Spotlight on election candidates

Today’s Press and Journal and the latest edition of the Mearns Leader both feature the General Election campaign here in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. The four candidates have their say, so if you are not sure yet how to vote, buy a paper and have a look. Unfortunately I can’t find links on their websites to the articles.

My Facebook home page has just presented me with a Tory advert saying only they can beat the SNP here. Propaganda nonsense of course, as who knows who is going to win. The last time there was a Tory MP here was in 1997, and that was when the Conservatives lost the seat to the Liberal Democrat’s Robert Smith. He was our respected MP until two years ago, when the SNP landslide happened across Scotland (with the exception of three seats).

One thing is certain: it is so highly unlikely the Labour candidate will win here.

In reality the choice is between three contenders – SNP, Liberal Democrat, and Tory.

That’s my view anyway. It’s up to the voters.

Council’s plan for next five years

The new Aberdeenshire Council administration has released its manifesto for the next five-year term and dubbed it “Putting Aberdeenshire First”. The Tory, Liberal Democrat and independent coalition’s document confirms we will campaign to reinstate the Dyce to Ellon railway line.
Other promises for infrastructure include the continued campaign for the reopening of Newtonhill railway station and early delivery of the new station at Kintore.
Newtonhill’s station closed in 1956. It was the coming of the railway which led to the change of name from Skateraw.

Red letter day for Chapelton

Another milestone for Chapelton – it is getting its own postbox. It is outside Teacake. No date yet about it being operational, but it can’t be long. All it needs is the plate on the front stating the time of the final collection.

There is also a litter bin nearby (left of picture). You can put dog poo bags in litter bins in Aberdeenshire, by the way.

Centre’s plans to be unveiled

The Bettridge Centre in Newtonhill is holding its AGM on Wednesday 31 May, and plans for expansion are due to be unveiled.

The community-owned centre has been a remarkable success. I wonder what is next.

A centre spokesperson said that there will be a glass of wine, a short presentation and an exhibition of architect’s drawings and plans.

“There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and contribute your ideas and suggestions. We’re in the early stages of the development and we want to ensure that everyone’s views are taken into account.

“This will help to ensure that what we do results in the best possible outcome for both the centre and the people who live in the area we serve.

“We hope you will agree that this is a positive move which will enable us to secure a sustainable future for the centre so that it can continue at the heart of the community for many more years to come.”

The meeting starts at 8pm.

Spotlight on Portlethen

Tonight’s Portlethen community council covered a lot of topics including:

– Police Scotland are increasing patrols in the town in response to damage to property, a constable told the meeting. This follows a further £800 damage at Portlethen Primary School. Aberdeenshire Council is to be asked to improve lighting and CCTV coverage.

– The officer assured the meeting that the recent youth incident in Newtonhill, which resulted in one person being taken to hospital and seven arrests, is unrelated to the youth incidents in Inverurie.

– The meeting was also told that the police are aware of confrontations over access to the graveyard from the track to the east of the church. The access has been closed for some considerable time while building works have been carried out at the adjoining property.

– The community council will in principle donate £1000 to equipment for a pensioners’ playground at Burnside Park. Community councillor Paul Melling is driving this forward, and will now seek other sources of funds. They total cost would be more than £13,000.

– A grant of £500 is being given again this year to help youngsters settle in to their first year at Portlethen Academy.

– The Clochandighter community magazine will be arriving shortly from the printers, all 4200 copies, to be distributed by volunteers.

– Concerns were expressed that £662,000 in developer contributions from Stewart Milne may be lost if progress is not made with the provision of a park-and-ride to the north-west of the Findon interchange on the A90.

– Stall space for the gala on 19 August is at a premium. Could Nicol Park host the gala in future instead of the academy grounds? That was the question posed by one community councillor … but would it be suitable?

Many other issues were discussed, including new constitutions for community councils. Members of the public are welcome to attend – there were two present along with three Aberdeenshire councillors and a council officer from community learning. The next meeting is on 27 June.

Questions over control room centralisation

Concerned by the worrying trend of mistakes being made following the closure of police and fire control rooms in Aberdeen and Inverness, North East MSP Mike Rumbles has tabled a series of parliamentary questions calling for an assessment to be made of the performance of the new control rooms.

Gaffes so far include sending police to Glasgow instead of Aberdeen and deploying firefighters from distant locations despite nearby stations on hand in Dingwall and Inverness, including directing one fire engine from Lairg over 100 miles to an incident on Skye.

Operators have also mistaken Thurso with a similarly named road in Dundee and only a few days ago it took several minutes for the police control centre to find an Aberdeen address on Google Maps, despite the caller having the correct postcode to hand.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats were the only party to stand against the amalgamation of Scotland’s police forces in 2011 and have opposed the closures of regional centres in the North East and Highlands.

Mike Rumbles said: “We told the SNP that their politically-motivated centralisation of police and fire would damage those services in the North East and North of Scotland, but they did not listen.”

Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine John Waddell added: “This is not the fault of the staff in Dundee; they have been given an impossible task. Dedicated and experienced operators and state of the art facilities in Aberdeen and Inverness have been shut down and replaced with centres in Dundee that are now responsible for directing police and fire for the majority of the land area of Scotland.

“It is time that the Scottish Government admits that this situation is not working and looks again at how they deliver this service at a local level.”

Lengthy road closure

The road from Portlethen via Lairhillock to the Netherley road is now closed for 14 weeks at Rothnick. That’s because the road is being realigned using a new bridge over the AWPR fastlink.

Pedestrians and cyclists should also find alternative routes, for safety reasons.

Surge in older people using the internet

Now this is interesting …
 
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the proportion of older people using the internet to stay in touch with family and look for information online has surged in the past six years.
 
The proportion of over-75s who have used the internet recently has leapt from 19.9% in 2011 to 40.5% in 2017. Among those aged between 65 and 74, the proportion has increased from 52% to 77.5% over the same period.
 

New administration takes over the council

Aberdeenshire Council is to be run by a coalition of Conservative, Liberal Democrats and independent councillors.
At yesterday’s first meeting of the full council since the elections on 4 May, the Conservative group leader Jim Gifford was appointed leader by 38 votes to 25 against the SNP’s Richard Thomson, while Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Argyle was appointed deputy leader unopposed.
My Liberal Democrat colleague Cllr Bill Howatson was elected as the new provost, in a run-off against independent councillor Paul Johnston.

In the local elections, the Conservatives took 23 seats, up from 14, while the Liberal Democrats increased from 10 seats before the election to 14 now. Meanwhile the SNP fell back to 21, and Labour lost one of their two representatives.

There is more information at https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/apps/news/release.aspx?newsid=4702