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.