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?”