Broughty Ferry Gala Week

Broughty Ferry Gala Week starts tomorrow with the fete at Castle Green from 1pm to 5pm. There are events taking place throughout the week that will appeal to children and adults of all ages, including the legendary window guessing competition. Why not visit Broughty Ferry and join in with the fun. The programme of events can be viewed at the Come to Broughty Ferry website (link at the foot of this page) or a paper copy can be picked up from any of the shops in Broughty Ferry. Well done to the Broughty Ferry Community Gala Committee and the Broughty Ferry Traders' Association for all they do in making Gala Week such a wonderful occasion.

Commonwealth Games

The Queen’s Baton relay for the Commonwealth Games comes to Dundee tomorrow. It has already been to 70 nations and territories around the world and will be visiting all of Scotland’s local authorities. The baton will arrive in Dundee by boat and it is scheduled to begin its route through the city from Broughty Castle at 8am. It will make its way through all eight of Dundee’s multi-member electoral wards. There will be music and dancing in the City Square from 3pm, culminating in a Commonwealth Ceilidh at 5.30pm before the Baton arrives there at 6.45pm. Events will be taking place at various locations across the city to encourage people to take part in sporting activities.

Road safety issues

Pedestrian crossing

A new pedestrian crossing is to be installed on Queen Street between West End Garage and Pizza Hut. The location is where large numbers of children cross the road to make their way to Grove Academy and Eastern Primary School. The school crossing patroller does a great job but a view has been taken that pedestrian safety would be enhanced by introducing a light controlled crossing. This is something that has been requested by parents for some time and was looked at by the council’s school, parking and pupil safety working group. It is anticipated that it will be installed in October.

 

20mph limits

At Monday’ City Development Committee the council is going to be asked to consider 20mph speed limits in residential streets. The policy of the council currently is to prioritise pedestrian accident injury sites for analysis and treatment. This policy essentially targets the council’s resources to locations where injury accidents are actually occurring, rather than installing traffic calming on roads where there is no injury accident history. It is also of the view that 20mph limits should only be implemented in residential roads in the city where physical traffic calming can be introduced which would ensure that the new limits are self enforcing and that actual speeds are reduced significantly. I think a consultation with communities on this matter would be welcome. I would be interested to know what you think.

Coastal defence works

Following the storms at the start of the year there was significant deterioration of the coastal defence on The Esplanade from the Glass Pavilion to Bridge Street. An application for funding was submitted to the Scottish Government to allow further rock armour revetment to be provided. Although a planning application for the works was approved the funding bid was unsuccessful.  It is anticipated that there will be another opportunity to bid for funding later this year.

 

Serious damage occurred to the existing timber walkway opposite the Glass Pavilion and adjacent to the existing rock armour revetment. These areas were made safe temporarily by erecting appropriate fencing and signing. However their condition is such that emergency works are now required to be carried out and I understand these should commence in a week or so.

Red telephone box

 

The red telephone box is a great British icon and despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, they can still be seen in many places throughout the UK. The one on the corner of King Street and Church Street is in need of some care and attention. I contacted BT about it and in response I have been advised that it has been arranged for the kiosk to be repainted when there are painters  in the area.

Former Eastern Primary School building

Planning permission has been approved to convert the former Eastern Primary School building in Whinny Brae to residential development. The proposal is for a total of 26 flats with 39 parking spaces and external bin and cycle storage (repairing the original outside shelters and toilet buildings for this purpose). The development comprises of 2 x 1 bedroom flats, 23 x 2 bedroom flats and 1 x 3 bedroom flat, nine of the flats will have a mezzanine level. The main changes to the building will be internal due the alteration in layout to accommodate the residential use.

 According to the council’s report of handling the proposed works will echo the form and scale of the building and the external works proposed are respectful to the character and appearance of the listed building.

A Site Planning Brief for Eastern Primary School was approved by Dundee City Council in 2011. Commercial use for the site had been suggested in preparing the draft planning brief but the members of the City Development Committee agreed to my suggestion to limit it to residential development.

Unfortunately, as the proposed redevelopment works will very likely require excavations to the carriageway in Whinny Brae, to facilitate various utility and drainage connections, the carriageway resurfacing works I previously posted about have been deferred until the next financial year.

Action on local issues

The uneven and rutted section of carriageway at the dropped kerb outside the sheltered housing complex in Forthill Drive has been attended to. I asked for action to be taken after I had heard reports that some elderly and infirm residents had tripped at this location.

Broughty Ferry Library children's area

I was delighted to be invited to attend the launch of the new children's area in Broughty Ferry Library this morning. The library secured funding to re-design its children's area and it is now a much more brighter and open space than before. It also utilises the new book stands that can be easily moved if required.

 My drop in surgery is held in Broughty Ferry Library on Saturday mornings which coincides with the stories and rhymes session for young children. It’s a joy to hear the children taking an interest in books, as reading skills will have such a positive impact on all aspects of their lives as they grow older.

Scottish Water maintenance works

Scottish Water has advised me that planned maintenance works are scheduled to take place at the wastewater pumping station and storage tank sitting below the car park at Broughty Ferry Beach.

 

Although virtually invisible at ground level the underlying structure is around 26m in diameter and 10m deep. The works involve emptying, cleaning and maintaining the storage tank. Two small compounds are to be set up within the car park removing between 6 to 7 parking spaces during the course of the works, which will commence on Sunday 8^th June and are expected to take about a week to complete.

 

Scottish Water has said that the works won’t affect drainage of the Broughty Ferry sewer network and won’t cause any harm to the water environment. There may be some localised odour from time to time but this will be monitored and mitigated wherever possible. There will be some overnight working to empty the storage tank but this is to be done using low noise pumps.

Flooding at gully on Dalhousie Road

Residents in the Guthrie Terrace/Dalhousie Road area will have noticed on Monday evening, after the rain, that a large lake of black smelly sludge appeared on the north side of Dalhousie Road by the traffic bollards at the foot of Guthrie Terrace. Within a very short time the traffic had moved a significant quantity of the sludge onto the pavement. Come Tuesday morning the water had disappeared but the pavement remained covered in the sludge.

I contacted the council's roads maintenance partnership about it and by Wednesday morning the two gullies at the location had been inspected, cleaned and jetted. It turns out that there is a blockage in the carrier pipe at the rear of the footway which will have to be excavated to identify the cause. This will be programmed but discussions have to take place about traffic management to allow the works to proceed so no timescale is available yet.

The drainage system here is not combined with the sewer therefore the sludge should only contain a mixture of road detritus and organic material from nearby hedges and trees. The pavement was pressure cleaned by the environment department this morning.

Whinny Brae carriageway resurfacing works

I have been advised that work is programmed to commence at the above location on Monday16 June and will last for approximately 1 week. A road closure will be implemented and local traffic will be diverted via Rowanbank Gardens for the duration of the works. Vehicular access will be maintained to residents where possible but no on-street parking will be allowed on the section of carriageway being worked on. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained throughout the works.

Resort seaside award

I was pleased to learn that Broughty Ferry’s beach has received the resort seaside award from Keep Scotland Beautiful for the 11^th year in a row.   A resort beach is classed as being one that is actively managed and promoted as a tourist destination and is usually within easy reach of an urban area. Beaches only receive this award if they meet high environmental quality standards and a series of other criteria such as water quality and safety procedures. Keep Scotland Beautiful said the following about Broughty beach: 

‘…Nestled beneath a historic castle in the former fishing village of Broughty Ferry, now a residential suburb of Dundee is an extensive sandy beach. A promenade gives direct pedestrian and disabled access at several locations. The beach is backed by dunes and provides views across the Tay estuary to the North Fife coast. There is a nature conservation site and a host of wildlife, including birds, seals and the occasional porpoise can be seen. There is a safe area marked out for swimming and close by are an extensive range of leisure facilities including the castle museum, an excellent play area, and a beautiful rock garden….’

Broughty Ferry is a wonderful place to visit for leisure and shopping and its beach is a perfect destination for a family day out. Well done to all those who help keep it at this high standard.

Dundee councillors' expenses

The elected members annual expenses 2013/14 has recently been published and can be viewed on the Councillors Publications section of Dundee City Council’s website.

During the last financial year, as in previous years, I didn’t claim anything for mileage or travel, I didn’t attend any conferences or claim anything for my home telephone. The only expense recorded against my name is for a council mobile telephone which is paid for directly by the council as part of its telephone contract. My total salary and expenses was the 28^th lowest of Dundee's 29 councillors.

I declined the salary increase that was awarded to councillors’ back in 2009 and since then the difference has been included in the council’s general fund to be used in its revenue budget. The total since 2009 comes to about £2000.