Take Pride in Your City events- October

Broughty Ferry flood protection scheme update

The council has recently prepared a feedback summary report for the Broughty Ferry flood protection scheme. There is a dedicated webpage for the scheme on the council’s website, which will be updated with information as it becomes available. The feedback report is also available on the website.  A public exhibition and a presentation to the community council were undertaken in June to outline the aims of the project and the reasons behind the initial design. It’s estimated that more than 200 people attended over the two events.

 

The report states that that the project was generally well received, although a number of concerns were raised and the project engineers are now undertaking activities to develop the design further and address some of the feedback.  I was heartened to read in the report that the look and finish will be vital to the success of the project and also comments about delivering the project to a high quality standard and sympathetic to the unique setting of the area.  These things are essential to protect the character of Broughty Ferry’s waterfront. It is hoped to release further information quite soon that will provide an opportunity to collect further comments.

 

Once the scheme details are determined formal notice requires to be given of the council’s intention to promote a flood protection scheme. Following notification there is a minimum period of 28 days allowed for any person to make objections.

Whinny Brae road resurfacing

I have been advised that work to resurface Whinny Brae from Monifieth Road to Rowanbank Gardens will commence on Monday 31^st October. The road will be closed to traffic for 5 working days.  Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained and an alternative route for vehicles will be available via Monifieth Road, Rowanbank Gardens and reverse.

 

The carriageway in Whinny Brae is long overdue some attention. It was to be resurfaced last year but the work was put on hold pending the completion of the conversion of the former Eastern Primary School into flats.  I have reported some significant potholes at this location to the roads maintenance partnership in recent years so these resurfacing works are very welcome.

Broughty Ferry in Bloom

I was really pleased to learn that Broughty Ferry in Bloom was awarded silver gilt in the coastal town category at the 50th annual Beautiful Scotland Awards held in the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom last week. All entries in the awards are assessed against three core pillars of the Beautiful Scotland campaign - horticultural achievement; environmental responsibility and community participation. A silver gilt award means that a high standard has been achieved which meets the judging criteria and objectives of Beautiful Scotland, including sections of exceptionally high standards.

 

The Broughty Ferry in Bloom volunteers and the partner organisations they work with deserve great credit for the wonderful job they do in creating the colourful displays in the town.

 

The Friends of Barnhill Rock Garden and Queen Street Community Garden are entrants in the 2016 it’s Your Neighbourhood campaign. Keep Scotland Beautiful rewards participating groups through a series of certificates to acknowledge the good work being done.  These will be presented on 26 October.

Getting things done- Westfield Road

I always push for as many Broughty Ferry roads and pavements as possible to receive some surface treatment as a lot of them are in need of attention to various degrees. The roads maintenance partnership produces a programme every year of major surfacing schemes that are to be undertaken, but more localised repairs will be carried out where a need is identified. One such location is the granolithic pavement at the east side of Westfield Road, near to its junction with Brook Street. I have been asking for a while for this to be dealt with and a number of residents have spoken to me about it.

 

Thankfully my repeated request for action has paid off as I have recently been notified that funding has been secured to carry out repairs at this location. The works have still to be programmed but the fact that it is to be getting done is very welcome.

No change to The Ferry ward boundary

Great news! The Scottish Government hasn’t accepted the proposed electoral arrangements for Dundee and has left boundaries as they currently stand. It’s amazing what the people of Broughty Ferry have achieved in stopping West Ferry from being taken out of The Ferry electoral ward. As my Conservative colleague Liam Kerr MSP has said: ‘This is a result for people power and shows what can be achieved when people stand up collectively for their local area.”

 

I opposed the creation of a ward boundary at Victoria Road when it was put forward by the council’s SNP administration as its preferred option as I knew it was wrong. It's a pity other councillors didn't support me at that time, if they had, the last few months of uncertainty and concern might have been avoided. I was really dismayed when the Local Government Boundary Commission adopted the council's suggestion and then recommended it to government ministers.

 

Thankfully the council changed its mind when the strength of local opposition became clear and we then had SNP politicians objecting to their own proposal.

 

Many thanks to  the West Ferry Residents Action Group, Broughty Ferry Community Council and all of the residents and other organisations who wrote to the boundaries commission initially and then the ministers. If they hadn't played such an active part you can be sure that the proposed change would have happened.

Council committee meetings

Last night’s meeting of the Neighbourhood Services Committee agreed a grant for assistance towards administration costs of £3000 to BERA - the Broughty Ferry Adult Education and Recreation Association.

 

The committee also agreed revised measures for controlling the input of waste at Riverside and Baldovie household waste and recycling centres. 47% of waste taken to the  centres is recycled. In 2015 there were 276,953 visits to both sites and in the reporting year 2015/16  9,040 tonnes of waste was input at the Baldovie site.

 

Commercial waste should be taken to the Baldovie transfer station in Forties Road where a charge is levied for the disposal via a weighbridge. Van access is allowed at both sites and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between those who are genuine householders entitled to use the centres and traders, who are not. One of the changes being introduced is that residents, who use a non commercial van, pick up, minibus or vehicle with a single axle trailer to dispose of waste will have to obtain a free permit   prior to visiting any household waste recycling centre. There will be a limit on the number of visits allowed by the permit.

 

A number of actions need to be carried out in advance of the changes being made. All the details will appear on the relevant pages of the council’s website in due course.

Electric vehicle charging hub

The Council earlier this year received a grant of £1.86m from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles to provide more charging points for electric vehicles across Dundee. The funding will be used to create charging points at eight locations including three charging hubs at Princess Street, St Anne Lane car park and Queen Street car park in Broughty Ferry.

 

The City Development Department is in the process of finalising the plans for each site but the current proposal for Queen Street car park is to utilise the slightly separate area at the west end of the site for electric vehicle charging. An additional 2 rapid chargers will be installed, which will charge vehicles in approximately 20-30 minutes, and four fast chargers, which will charge a vehicle in approximately 1-4 hours (depending on make and model). The existing rapid charger in the car park will be moved to be in the same area.

 

I understand the current chargers at Queen Street car park are being well utilised and it is hoped that the additional charging infrastructure will facilitate more residents, visitors and businesses in the area to switch to electric vehicles.

 

Dundee leads the way in its use and encouragement of low and zero emission vehicles. Dundee City Council currently operates 66 pure electric vehicles from six different manufacturers meaning around 25% of the council’s car and small van fleet is electric. In addition it also uses two hybrid vehicles.The council owns 58 charging points at eight publicly available charging locations, including Scotland’s first rapid charger. In 2016/17 the council estimates that this will reduce carbon dioxide by 122 tonnes each year.

Road report week commencing 5 September

The following Broughty Ferry streets feature in the council’s road report for week commencing Monday 5 September 2016. It’s good to see that Forthill Road will be reopening early next week:

 

Forthill Road (Nursery Road to Queen Street)- closed until Monday 5 for gas main renewal.

 

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

 

Dalhousie Road- off-peak temporary traffic lights for one week for water main repair.

 

Lawers Drive- traffic control for 4 weeks for street lighting works.

 

Forthcoming Major Roadworks

 

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