New Year disruption to Broughty Ferry roads

Some major roads in Broughty Ferry will face serious disruption for many weeks in the New Year. Scottish Hydro Electric is carrying out a cable renewal scheme which is anticipated will take 16 weeks to complete. The scheme, commencing on 7 January, involves an electricity upgrade between Mid Craigie and Brook Street. The proposed route is Arbroath Road, Claypotts Junction, Claypotts Road, Queen Street, St Vincent Street and Brook Street.

I have been advised that the following road closures require to be in place to carry out the work: Douglas Road (Kingsway East-Longtown Road); Kemnay Place (Douglas Road-Arbroath Road); Arbroath Road (eastbound between Kingsway East and Fairfield Road); Claypotts Road (Claypotts Terrace-Queen Street); St Vincent Street (Queen Street-Brook Street) and finally Brook Street (St Vincent Street-New Road). The road closures will be a series of rolling sectional closures.

The traffic management proposals will be submitted to the council by the contractor for review and approval prior to commencement.

I will provide a programme showing the phasing of the closures when I have sight of it.

Council credit cards

Performance rights to show the musical Grease, skateboards, and a machine to repel dangerous dogs were among the items bought on council credit cards, figures have shown.

Local authorities have spent nearly £150 million on credit or procurement cards since 2007, including significant sums on meals, hotel stays and functions. Despite the huge spend, half of Scotland’s councils cannot detail exactly what the cash has been spent on, despite a tightening of budgets. The breakdown was obtained by the Scottish Conservatives under Freedom of Information.

Aberdeenshire Council spent £1,100 bid to have the rights to show the John Travolta and Olivia Newton John classic and £500 on a “safer sex box”, while Argyll and Bute spent £700 in plush restaurant Planet Hollywood. Other examples from the past two years include East Ayrshire spending £100 on a Santa suit, £500 on skateboards, £30 on a “dog dazer”, £400 on glowstick necklaces, and a similar amount on two deluxe hairdryers. Also included in the breakdown was East Lothian Council forking out £900 at Walt Disney Theatrical in London and Moray Council spending £2,000 on theatre tickets.

Among the smaller items revealed were £15 on the Guinness Book of World Records for Midlothian Council and a £35 investment from Fife Council trialling Facebook adverts.

Dundee City Council didn’t respond to the Freedom of Information request so I have contacted the council’s head of democratic and legal services to find out why this was.

Damaged gullies on Dalhousie Road

I have been contacted by a number of people regarding pooling that occurs on Dalhousie Road near to its junction with Guthrie Terrace. The two rainwater gullies at this location have been blocked by sand bags for some time.

I raised the matter with the council’s city engineer and was advised that the gullies are damaged and the sand bags are to remain in place until work can be carried out to replace the gully pots and reconnect the gully tail to the sewer within Dalhousie Road. These works are provisionally programmed to commence on 21st January 2013 subject to Tayside Contracts winter maintenance commitments at that time.

The pooling at this location has been so much worse in recent days due to the incessant rainfall so I’m pleased that there is a planned date for rectifying the problem.

Car park gritting

Queen Street car park

I have been asked by residents if the car parks in Broughty Ferry will be gritted in the icy weather. Users of the car parks will recall how bad they were during the hard winter a couple of years ago.

Two weeks ago the car parks were a bit slippery underfoot. I raised the matter with the city engineer and he advised me that in icy conditions parking staff are responsible for checking the council's car parks and utilising hand spreaders as appropriate. The Roads Maintenance Partnership becomes involved in red alert snow conditions.

I will keep an eye on the situation and revert to the relevant council department should problems occur.

Civic cars

There was an item on the agenda of this week’s meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources Committee seeking agreement to replace the council’s two civic cars. Both vehicles had been leased since November 2008 and as the initial lease period of three years had expired the leases were operating on a month to month basis. It was agreed that the Lord Provost’s official limousine, TS1, would be replaced but in respect of the second car, which is used to transport councillors and officials to meetings and conferences,  I proposed that this shouldn’t be replaced, generating  a saving for the council tax payers of Dundee of about £6000 a year.

The council has a staff travel plan that expects employees to consider whether their journey is completely necessary or if an alternative, like a telephone conference call or email discussion would be more appropriate. If a meeting is needed journeys of up to one mile are expected to be on foot and those greater than a mile within Dundee are expected to be made by bus. I argued that councillors should be expected to comply with the same considerations as council staff and having a second civic car readily available would make it more likely that people would use it. Unfortunately my proposal was voted down by the administration.

Since the meeting took place I have received a number of supportive comments from local residents about the stance I took on this matter.  

Separate Scotland would have to reapply to EU

The president of the European Commission has confirmed a separate Scotland would have to apply to become part of the EU. Jose Manuel Barroso said in a televised interview that it was “obvious” any new state would have to reapply for EU membership. His views back up those of numerous experts on the issue, and contradict SNP assertions that Scotland would automatically be an EU member state.

Speaking on BBC’s Hard Talk this morning, Mr Barroso said: “If there is a new state of course that state has to apply for membership and to negotiate the conditions with the other member states.” He went on to say a separate Scotland would “certainly” be a new state, and as such “has to negotiate into the European Union”. On the other hand, he added, the UK without Scotland would be allowed to continue as part of the EU.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said: “This is a definitive intervention from the President of the European Commission, which Alex Salmond simply cannot ignore. Now we have it straight from the horse’s mouth, the First Minister has to explain why he has been so blasé about such an important matter affecting the future of our country.

One of the SNP’s main planks for separation was that Scotland would simply walk into the EU. But Alex Salmond’s assertions and attempts to hoodwink people have now been laid bare for all to see.

The fact is, Alex Salmond has never even bothered to speak to Europe about this issue, preferring to make it up as he goes along. If Scotland were to separate in 2014, can it afford to wander around in the international wilderness for years on end? This would have major consequences, affecting every fabric of life in Scotland, including our farmers, fishermen and people in financial services.

Scotland benefits from billions of pounds of exports to the rest of the UK and Europe by being part of a free trade area. But being left on the outside of the EU would put all this in jeopardy.

The uncertainty being experienced now because of the referendum would simply intensify, yet the SNP blunders on regardless.

This matters to ordinary Scots as all new member states must sign up to the single currency and can't opt out of the Schengen border arrangements, like the rest of the UK. It also puts in doubt the rebate at a potential cost of many millions of pounds to the Scottish.

If Alex Salmond cannot be trusted to be straight with the people of Scotland on something so fundamental to separation, then why should we believe anything else he says on why Scotland should break away from the family of the UK?"

Anton Drive wall

The residents of Anton Drive will soon see work commence on replacing the retaining wall on the opposite side of the road from their homes.

I attend walkabouts of the Forthill area with local residents and officers of the council and in recent years the condition of the wall has been highlighted as a concern.

The council has ownership of the wall with the Housing Department being the duty holder as a legacy associated with creating a site boundary for the Anton Drive development. The land supported by the wall is in private ownership apart from a narrow strip behind the wall. The land is also subject to tree preservation orders.

Temporary protective fencing was installed as a public safety measure and the council’s structural engineers designed several retention options in liaison with Dundee City Council's Environment Department Construction Division in order to establish an economic remedial solution, which would also minimise inconvenience to the residents and build within land owned by the council without disturbing or removing support from adjacent land in private ownership during construction. 

On Monday the Housing Committee will be asked to approve £94,144 of expenditure to allow the work to proceed.

Final stretch

Work starts tomorrow upgrading the final 220 metre section of the Douglas Terrace walkway. The contract for the work amounts to £887,579 and includes widening of the elevated walkway, removal of the existing parapet and replacement with a new post and rail barrier, infilling under the structure and new surfacing, all to match the previously refurbished sections.  

My constituents will be aware that I have been championing improvements for this walkway for a decade and a half.  During this time various sections have been refurbished and it will be very satisfying to see the walkway completed in its entirety.

Christmas Lunch

Jackson Carlaw MSP, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, was the guest of honour at Dundee and South Angus Conservative Association’s Christmas lunch on Saturday at the Woodlands Hotel.

Jackson gave a wonderfully witty speech fitting for the occasion, but he also spoke about what needs to be done to ensure a convincing victory for the no campaign at the independence referendum in 2014.

The members present thoroughly enjoyed the occasion and I had the honour of proposing the vote of thanks.

Disabled parking in Gray Street

Residents have contacted me about the faded disabled parking bay road markings in Gray Street.

 I took this up with the council’s head of transportation and in response he has advised me that he will arrange for the bays to be included within a future disabled bay repainting programme after checking that they meet the current standard.

New Broughty Ferry bus service

Monday (26 November) will see the launch of a new bus service linking central Broughty Ferry and Dundee City Centre.  Stagecoach Strathtay Service 74 will operate Monday to Friday every 30 minutes between 0900 to 1600.  The bus will run between Dundee city centre and central Broughty Ferry via Strathern Road.

I have long campaigned for improved bus services in Broughty Ferry and I am pleased that a direct link from central Broughty Ferry to Dundee has been re-established. I’m sure this will be welcomed by the very many people who have raised the issue with me.

I’m surprised that the route this service will take to the city centre is along Strathern Road as there are already Dundee bound buses travelling this way every few minutes.  There is a distinct lack of buses using Dundee Road, something that I repeatedly highlight, and the residents who live in this area, but have no access to private transport, will wonder why Dundee Road hasn’t been incorporated into the new service 74. Nevertheless I’m grateful to Stagecoach for improving the public transport options in Broughty Ferry.

Dropped kerbs in Gillies Place/Terrace

I was pleased to see that work is being carried out to install dropped kerbs in the Gillies Place/Terrace area. Local residents had asked me a while ago if these could be provided. The council’s city development department advised me that they would be done during this financial year and I’m grateful that it was possible. 

Another location that had dropped kerb work outstanding was in Church Street at Windsor Court and this was completed a couple of weeks ago.

In recent months a large number of locations in Barnhill have had dropped kerbs installed, many of them at my request. There are still locations across the ward that require them and I will continue to ask that these be attended to.

Scottish Conservatives launch new Union Saltire logo

The Scottish Conservatives have launched their new Union Saltire logo at a party convention in Dundee. The image, designed to reflect both the Saltire and Union Jack, replaces the previous tree logo.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: “Our new Union Saltire logo is bold, fresh and easy to recognise. Obviously inspired by the St Andrew’s Cross, it is distinctly Scottish but with colours which clearly reflect our pride in the United Kingdom.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw, who led the redesign project, said: “Our new Union Saltire logo stands out on a ballot paper where it has a positive and suggestive impact – it says ‘Vote Scottish Conservative’. From today the Union Saltire is the easily identifiable symbol of our Party for the decade ahead.

A new logo alone will not deliver results, but new branding, improved organisation and a new generation of candidates will underpin the policy, vision and shape of a renewed Scottish Conservative Party led energetically and with determination by Ruth.”

Albany Place – carriageway resurface

I have today been notified that the long anticipated resurfacing of the carriageway in Albany Place is programmed to commence on Monday 3 December and will last for approximately 3 days.

The contractor is Tayside Contracts. Vehicular access will be maintained for residents throughout the works, although it has been requested that traffic movements be kept to a minimum. Minor delays may be encountered during some phases of the works. No on-street parking will be allowed on the section of carriageway being worked on. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained throughout.

A number of residents in Albany Place have contacted me over the last few months about the condition of their street. They will be pleased that improvements are to be made at long last.

Street sign in place

After some reminders to the roads maintenance partnership the new street sign at Seafield Terrace has now been installed.

By-election triumph

The Scottish Conservatives won a local authority by-election on Thursday, making them the largest party on Dumfries and Galloway Council.

The triumph in the Annandale North local authority ward by 22-year-old Graeme Tait represents a gain from Labour, and strengthens the party’s position on the council coalition.

It is the first Scottish Conservative by-election gain since the introduction of the new electoral system in 2007 thanks to the election of Mr Tait, a care assistant.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said: “This is a fantastic achievement, and it’s great to see the next generation of Scottish Conservatives coming through and being trusted as successful candidates.

We are the true party of localism and the voters have repaid that commitment by strengthening the position of the party in the area. We put forward candidates who are in touch with local concerns and have a track record of working in the community. “

Tayside House

This blog is viewed by a number of former Dundee residents who now live overseas so I thought I would post these pictures for their interest. The first picture was taken in City Square and shows Tayside House covered in scaffolding and about to disappear behind the Caird Hall. Tayside House was the headquarters of the old Tayside Regional Council and had been used since the mid-1990s by Dundee City Council. The building was never popular and it was once voted Dundee's least liked building. It is being demolished to make way for the £1 billion redevelopment of the waterfront.

The second photograph is of the space that used to be occupied by The Podium Block which was regarded as the little brother of Tayside House. It has already been demolished and the ground is being used as a compound for the Tayside House demolition works.

The Podium Block held many memories for me because the Conservative Group on Dundee City Council had an office there for fourteen years. I served as a co-opted member of Tayside Regional Council for its last few months and attended meetings in The Podium when it operated as the chambers for the council.

Readers will observe that the ‘gazebo’ at the front of the City Square has also been removed as part of a wider refurbishment of the City Square.

Play area and public open space improvements

Gillies Park play area

Tonight’s meeting of the Environment Committee agreed to spend £150,000 on a city wide programme of play area and public open space improvements. The following works are to be undertaken in Broughty Ferry:

Gillies Park– the rubber safety surfacing on the play area is being repaired and redundant spring animals are being removed and replaced with new ones;

Castle Green- the rubber safety surfacing is being repaired in the play area and the adventure golf is to have the landscaping improved to make it a more welcoming place;

Strathmore Street/Hamilton Street- the overgrown shrub beds are to be removed and replaced with suitable plantings which will improve the appearance of the area whilst not increasing maintenance costs;

Barnhill Cemetery- concrete pads will be installed for new benches and repairs will be carried out to the wall;

Dawson Park- old shrubs are to be removed at the entrance to the park and re-planting carried out to improve the visual amenity of the park while ensuring that the maintenance costs stay the same.

Scottish Government will never cut tax for hardworking Scots

Alex Salmond has dropped his strongest hint yet that neither he, nor the SNP, have any plans to cut taxes for people in Scotland.

At First Minister’s Questions today he compared the Scottish Conservative policy of cutting income tax by at least a penny as a £1 billion cut. That was in response to Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson’s calls to improve the way the Scottish Government spends public money following criticism by Audit Scotland on reoffending rates.

Earlier this week, the Conservatives said they would look at ways of spending public cash more wisely in order to ensure higher take-home pay for hard-working Scots but it is now clear that the Scottish Government only intends to move taxes in an upward direction.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“It is obvious from his ill-informed remarks today that Alex Salmond has no intention of ever cutting taxes for hard-working Scots. He refuses to acknowledge failures and inefficiencies – but expects those who get up every morning to go to work to foot the bill without question.

Tax cuts do not take money from people, they put it back in their purses and pockets so they can decide how best it should be spent. Whatever tax cuts we propose when the power is returned to the Scottish Parliament, we will be returning money to Scots from the government, not from Scotland. 

Alex Salmond has demonstrated clearly that he regards taxes as a government entitlement, not the rightful earnings of hard-working people. And he obviously believes that the people of Scotland should work for the government while we believe the government should work for us.

We want greater take-home pay for Scots: just now hard-working people must look at their payslip every month and baulk when they see the bottom line compared to the top. Instead, he sees every penny in Scottish workers’ pockets as a penny that should be sitting in his own popularity warchest.

After being criticised by Audit Scotland for the way the SNP government spends almost £130 million on reoffending while making zero impact on figures, you would think Alex Salmond would be more open to advice.”

 

Pavements in central Broughty Ferry

I have been contacted by another constituent who has fallen as a result of tripping on a concrete pavement in central Broughty Ferry. This is the third person in recent weeks who has reported to me that they have suffered an injury as a consequence of tripping on a pavement in poor condition. 

 Some of the locations I have reported to the city engineer’s office are to have a limited number of concrete panels repaired, however I have now asked whether it would be possible to carry out a wider programme of repairs to eliminate as many potential trip hazards as possible.  I have received complaints about the concrete pavements in Brook Street, Church Street, King Street, Claypotts Road, New Road and Camphill Road.

East Balgillo Road

A lot of residents have complained to me about the condition of the carriageway on East Balgillo Road and particularly the potholes at and near to the junction with Balgillo Road. I took the matter up with the Roads Maintenance Partnership and I have now been informed that structural patching is to be carried out at the junction and is provisionally programmed for mid November. Unfortunately the remainder of the East Balgillo Road carriageway is not included in the 2012/13 carriageway programme but I have been advised that it will continue to be inspected on a regular basis and any actionable defects noted will be repaired to ensure safety is maintained.

20 mph zones

A lot of residents have spoken to me about the possibility of reducing the speed limit on their streets to 20mph. I asked the council for its view on 20mph zones and received the following reply from the head of transportation:

“The Council's current position on 20mph limits was agreed at the Planning and Transportation Committee on the 28th April 2003.  Report 286-2003 concluded that advisory 20mph speed limits, or 20's Plenty Zones, achieve little in the way of casualty reduction and should not be implemented at the expense of targeted road safety casualty reduction schemes.

Almost all residential streets that we survey highlight that the average speed is typically low 20s (or lower) with most drivers driving in a considerate manner.

You will be aware that my Division has a procedure in place to prioritise sites for road safety measures.  With this in mind, when a request for a 20mph speed limit is received, if there is a significant accident record, then the site will be assessed and prioritised alongside other road safety sites that have been identified.”   

Church Street update

I have received an update about the pavement in Church Street. As a result of my enquiry an order has been raised to renew a couple of the worn granolithic concrete panels between the rail bridge and Brook Street and this work will be done as soon as resources are available.

Unfortunately in the immediate term it is not possible to fill the areas of worn concrete footway temporarily as apparently they are too shallow to hold any material, however the Road Maintenance Partnership inspector will continue to monitor the condition of these footways for any further deterioration until the repairs are carried out.

No contact with MoD for advice on defence

The Scottish Government has made no attempt to contact the MoD over the defence capabilities of a separate Scotland.

It was revealed today in First Minister’s Questions that not only had the SNP not sought assurances from the MoD, but any discussions it had with Nato would be kept secret for at least another year.

It raises questions around the SNP’s preparation for separation, after it emerged last week it had received no legal advice on automatic entry to the EU, despite Alex Salmond suggestion to the contrary in an earlier televised interview.

The Scottish Conservatives requested to see all correspondence between the Scottish Government and the MoD on ‘the future of defence in an independent Scotland’, with the latter responding that no such correspondence existed.

When Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson wrote to Alex Salmond requesting what advice he had taken on the possibility of Scotland leaving Nato, a response stated simply that all would be revealed in late 2013.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“Once again Alex Salmond has refused to say whether he has spoken to Nato, just as his deputy refused on Tuesday. He offered more assertions about how Scotland could be part of Nato while abolishing nuclear deterrents from the Clyde, without saying how this could possibly be the case.

Never before has a Nato member ordered the removal of its own permanent nuclear base. Because of this confusion surrounding defence, not to mention the other issues, I asked the MoD what discussions have taken place with the Scottish Government on this. The answer is there has been no contact between the two, and once again this shows there are no facts to back up the First Minister’s assertions.

This is an approach to separation which is at best complacent, and at worse appallingly negligent. How can the people of Scotland be expected to vote on such a crucial matter when the cheerleaders for separation haven’t even tried to answer the most fundamental of questions?”

Wild flower meadow

With the winter weather already here I thought I would post this picture that I took in the summer of the lovely wild flower meadow in Queen Street car park which was created by Grove Academy pupils. I hope it provides some cheer.

Small issue: big impact

Prior to the start of the footway slurry sealing works that were carried out in the Forthill area in August, the grit bin that usually sits outside the sheltered complex in Forthill Drive was removed. Despite the works being complete and the first snow fall already upon us the grit bin has never been put back.  Being an area where the majority of residents are elderly, the lack of a grit bin can have a huge impact on the ability of people to get out and about safely. I have asked the city engineer’s office to ensure that it is returned.

Surface of the moon

No, this isn’t a picture of the surface of the moon. It is just a street in West Ferry with multiple potholes.  This is something that really should be getting picked up and actioned by the Roads Maintenance Partnership. It is hard to avoid these potholes when driving on Ellieslea Road. I have asked that they been attended to as soon as possible.

Barnhill Primary School

Spending on the extension to Barnhill Primary School is set to double to almost £2 million. There is an item coming before next week's Education Committee seeking approval for a new nursery unit, gym, extended dining area and relocation of the existing car park.

I have been calling for an extension to be built at Barnhill Primary School for many years and I was pleased when at long last the arguments that had been put forward were acknowledged and the council agreed to a four classroom extension and included it in its 2012-2016 capital plan.  However at the council's budget meeting in February, mindful that other facilities would require attention to keep pace with the increased capacity, the Conservative Group proposed allocating a further £1million to the project for extending the dining area, providing a gymnasium, improving traffic management and for the refurbishment of the existing building.  The SNP administration voted down our proposal so I'm pleased to see that eight months on it has agreed that we were right and has accepted that these additional facilities are required.

New right turn on Broughty Ferry Road

Many residents have asked me why a new right turn has been created on Broughty Ferry Road at Greendykes Road.  

I first raised this matter with the council when I saw the trees being felled, before the road works started.

The director of city development has advised me that the right turn is part of the implementation of a replacement road bridge over the rail line at Stannergate. It has been viewed as an essential infrastructure enhancement to support the development potential of Dundee Port.  The funding for the bridge replacement and road works came from TACTRAN .

The introduction of the right turn from Broughty Ferry Road into Greendykes Road (and enhanced left turn from Greendykes Road into Broughty Ferry Road) is to provide a suitable route for HGVs to and from  the Port of Dundee onto and from the trunk road and it was considered preferable to keep HGV activity on the A class road network rather than use Craigie Drive.

Seven Sunday stops at station

Last month I posted a message about the announcement that Broughty Ferry Station is to receive an overall increase of 2 additional stops daily from Monday to Saturday from December 2012.

I have now been advised that  First ScotRail have also confirmed that Sunday services are to be introduced in the new timetable.

Currently no services call at Broughty Ferry on Sunday and this will increase to 7 calls as follows:

Northbound

09:37 Glasgow - Aberdeen service will call at Broughty Ferry at 11:18

16:05 Edinburgh - Aberdeen service will call at Broughty Ferry at 17:28

21:00 Edinburgh - Aberdeen service will call at Broughty Ferry at 22:28

Southbound

09:24 Aberdeen - Glasgow service will call at Broughty Ferry at 10:34

12:47 Aberdeen - Edinburgh service will call at Broughty Ferry at 14:00

19:07 Aberdeen - Edinburgh service will call at Broughty Ferry at 20:13

22:27 Aberdeen - Perth  service will call at Broughty Ferry at 23:38

I'm really pleased to see even more trains stopping at Broughty Ferry Station and I'm hopeful that this will eventually lead to the commuter service as envisaged in Tactran's Tay Estuary Rail Study.

Dundee Conservative Friends of the Union launch

Last night Alex Johnstone MSP launched our local Conservative Friends of the Union campaign in the Dalhousie building at Dundee University.

A packed room heard Alex talk about the many compelling reasons for Scotland remaining in the United Kingdom, which is the most successful political union the world has ever seen. He spoke about the advantages that Scotland gains from membership of the UK and the enormous contributions that Scots have made to it and why renewing that partnership is the key to a safer, fairer and more prosperous Scotland in future.

The battle to keep Britain together will not be won by politicians but by ordinary people here in Dundee and across the country.  Many Scots who are proud to be both Scottish and British have pledged their support for our campaign.

In the photograph Alex and Donald Hay, the Dundee campaign coordinator, are holding either end of the Union Flag with the other members of the local campaign committee in-between them.

Balgillo Road junction update

I recently contacted the council's head of transportation for an update about concerns relative to the junctions on Balgillo Road at East Balgillo Road and Forthill Road. The response I received is copied below for interest:

East Balgillo Road /  Balgillo Road Junction

This junction is if fed southbound directly from the A92 as some motorists divert from the main road to avoid the traffic signals at Claypotts and this traffic flow is not encouraged.  There has been some slight injury accidents near the junction however they are not directly related to the operation of the East Balgillo Road / Balgillo Road junction.  The junction has been visited and there is adequate visibility and there are no proposals for this junction.

Forthill Road / Balgillo Road

This junction has been looked at previously by the council and the accident history for vehicles at this junction is good relative to other areas of the city, where identified accident cluster sites are the focus our resources.  In the previous three year period, there have been no reported injury accidents at this location and therefore I do not, at this time, intend to carry out works at this location.

Church Street injury

Just posting an article about another bit of Broughty Ferry pavement that needs to be repaired. As you might have gathered from my earlier posts the condition of our roads and pavements is a particular "bugbear" of mine.  Sadly a constituent tripped at this location in Church Street to their injury. I have reported it to the city engineer and have requested that action be taken to fill in the very many trip hazards on this particular stretch of pavement. I have also asked for an indication of when the concrete pavements in Church Street, and further afield, might feature in a resurfacing programme of works.

New poll shows growing support for keeping UK together

A new poll has shown support for keeping the UK together at 53 per cent, with those wanting separation plunging to well below a third.

The survey, by TNS-BMRB, involved the views of around 1000 adults in Scotland. Only 27 per cent of those asked were in favour of independence, a figure which is on the decline as more details of the SNP’s plans for separation emerge.

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont MSP said:

“All the signs are that people in Scotland simply do not want to break away from the rest of the UK. With results like these, it’s no surprise that Alex Salmond wants to put off the referendum for as long as he can.

Despite a comfortable election victory last year, the SNP has not been able to convert this into support for separation, which probably explains why they were so keen to keep it off the agenda for so long. Almost every poll that comes out shows signs of encouragement, but there is still a long way to go until the autumn of 2014, and we won’t be getting complacent in the battle to keep Britain together.”

Accident at Claypotts Road/Ferndale Drive

There was an accident recently when two vehicles collided at the Ferndale Drive and Claypotts Road junction resulting in the wall of  a property in Ferndale Drive being  knocked over.

The safety of this junction is something I have raised often over the years. It is a very difficult junction to emerge from as vehicles come out of the nearby bend on Claypotts Road pretty quickly. In the past, in response to my enquiries, additional road markings were put down (I had to send repeated requests this year to get them refreshed). When the new Grove building opened I asked for the 20mph sign to be relocated north of the junction as I thought this would make things safer for everyone but I was advised by the council at that time that it couldn't be done .

I have asked the council's head of transportation to look at what safety measures can be taken as a result of this accident.

Salmond prepared to take risky bet on Scotland’s future

Alex Salmond has claimed he could finance the running of a separate Scotland through a rise in oil prices.

Speaking to a radio station, during his trip to America, he talked of an “oil splurge” in coming years for the North Sea. However, industry experts have warned that forecasting oil prices several years in advance is “highly uncertain”. In the past 12 months alone, the price has varied between $92 and $112 a barrel.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“We all know Alex Salmond is a gambler, now it seems he is prepared to make his biggest bet yet on one of the most volatile and finite energy resources in the world.

To base the future prosperity of a separate Scotland on the fluctuating price of oil is risky in the extreme. To put his back-of-the-fag packet sums into perspective, billions of pounds more has been spent on welfare and pensions in Scotland than that raised by oil and gas revenues in each of the past ten years.

This is yet another dangerous assertion from a First Minister when people are demanding hard facts on the biggest decision Scotland has faced in 300 years.”

Taychreggan Hotel

I was sorry to learn that the Taychreggan Hotel in Ellieslea Road is to close its doors. Hopefully it will be able to bounce back soon. It's in a beautiful setting and has a great reputation. The hotel has been there for as long as I can remember. I used to go there for high tea as a youngster and more recently I have taken my own family there. I push Broughty Ferry as a quality visitor destination at every opportunity and we can't afford to lose this type of establishment.

Ferndale Drive pavements

 At long last the work to upgrade and adopt the pavements in Ferndale Drive and Deepdale Place is near completion. Both these pavements were successful if the council's unadopted footways scheme last year but work was put on hold in February when SGN notified its intention to upgrade the gas main located within the Ferndale Drive footway.  

SGN confirmed its works were complete last week so the council started back on Wednesday raising ironwork and laying the wearing course.  Everything should be completed early next week. The pictures to the right depict the same section of Ferndale Drive before and after the surfacing works.

 

The unadopted pavements in Manor Place and Bayfield Gardens are to be brought up to standard during this financial year. Although there are fewer Broughty Ferry pavements being attended to  than has been the case in previous years I'm pleased to note that another 23 unadopted pavements across Broughty Ferry feature high enough in the priority ranking list of the council's unadopted footways scheme to feature in a programme of works during the new council's five year term.

Centenarian

I had the great pleasure at the weekend of calling on Miss Doris Wallace on the occasion of her 100th birthday. It was an honour to be asked to officially recognise such a special birthday. I presented her with a card and a basket of flowers on behalf of the Lord Provost.

Scotland's share of the banking debt

The Deputy First Minister wrongly claimed today that the Scottish Government’s annual accounts already include Scotland’s share of the £66billion given to bail out RBS and Lloyds. At First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson challenged Nicola Sturgeon to reveal how much of the bank debt a separate Scotland would take on.

Based on Treasury figures, an independent Scotland would be liable for a bill of almost £6billion to take into account its share of the banking bail-out. However, the Deputy First Minister instead claimed this money was already included in the latest Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures. But Nicola Sturgeon referred to taxpayers’ money given to the banks after the initial bail-out in 2008 – of which Scotland’s share currently stands at £1billion.

In the last week, Finance Secretary John Swinney confirmed a separate Scotland would take on a share of the banking debt, but refused to say how much. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“The first rule about responding to questions about your economic competence is not to get your figures spectacularly wrong.

“This is yet another embarrassing economic gaffe from Nicola Sturgeon, and more evidence of this being a back-of-a-fag-packet Scottish Government.

“Instead of facing up to the debt responsibilities a separate Scotland would have to shoulder, she attempted to dupe the people of Scotland into thinking everything will be alright.

“The reality is, we will be liable for taking on billions of pounds of debt from the bailout of RBS and Lloyds.

“It is simply staggering that the SNP has failed to take this into account when adding up its sums for the cost of separation.

“It’s another example of a tough question being asked, and because the Scottish Government doesn’t like the answer, it fudges a flawed response.”