Three projects in the North Kincardine ward were given grants from Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee’s “top-up” budget towards the cost of the projects.

Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council was awarded £4418 for three stone feature walls at the entrances to the three villages, incorporating the village name, along with an image representative of the local history and heritage.

Friends of Newtonhill Primary School was awarded £1874.05 to help purchase bulbs, planters, raised beds, topsoil and a picnic table. This project aims to increase biodiversity, provide opportunities for growing food and enhance outside learning.

Portlethen Bowling Club was awarded up to £6000 to tarmac the existing gravel footpath. It is a council-owned property and leased to the club. As a result, the club does not qualify for any outside grants.

Councillors heard from the club’s Walter McMillan who said that tarring the path will allow wheelchair users to access the grounds. Currently they have to be carried. The building is used for meetings by other groups such as the tennis club, the men’s shed, and local schools.

As BT Openreach will have an engineer working on an overhead structure, it will be necessary for safety reasons to close the U62K country road from the Stripeside turnoff towards Stranog Hill at Maryculter.

The closure will last between 9:30am and 3:30pm on Monday 21 March.

Site notices will be erected in due course indicating the temporary restriction to traffic and the alternative route via U62K – C5K Stranog – C13K Lairhillock – U62K and vice versa.

Emergency and pedestrian access is to be maintained. Vehicular access to affected properties is to be maintained whenever possible.

Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee met via Skype today. Here are some of the key points put before the nine councillors present.

HILLSIDE HOUSING UPDATE

The planning service intends to bring a report to committee on 26 April about a planning application for 175 houses at Hillside. A rezoning exercise for local primary schools has not been successful.

Councillors were told today that the planning service is working with the Education Service “to model the impact of different variations of housing completions per year on Hillside Primary School capacity.”

FAR TOO MANY EMPTY HOMES

At July last year there were 2589 long-term empty properties in Aberdeenshire. Of these 841 have been empty for more than two years. In Kincardine and Mearns, the corresponding figures are 321 lying empty, with 98 homes empty for more than two years.

From 2015 properties which have been empty for more than two years are subject to an additional 100% council tax charge.

I asked officers about these shocking figures, to try to understand why so many are lying empty, particularly when there are people on housing waiting lists. The committee heard that officers are to survey owners of these properties in the coming months to find out what support the council can offer to help bring these houses back into use.

CHAPELTON SCHOOL PLANS AND PORTLETHEN ACADEMY CAPACITY

We heard that it is proposed to open a new primary school at Chapelton in the 2025/26 school session, with it growing initially within Newtonhill Primary School.

The report says that “Newtonhill School is expected to exceed capacity in 2026. There will be a requirement for a school at Chapelton in due course, and plans for this are in development. This will then relieve the pressure at Newtonhill School.”

The developers are expecting an increased uptake in housing occupations. The planning permission conditions state that a school should be provided after the 489th house is built. That is expected in 2025 or 2026. Very much a fluid situation.

The situation at Portlethen Academy was also addressed in the report: “Portlethen Academy has a rising roll due to continued house building within catchment. Officers are working with the school management team to identify ways to manage pupil numbers within the existing footprint of the building in the first instance.

“The extent to which Portlethen Academy will exceed capacity is in part related to the speed of delivery at Chapelton. This is being carefully monitored to assess future requirements.”

Portlethen Academy has received out-of-area requests and these placing requests are now being refused, apart from exceptional circumstances.

In the interim there could be a reconfiguration of facilities within the academy to accommodate more pupils. More information will be made available as progress is made.

The projected school rolls are shown below.

Lastly, the reports before councillors can be found here: https://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees.aspx?commid=8&meetid=19926

I hear that the Skateraw Hall in Newtonhill is holding an open weekend.

It runs on Saturday and Sunday (5 and 6 March) from 2pm to 4pm.

There will be a display of the history of the hall plus past events and also a presentation of current groups and activities.

Of course it is only a couple of months since the Skateraw Hall transferred from private ownership and it now belongs to the village, thanks to fund-raising and grants.

Skateraw Hall trustees will be pleased to welcome everyone … do come along.

The following new application in the North Kincardine ward can be viewed on the Aberdeenshire Council planning register: https://upa.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/online-applications/.

APP/2022/0393
Date validated: 24 February 2022.
Site address: Sea Scape, Old Inn Road, Findon, AB12 3RL.
Applicant: Mr Stephen Tonner c/o Architects Ltd, Albyn Architects, Suite 1 Chattan Mews, 18 Chattan Place, Aberdeen, AB10 6RD.
Application: Full planning permission for alterations and extension to dwellinghouse.
Public comment expiry date: 17 March 2022.

Portlethen Town Association is to host a meeting to determine whether there is sufficient interest to hold a gala this year.

It will be held in the Jubilee Hall on 14 March at 7.30pm.

Usually the gala is held on the last weekend before the schools go back after the summer break. It usually takes a team about six months to make the arrangements. Alternative options could be considered.

Lateral flow test kits can be collected from council staff across Aberdeenshire next week from a number of sites including locally:

Monday 28 February – Stonehaven, Market Square (collect only): 10am – 3.30pm.
Tuesday 1 March – Portlethen, Asda (collect only): 10am – 3.30pm.
Wednesday 2 March – Stonehaven Market Square (collect only): 10am – 3.30pm.
Thursday 3 March – Portlethen Asda (collect only): 10am – 3.30pm.
Friday 4 March – Stonehaven Market Square (collect only): 10am – 12pm.

I’ve received some helpful information from Advice Direct Scotland about the launch of a £3 million Home Heating Support fund, and a nationwide campaign on tackling debt.

The Home Heating Support fund has been launched to help Scots struggling with their energy bills amid a growing cost-of-living crisis.

The Scottish Government scheme, administered by Advice Direct Scotland, is designed to prevent households falling into fuel poverty.

The fund is open until 31 March and anyone struggling with their energy bills can contact Advice Direct Scotland directly who can assess eligibility for the fund and make a referral.

Advice Direct Scotland has also launched the debt campaign to encourage Scots to contact the national moneyadvice.scot service for free debt advice if they are struggling with their bills.

The campaign includes adverts on commercial radio, in newspapers, on buses and on digital street hubs across Scotland.

The service includes free, impartial and practical advice and a live chat service with specialist advisors available at www.moneyadvice.scot/. The service can be contacted for free on 0808 800 9060 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Councillors today agreed to return to hybrid meetings where possible in Aberdeenshire Council.

Officers will look to facilitate councillors attending policy committee on line or in person at Woodhill House in Aberdeen.

Some area committees – including Kincardine and Mearns – may also return to hybrid meetings.

It is also hoped that the last full council of this five year term on 28 April may also see at least some councillors attend in person.

Aberdeenshire Council’s Roads Service will be carrying out drainage works on the C12K Cookney to Netherley road.

That means the road will be closed at Springfield, from the B979 Netherley Road to the C25K junction at Burnhead) on Monday 7 March for five days.

Site notices will be erected in due course indicating the temporary restriction to traffic and the alternative route.