Campaigning

After my surgeries this morning I joined some of the local Scottish Conservative activists on a walkabout leaflet drop. We spent our time talking to shoppers in Dundee city centre, Perth Road and Brook Street in Broughty Ferry. People were very pleased to chat and to offer their support to Ruth Davidson and her strong Scottish Conservative team.

£20m a year to fix potholes

In its 2016/17 budget, Dundee City Council’s SNP administration transferred £746,000 of roads and street lighting expenditure to the council’s capital budget and further reduced the revenue budget for roads maintenance by £339,000. Which means Dundee now has less money to spend on repairing potholes.

 

The state of our roads and pavements is one of the top issues raised with me and 80 per cent of Scottish drivers say they've had to swerve to avoid a pothole in recent weeks, which is higher than the UK average. I was therefore pleased to learn that Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has given a commitment that she would tackle Scotland's potholes by investing £20 million a year on the issue. £100 million would be set aside in a Roads Maintenance Fund over the term of the next Scottish Parliament. The UK Government invests tens of millions in a specific pothole fund, but this is not currently replicated in Scotland.

 

It is anticipated that the additional funds would help fill nearly two million potholes over the next five years. Council’s would identify how many potholes they needed to fill and then apply to the fund for the cash.

Take Pride in Your City events- May

Getting things done

 

In an earlier post last month, I reported that the car park at the Dunnottar Place entrance to Dawson Park was very uneven, with a lot of dips in it. Having raised the matter with the council’s Neighbourhood Services Department I was advised that consideration would be given to dealing with it in the new financial year. On a recent visit to the park I noticed that this has now been actioned.

Upcoming environmental events late April

By-election triumph for Scottish Conservatives

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party news release

A council by-election victory for the Scottish Conservatives in Perth and Kinross has been hailed by leader Ruth Davidson. Scottish Conservative candidate Kathleen Baird won 48.5 per cent of the vote, a remarkable 18.4 per cent increase on the 2012 local authority poll. The SNP got 38.4 per cent to finish in second in the Almond and Earn poll, while Labour were a distant third with just 6.3 per cent. It represents a Conservative gain in the ward, and is the latest in a series of council by-elections where the party has recorded a notable increase in the vote.

 

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "This is a great result and all credit to our team on the ground who worked hard to deliver our message. This is just the latest in a string of by-elections where our vote has increased significantly.

“People across Scotland recognise that we need a strong opposition and the Scottish Conservatives are best placed to provide it. Voters know that we will hold the SNP to account, look after family finances and always stand up for Scotland's place in the UK.  We are heading for our best ever Holyrood result in May and this victory over the SNP in Almond and Earn shows just how special an election this could be."

Broughty Ferry Community Council AGM