Oor Lifesaver

The Oor Wullie bucket trail has been a huge success for Dundee. I tried to get round all of the statues myself but sadly I fell short by three. Hopefully I will be able to get a picture of them when they all appear in Slessor Gardens between 9 and 11 September for their farewell gathering.

 

The Oor Wullies in Broughty Ferry have brought a lot of visitors to the town.  The ‘Oor Lifesaver’ Wullie located on the old pilot pier is sponsored by Broughty Ferry Traders Association and is designed as an R.N.L.I lifeboat man. All the statues are to be auctioned off on 13 September to raise funds for the Archie Foundation and I’m really pleased that a local campaign is in place to bid for Oor Lifesaver.

 

Ewan Philp of Broughty Ferry Traders Association and an RNLI volunteer has set up a Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lifeboatmanwullie to raise funds for the bid. I understand there is interest in Oor lifesaver from another coastal community, but hopefully sufficient money can be raised to ensure that it remains in Broughty Ferry where it belongs, especially as etched into the bucket is ‘R.I.P MONA’, which is in tribute to the crew of the Broughty Ferry lifeboat R.N.L.B Mona who lost their lives at sea on the 8th December 1959.

 

Money raised by the auction of all the statues will go towards The Archie Foundation’s Tayside Appeal for a new twin-operating theatre paediatric surgical suite for Tayside Children’s Hospital. Any surplus money raised over the auction bid for Oor Lifesaver will be split evenly between The Archie Foundation, and the R.N.L.I.

Road report

The road report for week commencing Monday 29 August 2016 incudes the following Broughty Ferry streets:

 

Forthill Road (Nursery Road to Queen Street) - closed for one week for gas main renewal.

 

A92 Arbroath Road (Panmurefield Roundabout to Balgillo Roundabout) - overnight (8.00pm-6.00am) westbound alternate nearside and offside lane closure for Tuesday 30 August for 4 nights for carriageway repairs.

 

Forthcoming major roadworks

 

Seafield Road, Broughty Ferry (Church Street to Davidson Street) - closed from Monday 5 September for 8 weeks for gas main renewal.

 

Drumsturdy Road (Kellas Road to Lammerton Bridge) - closed from Monday 19 September for 10 days for carriageway resurfacing works.

 

The full road report an be viewed at  Dundee City - Weekly Road Report | Dundee City Council

Take Pride in Your City- September events

Site investigations- Broughty Ferry flood scheme

Work is due to start on Monday, 29 August, on exploratory site investigations for the Broughty Ferry flood protection scheme. It will include trial pits and boreholes to determine existing ground and environment conditions and the construction makeup of the road and sea wall. The results arsing from the investigations will inform the structural design of the final flood prevention scheme.

The works will be undertaken between the hours of 8am and 5pm at localised areas between Douglas Terrace and Beach Crescent. It is anticipated the work will last for two weeks. There will be short sections of traffic management during this time.

 

Letters have been issued to all the frontagers and I have been advised that the contractor will contact those immediately adjacent to the works to explain the investigation work being carried out.

Getting things done- Lawrence Street update

I previously asked the roads maintenance partnership if it could do something to improve the footway at the west side of the Lawrence Street/ Brook Street junction after it was brought to my attention that the characteristics of the pavement at this location were causing some difficulties to wheel chair users.

 

It was agreed that improvements were required and work has recently been undertaken to relocate the illuminated signs at the junction away from the pedestrian desire line.  Localised footway resurfacing works on the corner of the junction are programmed to be delivered by the end of September to complete the improvement work.

Missing link

I have been contacted in recent weeks by residents of Clearwater Park regarding the grass verges in Linlathen Road, which are maintained by the council.

 

There are no properly surfaced areas there for people to cross between Clearwater Park and Ferryfields, which results in them having to walk through the nearly always wet grass. The grass has to be kept to a certain height for the swales that are in operation there.

 

 I have been in touch with both the council’s environment department regarding management of the swales and its roads network team to see if anything can be done to provide a suitable hard standing crossing point. The council agreed that there appears to have been an omission from the original masterplan in terms of connectivity between the housing areas and the head of roads and transportation is to be arranging for one of his engineers to look at a simple solution to bridge the gap.

 

The funding for cycling, walking and safer streets projects is fully committed for this year so it is likely to be the next financial before anything is in place. I will push for early implementation of any solution and ask that local residents have input into where the crossing point should be located.

Getting things done- update

Dawson Park benches and Ceres Crescent potholes

 

I’m pleased to report that a couple of issues I highlighted as requiring attention have been actioned. The new benches in Dawson Park on the path between the Strathern Road and Fairfield Road entrances have been installed. The previous ones were in a pretty poor state and I asked last year for them to be replaced. Provision was made in the 2016/17 environment department budget for this to happen.

 

The numerous potholes in Ceres Crescent have now been filled. Residents spoke to me about the poor condition of the carriageway; it was definitely one of the worst in the area. I asked the roads maintenance partnership if it could arrange for repairs to be carried out and it has recently been attended to.

Brown Street and Fort Street

Brown Street is to be closed between King Street and Long Lane for three days from Tuesday for carriageway works. It is remedial work to rectify ponding issues which resulted after the recent resurfacing.

 

I was also pleased to learn that the resurfacing works on Fort Street, between King Street and Fisher Street, are due to  commence on 17^th October. This is something I have been waiting to be actioned for quite a while having made a number of requests for pothole repairs there over the last couple of years. On learning of the commencement date I asked whether it would be possible to repair the granolithic concrete pavements at the junction with King Street at the same time as one side in particular is in a very poor state.  The council has agreed to carry out a repair, although it may not happen at the same time as the carriageway works as the application of the granolithic concrete is weather dependent.

Drop in advice surgery with MSP

Liam Kerr MSP will once again be joining me at my drop in advice surgery at Broughty Ferry Library tomorrow (Saturday 13 August) between 10:00 and 11:00. No appointment is necessary. Please call in to see us if you would like to discuss any issue that is causing you concern, or just to say hello. We will be pleased to see you.

Getting things done- Barnhill fence

I attend the meetings of the North Barnhill Tenants and Residents Association and one of the issues that is often raised is the condition of the fence in Aberdour Place. It was unclear from previous enquiries made about it as to who was responsible for its maintenance. I have been pursuing this on behalf of the association and in response to the most recent enquiry I made it has been confirmed that council is responsible and as such it has been agreed that the fence will be repaired as part of an environmental improvement programme later in the year.

 

The grass verge which runs between the roadside and the chain link fence is also the responsibility of the council and it is maintained by the council through the environment service.



Broughty Ferry Library

 

When I attended my drop in advice surgery yesterday morning at Broughty Ferry Library I was delighted to see that the refurbishment of the teenage section has been completed.

 

The new seating and shelving were installed on Thursday and look really good.This has come about because of the fund raising efforts of the Friends of Broughty Ferry Library. Well done to all concerned.

The Great Broughty Ferry Prose and Poetry Competition

Bus stop - Balgillo Road

I have been contacted by residents about the bus stop on Balgillo Road at Ballinard Road. Unlike many bus stops around the city this one has not been raised to allow passengers to walk straight on, which can be problematic for people with mobility issues. 

A city wide programme addressing kerb height at bus stops is being undertaken and I approached the council’s City Development Department to ask that this location be included. The council agreed that a raised kerb would be beneficial and acknowledged that the kerb height is unusually low here.  Busier bus routes are being prioritised but the one in Balgillo road is on the list and will be attended to.

Temporary traffic order

I have received notification of a temporary traffic order for Seafield Road as follows:

 

Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating gas main renewal works.  The Order is expected to be in force for eight weeks from 15 August 2016.  Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months.

 

The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Seafield Road from number 16 to Camperdown Street (southbound) (Phase 1) and from number 16 to Davidson Street (Phase 2).

 

The one-way order relating to Davidson Street will be rescinded for the duration of the works.

 

An alternative route will be available via Seafield Road, Davidson Street, Claypotts Road and Queen Street (Phase 1) and Seafield Road, Church Street, Queen Street, Claypotts Road, Ballinard Road, Balgillo Road and Seafield Road (Phase 2).

 

Please forward any comments you may have regarding this proposal to Mark Cobb, Network Management Team, City Development Department, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee  DD1 1LS, no later than five working days prior to the commencement date.  If you have any queries please contact Mr Cobb on 01382 433082.