At the Garioch Area Committee today, councillors approved the Area Landscape Maintenance and Capital Programme 2016/17. Westhill and District featured heavily in the programme and it was good to see projects which residents and groups had asked for directly being included.

Echt will see alignment of a path in the village’s burial ground and Midmar churchyard gets a spruce up. Work in Sauchen includes quarry dust path installation behind Bennachie Gardens and removal of metal tree guards.

In Westhill, the Denman Park will see anti-slip material being installed on the wooden bridge, an extension to the wildflower area and repairs to the car park surface.

A programme of works on trees on Brimmond Drive is also included. I know that Landscape staff have been working very hard to produce a strategic plan for trees in Westhill and this budget line will start to take some of that work forward.

There will be visual landscape improvements along the A944 from the Aberdeen entrance to Westhill after developers’ contributions were secured from a previous Arnhall planning application. Westhill & Elrick Community Council will be consulted before work here starts.

A section of palisade fencing in Kirkton of Skene will be replaced and a section of the playing fields will be planted up with trees. The wildlife area at The Terrace in Dunecht will have trees planted up. Drainage work as well as goalpost repairs/renewal at Lyne of Skene is also in the schedule of works.