This week’s council committee meetings

The Policy and Resources Committee considered two reports on flood risk management and flood protection schemes. Some major works are proposed with flood protection schemes between City Quay and Riverside Park and also Broughty Ferry (Grassy Beach to Glass Pavilion). The estimated cost of these schemes is £16 million but it is anticipated that 80% of the funding will come from the Scottish Government. At committee I asked about consultation with the wider Broughty Ferry community and I was advised that it is intended to carry out public consultation on the proposed Broughty Ferry coastal flood protection scheme this summer on completion of the preliminary design of the proposed measures. Thereafter, following relevant statutory procedures, construction is planned for financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19 subject to funding.

 

In respect of actions to deal with localised flooding such as happens in Cedar Road a prioritisation exercise is to be carried out and it is anticipated that this will be completed by summer 2017.

 

The Policy and Resources Committee also agreed to some further improvement work at Barnhill Primary School, including the renewal of a timber fascia and replacement of windows and doors to the north, south and west elevations of the infant block and formation of a ramped access to doors in the west elevation. The work will start in July and is expected to be completed by August. The total cost of the work is £128,000.

 

As part of the on going waterfront development the committee also agreed to clear the ground floor of the Caird Hall in Shore Terrace, which used to be Housing Department offices, to provide four food retail units to be marketed for new restaurants and other catering type uses in future years.

 

At the Education Committee the council agreed to adopt the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and Road Safety GB guidelines for managing the School Crossing Patrol Service. We were advised that the adoption of the guidelines will improve the recruitment and retention of school crossing patrollers and provide a more efficient and effective service by placing school crossing patrols in the correct location to make the journey to and from school safer. The procedure for decommissioning a school crossing patrol point will require consultation with parents and teachers and ultimately if a councillor doesn’t agree with the proposal they can ask that it be considered by committee.

Upcoming environmental events

Ruth blasts SNP and Labour on tax hike plans

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party news release

 

Tax plans outlined by the SNP and Labour today have confirmed the Scottish Conservatives will be the only party going into this year’s election on the side of taxpayers, leader Ruth Davidson has said.

 

Nicola Sturgeon admitted the nationalists will not pass on tax cuts announced by the UK Government in last week’s budget, meaning people in Scotland will pay more income tax than anywhere else in Britain. Labour stated it wanted to go even further, scrapping council tax and revaluing properties.

 

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed today that she wants to make Scotland the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom. In the last five years alone, 140,000 Scots have been dragged into paying the higher rate of income tax, including public sector servants such as nurses, teachers and policemen and women. Nicola Sturgeon could have chosen to support them today but instead she has decided not to. That is bad for the Scottish economy and bad for Scottish jobs. At least the SNP has seen fit to acknowledge that raising the additional rate of tax would cost Scotland millions of pounds, exactly as we have been warning."

 

On Labour's Council tax plans, she added: "At the same time, we see Labour today confirming they want to tax Scotland back to the 1970s with a new property tax. This only confirms Scottish Labour has become the enemy of aspiration.

 

"Scots now face a tax double whammy from the SNP and Labour. Going into this election, we have a government promising to put up taxes and a main opposition party saying taxpayers should be hammered even harder. Only we are standing up for Scotland's workers and saying on a point of principle you should not have to pay more in Scotland than you do in the rest of the UK. I need more MSPs in parliament to stand up for Scots' wage packets.”

 

Ruth also confirmed the party's policy on council tax: “We support the recommendations of our Tax Commission in January which backed a reformed council tax with a three per cent cap on increases from next year to protect households.”

Dawson Park works

Earlier this week, following some enquiries I had received from local residents about works recently carried out in Dawson Park near to the Arbroath Road entrance, I arranged to meet with a manager from the environment department on site. I was advised that the intention of the works was to enhance this entrance by removing some trees, dead wood and shrubs that were passed their best, and also, sadly, the rhododendrons, which had already been removed.

 

He went over the plans with me; the area will be replanted with new shrubs including the creation of a wildflower section and the path at this location, which still has a propensity to pool with water when it rains, will receive some attention as well. The area doesn’t look great at the moment as the clearing of the old beds has just concluded but I am assured that in time, when everything is planted and growing, it will freshen the park up.

 

The car park at the  Dunnottar Place entrance is very uneven, with a lot of dips in it (pictured). I was advised that consideration would be given to dealing with this in the new financial year.

 

I also received an assurance that there would be public consultation on any future capital works and that any proposals would be raised at the Broughty Ferry Community Planning Partnership and at Broughty Ferry Community Council. Going forward residents will be able to have a say before any work is done.

Getting things done- Barnhill path

Having received complaints about the muddy condition of the section of the seven arches viaduct path between North Balmossie Street and Inchkeith Avenue I contacted the council’s Environment Department to ask if anything could be done to improve it and help to deal with the ponding that occurs.

 

Last week, in response to my enquiry, mud was scraped from the surface of the path and any holes revealed were infilled with crushed stone. Hopefully this will have rectified the problem and users of the path will find the underfoot conditions much better.

Saturday activity

 

 

A busy day today. Lots of enquiries raised at my Saturday drop in surgeries, then in the afternoon out campaigning for James Clancy in the Maryfield ward council by-election. Thankfully the rain held off. We had a good team of helpers and managed to cover a lot of the area.

Maryfield by-election candidate

James Clancy is the Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate for the council by-election in the Maryfield ward, to be held on Thursday 31st March.

 

James was born in Dundee and has lived, studied and worked in Dundee all of his life. He is the chairman of the Dundee Conservative Association and he is an experienced campaigner, having stood for local elections in 2012. He was an active participant in the Conservative Friends of the Union campaign during the Scottish Independence referendum. He is also very active in his local church as a Sunday school teacher. Through his church he is involved in many community projects.

 

 I’m delighted that James has been selected as the candidate and if elected he will be a dedicated public servant for the people of Maryfield.

Roadworks

I have been advised of some roadworks that will have an impact on traffic using Monifieth Road and Dalhousie Road for the next couple of weeks. Patching will be carried out at the junctions of Whinny Brae/St. Vincent Street, Reres Road and Abertay Street. Temporary traffic lights will be in place during these works.

 

Whinney Brae -Monday 7 March  for 3 working days.

 

Reres Road- Thursday 10 March  for 3 working days.

 

Abertay Street- Monday 14 March for 3 working days.

Ferry Time coffee morning

Yesterday morning I attended a coffee morning for Ferry Time, in St Aidan's hall. It was a good opportunity for existing members of the timebank to meet and have a chat about the many activities and volunteering exchanges that have taken place and for potential new members to find out about the work being carried out by the timebank. It was well attended (if the huge pile of dishes I dried was anything to go by!) and hopefully more people we become involved as a result. Information about Ferry Time can be found on its web site www.ferrytime.org.uk.

Getting things done

Earlier in the week residents of Balmossie Brae raised concerns about the street lights adjacent to the Panmurefield Village roundabout on the A92 working intermittently, with all of them usually being unlit between 6 and 7pm leaving the area in darkness. I raised the matter with the council’s City Development Department and in response I was advised that the Street Lighting Partnership is responsible for the maintenance of the lights at this location. They were checked and an electrician was on site today to carry out repairs.

 

A replacement fence has now been erected in Orchar Park, enclosing the play area. I’m grateful to the Environment Department for arranging this ahead of schedule.