Roads issues were the main topic at tonight’s Portlethen and District Community Council, with much discussion about the state of Bruntland Road.

Aberdeenshire Council’s acting area road manager Alan Burns outlined the programme for the coming year. He said Bruntland Road would be patched and then given surface dressing, with work starting early in July (during the school holidays). This will cost £75,000 and should solve the problems, he said, lasting more than 15 years. Although the existing structure is sound the existing surface has fretted. It has a micro asphalt surface which has clearly failed.

Community councillors pressed for a complete new surface but were told that would cost about £350,000 which exceeds the year’s maintenance budget for Kincardine and Mearns. Mr Burns said that the council has to live within its means and like other local authorities is facing budget cutbacks from the Scottish Government. Unfortunately we cannot afford the Rolls Royce solution, he said.

He also said the council has no powers to attend to the potholed surface of the Green car park. At best the council might be able to fill any potholes at the entrance, to the width of the pavement.

Interactive speed signs will be provided at various sites for short periods, of up to 10 weeks, because after that it is found they just merge into the clutter.

Early discussions are being held with Aberdeen City Council for a footpath/cycleway between Checkbar and Cove. Today the city council gave a very positive response to an enquiry by the ‘Shire, and a meeting will be arranged. Only 150 metres of the route is within the ‘Shire.

The Muirend Road roundabout at the A90 flyover is to be resurfaced within the year – no date yet. The current surface will be planed off and hot rolled asphalt laid. The aim is to undertake the work overnight to minimise disruption. Furthermore the ruts on the roundabouts at Asda and Badentoy will will repaired during the year.

Other points that caught my eye:

– The Neuk at Old Portlethen is for sale.

– The suggested name of School Brae was put forward for the road heading west from Cookston Road passing the new Hillside school. It is officially called the C30K, which just trips of the tongue!

– The community council supported a proposal by Aberdeenshire Council to hold a public consultation into whether the Causey Mounth should be closed to vehicular traffic when the Hillside school opens. The alternative is a 20mph zone with speed platforms to slow traffic. A strong case was put forward for closure, but other community councillors favoured the second option.

– Newtonhill Pipe Band was awarded a grant of £1000 towards the costs of renting accommodation in Portlethen Academy. The band is sending members to France to take part in World War 1 commemorations of the battle of the Somme.

– Quarry dust has been laid on the footpaths in the community woodland.

– The Christmas decorations will be taken down at the tree this Sunday morning.

– The new rail services to be introduced in 2018 were discussed, with the introduction of a regular local commuter service from Montrose to Inverurie, but the loss of central belt services at Portlethen. Details are yet to be worked out.

– The presence of the police firing range was discussed, the consensus pf opinion being that the “shooting” noises was more likely to be blasting or hammering from the construction of the Aberdeen bypass.

– The presence of lorries, especially them parking overnight, in the Asda car park is to be discussed at the next meeting.

– And finally, at the AGM the current office-bearers were returned to office apart from the post of treasurer. After years of service Dorothy Main stepped down and was replaced by Alison Duncan. Nikki Giles became a full member of the community council. There is still a vacancy for one member, if anyone wishes to volunteer to be co-opted.

The possibility of seven-day working on the Aberdeen bypass dominated tonight’s meeting of the North Kincardine Rural Community Council. Residents argued strongly against the possibility, with one person saying that prospect was frightening. Another said that the construction work means that “you don’t want to go home to your own home.”

There to hear the comments were environmental health officers Joe May and David Cooper from Aberdeenshire Council. They will be key in deciding whether the contractors may work from 7am to 7pm and seven days a week. However they stressed that no application has been lodged yet. Mr May promised to inform the community council if and when they receive an application for the extended hours.

Some difficult decisions today at the Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee, including ones affecting Portlethen.

– New school roll forecasts were presented which showed the impact of Hillside primary school which is due to open next session. The rolls for the five local primaries in 2018 are expected to be Hillside: 335, Portlethen: 269, Fishermoss: 253, Banchory Devenick: 55, and Newtonhill: 415. The temporary accommodation at Portlethen will be removed. we heard that officers are looking for an out-of-school provider at Hillside. The Newtonhill figure takes it to the school’s capacity figure, because of the influx of Chapelton pupils. It will eventually have its own school.

Lots of interesting discussions tonight at the Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore Community Council meeting. Pity no members of the public were able to come along to the Skateraw Hall. Here some of the points that caught my eye:

– The Scottish Government’s announcement yesterday of investment in the North East’s rail services, with the prospects of a commuter service from Montrose to Inverurie from 2018. And tantalisingly increased prospects of re-opening Newtonhill station.

Some great news for North East rail services with a hourly local commuter service to be introduced in 2018/19 between Montrose and Inverurie – but it is bitter sweet for Portlethen as Glasgow trains would no longer stop here. There is also the possibility of added local stations. Newtonhill?

The news comes in correspondence from the transport minister to the North East transport partnership Nestrans (I am a substitute member of the board).

Here is what Nestrans director Derick Murray has to say:

“This letter is confirming a range of improvements to rail services across Scotland that will be introduced in 2018/19. When the current intercity fleet is replaced with refurbished High Speed Trains, Scotrail will be extending the lease on some of the replaced trains. This will allow these trains to be redeployed across the country.

“For us in the north east this means:

• Improved services to Inverness with some of the trains coming from Edinburgh/ Glasgow through Aberdeen to Inverness
• The introduction of a “local” rail service between Inverurie and Montrose stopping at all stations
• Reduced journey times to Edinburgh/ Glasgow with limited stopping.

“This improvement will provide for a half hourly service from Inverurie to Aberdeen. Completion of the upgrade of the Aberdeen to Inverurie line will help facilitate this.

“We understand that this ‘local’ service plus some of the Inverness services will be delivered by refurbished class 158 trains which will be stabled/ maintained at Elgin resulting in new early and late trains between Elgin/ Aberdeen. Although perhaps not the best trains these refurbished vehicles should deliver these shorter journeys adequately. As we understand it half of the Inverness trains will be the refurbished High Speed Trains.

“Scotrail do not yet have fully worked up timetables for these changes. We will be discussing the development of the timetable with them as it progresses. They have indicated that their intention is to have, as far as possible, a clock face timetable meaning that if your train is due at 17 mins past the hour it should generally be at 17 mins past every hour. Details of this are still in preparation.

“Whilst this is generally very good news for rail travel in our area there is likely to be some loss of service to permit the advantages of the new proposal. For example direct travel from Portlethen to Glasgow may not be possible (due to the fast trains no longer stopping at “local” stations) but the provision of the local service should make this journey with a change easier than the current service. Overall the changes will benefit significantly more people than any loses of service. Stations to the south of Aberdeen will now be connected together by the local service – something not generally allowed for in the current timetable.

“An additional benefit will be our ability to consider the possibility of new local stations. The extent to which new stations could be accommodated will be partially driven by the timetable that is produced. We will be pursuing this as more details are known.

“This is confirmation of the improvement we hinted we thought may be coming when we discussed rail issues at the last Board. It is a significant change to rail delivery in our area and across Scotland. Overall, it is a significant improvement to services. We will be happy to discuss the improvements, as we understand them at this stage in their development, should you have any queries. It’s nice commenting on good news!”

I am looking for comments on the best way to ensure pupil safety between the new Hillside primary school and the sports facilities on the opposite side of the Causey Mounth. Nothing has been decided yet. There is a proposals paper which has been sent to the four ward councillors, the community council and the police for discussion.

One option is to have 20mph zones and speed tables, and another is to close the Causey Mounth to traffic (with emergency access available shouldthe Duffshill road be closed for whatever reason). There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

I was very happy to support a motion before Aberdeenshire Council on Thursday when we backed the reintroduction a deposit scheme for single-use drinks cans and bottles. I am old enough to remember when that was the norm – 3d per bottle.

The council is now urging the Scottish environment secretary to involve councils in designing a deposit and return system which would work alongside council waste and recycling services.

Apparently the success rate in Norway and the Netherlands of 95%. Lithuania introduced the scheme last month. One of the aims is to cut litter. When I was in Lithuania last year I didn’t see any litter. Full stop.

Good news for folk who use Cairnhill Road in Newtonhill. I asked council roads officers to inspect the potholes and depressions in the carriageway at the entrance. Now action is to follow.

I have been told that the carriageway from the roundabout at the junction of Cairnhill Road and Newtonhill Road up to approximately 31 Cairnhill Road is showing a number of signs of distress including potholes, fretting and subsidence. A surface course inlay with isolated areas of partial and full depth reconstruction is required, however these are significant works which have not been budgeted for in the draft road maintenance programme for 2016/17. Therefore, to keep the carriageway safe and serviceable until funds become available, a work instruction is to be raised for the patching of the potholes and localised areas of subsidence.

A quieter Kincardine and Mearns Bus Forum tonight – 13 members of the public and six councillors. But there were still a number of issues that caught my eye:

– The Union Square bus station is at capacity. Stagecoach is pressing for improvements. Real time arrival and departure screens should be in place shortly.

– Complaints about the design of the X7 (and the Buchan Express) buses has been raised at the highest level in Stagecoach and with the manufacturer Plaxton. Concerns centre on the steps and the lack of bells. Several complaints were voiced during the meeting about the buses being full, leaving would-be passengers at stops. Newtonhill community council chairman Michael Morgan called for a more frequent service.

This morning Sir Ian Diamond, principal of Aberdeen University, gave a fascinating presentation to Aberdeenshire Council. I knew the university was some 500 years old, but did you know it has 14,500 students, with 51% being women. Of that number, 2373 are from Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. There are 3000 staff.

Sir Ian was bursting with pride about the university’s achievements. He highlighted among other things that the university is offering scholarships to Syrian refugees.

He was not afraid of being controversial, referring to the Scottish Government’s falling funding for further education (that prompted some uncomfortable reactions from SNP councillors), and voicing support for continuing membership of the EU. He said that the university would be impacted very much by the UK voting to leave the EU, citing how it would negatively hit EU research funding.