Telecommunications regulator Ofcom has revealed that almost two thirds of Scotland’s 2,864 working phone boxes could be removed due to lack of use.

Ofcom is considering new rules to ensure that remaining boxes that meet certain requirements will be preserved.

Mark Smith, from Ofcom, said on Radio Scotland’s ‘Good Morning Scotland’: “We are proposing clearer, stronger rules to safeguard phone boxes against removal if they are in areas where there’s poor mobile network coverage, if they’re located near an accident or suicide hotspot, or we’re aware that a number of calls had been made from the phone box over the past 12 months.”

A number of local phone boxes have been removed from service in recent years, including the one in Muchalls, with ones in Newtonhill and Portlethen under threat.

Aberdeenshire Council’s bulky uplift service – which is based in Inverurie – has had a large number of requests recently for the removal of items. That has led to a delay of several weeks before items can be picked up.

After receiving complaints I asked the Waste Service if there were any steps that could be taken to speed things up. As a result the Stonehaven team is to help by dealing with requests in our area as quickly as possible.

Some of the bin crews work Monday to Thursday and some work Tuesday to Friday, and supervisors are to book overtime on Mondays and Fridays to clear the backlog.

I have asked the council’s Waste Service about a mess of empty bottles, cans and plastic bags dumped at the bus stop on the A92 at Hillside.

I have been told they were left by a coach full of football supporters on Saturday.

Council staff will clear it up. Why can’t people take their litter home and recycle properly?

UPDATE: I popped over to the bus stop to have a look. What a mess. I cleared out three bags of litter, but there is still some left … I ran out of bags! Annoying.

Great news! I have just been advised by Aberdeenshire Council Roads Service that Hunter Construction (Aberdeen) Ltd has been awarded the Portlethen, Newtonhill and Muchalls carriageway patching contract.

We have been waiting for quite some time for this to happen. Our roads are in sore need of attention.

The Roads Service is awaiting a start date from the contractor and once this is available, I will share the news.

I’m told that patching means cutting out an area greater than the pothole and reinstating at least two layers of bitmac. Filling the pothole is just putting in some tar and running a roller over it. The patches are more durable than just filling the hole.

Hunter Construction was recently awarded a similar contact for the Stonehaven area by the council.

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

APP/2021/2490
Date validated: 1 November 2021.
Site address: 10 Lethen Walk, Portlethen, AB12 4TX.
Applicant: Mr Dennis Copland c/o Bon Accord Glass, Bon Accord House, Riverside Drive, Aberdeen, AB11 7SL.
Full planning permission for alterations and extension to a dwellinghouse.
Public comment expiry date: 22 November.

Some parents have raised concerns about school Christmas concerts/nativity plays etc being banned. This is not the case in Aberdeenshire and guidance below has been issued to schools.

• Schools can arrange indoor events for internal audience and participants i.e. staff and pupils providing the participants/audience group numbers are kept low.

• Parental/community audiences/participants of indoor events and activities are not permissible within the current guidelines.

• Parental/community audiences/participants of outdoor events and activities are currently permissible following the current guidance.

• Class/school trips to pantomimes, or visiting/touring pantomimes in schools are permissible following mitigations set out in the current guidance. Indoor audiences of school pupils and staff are permitted but head teachers should be mindful that current guidance advises against bringing together large number of unvaccinated children – so thought should be given around limiting class/year groupings.

This is based on the Scottish Government guidance. Public Health at NHS Grampian are also content.

Scottish Government advice remains that all previously agreed mitigations remain in place at present, until there is sufficient evidence that the virus is being suitably repressed.

On Friday 6 November the Evening Express reported that “North and North-east councils have barred schools from hosting live festive plays or concerts this year.”

Police Scotland’s report for the Kincardine and Mearns area for October was published today, and includes reference to Portlethen.

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, VIOLENCE AND DISORDER:

There has been a slight decrease in the number of anti-social behaviour calls, with 48 incidents reported.  23 of these calls relate to youth specific calls of which seven related to Portlethen. 25 relate to other anti-social behaviour incidents including noise and neighbour issues.

There were six assault crime reports raised, an increase against the previous month. All six reported are detected and have been reported as appropriate to the Procurator Fiscal and the Youth Justice Management Unit.

New legislation regarding raising the age of criminal responsibility from eight to 12 years will be implemented in the early part of 2022. 

There were no serious assaults reported.

ACQUISITIVE CRIME:

There have been four thefts; all remain undetected and are still being investigated.

There were two commercial housebreakings. One was in Gourdon where commercial batteries were stolen, and the other was David Street Co-Op in Stonehaven where a sum of money was stolen along with other items. These are still under investigation by the Proactive CID Unit.

ROAD SAFETY & ROAD CRIME:

No drivers found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

There was one reported incident of dangerous driving, and three reported incidents of careless driving, all of which are detected and reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

Numerous road safety checks have been undertaken using the Unipar laser device in areas where concern has been highlighted over speeding. Several new locations have been provided as areas of concern, which will be visited in future operations.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & REASSURANCE:

LONE OFFICER – A new process allows an officer’s personal radio to be placed on loud speaker and for an officer or member of staff in the police area control room to confirm that the officer is who they say they are, that they are on duty and the reason why the officer is speaking to the member of the public

DARKER NIGHTS – Cyclists – buy the right size of cycle – maintain your cycle so that brakes, tyres, chain, steering and reflectors are in good condition – during the day wear fluorescent dayglow colours, at night wear reflective clothing – front and rear lights are a legal requirement – when sourcing a helmet, ensure it meets the CE mark standards.

CONTACT:

• 101 – Non emergency
• Email – StonehavenLowerDeesideCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
• Twitter – @NorthEPolice
• Facebook – www.Facebook.com/NorthEastPoliceDivision
• Web – www.scotland.police.uk
• 999 – Emergency
• 0800 555 111 – Crimestoppers.

Bad news for those who use the Bridge of Dee. My city Liberal Democrat colleague Cllr Ian Yuill has been given the background into why the resurfacing of the Bridge planned for October did not go ahead.

The answer he received from an Aberdeen City Council senior manager was that the work had to be postponed because a contractor was not able to obtain materials required for the bridge to be resurfaced.

This means that, once the materials are secured, the Bridge of Dee will have to be closed again so it can be resurfaced.

The senior manager told Ian in an email: “The bridge works had to be cancelled due to issues with the contractor, appointed to carry out the work on the joints.

“Each arch on the bridge has a flexible joint which is being repaired at the same time. Unfortunately the materials required are caught up in the delivery issues being encountered nationally.

“The team didn’t want to cancel phase 2 of the works which are from Bridge of Dee towards Stonehaven, up the hill.

“They moved on to this section due to the problems with the bridge deck. The bridge works will require to be noticed again and the Temporary Traffic Regulation Order changed. Unfortunately we don’t have a date yet for this work.”

Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council has asked Aberdeenshire Council to install dropped kerbs in the Courts area of Skateraw to provide better accessibility for wheelchairs and buggies.

Six locations, all on Old Mill Road, have been identified:
• On the corner opposite the phone box.
• At the kerb just below the line of lock-up garages.
• At the corners of both roads going down into the courts.

The council’s Roads Service has said they will need to assess the proposals in conjunction with the Aberdeenshire South Access Panel to ensure that the locations merit a drop kerb access, and are located at an appropriate position. There is budget available.

The panel promotes access to facilities and services for disabled people, and advises on the creation and maintenance of access provision for persons with a disability.

I see that the community council has also contacted Aberdeen City Council over the dangers of wooden decking at bus stops in Union Street. Like all decking, it can get slippy in wet weather. The community council has asked for non-slip surfaces before weather conditions deteriorate further.

Stagecoach has now responded to pleas that the 7B daytime service would again go through the communities of Portlethen and Newtonhill and onwards to Stonehaven. Currently daytime services terminate at Chapelton before returning to Aberdeen.

After residents had contacted me I has asked the council’s public transportation unit if they could raise the issue with Stagecoach.

Stagecoach Bluebird have confirmed the company is not in a position to make large-scale changes at the moment. That because it is a condition of the grant from the Scottish Government to keep the buses running during the pandemic.

However they company says it is “monitoring feedback from customers and stakeholders so that we are well informed when we get to the point where we can consider network revisions”.

The company goes on to say: “The current service pattern is based on a significant amount of analysis of customer travel patterns and a customer consultation that took place ahead of the original planned change date in April 2020.

“This demonstrated that connections to/from Aberdeen from each of the coastal communities were a higher priority than connections between the communities (particularly heading south). This is why we invested more of our resources on the fast X7 service from Stonehaven to Aberdeen via Chapelton Park & Choose, whilst maintaining the 7/B service for Chapelton village, Newtonhill and Portlethen. Customers can use the 7B through the village to connect at the Park & Choose site onto X7 for journeys towards Stonehaven.”

Of course the X7 isn’t great for some folk, and I had also asked about the cordoned-off seats behind the driver. The coach-style X7s are operated by a sister company, Stagecoach East. They have confirmed that there are “no plans to change the vehicle type on our X7s at this time.

“Prior to covid, these were the only type of vehicles that had the capacity and the comfort required for the potential length of journey.

“As you can imagine, these are quite expensive pieces of kit, so we are not likely to replace them until such a time as they need to be replaced as part of any cascade programme.”

However there is a glimmer of hope about making the lower seats available, but it depends on covid. The Stagecoach East spokesperson promised to “make enquiries about the likelihood of opening the bottom seat, but the health and safety of staff and customers much be paramount, and we’re still not out the woods with this pandemic as of yet.”

We will need to be alert to when the timetables are revisited again and contribute to any consultation.