Forthill Tenants Association AGM

I attended the AGM of the Forthill Tenants Association today and was delighted to be asked to chair the meeting for the election of a new committee.  The tenants association meets every month and it is a pleasure to attend the meetings as they are always positive and everyone is committed to improving things in the local area. There are ten places on the committee (plus two possible co-options) and all ten were filled, making it one of the biggest tenants associations in Dundee.

 

Tenants associations are consulted by the housing department on aspects of housing policy which might affect tenants; they are able to take part in decision making processes and can influence decisions about housing conditions and housing related services. Forthill Tenants Association also works closely with other council departments and organisations to improve the local environment and community safety.

 

The guest speaker at today’s AGM was my former Conservative councillor colleague Charlie Webster. He gave a well received talk on the Broughty Ferry fishing community and some of the local characters.

More Broughty Ferry improvement works

It was a very busy day today in Broughty Ferry with lots of families enjoying the gala week programme of events, including the children’s window guessing competition which this year runs over two weeks and features 74 shop fronts.
 

It also seemed to be the day that a lot of long standing road and pavement complaints were being resolved. The pavement in Queen Street at the New Kirk is being attended to and significant carriageway patching is being carried out on Albany Road and Ellieslea Road.
 

Other problematic areas will be attended to in the near future; patching works are programmed to commence next week at the Rossie Avenue / Muirside Terrace Junction and next month at the Rossie Avenue / East Balgillo Road Junction.

In Touch newsletter

I am currently in the process of delivering my summer 2015 newsletter.  As always it features across four pages a number of articles on local issues, updates and information. I try to distribute it as widely as possible across the Ferry ward and I’m grateful to the volunteers who help with this. Feedback is always welcome, so if you have any comments then please get in touch with me.

New pedestrian crossing at Craigie Drive

I have received notice from the council that  it will be installing a controlled pedestrian crossing on Craigie Drive adjacent to Gardyne Road with work due to commence on 6th July 2015. This is as a result of a pedestrian /vehicle survey that indicated a significant demand across Craigie Drive. The installation will assist school children travelling to Craigiebarns Primary School and for the students attending Dundee and Angus College Gardyne Campus.

 

Part of the work involves removing a section of the existing carriageway surface and replacing it with a new surface which has higher skid resistant properties and in order to carry out this element of the works, Belsize Road will be closed at its junction with Craigie Drive from 13th July for five days.

Litter pick at Sandy Park

Reres Park

I was recently asked by a resident about  the maintenance of the paths in Reres Park, and in particular the deterioration of the path that runs around the hill on the west side. I raised the matter with the city engineer’s office and have since been advised that the Road Maintenance Partnership has carried out an inspection of the paths within Reres Park and have confirmed that there is a combination of unmade paths and surfaced paths.

 

The unmade paths are maintained by the Environment Department and the surfaced paths by the Road Maintenance Partnership who have identified a number of repairs to be carried out. In the surfaced paths, a number of potholes will be repaired in the short term and further works will be carried out including repairs to timber edging as soon as resources are available.

 

Broughty Ferry Development Trust is also considering environmental improvements at Reres Park as a future project.

Ferry Time

On Saturday I held my usual ward surgeries and made some pre-arranged home visits. Later on I called in at the pop-up shop in Gray Street that had been arranged by Broughty Ferry’s timebank, Ferry Time. The shop was an opportunity for people to drop in to have an informal chat about becoming a Ferry Time volunteer.

 

Timebanking brings people together to help each other out by doing small jobs or tasks. It works on the principle that everyone has some talent, skill, hobby or interest that would be useful to another person. For every hour you give, you receive an hour’s credit that you can then use when you need help with something yourself.

For more information contact the Ferry Time broker by telephone on 305738 or by email ferrytime@number10.org. You can also follow Ferry Time on Facebook.