Many thanks to the local resident who notified me of an incident on the path from Kirkton of Skene towards Westhill recently. The gentleman had been cycling in the dark and collided with the cycle barriers. After the incident he thoughtfully attached fluorescent tape on the barriers for other path users. I have notified the Roads Department at Aberdeenshire Council today who are to investigate and hopefully get some permanent reflectors on the barriers very soon.
Last Tuesday, I attended an open evening at the Holiday Inn organised by Aberdeenshire Council and the individual facility Chairs to explore the future of Westhill Leisure facilities.
No group or individual is immune from the financial climate we find ourselves in. Community solutions and participation is crucial to the survival of the leisure centres if they are to continue to provide the services residents want. I think it is a great start that the different groups have come together to look at the facilities collectively.
We heard about the successes as well as the challenges of these local facilities. Committee chairs, who are all volunteers, from Ashdale Hall, Denman Park Pavilion, Lawsondale Pavilion and pitches and Westdyke Leisure Centre gave individual presentations. The recurring theme was how cuts in funding coupled with increased running costs were making the excellent work of these groups harder to sustain.
A presentation was made by the Chair of the Garioch Sports Trust who manage the Garioch Sports Centre in Inverurie. The Trust is made up of volunteers but run very much like a business with consultants employed to get best value for goods and services. The Chair was on hand to answer questions from the floor which included advice on building and running costs of the centre and on volunteer/staff ratios.
A representative from Sportscotland told us about Community Hubs – a National approach. Each hub focuses on the needs of the particular local community, in which it is based, offering local clubs and sports groups easier access to sporting facilities, as well as providing community volunteers with an opportunity to lead the development of local sport and physical activity in the area. Ideas were discussed on how to make connections with other local groups, how to apply for funding and how to promote the range of activities available in our area.
The evening finished with a round-the-table discussion and brainstorming session. It was clear to me that we have a wealth of sporting and leisure experts in our community, all of whom have given their time over many years to benefit people of all ages. Westhill has a large population who use these facilities and a huge business community who could step up and work together to secure the future of the facilities in Westhill. Some people may visualise a sports “hub” as being one big building where everything happens under one roof; others may see a “hub” being the collective committees working with each other to oversee the diverse range of facilities we already have and make them work more efficiently.
I have no doubt that the expertise and enthusiasm already in place will take the facilities forward. Let’s hope that with the support of Aberdeenshire Council, more local people step forward to be part of that process as well to secure the future of sport and leisure in Westhill for all our residents.
After investigating some pot holes today, as rookie council candidates invariably find themselves doing, I took the scenic route back towards Westhill. I was amazed at how the landscape had changed looking across to the industrial estate. The buildings actually look amazing and the area has attracted some big names in the business world and there are more to come.
Although from dawn to dusk the industrial estate is buzzing, it was nice and peaceful from where I was standing looking across the valley and the new friends I met seemed content enough in their corner of the world! One of them was more than happy to smile for the camera!
Contact details for the Consumer Credit Counselling Service can be found in this link. They are a non-fee charging charity.
http://moneyaware.co.uk/2012/03/the-human-cost-of-unmanageable-debt/?dm_i=VD3,QJUS,4FU9NX,254KY,1
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on several housing allocation policies. One of the proposals is to create more flexibility for social landlords to decide who should get priority for their housing, for example local letting policies to meet local need. Do you think social landlords should have the flexibility to decide who gets priority for their housing? Please respond to the survey on the right of this page. Please contact me if you want to add further comments.
The Liberal Democrat Group on Aberdeenshire Council has launched their manifesto for the council election on May 3, detailing their proposals and commitments across the whole range of council services.
Entitled ‘Local, Listening, Delivering’, the manifesto builds on the achievements of the Liberal Democrat-led Administration, stressing the need for local decision-making in the delivery of services to residents and communities.
Aberdeenshire Council has been led by Liberal Democrats since its inception in 1995 and is independently recognised as an effective, efficient and responsible council, despite the significant reduction in grants over the past few years.
The council is delivering savings of some £54m from its budget. In addition it has set a course for meeting the further significant savings required over the next few years.
Council Leader Anne Robertson said, “In 2007 we made clear commitments to the people of Aberdeenshire. I am proud that we have delivered the overwhelming majority of them, despite the most difficult financial situation ever to face Aberdeenshire Council.
“Our record shows clearly that we keep the commitments we make. We have delivered effective and efficient services, always based on our core principles of fairness, equality and responsiveness. We have delivered services according to need and not for political advantage.
“Our careful management of the council’s resources and budgets has meant that we are able to invest for the future, by building new schools for example or putting extra money into our roads and economic development. We will continue to invest to strengthen the Aberdeenshire economy.
“Our priority is and will remain, Aberdeenshire. We are driven by common-sense, local decision-making rather than by political dogma. We listen to our residents and take their views very seriously”
For the manifesto in full, please click below:
http://iriswalker.mycouncillor.org.uk/?page_id=428&preview=true
Contact for further information
For further information contact Cllr Anne Robertson (07824461997), Cllr Karen Clark (01330824980) or Cllr Martin Kitts-Hayes (07909897571)
A printed copy of the manifesto can be obtained by sending an email to
It was a pleasure visiting Sauchen last weekend and meeting residents there. We got a very warm welcome and spoke to many residents about local issues. It was disheartening to note that both the village notice board and the fencing around the recycling centre had been vandalised. I spoke to Aberdeenshire Council who reassured me that these have now been noted and repairs will be made as soon as possible.
The village of Sauchen has expanded somewhat over the last few years. I spoke to residents from one of the newer developments from 2006 in Margaret Allan Grove who expressed concerns that the 30 mile speed limit has yet to be extended to include their residential area from its original location on what used to be the edge of the village. The street lights have yet to be extended also. I have written to Aberdeenshire Council on both these issues and await their response.
I’ve just come back from a very busy weekend at the Scottish Liberal Democrats Spring Conference held this year in Inverness. Apart from listening to key speeches from government ministers, attending fringes and training sessions, a favourite part of the Conference is in the main hall when party members debate their policy ideas and if voted for by the membership it then becomes party policy. The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey local party called on the Scottish Government to reverse the 30% cut it recently made to its housing budget and to give proper priority to the construction jobs and affordable homes that are so badly needed to tackle Scotland’s huge social housing and employment problems and reinvigorate our urban and rural communities. On behalf of the Aberdeenshire West local party, I called for the word “affordable” to be amended to “social housing for rent” as explained in the text of my speech below.
“Aberdeenshire West local party welcomes this motion on the housing crisis and congratulates Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey local party for bringing this debate to conference.
They have raised all the points that we must shout about; from the numbers languishing on waiting lists to the Scottish Government’s refusal to invest in jobs and in the people of Scotland.
As you will see from the conference papers, we are seeking to change the word “affordable” in line 20 to “social housing for rent”, and I will explain why:
The SNP in their 2011 manifesto promised to build 6000 new “homes for social rent” each year for the next 5 years. Only 4 short months after the Scottish Elections the wording of their housing manifesto had sneakily been changed from “homes for social rent” to “affordable homes”.
In the housing world, the term “affordable” includes schemes such as shared equity, shared ownership and low cost ownership – schemes which require an element of purchase by the applicant. Whilst these schemes are laudible, we have two main concerns –
Most people on waiting lists do not have access to a mortgage. In the present economic climate, social rented housing is not just sought after by the homeless or unemployed; it is needed for our young people looking for a fair start; for our older people perhaps looking to downsize; it is needed for our hard working families and our hard working single people.
If I could steal a quote from Gallen Milne from a different debate yesterday “If you’re a local loon working for a low wage for a farmer in oil-rich Aberdeenshire, what are your housing options?”. They are very few.
Our second concern is that these affordable schemes such as shared equity and shared ownership require very little government investment, leaving local authorities and housing associations to find funding to build these homes.
So, it is very important that we change the word “affordable” to “social housing for rent” so that we don’t let the Scottish Government shirk their responsibility on housing.
We all know the Conservatives would like to see social housing dead and buried; it looks as if the SNP do too. I know that the Scottish Liberal Democrats are the party who will stand up for social rented housing and make sure that it isn’t a 2nd class option but a real opportunity for hard-working people to get on with their lives.
I urge you to support this amendment”.
Speakers came forward on both the motion and the amendment. After a rousing endorsement for the amendment by fellow Scottish Liberal Democrat, Peter Bellarby, councillor for Stonehaven and Lower Deeside and a summation by Kristian Chapman, the amendment was carried unanimously.
