Council takes over Hillside streets

Barnhill Gardens, Barnhill Drive, Schoolhill Drive (a continuation of), and Eskywell Drive in Hillside have now been adopted by Aberdeenshire Council.
This is because the roads have been satisfactorily completed in accordance with a construction consent, granted in accordance with the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. As such, as Roads Authority, Aberdeenshire Council is required under the Act to add the roads to its Statutory List of Public Roads.
This means that Aberdeenshire Council is now responsible for the maintenance of the roads, pavements and street lights, rather than the developer.

Help during the water shortage

Aberdeenshire Council is working with Scottish Water and the Scottish Government to provide bottled water and tanks to those whose private supply is running dry, at no cost.
This would normally be something that owners would be expected to source themselves, but these are not normal circumstances. The council is prioritising requests from those more vulnerable in the first instance.
If you need help, contact the council by emailing environmental@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or phoning 01467 539539 (during office hours). The Environmental Health Service will respond as quickly as possible to your enquiry.
Long term, the service is providing advice on looking at future solutions such as support to help connect to the mains. If that is not possible, improvements to the current source or forming a new supply can be considered. Grants may be available for some of this work.
There are more than 7500 private water supplies in Aberdeenshire serving approximately 11,500 properties. This is by far the highest number of any local authority in Scotland. So far, the council has had 13 requests for support from residents.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reports that in the North East there is a significant scarcity of water in the Ythan and Deveron catchments, and a moderate scarcity here in North Kincardine.

Awards for volunteer drivers

Would you like to help recognise the important work of volunteer drivers and escorts in the Grampian area?

Health & Transport Action Plan Partners, of which Aberdeenshire Council is one, established this award to honour people in the Grampian volunteer transport sector in recognition of their outstanding service, commitment and contribution.

The three winners will receive great prizes at the presentation on 9 November.

The deadline for nominations is 25 September.

To nominate contact the Transport to Healthcare Information Centre (THInC) on 01467 536111 or email travel@thinc-hub.org

Road surfacing hiccup

The Kincardine and Mearns road surface dressing programme has now been completed, with the exception of Thistle Drive in Portlethen (between the railway bridges).

Site notices had been erected however a couple of cars were parked on site yesterday. Roads Service staff tried to locate the owners of both vehicles by carrying out door to door checks, but they could not find either owner. One of the vehicles had moved by the end of yesterday, and Police Scotland were contacted to trace the owner of the remaining vehicle.

Police Scotland that the vehicle owner was in Aviemore, and would not be returning until midday today. This unfortunately has resulted in an area of Thistle Drive where surface dressing could not be carried out during the programme. The Roads Service aim to complete the final section of surface dressing within the next two weeks.

First look at A90 junction plans

Two public exhibitions are to be held to allow the local community and road users to view and comment on the preferred option that has been identified for the Laurencekirk A90 junction improvement scheme.
The exhibitions will take place on Friday 20 July and Friday 24 August from noon to 7pm at the Dickson Memorial Hall, Station Road, Laurencekirk, AB30 1BE.
The exhibition material showing the preferred option will also be available from noon on 20 July on the project pages of the Transport Scotland website: https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/

More work affects road

Openreach has requested a further extension of the closure of the C30K rural road (near the South Deeside Road) while they carry out work in carriageway boxes.

This will apply from Wednesday 11 July until Friday 13 July from 9:30am to 3:30pm daily.

Running event for Portlethen

Portlethen’s first running event is to be held on Sunday 9 September. There will be:
– A women’s 5 mile road race (starting at 10.30am) – raising funds for Sportlethen community sports hub
– A family mile dash (starting at noon) in aid of CLAN cancer support.
There is also a website: www.runportlethen.net
Family places will be available on the day.
The organisers need help to make it happen. Sports clubs in the Portlethen area are being asked to support the event, providing marshals and helpers, for example.
Sportlethen chair Lynne Erskine says that they have been lucky enough to have two groups offer to help with marshaling, but we need more people. “We need gazebos built, and we need people for registration desks, bag drop, etc – lots to do. I am in the process of completing the event safety plan and detailed plans will be available soon.”

Police warn of phone scams

Police in the North East are again urging the public to be vigilant after two recent reports of phone scams where the victims have collectively lost in the region of £35,000.
 
On both occasions the victims were called by a man who identified himself as being from their bank’s fraud team. He then went on to say that there had been fraudulent activity on their accounts and asked his victims to transfer money either online or by attending at their bank.
 
The most recent incidents reported have happened in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
 
Inspector Matt Smith said: “Sadly we know from experience how completely devastating these types of crimes can be. In just a few minutes a fraudster can obliterate someone’s life savings with no regard for the consequences.
 
“Often those that are targeted are retired or are perceived to be vulnerable in some way but anyone can be a victim.
 
“In these most recent reports the callers have pretended to be from their victim’s bank saying they are investigating fraudulent activity on their account. They ask their victim to move substantial amounts of money into an account, which they provide the details for, for safe-keeping.
 
“The fraudsters may also induce the victims to attend their own bank or building society personally to transfer the money.
 
“They may also claim that there is fraudulent activity happening within the bank and to ignore the advice of bank tellers if they are questioned when they attend at the bank about wishing to make a large transfer.
 
“Banks will NEVER make phone calls asking you to move money. If you do receive such a call, hang up and call the police immediately.
 
“You wouldn’t hand over your life savings to a stranger on the street, so you should NEVER consider transferring money to a stranger on the other end of a phone. Banks will also NEVER ask you to personally attend your local branch and make a transaction to a safe account.
 
“Anyone with concerns about scam calls should call the police on 101.”

Windfarm grants on offer

The Meikle Carewe Windfarm Community Fund is now open for applications, until the end of September.
 
This year’s fund of more than £23,000 is available to applications from not-for-profit groups and organisations in the Crathes, Drumoak & Durris; Newtonhill, Muchalls & Cammachmore; North Kincardine Rural; Portlethen & District and Stonehaven & District community council areas.
 
Guidelines and application forms are available from the Kincardine Development Partnership office: www.kdp.scot.

Council launches new culture and sport unit

Aberdeenshire Council has launched of a new strategy aimed at boosting culture, arts and sport.
Councillors agreed a number of key reports on setting up the culture and sport business unit, akin to an arms-length body. It should go live on 1 December, and will be supervised by a new sub-committee of councillors and external appointments.
A launch event was held at Woodhill House when the work of local artists and craftspeople was on display, with meeting rooms recreating activities such as keep-fit sessions and “knit and natter” sessions, a gymnastics display, dancers and musicians.
Among the immediate aims are to build the best library service,and drawing up a pitches strategy. This will include bringing the letting and administration of outdoor pitches and sports facilities under the banner of the new unit.
Councillors heard that several pitches would benefit from upgrading, and there is growing pressure for enhanced facilities including floodlighting and artificial pitches. The review will also seek to identify sources of external funding.
I took the opportunity at the committee meeting to press the case for a new artificial pitch in Portlethen.
Cllr Anne Stirling, chairwoman of the council’s communities committee, said the new strategy represented a “bold and real change.”
“We are committed to getting people active, and there will be a new arts and heritage focus to keep our towns and villages vibrant places to live and visit,” she added.