A new national phone number has been launched to report power cuts. Dial 105, regardless of who your supplier is. You will be connected to your electricity network operator.

This is a free service for people in Scotland, England, and Wales but network operators can also still be contacted on their normal numbers or via their website and on social media. You can also call 105 if you spot damage to electricity power lines and substations that could put anyone in danger. Of course if there’s a serious immediate risk, you should call the emergency services too.

The annual general meeting of the Skateraw Hall committee took place in Newtonhill, with chairwoman Thelma Birnie stepping down after four years in the hot seat. She is staying on the committee though.

The AGM heard that it has been a very successful year for the hall (it dates back to the late 1800s). More bookings and lots of improvements! The new chairwoman is Claire Cameron.

A public meeting is to be held next month in the Bettridge Centre, Newtonhill, to present proposals for developing land south of Park Place. The event will be organised by Halliday Fraser Munro on behalf of Barratt and Polmuir Properties, and will run over an afternoon and evening yet to be arranged.

The agents say that a second event will also be held following feedback from the first event.

This is part of a consultation before the developers formally lodged a planning application.

A public consultation on the cost of sports and physical activities offered by Aberdeenshire Council will open on Monday (29 August).

The council is considering how best to keep services and facilities affordable for users while ensuring those services are financially sustainable in the long term. The council is also aiming for greater consistency of charges.

Since 2012 Aberdeenshire Council has invested in four major new facilities for sports and physical activities, with a further three due for completion by 2018.

A lively meeting of the Kincardine and Mearns Bus Forum tonight with residents voicing their concerns and complaints abut local services. However there were compliments too, particularly regarding the drivers.

Here are a few of the key issues relevant to this area:

– The downturn in the oil and gas industry is also affecting the bus service with fewer passengers travelling.

A building warrant has been issued for converting an unused unit at 8 Hume Square, Chapelton, into a beauty salon, with two treatment rooms, reception, staff room and disabled wc.

Similarly Barnardo’s has been granted a building warrant for a retail fit-out of premises at Unit 5 on Hillside Road in Portlethen, incorporating sale area and back of house, lighting, heating, partition walls, accessible staff wc and decoration.

An eventful meeting of Portlethen and District Community Council tonight. There were nine members of the public, with eight there while their applications for grants were discussed. No press reporters, but three Aberdeenshire councillors. Here are some of the issues that caught my eye.

– There was much disquiet about the lack of a police presence at the meeting yet again, and the lack of local information in the written report. The report did reveal that a motorcyclist was arrested on the A90 north of Stonehaven for travelling at 138mph. However there was nothing about Portlethen. Chairman Ron Sharp expressed his disappointment saying it highlighted the passing of community policing: “Sad days”. Vice chairman Ian Bruce added that it appears that the police now discourage people from reporting incidents. The local police inspector is to be invited to a future meeting.

– The community council agreed to donate £2500 to Portlethen Men’s Shed towards the £5500 cost of a ramp for wheelchairs to link a Portakabin and the main premises on Cookston Road. The club has more than 40 members, aged from 55 to 98, including one woman. The club – which has been working for 18 months to become established – is open to people over 16 of both sexes. There is growing interest in the club, but even so it is unable to access lottery funding.

– A grant of £500 was agreed for Findon Riding Club which is sending members to championships in Lincolnshire. The club has 264 members, aged from five into their 60s.

– The gala was a great success with positive feedback for everyone. It was the second in a row for the community council.

– Every household in the community will receive a consultation questionnaire with the Clochandighter magazine which will be distributed shortly (more deliverers are required!). Completed forms can be returned to any of the town’s three Co-op shops or the library, by 24 October.

– There are now CCTV cameras at Portlethen station.

– Chairman Ron Sharp said he intends to stand down from the post at the annual general meeting in March. This is due to added responsibilities at work coupled with it being an ideal time for someone else to have the opportunity to take the PDCC forward. Ron has been chairman for five years.

– I also mentioned a number of local issues coming before Tuesday’s meeting of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee (part of Aberdeenshire Council). The Jubilee Hall is applying for a £8000 grant toward the £17,000 cost of replacing and windows and the kitchen. Hillside School Parent Council is seeking a start-up grant of £4200 to set up and out-of-school club. Councillors will be asked to approve the adoption of Balquharn Place by the council. An appeal was lodged against the refusal of planning permission for two houses at Wairds Farm, however the appeal was refused. There are proposals to cut the level of the gritting of pavements across Aberdeenshire including Portlethen. Councillors will also be asked to decide on traffic arrangements on the Causey Mounth at Hillside School.

– Emergency calls to the fire service from the North East will be handled in Dundee from 8 November. Operations from Aberdeen and Inverness are moving to the new North Control in Dundee with the transition completed by March. According to the fire service, callers “will notice no difference”.

An information evening will take place on Thursday 1 September for anyone interested in a part-time postgraduate course which so far has helped almost 50 people become primary teachers in Aberdeenshire.

The event will allow aspiring teachers to find out more about the Distance Learning Initial Teacher Education programme and will take place between 6.30-7.30pm in the assembly hall at Inverurie Academy.

This is the fourth year of the programme which is run in partnership between Aberdeenshire Council and the University of Aberdeen.

This morning I was part of a group being shown inside the new Hillside primary school. A group of mums each with a child, head teacher Lesley-Anne Munro and a couple of her colleagues, plus us three local councillors and council officers were shown round the site by Michael Docherty from Farrans, the construction company.

Construction is on course to finish by the end of the year so that the school can be kitted out. It can accommodate 365 pupils and will eventually have more than 60 staff.

Heated discussions tonight at Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council. The topic in the spotlight was the plan by Barratt to develop and area of land to the south of Park Place. A 12-week pre-application consultation has just begun and in due course the company will hold a drop-in event locally seeking comment from residents.

The community council is minded to hold a public meeting to establish what local people think.

The land is zoned in Aberdeenshire Council‘s local development plan for housing. Chairman Michael Morgan said that the site could accommodate 70 houses.