under the A90. This will be done by drilling, without interrupting the traffic. However when mains need to cross the Durris-Portlethen road near Compulsion Lodge, that road will need to be closed for three weeks, hopefully less, in August. 

– Construction traffic will have no need to use the Cookney road. On occasion the road had to be used, especially when the Greenlaw Road (the access road) was being tarred.

North East Liberal Democrats today criticised the Scottish Government on the eve of local court closures in Stonehaven and Arbroath.

Alison McInnes MSP, who is also the Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson, said: “It is lamentable that the Scottish Government has refused to listen to local concerns. This is the end of an era.”

In April last year SNP ministers approved Scottish Court Service proposals which are resulting in the closure of nearly one in five sheriff courts, including Arbroath and Stonehaven. Seven justice of the peace courts are also shutting, again including Arbroath and Stonehaven.

Court business will be transferred on Friday 30 May from Arbroath to Forfar and from Stonehaven to Aberdeen.

Courts in Annan, Cumbernauld, Irvine, Motherwell, Portree, Stornoway, Wick, Dornoch, Kirkcudbright and Rothesay were shut in November 2013. Cupar’s court also closes this week, with business transferring to Dundee. Those in Dingwall, Duns, Haddington and Peebles will close in January 2015.

Mrs McInnes said: “Scottish Liberal Democrats believe that justice is best delivered as locally as possible. Shifting cases to Forfar and Aberdeen respectively will cause major inconvenience for people travelling to court.”

The North East MSP continued: “Furthermore the court reform Bill which is currently going through parliament will mean that there will be more civil work for local courts. Aberdeen court in particular is already extremely busy, and we could soon see a situation where increased delays in the justice process are inevitable.”

Stonehaven councillor Peter Bellarby said: “I am bitterly disappointed that the Scottish Government has pressed ahead with the closure of the courts in Stonehaven in spite of overwhelming public opposition.

“The day the courts close will be a sad day for Stonehaven. This will bring to an end a long tradition over many centuries. Over that time the courts have served the people of Stonehaven and the Mearns well. Stonehaven will be the poorer without them.”

North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison added: “Over my career I have attended justice of the peace, burgh, sheriff, juvenile, and high courts. They work best when they are based in the community the serve. Justice should be seen to be done, and that means being accessible.”

A crisp meeting of Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council tonight which covered a wide variety of topics. Only just quorate though – any volunteers who would like to join? Some snippets: 

• There are plans for more electrical boxes for the sewage pumping station at the Braehead at the foot of Skateraw Road, Newtonhill. No objections. 
• Vandals daubed graffiti under the railway bridge at the south end of Muchalls. One irate resident took on the task of scrubbing the paint off. 
• The community council will be invited to join a liaison committee for the Aberdeen bypass and the Fastlink. Work should start later this year and be opened in 2018. 
• A “Songs from the Shows” event is being held in the Skateraw Hall, Newtonhill on Friday 6 June. Tickets, costing £10, are being sold to raise funds for the hall. 
• Applications for grants from the Meikle Carewe wind farm community fund will be open from 1 July to 30 September. Community council secretary Edith Stephen will be one of the panel members. 
• Police officers told the meeting there had only been three reportable offences in the area in the past month – vandalism, shoplifting, and a vehicle with a faulty light. This does not include drivers who were booked from inconsiderate parking, for example on the approaches to the pedestrian crossing on Newtonhill Road.

Kincardine and Mearns councillors today set out their view of how development should take place across the area in the coming decades.

North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison commented afterwards: “Headline news is that a major company may wish to establish its world HQ just outside Stonehaven. It would bring about 1000 jobs, and would be an iconic and prestigious development just north-east of the A90 interchange with the Netherley road. If all goes well it would open in 2018 at the same time at the Fastlink and Aberdeen bypass.

“Councillors were given scant details at the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee today as negotiations are still underway. The only other key details were that the firm already has a presence in Aberdeenshire, research and development would be the focus, 80% of the jobs would be for graduate-level staff, and “they have toes in the North Sea”. Intriguing.

“Our meeting was devoted to commenting on the refresh of the Local Development Plan. This is the blueprint for future development and contains the policies against which planning applications are judged.

“There are no surprises regarding future housing developments. No 1500 extra houses at Hillside. No creeping development north of Newtonhill into Cammachmore. No housing around Lairhillock School. Full backing was given to the Chapelton development.

“However no doubt the recommendations – which will go to the Aberdeenshire Infrastructure Services Committee on 3 July – will create some controversy, particularly over the choice of site for a major supermarket for Stonehaven. Nowhere is ideal. Planners preferred building on the recreation grounds. That gained the backing of only one councillor. After much soul-searching the other councillors opted for the Mains of Cowie site as it is relatively close to the town centre and near the A90 too.”

North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison welcomed changes to bus routes through Portlethen which will confusion over which side of the road to wait for a bus.

He explained: “Because of bus routings sometime the Aberdeen-bound bus stopped on one side of Muirend Road at Asda. But sometimes an Aberdeen bus stopped on the other side of the road. It was the same with south-bound services.

The bus timetables will change from 5 May, and to remove the confusion, all northbound journeys operating via Portlethen (Muirend Road) will pick up passengers on the Asda side of the road, while all southbound journeys will pick up passengers on the opposite side of Muirend Road.

Information from Aberdeenshire Council’s public transport unit about the changes to Stagecoach’s bus timetables affecting Newtonhill and Portlethen, coming into force on 5 May.

1. Services: 7/7A/7B/7C/7S/X6/X7
2. Route: Aberdeen – Newtonhill/Portlethen/Stonehaven
3. Operator: Stagecoach Bluebird
4. Implementation Date: 5 May 2014

5.1 Journey Re-routings

i) The Monday to Saturday inter-peak and Sunday daytime journeys on Service 7B (Aberdeen – Portlethen) are re-routed within Portlethen as follows:

Southbound: Service operates via Marywell to Portlethen (Cookston Road), then via Cookston Road, Muirend Road and Bruntland Road to Berrymuir Road.

Northbound: From Portlethen (Berrymuir Road) via Berrymuir Road, Bruntland Road, Muirend Road, Cookston Road, then via Marywell to Aberdeen.

ii) 1740 hours ex Aberdeen – Stonehaven (Monday – Friday) is re-routed to additionally serve Marywell at 1812 hours.

5.2 Journey Re-Numbering

i) School-day journeys, formerly numbered as 7C, are re-numbered 7S.

ii) Service 7 journeys operating between Aberdeen and Newtonhill via Portlethen are re-numbered 7C.

5.3 Additional Journeys

i) 0840 hours ex Stonehaven – Newtonhill (Road End) – Aberdeen (Monday – Friday) (Service X7)

ii) 1645 hours ex Stonehaven – Newtonhill (Road End) – Aberdeen (Monday – Friday) (Service X7)

iii) 0925 hours ex Aberdeen – Newtonhill (Road End) – Stonehaven (Monday – Friday) (Service X7)

iv) 1600 hours ex Aberdeen – Newtonhill (Road End) – Stonehaven (Monday – Friday) (Service X7)

v) 1825 hours ex Stonehaven – Newtonhill Village – Portlethen – Aberdeen (Saturday) (Service 7B)

vi) 1720 hours ex Aberdeen – Portlethen – Newtonhill Village – Stonehaven (Saturday) (Service 7B).

6) The changes to the N7 (Nightbird 7) timetable will be as follows:

The 0040 journey from Aberdeen – Newtonhill – Aberdeen will now depart at 0110. It arrives in Portlethen at 0128 and Newtonhill at 0139.

The 0140 journey from Aberdeen – Newtonhill – Aberdeen will now depart at 0210. It arrives in Portlethen at 0228 and Newtonhill at 0239.

The 0240 journey from Aberdeen – Stonehaven will now depart at 0310.  It arrives in Portlethen at 0328, Newtonhill at 0339 and Stonehaven at 0353.

These journeys will operate on Friday nights (Saturday mornings) and Saturday nights (Sunday mornings).

7) The X7 express service is now operated separately from our local services – by Stagecoach Strathtay – and the timetable for this service changed on 7 April .

Aberdeenshire Council’s seasonal garden waste recycling points will be available again shortly.

Portlethen residents will find the garden waste recycling point at the ASDA car park as usual. It will operate on Wednesdays, 3-6pm from April 23 to November 5 and Saturdays, 8am-3pm from April 19 to November 8.

In Newtonhill it will operate on Saturdays from April 19 to November 8 at: the Bettridge Centre Car Park, 8am-11.40am

Garden waste recycling facilities are also available throughout the year at Household Waste and Recycling Centres in Aberdeenshire, such as Redcloak, Stonehaven. 

To find out more, call Aberdeenshire Council’s Wasteline on 0845 600 3 900 or see: www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/waste

Plans for upgrading roads and pavements across Kincardine and Mearns costing £4.2m have been agreed by councillors. In the North Kincardine ward, the improvements are below.

Resurfacing – C30K (rural area) at the junction with the U59K.

Surface dressing – C5K (rural area) from Calladrum Cottage to Woodlands of Durris; U57K (rural area) from the junction with the C5K north to the B9077;

Crollshillock Place and Cliff View in Newtonhill;

Mosside Drive, Mosside Crescent, Dunvegan Crescent, Avenue & Place, and Glascairn Avenue & Place in Portlethen.

Footway works – C8K at Checkbar.

Argyll Place between No 54 and No 60, Cookston Road and Downies Road in Portlethen.

Haunching (strengthening road verges) – C5K from the junction with the C30K, and C13K east of the Lairhillock School. 

Lighting – Low wattage bulbs instead of high wattage on Bruntland Road from the A90 to Bracken Road, Portlethen. 

There is also a reserve list costing £3.1m if work can be brought forward.

Finally, there is provision for on-going maintenance such as repairing potholes.