Mobile Police Office

I am happy to advertise Grampian Police Open Surgeries on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th March.

THE CAR PARK, METHLICK- TUESDAY 23 MARCH 2010 1000 – 1130 HRS
THE SQUARE, TARVES = TUESDAY 23 MARCH 2010 1330 – 1500 HRS
MAIN STREET, NEWBURGH - WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH 2010 1000 – 1130 HRS
LEISURE CENTRE CAR PARK, BALMEDIE - WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH 2010 1330 – 1500 HRS

Come along to the Mobile Police Office to discuss any local matters of concern, obtain advice, or just have a chat with your local Community Officer PC Iain Clark

New Aberdeenshire Local Plan

Yesterday and today I spent looking at allocating houses and employment land to settlements in Formartine (my bit of Aberdeenshire).


View Aberdeenshire Local Plan 2007-2023 in a larger map

It's difficult to get information out on what is happening but I'm trying so I've put the decisions so far onto a Google map.  I've used symbols for housing, employment sites and written in the detail.  Some sites are very large and you'll need to look at the full documentation.

A further report will come to a future meeting of Formartine Area Committee to look at development around Potterton as an alternative to development at the south of Oldmeldrum.  The debate amongst the local councillors is mainly a) whether Potterton is in the Strategic Growth Area or not (50:50 according to the Head of Planning Policy) and b) whether development should be north or south of the Potterton.

But what do the people of Potterton think?


I'll post more as as I can try to expand to other bits of Aberdeenshire when I can - but currently I don't have the information.

Let me know what you think and I'll let you know when the formal plan is published and how you can comment or object to it formally.

Primary school visits

Today and last Thursday, I toured the eight primary schools in my ward, along with council officers and councillor colleagues.  What most impressed me was the children.  In several of the schools, the head teacher delegated touring the school to a small group of pupils.  Now, it's great to have a small group of children that are confident about engaging with strange adults.  But everywhere, it was clearly evident that most of the children could have taken on the role of our guide.  I was impressed.

Education is more than test results and exams.  And these schools are getting good results on these measures.  But they are also, I think, producing more than mere schooling.  The children look set to being great adults - enagaged with the world. 

The schools themselves varied from the relatively large primaries in Ellon and Newburgh and small primaries with multi-yesr classes in Arnage, Foveran, Tipperty and Slains.  You can have long debates about the benefits of small more personal schools versus the range of opportunities a larger school can offer.  But what is important is the quality and enthusiasm of the staff.  Good teachers make good schools.  And good schools provide us with the most valuable asset we can have for all our futures - children able and willing to reach their own potential.

I'm looking forward to planned visits to the Academys to see how they take up the challenge!

Climate change adaptations for the NE of Scotland

The audience at the Royal Society of Edinburgh's presentation and debate on Climate Change last night had some very clear views.

Firstly, in stark contrast to the Cassandra's such as Ian Wood and Co, the audience had a great belief that the shift to a low carbon economy was an opportunity for the north east.  The overwhelming feeling was that with the assets of our ports, our universities and the engineering expertise, particularly sub-sea, we had a wonderful opportunity to embrace change.  That didn't particularly surprise me.  Industry seized the opportunity of north sea oil and there is no reason why the renewables, particularly subsea renewables, shouldn't find a natural home here.

Secondly, and this did surprise me, there was strong demand for better public transport.  FirstBus came under fire for its high fares in the city - justifiably as a minimum of £1.50 for ajourney is high by any standard.   Stagecoach services in the Shire were seen as infrequent and slow.

This is a bit of a chicken and egg issue.  With just 6% of journey's by bus and 60-70% by car, it would take a small shift from car to bus to expand bus services greatly.  Think about it.  If just 1 in 10 car journeys were replaced by bus, then this would double the number of bus journeys.    OK - it's not quite that simple but part of the solution is in our own hands.