New minister at Portlethen

I was pleased to attend the service of introduction last night for the Rev. Rodolphe Blanchard-Kowal who has come from France to become the minister at Portlethen Parish Church for the next three years.

His predecessor Flora Munro retired in 2015, and in the meantime the gap has been filled by John Watson from Newtonhill.

http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/recent/new_minister_for_north-east_church

Redcloak recycling centre closes for 3 days

Redcloak Household Waste Recycling Centre in Stonehaven is closing for three days to complete a site lighting and weighbridge upgrade.

As the site is quite compact and the works extensive, including digging across the access road, it is not possible to partially operate the site for health and safety reasons.

The nearest alternative sites are at Badentoy in Portlethen and in Laurencekirk.

The days the Redcloak site will be closed are:

Thursday 27 July
Friday 28 July
Saturday 29 July

New deal over school buses

A meeting between Aberdeenshire Council officers and Stagecoach has taken place to sort the ongoing issues with the Newtonhill to Portlethen Academy school buses.
Council officers tell me the outcome was that a number of measures were agreed and will be implemented for the start of the new term in August.
The measures include:
•        All three buses serving all bus stops – they will leave each stop together to ensure that no pupil is left behind. Drivers will be instructed to operate as a convoy.
•        Having an experienced “Lead Driver” operate the first vehicle and managing the other two – this will ensure that there is no overloading of vehicles although pupils will still be allocated to a particular vehicle.
•        More frequent checks to be carried out jointly with the passenger transport unit’s transport surveyors and Stagecoach Bluebird mobile inspector with pupils on the wrong vehicle reported to the school.
•        A ban on the buses stopping at the bus stop on the A90 on the afternoon journeys to improve safety – the services will be re-registered accordingly.
•        Reprogramming of all vehicle destination screens to ensure compliance.
The incidents that took place during the last week of the school term have been dealt with through the Aberdeenshire Council’s Contract Performance Management System.
Council officers trust that these measures will signal an end to the poor performance that has plagued these contracts.

Child protection training on offer

Aberdeenshire Council is offering a free, one-off training session in child protection basic awareness on Wednesday 16 August from 9.30am to 1pm in Woodhill House, Aberdeen.

It is aimed at the multi-agency general contact workforce, defined as those who are likely to come into contact with children, young people and other family members, as part of their job. This could include admin staff, receptionists, GPs, support workers etc. The frequency of the contact will vary but these workers will not usually be involved in any in-depth personal work with them.

These workers need to have the confidence and awareness to recognise when a child or young person may be in need of protection and how to respond.

Apply to training.courses@aberdeenshire.gov.uk giving your name, job title, organisation and a contact phone number.

Road surfacing programme starts

Aberdeenshire Council’s surface dressing operations for Kincardine and Mearns are now underway, starting with the South Deeside Road (B9077) from the B979 junction to Tilbouries bridge.

I noticed the 20mph signs were in place – I hope drivers will take heed! I have been told that a motorcyclist was left with a buckled front tyre and cars with chips in windscreens/paintwork. Slows speeds are vital.

These operations will take approximately two weeks to complete. These works are very weather dependent, and operations may cease during periods of rainfall.

Council roads officers tell me that surface dressing is used as an effective and cost-efficient way to further the lifespan of roads and improve the quality of damaged carriageway.

The technique of laying hot bitumen followed by chippings works to seal the road surface and provides better grip for vehicles. To ensure no bare patches are left, more chips are laid than are required for the finished job. Although the newly-dressed road is mechanically swept a number of times after being treated, it takes several days for chips to embed fully into the bitumen.

Traffic passing slowly over a newly-dressed road helps to speed up this process, but when motorists exceed speed restrictions loose chips can prove hazardous.

Some patching work is also sometimes required, where badly cracked section of roads are repaired prior to surface dressing, and these works will also be taking place throughout the area.

In combination, these processes can significantly add to the longevity of local roads at minimal cost, helping to protect them from severe weather and other damage, providing extra grip. Appropriate use of this technique has helped to routinely keep Aberdeenshire’s roads in the top five in the annual Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey.

Here is the list of roads:

B9077 B979 junction to Tilbouries bridge
B9077 Tilbouries Lodge to West Tilbouries
A957 U53K junction to Crossroads School
A957 Westerton of Bogheadly to Fetteresso Forest Access
A957 Cowton Stables to Cowton Bridge
A92 Gallaton Cottages to Seaview Cottage
A92 West View Cottages north to C23K junction
A92 Lauriston Den to Bridgeton
B974 Luthermuir to Sauchieburn crossroads
C6K C33K to U103K Luthermuir
B974 C11K junction to Clatterin Brig
B966 Odmoston Farm to Devilly Burn Bridge
U106K Fettercairn south bypass
B9120 Blackiemuir Farm to C9K
C1K Mains of Haulkerton
U116K B9120 to U117K Honeyhill junction
U126K Johnshaven Cemetery Road
C14K Anniston to East Haremuir
C14K U114K to East Haremuir
U115K Banff farm to Whitefield
C21K Nether Pitforthie to Little Wairds
C21K Little Barras to Quarry entrance
U84K A92 to junction near Slains Park
C19K Glenbervie to Drumlithie
C1K Burnmouth Bridge to Auchenblae
U78K Ferniebrae to Upper Westown
C26K Lyndon to Chapelton Cottage
U81K North Gallaton to C26K
C5K C32K junction to Durris Cottage
U50K Myrebird, A93 junction northwards

 

Decison over Portlethen dispensary

The NHS Grampian Board today approved the recommendations of a review group regarding dispensing at Auchenblae, Gardenstown, Portlethen, Rhynie, Skene and Udny Station (part of Scotstown Medical Group) GP practices. The outcome is that the Portlethen and Skene practices will no longer be required to dispense.
Patients will in future have to go to the pharmacy of their choice instead.
There is no date for implementing the decision in the information provided to me.
The board also approved the building and commissioning of a renal unit in the Stonehaven community hospital, which will deliver a satellite renal service to the community within the Kincardine area. The community has raised £1,024,180.40 to date and will continue to fund raise.  There has also been a grant from NHS Grampian Endowment Fund to resource the project. No opening date has been announced.
NHS Grampian produced a frequently-asked-questions document about the dispensary decisions. There is a hiccup with their website at the moment but it should be available at http://www.nhsgrampian.org/nhsgrampian/InvolvingYou.jsp?pContentID=9784&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&

Warning of road works

A reminder that the road surfacing repairs on the U58K Duffshill Road will take place on 17 and 18 July.

In addition, the nearby C34K Causey Mounth (to the west) will be closed from 19 July until 20 July, also for road surfacing repairs.

Council officers assure me that emergency and pedestrian access is to be maintained by the contractors. Vehicular access to affected properties is also to be maintained whenever possible.

Beware of scams

Aberdeenshire Council’s trading standards service is warning residents to beware of scams.
Research has shown that 45 to 60-year-olds are most affected, and by a wide range of scams, often losing large amounts of money. But there is also a disturbing rise in the number of 18 to 24-year-olds being scammed – the group least likely to report a scam.
July is National Scams Awareness Month.

Why garden waste lorry was missing

I have found out why the waste collection lorry was not at the Coastal Park car park in Newtonhill on Saturday morning.
The lorry driver reported in sick to the duty officer on Saturday morning however at the same time both the waste management supervisor and assistant waste management supervisor were with their families following bereavement.
Most unfortunate, but hopefully everyone will be understanding.