I have reported the growing pothole on St Crispin’s Road at the junction with Newtonhill Road. It wasn’t filled along with other potholes as Scottish Water workers were at that spot.

The Roads Service tells me it has been logged as “Lower Priority Programmed Repair” following an inspection. Officers say it requires further intervention and defects in this category “will often be repaired when a programme of planned work can be organised which maximises efficiency as resources become available and may take much longer to complete.”

Officers add that they are unable to provide an estimated completion date.

I hope this means it will be added to the list of outstanding repairs – including those in Cairnwell Road – which I have been promised will be carried out in the new financial year.

Meantime it would help if residents would continue to report potholes: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/roadfaults/

People are still being asked to do a lateral flow test twice a week and to also test before meeting someone at high risk. And of course, report the test result – even if it’s negative – either on line or phone 119.

Full details here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/covid-19/community-testing

You can get free lateral flow tests by:
– Ordering online at https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
– Phoning 119 (7am – 11pm daily. Calls are free).
– Collecting from an Aberdeenshire Council mobile centres. In Kincardine and Mearns they are at the following locations:
Monday, 21 March
Stonehaven – Market Square – 10am until noon.
Tuesday, 22 March
Portlethen – Asda car park – 10am until noon.
Wednesday, 23 March
Stonehaven – Market Square – noon to 3.30pm.
Friday, 25 March
Portlethen – Asda car park – 10am – 12.30pm/1pm – 3.30pm (Closed for 30-minute lunch break).

Library services will resume in Newtonhill from Wednesday 6 April, after a two-year closure.

Staff will be operating from a new base within the Bettridge Centre as part of partnership working.

Public browsing and the Click & Collect service (for those who would prefer to collect a bundle of pre-selected books) will be available twice a week on a Wednesday 3.30pm – 6pm and Friday 1pm – 3.30pm.

Bookings for Click & Collect can be made by calling the Live Life Aberdeenshire helpline on 01467 532929 or via the website https://livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk/. The library team will also look at providing outreach activities in Newtonhill.

This could include Bookbug sessions, homework clubs, memories groups or whatever the community requires to meet its needs. This will be carried out as soon as there are additional staff in place.

The library service will be unable to provide public access computers in the new space at this time. They will review this if there is sufficient demand for the service.

Hearing aid batteries, food waste bags and other services will also be available to the public when they visit the new base: customers just need to ask the staff.

The former library building in the Coastal Park is in a sorry state and it has been a losing battle for years to try and keep it wind and water tight. Sadly, it is simply no longer fit for purpose. It was, after all, a temporary building.

Aberdeenshire Health & Social Care Partnership’s covid-19 vaccination teams are working through the 5–11-year cohort, with appointments having been issued to all those eligible.

Over 75s will be invited to attend for a second booster vaccination over the coming weeks and the teams have been preparing to administer those immunisations.

Locally, Stonehaven Town Hall which currently houses the vaccination centre will be vacated by Monday 4 April, and over 75s will be vaccinated utilising school buildings over the Easter break.

Meanwhile Invercarron Resource Centre on Low Wood Road, Stonehaven, will be undergoing works to become the new vaccination centre.

It will be one of seven confirmed longer-term venues for vaccination centres. The others will be in Macduff, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Inverurie, Banchory and Huntly.

The AHSCP says: “We anticipate that the majority of our new sites will be ready for us to begin moving into soon. However, as with all work of this nature just now there is a possibility that those timetables may slip. We are extremely grateful to our colleagues in Live Life Aberdeenshire who have accommodated the vaccination programme over the past year and are liaising closely with them to ensure a smooth transition so community facilities can re-open as soon as possible.”

The latest covid-19 vaccination figures (18+) up to 17 March are below:

Fishermoss School features in a briefing given to councillors from the Education and Children’s Service. Here is what it says about the Fairtrade project:

“Our youngsters have been learning about the economic and societal benefits of fair trade with help from the University of Aberdeen Business School.

“The primary 5 class at Fishermoss Primary School in Portlethen took part in an online workshop looking at the impact on farmers and other producers of everyday products like chocolate, fruit, sugar, coffee, honey and tea being produced and traded under the Fairtrade stamp.

“The pupils discussed the concept of Fairtrade and the economic and environmental benefits it can bring to farmers and local communities, as well the role of consumers. They were then taught some of the basics of marketing before being set a practical challenge to prepare for a real Fairtrade event which will take place at the school later this year.

“Pam Cumming, schools engagement officer for the Business School, who led the workshop, said: ‘Pupils learned that by buying products with the Fairtrade mark consumers can be sure that farmers and producers are getting fair prices for their products, have decent working conditions, can build stronger communities and have control over their futures. It also provides assurance that the producers and businesses have met internationally agreed standards.

“ ‘The class worked hard throughout the workshops, particularly in the practical session where they were tasked with thinking about how to raise awareness of Fairtrade, increase sales and also to prepare to organise and market their own event, what that might involve, what they would sell and the costs involved.

“ ‘We place a great deal of importance on inspiring, informing and educating local youngsters, letting them know what the University does, how we teach, what we teach – and nurturing that feeling in them that learning is fun. This kind of engagement is hugely beneficial, reaping benefits for us in both the short and the long term, which is why it forms an integral part of our commitment to the future success of the Aberdeen city region.’

“Teacher Jessica Airlie said: ‘This was a super opportunity for the children to focus on developing lifelong skills for learning and work. Fairtrade is something that we, as a whole school, focus on spreading awareness about as part of our learning for sustainability. With help from Pam, our class have been focussing on planning and creating an event to share information about Fairtrade to our school community. The virtual workshop was very informative and lots of fun. It was lovely to hear lots of enthusiastic discussions about Fairtrade farmers and products, the impact marketing can have on consumers and future aspirations including attending university and becoming fair business owners.’ “

I wasn’t able to attend last night’s meeting of Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council in the Skateraw Hall, but my colleague Mel Sullivan was there.

Here is her round-up of the discussions: https://melsullivan.mycouncillor.org.uk/2022/03/17/newtonhill-muchalls-and-cammachmore-community-council-351st-meeting/?fbclid=IwAR1_QDLa5I9DVa9gmIP64OXICVSAasQzpFnn4i03J8XD-2oUmxBSkqjOgDM

Aberdeenshire Council’s latest Trading Standards bulletin warning of local scams has just been published.

DOORSTEP CRIME
We have recently received a report from the Buchan area of a man who goes door to door flyering his services as a gardener.

This same man is suspected of fly tipping garden waste on private land which will cost the landowner a substantial amount of money to clean up. We are also aware that he is not registered with SEPA for a waste carrier’s licence and so is unlikely to pay the fees for commercial waste services to the council. This selfish individual would rather pocket his gains and let someone else clean up his mess.

Members of the public enlisting gardeners, landscapers, roofers or anyone who transports someone else’s waste as part of their business can help reduce the instances of fly-tipping by asking to see the trader’s SEPA Waste Carrier’s Registration Document (often just referred to as a SEPA licence). If they can’t produce one, there’s a possibility that your waste may end up being dumped once it’s left your location.

Trading Standards ask that you stick only to those tradesmen who can produce their SEPA licence.
Details of the SEPA Document can be found at: https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/waste-carriers-and-brokers/

VERIFICATION CODE SCAM
A resident in Moray was recently called on her mobile phone from a blocked number by someone claiming to be from her bank, to report suspicious activity on her bank account.

The caller then asked the resident for the verification code which had just been texted to her, which the resident gave, resulting in a substantial loss from her account. The truth of the matter was that the caller was a scammer who had tried to access the resident’s bank account online, triggering the bank to send out a real verification code to the resident. When the resident passed the code, that was the final piece of the jigsaw the scammer needed to access her bank account.

If you receive such a call from a ‘bank’ asking for a verification code, please NEVER give it up. The caller could be anyone and the bank should have no need for the code.

Importantly, the scammer would have needed some of the resident’s personal and banking information already, such as passwords and PIN numbers. This might have been obtained a number of ways; stealing bank statements from rubbish bags or bins, or accessing written details from notebooks or similar.

These possibilities underscore the need to store confidential information securely and disposing of it by shredding or burning, rather than simply throwing it in the bin.

HMRC SCAM
A resident from Garioch recently reported a notable scam to Trading Standards which is based on making a tax a claim to HMRC.

The company concerned sends out emails to potential customers advising them that they could make a claim to HMRC if they have been working from home recently or if they wear a uniform as part of their work duties.

The company offers to act as the customer’s agent in making the claim to HMRC for any overpaid taxes and refunds due. A binding contract is then agreed between the company and the customer. However, what is not disclosed to the customer is that any pay-out from HMRC is made to the company firstly and they will then take their fees of about a third of the pay-out before giving the customer the remainder.

As the company is acting as the customer’s agent, HMRC must make the pay-out to the company. In the instance reported to Trading Standards, the company concerned took over £1000 for their services.

In many instances if someone is due a tax rebate, HMRC will attend to it automatically but if you believe you may be due a rebate which has not been paid, a good place to start the process of claiming is via HMRC directly via their website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs and to ignore offers from commercial companies to do so on your behalf.

SPOOFING
One north Aberdeenshire resident recently received a phone call from a number which showed up on the Caller ID as being another local number. When the resident answered the call, a male with a foreign accent spoke, claiming to be from a well-known media company. The resident immediately realised that it wasa scam or sales call and hung up.

Scams are big business these days and scammers often use computers to assist them, some as auto-dialers to go through a list of phone numbers successively looking for a victim and some to disguise (spoof) the real number from which they’re calling behind a local number.

Trading Standards would like to reinforce that just because a local number appears on your Caller ID that it won’t be a scammer or a high pressure sales call on the line, especially if it’s an unknown number or a call at a strange time of the day, and we would ask that you still remain vigilant and don’t pass any personal information until you’re satisfied the call is genuine.

If you think you’ve received a call from a spoofed number, you may be able to obtain the number via the 1471 facility or by contacting your service provider.

We would ask that you then contact Trading Standards to report the matter.

CONTACTS
For urgent Trading Standards matters, contact Aberdeenshire Council’s Trading Standards at 01467 537222. For non-urgent enquiries, please contact Consumer Advice Scotland at https://www.consumeradvice.scot/ or on 0808 164 6000.

Contact Police Scotland on 999 if you need urgent police assistance or 101 for non-urgent matters.

Aberdeenshire Council has stressed the need to tighten legislation to crack down on fly-tipping offenders.

That’s the key point in the council’s response to a Scottish Government consultation on a proposed new national litter and fly-tipping strategy.

The six-year strategy, due to be published in the coming months, will set out a vision for a future where the environment is unblighted by litter and fly-tipping.

It is a problem locally, with one example recently being a couch and seats being dumped near Portlethen golf course.

Before allowing any waste to be taken away, householders should take a note of the vehicle registration number, ask to see a waste carrier’s licence, ask the carrier exactly which licensed facility the waste is going to, and be suspicious if the quoted price is too low.

If the person taking the waste won’t give that information, then the chances are your waste will be illegally dumped and the householder risks being given a fixed penalty notice.

More here: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/news/release.aspx?newsID=8490

Masks stay for the moment.

Some covid restrictions were due to change in the coming days, but there has been a marked increase in positive cases across the country. The BA.2 strain of Omicron is dominant in Scotland.

In summary, the First Minister today:
• Confirmed that social distancing measures in shops and other premises will end from Monday along with the requirement for businesses to collect customer details.
• Asked that people continue to wear face coverings on public transport and in certain indoor settings for a further two weeks. In two weeks, that will be reviewed. The mask wearing legislation was due to end on Monday also, but this has been extended to take account of rising case numbers in Scotland.

From 18 April, people will no longer be asked to test twice weekly if they have no symptoms.

Routine asymptomatic testing in education settings – schools, early learning and childcare, and universities – will cease at the end of the current term.

From the end of April, testing for people with symptoms will also end.

A new Test and Protect transition strategy was confirmed, and can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/test-protect-transition-plan/

Last night I attended a discussion for community councils in Kincardine and Mearns about the impact of the recent storms, and the issues they caused.

It was hosted by Aberdeenshire Council as officers try to help us be better prepared from the next storms, whenever that may be.

Our two ward community councils were represented – Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore CC and North Kincardine Rural CC. No-one from Portlethen of course as the community council in the town collapsed last year due to a lack of volunteers.