Old Charleston bridge to be demolished

Transport Scotland today announced that the old Charleston bridge over the A90 will be taken down next weekend, This will no doubt cause delays, even though it is being demolished at a weekend.

Work starts on Friday 3 November at 8pm and will last until around 6am on Monday 6 November.

There is more information from Transport Scotland about diversions on their website: https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a90-at-charleston-to-close-for-bridge-demolition/

Libraries affected by IT upgrade

Local libraries across Aberdeenshire will not be able to offer IT services on Wednesday 1 November due to essential maintenance and upgrades.

This means that the People’s Network will be unavailable to members of the public.

Among the libraries affected will be Newtonhill and Portlethen.

Council officers apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Charity wins £500 prize

PAMIS were the recipients of tonight’s £500 Community Cash event during the Kincardineshire Development Partnership AGM in the Bettridge Centre in Newtonhill.
Other local organisations presenting their case for the cash were Inverbervie Pre-School and Burgh Hall Committee, Newtonhill Community Hall Association, and Aberdeenshire Showcase Companies.
PAMIS is the only organisation in Scotland that works solely with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and their families for a better life. Details at http://pamis.org.uk/
The award was made after a vote among those present following presentations by the various organisations.
The AGM heard that development partnership has has another successful year, and continues to grow with 95 clubs and community group registered with them. As well as helping source funding for groups, community actions are produced, and wind farm community funds (worth more than £50,000) are disbursed.
The partnership’s aim is to help communities help themselves.
Local trustees are:
Michael Morgan (Newtonhill, Muchalls, Cammachmore Community Council)
Paul Melling (Portlethen and District Community Council)
Bob McKinney (North Kincardine Rural Community Council)
Walter McMillan (Portlethen & District Men’s Shed).
A new website is being developed (KDP.scot) but in the meantime you can find out more about the partnership at http://www.kincardineshiredp.org/

Work on Portlethen car park

Further information from council officers on repairs to the car park at the Porty Cabin (the former library) in Portlethen: “Patching repairs to the entrance to the Porty Car Park have now been scheduled to take place on Saturday 4 November.

“Works have been programmed for this date to minimise disruption, and to ensure the safety of the workforce, as well as staff and the public. Arrangements have also been made for the blocked gully, within the car park, to be attended to as soon as possible.”

Developers win multi million Chapelton case

The developers of the new town at Chapelton have won their court case over £7.5m in contributions to a North East strategic transport fund.
The Supreme Court today dismissed the appeal brought by the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Planning Authority (SDPA) and determined that the SDPA Supplementary Guidance: Strategic Transport Fund was unlawful.
The legal teams and planning teams of both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Council are working through the implications of this decision for the SDPA and for each council. The Supreme Court is the final point of appeal in the UK and the decision is therefore final.
The decision was released this morning.
The purpose of the Strategic Transport Fund was to set out a mechanism to ensure that the cumulative impacts of new development in and around Aberdeen are mitigated.
As part of this, developers were expected to make a contribution to various public transport interventions which were to be pooled in a ring-fenced account.
A legal challenge to this mechanism was raised by Elsick Development Company Limited supported by Goodgrun Limited against the fund in August 2015.
The Court of Session quashed the policy relating to the fund on 29 April 2016. It was held that there was an insufficient relationship between developments in the designated zones and proposed public transport interventions. The SDPA sought leave to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court.
The appeal was heard by the Supreme Court on 13 June 2017 in Edinburgh. The appeal centred on the correct legal test to be applied when assessing planning obligations and the extent to which planning authorities are bound to comply with national planning policy.
The decision raises serious questions about other previous agreements and over where cash-strapped councils will now find funding for vital infrastructure.

Fishermoss to host active travel show

An Active Travel Road Show aimed at pupils and their families, organised by Aberdeenshire Council and partners is to be held at Fishermoss primary school on Wednesday 29 November.
The Aim of the Road shows are to support and encourage families to think about their travel options when travelling to school.  Instead of hopping into the car and being driven to the school gates, they are being asked to look at alternatives such as walking, cycling or scootering, alongside park and stride or getting the wider family involved by exercising the dog on the daily walk.
To help them make smarter choices, five Smarter Travel roadshows are taking place at schools, commissioned by Aberdeenshire Council and delivered in conjunction with a range of partners. There will be free bike checks, the chance to find out what a lorry driver can – and more importantly can’t – see from the cab, family-friendly rescue dogs from the Scottish SPCA, Stagecoach information bus, the chance to use pedal power to create a drink using the smoothie bike, road safety advice, giveaways and information.
The roadshows are designed to stimulate interest and chat around alternatives to taking the car, particularly on short journeys like the school run, and to promote walking and cycling, public transport and car sharing options too.
To help pupils step up to the challenge, the roadshows will be preceded be an activity challenge, they will be given pedometers to wear and will be asked to record the number of steps they rack up during a week with prizes to reward their activity.
A banner design competition at each school has also been held and winning entries will be turned into  large vinyl banners to promote each roadshow.
The roadshows are open to pupils at each school in the afternoon, and to parents and pupils at the host and local schools in each area from 3.15-4pm. More details can be found at Facebook by searching for Travel Smart Aberdeenshire or on Twitter at @TSaberdeenshire

Successful year for advice bureau

Our local citizens advice bureau has had its busiest year to date in terms of issues and enquiries. 2016/17 was the first year the CAB reached more than £1 million in client financial gains.

The Kincardine and Mearns CAB AGM tonight heard that the funding for it services comes from Aberdeenshire Council, the Scottish Government, European Social Fund and the Fairer Scotland Fund.

Over the year the CAB has taken on extra staff and as well as having outreach services within the medical centres at Laurencekirk, Inverbervie and Portlethen. There are plans to move the office in Stonehaven to other premises. They have three rooms in the office and expect an increase in their workload with the roll-out of universal credit.

The AGM in Stonehaven Town Hall also heard a talk by Angus North & Mearns MSP Mairi Gougeon on the universal credit benefit and her work in general at Holyrood.

The meeting was assured that the CAB will be well prepared to support clients through these changes.

The downturn in the oil industry has had a huge impact on this area which has also lead to more demand on the bureau’s services.

A client survey found 100% satisfaction with the CAB, with all saying they would use the service again.

Newtonhill resident George Ewing stepped down as a board member. A glowing tribute was paid to him as a stalwart of the board over many years. Also stepping down was Lynda Reid from Stonehaven, whose support had been very much appreciated.

Reassurances over rubbish collections

There have been complaints locally that Aberdeenshire Council waste collection teams have been emptying food caddies into black bins and then emptying into the vehicle, rather than putting the food waste into the appropriate hopper.
Council officers confirm that staff are aware of the importance of the separate food waste collection and that this would be treated as a disciplinary matter should they be mixing the food with the residual waste. Officers have checked the loads of residual coming in and have found no evidence of food bags in with the residual material. However there will be a further briefing for staff, and managers will continue to monitor the situation. If there is a complaint they will investigate and take appropriate action.
Similarly, comments has been made about the smaller trucks used in some rural areas not being equipped with food waste hoppers.
The council has a fleet of smaller 15 tonne vehicles for areas with difficult access and these have are split body vehicles, as shown in the photo below. These do keep the food waste separate as the food goes into the right-hand side compartment at the rear of the vehicles.

Repairs for Porty Cabin car park

I’m pleased to hear repairs are to be carried out to the Porty Cabin car park in Portlethen.

I had contacted council officers about the large pothole at the entrance and about the drainage issues in the car park.

Today is was confirmed that Aberdeenshire Council’s Roads Service will carry out the work on behalf of the Education Service, which is responsible for the Porty Cabin. The Road Service add that the work will be attended to as soon as possible.