Coastal walkway

I was contacted by residents about an increase in dog fouling along the coastal walkway from Douglas Terrace to Stannergate, which is part of the green circular route. Thankfully the vast majority of dog walkers show consideration for others and pick up after their dogs, but sadly there is a small number who don’t. I raised the matter with the Environment Department and it arranged for a clean up to be carried out. In addition nine new dog fouling signs have been put up along the path and an animal control officer is monitoring it on a daily basis. In the last week I have walked the length of the path on a couple of occasions and noticed that things do seem to be a lot better.

In recent weeks I have been on dog walking duty for a relative and have found that in nearly every place I have exercised  the dog, there is a receptacle for depositing dog bags no more than a couple of minutes walk away, so there isn’t really any excuse for not picking up.

It was also brought to my attention that the four wooden benches at the viewing area, separate from the path about halfway along, are in need of repainting and a bit of basic maintenance. These benches are very popular with users of the path and it would be a pity to see them fall into disrepair, especially as one of them has a dedication on it.  I have been advised by the Environment Department that these will be attended to over the summer months when there is a longer period of better weather.

Temporary traffic order

I have been advised of carriageway reconstruction works on Claypotts Road which will result in the section between Albert Road and Davidson Street being closed to vehicles for 5 working days from Monday 6 April 2015.

 

Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Queen Street / Dundee Road / Victoria Road / Strathern Road.

Action to resolve ponding on Dalhousie Road

I was pleased to see that work has been carried out to try and deal with the ongoing ponding at Dalhousie Road, near to the junction with Guthrie Terrace.  I have previously posted about how excessive the ponding can be, sometimes covering the entire carriageway and pavement. On one occasion I had to request a clean up as foul smelling black sludge, made up of road detritus and organic material, was left on the pavement. 

 

The recent work undertaken was to install a length of linear drainage channel between two existing gullies. I’m told this channel doesn’t increase drainage at the location as the catchment for the existing gullies remains the same, however it will assist in removing standing water more quickly, before taking it to the  gullies.

 

It will be monitored over the next few weeks to ensure it is working as intended.

Council meetings

Tonight’s meeting of the City Development Committee agreed to establish a transport public social partnership with responsibility for the development of a range of community based transport initiatives and services. It will also be given responsibility for the Friendly Bus service from July 2015. The Friendly Bus is a weekly shoppers' bus service that picks residents up from sheltered housing complexes across the city that have difficulty using the ordinary bus service and takes them to their nearest supermarket. It visits Brought Ferry on a Thursday and takes residents to Sainsbury’s. It is very popular and well received by the users from Broughty Ferry and there was great concern a couple of years back when it looked as if the council’s administration was going to stop this service. I asked for an assurance, which I received, that in its new guise the service wouldn’t diminish and would remain as a city wide service. I was told that the intention was to expand its role and make wider use of it.

The committee also approved tenders for works to a number of schools including replacement of curtain walling at Forthill Primary School and the renewal of windows and doors to the two storey block at Barnhill Primary School and renewal of seven sets of internal fire doors within the ground floor corridor. I’m particularly pleased to see the renewal of windows and doors at Barnhill as it is something I have raised quite a few times with the council in recent years.

Campaigning in Carnoustie

After my morning surgery today I joined Conservative colleagues in Carnoustie campaigning for Bill Bowman, the General Election candidate in Dundee East. We covered a lot of ground and received a good reception from the residents we spoke to. 

The photograph was taken after we had stopped for a well deserved coffee break. There is always plenty to do in an election campaign so if you are interested in helping out I would be delighted to hear from you.

A meeting with Murdo Fraser MSP

Last night I attended a meeting of Dundee University Conservative and Unionist Association which was addressed by Murdo Fraser MSP. Dundee's two Parliamentary candidates, Nicola Ross (Dundee West) and Bill Bowman (Dundee East), were also present and said a few words. Murdo talked about the General Election and also about his views regarding a federal system of government in the United Kingdom. 

I asked a question about Police Scotland and Murdo indicated that he was due to speak at a COSLA meeting on the subject and was proposing that a new system of policing should be considered, where serious crimes are dealt with by a national police force, and community crimes are dealt with by local forces accountable at a local authority level. The following is a news release issued by the Scottish Conservatives today which gives a bit more detail about the proposal:

A model teaming a new tier of policing should be looked at in more detail, the Scottish Conservatives have announced. Speaking at the COSLA conference in Crieff today, Murdo Fraser said that it shouldn’t be presumed that a single police force is the answer as it has struggled to win public confidence. Currently, a single police force has led to the loss of community policing, closures of local stations, stop and search and routinely armed police officers on the streets.

Instead a new system of policing should be considered, where serious crimes are dealt with by a national police force, and community crimes are dealt with by 32 local forces accountable at a local authority level. The new tier model of policing would mean that a local force led by a senior officer at Chief Superintendent level or above, would be directly accountable to locally elected councillors. Mr Fraser said this type of policing would benefit the taxpayer as further funding would not be needed to cover administration costs. And local councils would benefit by taking charge of crime and safety issues, which are right at the heart of local communities.  

Scottish Conservatives enterprise spokesman Murdo Fraser said:  “We think this proposed system could work very well in Scotland, like it has in other European countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Already local councils employ community wardens to deal with local crime, and there’s no reason in principle why the administration of community police forces cannot also fall under the same local authority umbrella. 

“Of course, this is just an idea, and it may not need to go this far. It might be possible to recreate proper local accountability within a Single Police Force. However, for the benefit of the taxpayer, accountability and fighting crime it is an idea worth considering further, and something that will require further discussion and debate in the coming months.”

Action on bins

At this week’s Environment Committee approval was given for the adoption of new regulatory measures within the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 to encourage householders to correctly use their waste and recycling containers.

 

Under the Environment Protection Act 1990, householders have a responsibility for ensuring that they correctly present their bins for collection but the Act didn’t provide for sufficient measures to compel householders to return bins to their correct storage point. In some areas this has resulted in bins being permantely left on the pavement which causes an obstruction to pedestrians, wheelchairs and prams, creates a fire risk and becomes an attraction for gulls as well as being detrimental to the visual amenity.  

 

Now, where bins are being left to sit continuously on the pavement, householders will be issued with an advisory letter and if they fail to respond formal action will be taken which may result in a report being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal. I was assured by the director of environment that any measure taken will be proportionate and informal in the first instance as of course there might be good reason why a bin hasn’t been returned to its correct storage place but the new regulations will allow action to be taken to ensure that bins aren’t left out from one week to the next just because people can’t be bothered putting them away.

Broughty Ferry named as one of the 50 best urban places to live in Britain

I was delighted to see that Broughty Ferry was named as one of the top five best urban places to live in Scotland and one of the top 50 urban places to live in Britain in a list of places drawn up by the Sunday Times in partnership with property website Zoopla.

A number of factors were considered when determining the list including  house prices, crime rates, transport links, school performance, as well as the writers’ own local knowledge.

The paper described Broughty Ferry as "a picture-perfect former fishing village that’s netting ever more interest" and says “It was favoured by the city’s wealthy jute barons, who have left behind a rich collection of handsome villas with splendid views over to Fife."

Broughty Ferry reached the final three of the UK-wide Great Neighbourhood awards last year and this latest accolade is further evidence, if it were needed, that Broughty Ferry is the place to go for those who wish to live, work or visit somewhere that has a beautiful seafront location, quality shops and restaurants, historical interest, great community spirit and so much more.

Recycling roadshows

I have been advised of the local roadshows that have been arranged to further communicate the forthcoming changes to recycling services. These have been scheduled at various times during the day and in the evening and residents of properties located within phase one of the roll out will have the opportunity to find out more about the changes. There will be five sessions in total held in Broughty Ferry Library:

• Monday 16 March 10am to 12pm and 5pm to 7pm

• Wednesday 18 March 12pm to 2pm

• Friday 20 March 10am to12pm and 5pm to 7pm.

All households in phase one will have by now received a letter advising them of the changes. Detailed information leaflets are in the process of being delivered. The delivery of the new containers will commence from Monday  with the first collections due to start w/c 23 March.

Beach Crescent

I was contacted by residents about the amount of debris on the beach at Beach Crescent.  The attached picture was taken when the tide was quite far in but you wouldn’t know if from the spoil floating on top. I raised the matter with the council’s environment department as there is usually an annual clean up of the beach. I have been advised that the level of debris is not uncommon at this time of year due to the higher spring tides and winter run-off into the river from upstream. Clearance work is planned for the week of 16 March.

Temporary traffic order

I have been advised that the driving of any vehicle in Victoria Road (from Strathern Road to approximately 70 metres south), will be prohibited by reason of gas service connection works from Friday 6 March for five working days. Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained. Alternative routes for vehicles are available via Strathern Road / Claypotts Road / Albert Road.