A public meeting will take place at Portlethen Academy at 7pm on Wednesday, 23 September about the new £12.4m primary school at Hillside. Work will begin soon as a contractor – FMP Construction – has now been appointed.

People will get the opportunity to input into decisions about elements such as the new school’s name, uniform and logo with council representatives on hand to coordinate the discussions. Details of transition arrangements such as the formation of a parent council will also be discussed.

A further series of workshops will take place around the transition and more details will be available soon.

Today the Big Lottery Fund announced that Portlethen Men’s Shed has been awarded a grant of £10,000 towards its start-up costs. Is that not great news? The money is coming from the Awards for All scheme, with £1,095,080 being shared by 150 grassroots groups across Scotland.

That was a good meeting! Twenty or so people attended the Newtonhill Village Association monthly meeting after the appeal for more volunteers to come forward. Included in that number were people who have just moved into the community. Great!

It looks like the NVA will be in good hands when the annual general meeting is held on Wednesday 7 October at 7.30pm in the Bettridge Centre lounge. A new chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary will be required.

Among the topics discussed were the fireworks display in the Coastal Park on 5 November, the next edition of the Newsey magazine (due out shortly), the 200 club, the successful fun day in June (in place of the Skateraw Fair), the annual old folk’s treat, and other many other issues.

Aberdeenshire Council is willing to help any refugees that come to the North East, according to a statement just released by the chief executive. He says the council is waiting to hear from the UK government and COSLA, the umbrella group for Scottish local authorities.

I would have been surprised and disappointed if the council had done otherwise. Quite how this is to be achieved though is yet to be seen.

I had written to the chief executive asking for reassurances that Aberdeenshire Council would play its part, and was pleased tor receive a quick response along the lines in his statement.

Really good news today for the Maryculter Woodlands Trust. They have been successful in applying to the Scottish Land Fund, securing a £196,000 award.

The enthusiastic group is aiming to buy the Kirkton of Maryculter woods – some 67 hectares – for the community from the Forestry Commission.

I have received a few emails from people in my North Kincardine council ward, asking what the local authority is doing to help the refugees streaming into Europe. I have to say I have been disappointed by the stance taken by the UK Government. We should be extending a hand of welcome, be thankful it isn’t us, and not leave people to drown. How uncaring is that?

Yes, the UK has been very generous by opening our wallets to help provide camps and so on in the Middle East. But that doesn’t help those who have left the camps.

A reminder that the first Health and Social Care Integration event is at Newtonhill’s Bettridge Centre, on Tuesday 8 September from noon to 2.30pm. Please go along if you want to find out more about the future of health and social care in North East Scotland. Transport can be offered if required – contact Sandra on 01569 763246. Refreshments will be available.

The Kincardine and Mearns bus forum attracted about three dozen people to the council chamber tonight. Plenty to talk about, with three senior managers from Stagecoach present to answer questions.

– Passenger numbers have “fallen through the floor” with the recent downturn in the oil industry, according to Stagecoach’s Steve Walker. This may have an impact on services as they may have to look at a trimming of the network. However the company does not want to get into a downward spiral.

– Aberdeen bus station isn’t big enough or fit for purpose, Stagecoach’s Steve Walker told the meeting. The bus company has looked at different configurations, but not found a better solution. The bus station seemed to be an afterthought when Union Square was being designed. Portlethen community councillor Paul Melling pressed the point that the bus station is not fit for purpose. A seat opposite the stance for 7 buses has been removed, possibly because people were sleeping there at night.

– Portlethen community councillor David Dell raised various issues about local services. Residents had said at the gala that they would like a circular town service. He also relayed concerns about the design of the steps on the X7 buses. A number of people confirmed that they had fallen on the bus. Steve Walker said that newer coaches have been modified, though he has yet to see one.

– Requests for a service into Muchalls was investigated but there were problems when a bus was driven into the village. Turning was a problem, and there was insufficient space in the central reservation to cross the A90. As a result it is not feasible to have a service.

– A suggestion was put by a Newtonhill resident that Stagecoach should renumber services with a 7S going to Stonehaven, a 7N only going to Newtonhill, and a 7P as far as Portlethen.

– Currently there are two timetables, with the X7 having a separate one. However the X7 is to be incorporated into the main timetable.

– I raised various points about the Chapelton park and choose which is being served at the moment by the X7 only. Stagecoach don’t have a problem with the southbound X7 letting passengers off opposite Tesco. In November all bus services should call at the park and choose, and the two A90 bus stops will be taken out of service. A local resident asked that lighting be improved at the park and choose. She felt unsafe in the dark shelter. I had a look on the way home, and yes, it is gloomy. By coincidence an X7 came in and passengers got off to go to their cars. This is to be raised with the developers.

– There has been a request for more services to go via Marywell, but Stagecoach do not consider that to be a viable option.

– A real time passenger information system should be rolled out in the next few weeks locally. It is already in operation in the Buchan area. This will let passengers know exactly when their bus is due. No doubt details will be made public in due course.

– The results of a bus survey were discussed. Newtonhill community council chairman said more than 200 forms were returned with backing for a circular service for local villages. However it does not appear to be a commercial possibility. One of the other key issues was reliability. Stagecoach’s Steve Walker agreed. The problem is trying to get in and out of Aberdeen when there is gridlock.

– Changes to the 103 service were highlighted. They have resulted in the service travelling through the North Kincardine rural are but terminating at Bridge of Dee whereas it used to go into the city centre. This means passengers are late for work and school.

– There lots of other issues raised about bus services elsewhere in Kincardineshire. But if you want to hear more abut these issues, you will need to come to the next meeting! It is to be held in the spring.

Maryculter Woodland Trust today was given a £4000 grant towards purchasing the woods from the Forestry Commission. The decision was taken by councillors at the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee. The trust’s Ed Thorogood said they had been fund raising for 2 1/2 years. They are on course to reach their £49,000 target. “It’s the achievement of my life,” he said.

Tomorrow there is a meeting of the Kincardine and Mearns area committee. There are a few items of note for the North Kincardine ward:

– There is a recommendation that four roads in Hillside are adopted by the council. They are Auchlee Gardens, Auchlee Wynd, Clochandighter Drive and Clochandighter Close.