A Time of Change
Things seen to be changing around Lower Deeside what with elections, Scottish Water looking for leaks, site clearance of the new Irvine Arms, lots of new faces in Drumoak; opening salvos on the new Structure Plan and the continuing saga of more houses for Crathes and Durris.
One thing is certain, change in our community is inevitable, and it is up to all of us to help ensure that we protect all we love about our environment. To do this also means that we need to support our local organisations. Join the Community Council, the Hall Committees; the Brownie leaders, for when support withers the community dies. We might well live in splendid comfortable isolation – until the next crisis – but then without volunteers nothing will happen and apathy will reign supreme, and when you complain “why don’t they do something” – just look in the mirror.
Editor
Thank You Drumoak & Durris
Last issue carried an appeal by Rosaleen Hay for the Malawi Container Collection Appeal. Rosaleen says that there was a fantastic response from the Community since publication of the article.
”Many people whom I had never met before phoned up and donated their mum's old sewing machine or their kids nearly new clothing. Eleven bikes, six sewing/knitting machines, a host of tools, two computers, children's toys, clothes & shoes were amongst the many items donated for onward passage to Malawi.
I'm told that the appeal has been so successful that there is now enough to send 3 maybe 4 containers to Malawi. The next challenge is to find people to help with financing the extra containers.”
Well done all those who helped the appeal with their donations!!
Reader Survey Results
10% of the 50th issue contained a questionnaire to obtain reader’s views on the Newsletter. The editor thought that the results might have a low enough poll to permit him and the Newsletter to bow out gracefully. In all 130 random surveys (13% of the circulation) were sent out and 67 were returned – a remarkable 50% response. The distribution of the questionnaires was random, and a check on numbers in each household supports the view that the returns were reasonably representative of the population distribution:-
No in Household / 1 / 2 / 3+% of sample population / 20 / 43 / 37
The views on the subjects covered were analysed as % who read an article; % who would like more of the same; and the % who would like less. Those who would like more vastly exceeded those who would like less of any subject.
Subject / % Read / %More / %LessEditorial / 92.4 / 13.6 / 1.5
Nature / 92.4 / 21.2 / 4.5
Garden / 90.9 / 21.2 / 1.5
Medical / 89.4 / 16.7 / 3.0
Sports / 68.2 / 7.8 / 3.0
Neighbourhood Watch / 81.8 / 13.6 / 0.0
Community Council / 95.5 / 25.8 / 0.0
Local History / 87.9 / 28.8 / 0.0
General Interest / 98.5 / 31.8 / 0.0
Jokes / 75.8 / 9.1 / 6.1
We also asked two other questions:
Do you find Friends of DurrisForest interesting?
60.6% said YES; 30.3% said NO; and 9.1 % expressed no opinion
Would you welcome Local Service Advertising?
65.2% said YES; 19.7% said NO; and 25.1% expressed no opinion
We also asked for suggestions for other articles 13 responses would like to see a Recipe Section and 8 a Children’s Corner
Finally, except for 1.7%, everyone else had views on the size of the Newsletter
No of pages / 6 / 8 / 10 / 12% preferring / 3.0 / 19.7 / 34.8 / 40.9
It would seem that readers are reasonably satisfied with the content and subject matter and it’s interesting that the highest “thirsts” for more are in Community Council, Local History and General Interests. The usual volume of 10-12 pages seems about right, and a significant majority 2 –1 are in favour of some local advertising.
We would like to thank all those who took part in the survey, and gave constructive observations, many of which will be taken on board. Expect some changes in future issues.
Editor
Action on Keithmuir Park!!
Some time ago the Community Council, CDDCC initiated an all-weather sports pitch in Keithmuir Park. Limited funding was secured from Aberdeenshire Council and augmented by some local fund raising. This enabled the first stage of the pitch to be constructed together with a youth shelter.Unfortunately funds and volunteers then dried up. But three determined Drumoak ladies have decided it’s now time to drive the project forward again. They are Debbie Cameron, Caroline Cruickshank, and Pat McConnachiewho will form a project team under the sponsorship of CDDCC to drive the project forward.
They will have a good chance of success due to the availability of more funding available as part of Aberdeenshire Council's "Planning Gain" agreement with Stewart Milne Homes for the development of the new houses. However, the first thing that theladies. want to do is to find out what the residents of Drumoak want. They are delivering a questionnaire to each house in the village with this Newsletter. They will be asking what kind ofsports facilityresidents would prefer,and, just as importantly, how the facility should be organised and run. You canbeof great help if you can spend a few minutes to fill in and return their questionnaire.
The ladies are to be congratulated on their initiative, andwe wish them every success in completing their project. Readers can also help simply by filling in and returning their questionnaire, so do it now!!
Local Election Aftermath
Goodbye Councillor Sandy Wallace – our community’s voice on the Council for the past eight years, - and a pretty effective and hard working voice at that – unfortunately he did not secure sufficient votes to gain one of the 4 seats to represent us in the new Ward 18, Stonehaven and Lower Deeside. It is understood that Sandy was only eliminated in round 10 of the new Single Transferable Vote ballot system. He was the last candidate to be knocked out. So now we will have not one but four Councillors to represent us. Sadly, none of them live locally or have local connections.
The Councillors duly elected are:
Wendy Agnew (Con., Stonehaven);
Peter Bellarby (SLD, Stonehaven)
Graeme Clark (SNP, Banchory)
Mike Sullivan (SLD, Stonehaven).
We congratulate them and wish them success in their representational efforts on our behalf, and hope they will forgive us if our community thinks that Lower Deeside might have less than adequate direct representation under this new electoral system. There is also the thought that having four councillors represent us provides a wonderful potential for buck passing. Clearly the new system could be a seismic shift in the way Aberdeenshire Council’s business is conducted.
Not only will these four councillors be representing us they will be getting a salary for the privilege. Under the government’s new scheme they will receive some £15,452 per annum plus expenses for their efforts on our behalf. They will of course be worth every penny of it in terms of looking after our interests, but it will be up to us to enter into dialogue with them and chase them if we do not think we are getting our monies’ worth. We will also expect a superior performance to that of the previous Councillors representing Aberdeenshire South and look forward to hearing how our four new councillors will serve Lower Deeside, individually and collectively. We wish them success in the uncharted waters they now sail in, and hope they will find the time to attend our Community Council meetings.
It just remains to thank Sandy Wallace for his eight years of considerable effort on behalf of Lower Deeside and to wish him well for the future. He will be missed!
Medical Notes
The early appearance of bright yellow fields of oil seed rape reminds me that the hay fever season is imminently upon us – for a large number of people this nuisance of an ailment can be very disruptive to normal spring and summer pleasures especially when outdoors. Fortunately there are many effective oral (antihistamine tablets) and topical (nasal sprays and eye drops) treatments available at the pharmacy for this and the pharmacist will be able to discuss what is appropriate for an individual person. With thoughts turning to summer holidays abroad, remember to book travel vaccinations etc in good time, and make sure to put in an early order for repeat prescriptions which you need to take.
I came across an interesting article in one of the medical newspapers a few weeks ago which I initially took to be a spoof, but on a second read realised there was some good sense in it. What should the GP of today be wearing to work?
In times past the local doctor must have cut a very dashing and formal figure in his (for it would have been invariably a man) dark, tightly buttoned suit, hat and cape, with Gladstone bag and half-moon glasses completing the image. My colleagues and I tend to adopt a smart-but-not-overly-formal style, the men wearing shirt & tie, and the ladies all looking professionally radiant in various skirt or trouser outfits. The aforementioned article goes several steps further in its advice – including some recommended colour combinations which are ‘in’ this year and should project an impression of professional confidence; the women are advised to avoid plunging necklines and overly short skirts for obvious reasons – greys are in this year apparently; the men are reminded of recent scientific evidence that the tie is a possible reservoir of various assorted bugs & germs and should perhaps be ditched in the name of health & safety!! So I have during these warmer days left the tie at home, and, carefully checking that my neckline is not too plunging, enjoyed some cooler (in the thermal sense of course!) days at the surgery.
Best wishes for a healthy summer
Dr Douglas Harris, Peterculter
The Over Sixties Club
If you qualify for a bus pass, and want to get out on a Monday afternoon, pop along to the Over Sixties Club, meet a few like-minded people, listen to a speaker, and have a “news” over a cup of tea and a biscuit. The club meets on the first Monday of each month in Drumoak Church Hall at 2.00 pm.
The next meeting will be on Monday 4th June when instead of a speaker, the club will visit the Lewis Grassick Gibbon Centre. Transport will be by members’ cars. Phone Amy Wilson 01224 732 575 for further details.
An ECO Village for Lower Deeside?
A few weeks ago CHAP unveiled a revolutionary new development plan for Park Quarry.
Instead of reinstating the land once quarrying activities have finished they are proposing that reinstatement be replaced by developing an ECO friendly village incorporating the latest standards of environmentally friendly housing complete with a School, Church, shopping area etc serving some 2000 houses. All this presumably once quarrying ceases in about 10 to 15 years. Probably once the AWP Road is completed. It is early days yet, but here are a few thoughts on the subject by John Hopkins, Treasurer of CDDCC (and an authority on all things planning):-
- The CHAP Proposal for an Eco-Village (described recently in the local Press) is a “glossy brochure”, which contains quite a lot of detail on some aspects and rather little on others
- No planning application has yet been made based upon the Proposal
- If a planning application for the Proposal (or any part of it) were to be made during the currency of the present Local Plan, it would be expected to be recommended for refusal by the planners, since it is not in the current Local Plan (see )
- The Council would be most unlikely to approve any such application both against the planners recommendation AND in advance of the new Structure Plan
- Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils have started work on a new joint Structure Plan (see ), to replace the current strategic plan “North East Scotland Together”, adopted in 2001
- The consultation process for this new Structure Plan commenced with twenty-plus public meetings around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to discuss possible strategic options
- One such meeting took place in Banchory on 19th April 2007
- The strategic options (8 in number) will consider when and where new housing would be built during the currency of the Structure Plan
- Only 2 of the 8 options would explicitly permit development at or near Drumoak, although the eventually-chosen option might be a blend of bits from more than one of the 8 options
- Once the Structure Plan is adopted, its provisions would automatically be incorporated into Local Plans
- The new Structure Plan will not be adopted until Autumn 2008 (or later, if there are Appeals)
- The precise format of new Structure Plans has not yet been specified by the Scottish Executive
- NEST will remain in force until the next Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire Structure Plan comes into force (although there may be some “look-ahead” to the new Plan even before it is formally adopted)
- It is therefore premature to react to the CHAP Proposal – any efforts to influence the situation (for or against the Proposal) would need to concentrate at this stage on influencing the Structure Plan. Kincardine & Mearns Area Partnership Dynamic Drop In
On Friday 18th May, Stonehaven Town Hall commenced a weekend of “planning for real” activity where members of the public could meet representatives of the Area Partnership Services such as Police Fire NHS and Council, and also indicate on Aberdeenshire Council’s new Ward 18 map (including Drumoak & Durris) the issues they thought needed to be addressed. They did this by placing cards that indicated their concerns on their town or village. The most noteworthy concerns for Drumoak & Durris were on schooling (including new school for Drumoak) affordable housing; improved bus services, especially on South Deeside Road; more convenient recycling centres; community composting facilities and more access paths. All these and a host more issues will be duly compiled by the planners and a report issued. Hopefully this will also feed into the new Structure Plan.
Changes to Parent Power
We trained hard . . . but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization. Petronius Arbiter, 210 B.C.
New legislation concerning Parent relationships with the primary school their children attend are coming into force from July. Out go School Boards and PTAs. In comes the Parent Forum. The Scottish Executive apparently think that there is insufficient involvement of parents in school activities and hence the need for change to enable more parent inclusion in school activities. Just so. But if, as is the case in some areas, parents cannot be bothered or interested enough in their own children, if they regard school as a convenient child minder, and cannot be persuaded to act on School Boards or PTA’s what hope is there of involving them in a Parents’ Forum.
Fortunately this is not the case in either Drumoak or Durris schools where School Boards and PTA’s thrive, and where parents take a very active interest in their children’s schooling. Business will continue much as usual even under the new parental organisation. Our schools are currently working out the details, and in essence the new scheme introduces, by law, a School Forum consisting of all parents of children attending the school. They will elect the members of a School Council at an AGM. The School Council will then be further expanded to include representatives of the teaching staff and the wider community, hopefully without Petronius’s confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Looking for Leaks
Great civil works are going on in Drumoak. Not only has work begun on the New Irvine Arms, Scottish Water have been digging deep holes on the same site. It seems that Scottish Water have some concerns over possible leakage from one of the two water mains that transport Aberdeeen City’s water supply from Invercanny to Mannofield. These are very old watermains; the first laid in 1866 and the second, which is the one currently under investigation, in 1924.
Talking to the project engineer on site recently, he said that they have not found any leaks in this area and had been most impressed by the pristine condition of the pipe, however they were adding an additional sleeve round each joint – just in case.
They hope to finish the work on the current site in a week or so and then move on to the second Drumoak investigation site, also next to the North Deeside Road, just to the East of Sunnyside Drive.
These investigations are Phase 1 of a project to improve the quality of our water and to minimise leakage from these main supplies. It is due to be completed in Autumn 2007. Phase 2 commencing in April 2008 will do further upgrades and improvements in the light of the phase 1 investigations and will enhance the security of supply. The 1866 mains will be changed to deliver untreated water to Mannofield for treatment and the 1929 mains will deliver Invercanny treated water to Mannofield for distribution.