Busy Times!

Members recently reviewed our achievements over the past three years. The Community Council was re-established in October 2015 after a period of inactivity. Since then, the Community Council has been active on a number of fronts:

Roads Issues – 

• The Community Council has raised issues with the City Council and Police Scotland regarding speeding in Craigton Road, exploring speed limits, speed gateways and more rigorous speeding enforcement
• Placement of Speed Indication Device in Craigton Road
• Persuading Aberdeen City Council Roads Dept to review the need for a crossing at Great Western Road at TESCO
• Seeking a review of bus turning capability at Craigton Road/Springfield Road
• Requesting an extension of speed limit in North Deeside Road at Northcote Road.

Environmental Issues – 

• Pursued the renewal and replacement of roadside trees in the area
• Raised issues about dog fouling with Environmental Health
• Provided flower boxes at the Airyhall Library
• Made representations regarding the retention of phone kiosks
• Commented on a number of planning issues in the area
• Established a web presence with local information and updates
• Represent the community on the West Locality Leadership Group
• Work with local councillors and Police Scotland to improve our locality

Bus Services – 

• Active in pursuing provision of bus services in Airyhall 
• Instrumental in the provision of evening bus service in Airyhall
• Raising issues with First Aberdeen regarding 15 and 19 bus service

Funding Initiatives - 

• Provision of a public bench in Springfield Road
• Assisted a local initiative of flower planting 
• Sponsored a Chair at the Mannofield Church
• Assisting local care homes with Christmas celebrations
• Making a donation to the work of the friends of Johnston Gardens
• Provide Shoe ice grippers to vulnerable members of the community
• Assisted the local scout group in purchase of essential scouting equipment
• Assisted in the formation of a Community Choir

Next Meeting - 26 June 2018

The next meeting of the Community Council, will be held on Tuesday 26 June 2018.

The meeting, which will begin at 7pm prompt, will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Parish Church, Great Western Road. 

Access to the Church is by the Countesswells Road entrance.

The Agenda for the meeting can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here

ALL WELCOME

Police Report - May 2018

This months report from the local Community Policing Team:

Antisocial behaviour, Violence and Disorder:
The Antisocial Behaviour calls within area relate primarily to the inconsiderate use of our open spaces and parks during the better weather recently, we would not only urge everyone to use them responsibly clearing up after themselves and showing consideration for local residents but that the local residents remind themselves that the areas are for everyone to use and enjoy.

Other calls of an antisocial nature relate primarily to the use off-road motor cycles, Operation Armour our divisional response relies heavily on community intelligence if you see something let us know.

There has been 1 minor assault which was detected. There were 2 instances of vandalism reported, both where the sides of vehicles were scratched in the Morningside Road area these are currently undetected but enquiries are continuing.

Acquisitive Crime:
There have been 3 housebreakings with intent to steal where shed locks were overcome but nothing taken enquiries are ongoing and one housebreaking to a garage as part of a series in the Cults area this are likely to be detected shortly.

Road Safety & Road Crime:
In response to your requests Officers will be taking a robust approach balancing education with enforcement to ensure the relatively small minority who are responsible for committing offences and antisocial behaviour with vehicles are held accountable for their actions. We will be working with partners and making use of antisocial behaviour legislation. Residents in the areas affected by antisocial driving are encouraged to contact Police on 101 at the time to report incidents in order for us to take positive action. 

We will continue to address local speeding issues and support our local schools in ensuring the safety of YOUR children with operations around our local Primary's to educate irresponsible and selfish parents, in addition to deterring inappropriate driving on Craigton Road officers conducting the checks in this area came across a vehicle without insurance.

We would also remind some of our Adults that whilst for them riding a cycle on the pavement is not allowed for children doing their paper rounds it is OK.

Community Engagement & Reassurance
Following on from uur LOCK YOUR DOORS message last month you may have seen an article in the local paper in which we attended addresses in YOUR area and checked House and Car doors, we found over 25% of them to be insecure this is a significant number (if you have locked your doors one of your neighbours has not). We hope we can count on your assistance in getting the message out for people in your street to LOCK YOUR DOORS.

We want to address ALL the local issues, but rightly need to place a significant emphasis and resources on acquisitive crime. The majority of those stealing from us don’t live in our area, so if in the middle of the night you think something just isn't right, trust your judgement and give us a call right away, either as an emergency on 999 or to the Service Centre on 101.

Over the last month there have been instances of both attempted and successful VISHING frauds within the CPT area. Remember no matter how plausible the "security alert on your account" it may seem or convincing "the police officer/bank manager/security expert" may be, YOUR BANK WILL NEVER CONTACT YOU OVER THE PHONE AND ASK YOU TO TRANSFER MONEY BETWEEN ACCOUNTS.

Please look here and ensure your senior or perhaps less tech savvy community members are aware:

http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/keep-secure-online/phishing-internet-shopping

The importance of the relationship between you the Community Council and us your CPT in preventing crime cannot be underestimated, you are an integral part of our community and as such have access to information and opinions not open or readily accessible to us. You can help us in being able to take local action on behalf of local people. We will continue to feed back to you at the Community Council meetings regarding the specific points you have raised. Should you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact us.

National Campaigns
Door step crime increases with the lighter nights this time of year, often in the guise of Bogus workmen. They pray on the elderly and other vulnerable groups in our community. Please take a moment to have a look and pass the message on to anyone you think could be at risk:
http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/home-and-personal-property/secure-your-home 

If someone you know is suddenly getting work done in their property that they have never mentioned, ask them about it, if it seems suspicious contact either ourselves or our partners within Aberdeen City Council Trading Standards:

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/business-and-licensing/trading-standards/trading-standards

Want to know more about how we measure up, this is where to find out.
http://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/our-performance/

Follow us on Twitter @NorthEPolice #WestEndCPT

Also available are the three following contact email addresses for the West End:
AiryhallBroomhillGarthdeeCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
HazleheadAshleyQueensCrossCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
TorryFerryhillCPT@scotland.pnn.police.uk

Minutes of Meeting - 22 May 2018

The Community Council minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 22 May 2018 can be viewed by clicking here or by accessing through the Document Archive on the right. 

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Church at 7pm on Tuesday 26 June 2018.

Meeting dates till the end of the year are listed on the right.

All Welcome

We can still be contacted with queries or comment by sending an email to the Secretary - bandmcommcouncil@gmail.com

City Home Helpers

Bon Accord Care is a local authority trading company, set up in August 2013, to provide personalised services to meet individual needs. These services are delivered on behalf of Aberdeen City Council.

They provide care, reablement, occupational therapy and learning and development services to support the residents of Aberdeen City.

Bon Accord Care focus on Older People Health & Social Care services, providing support and encouragement to enable older people to live as independently as possible, today and in the future.

They work with key partners Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeen Health & Social Care partnership to deliver a range of services, in support of the individual, their family and carers.

One of their services, for example, called City Home Helpers, provides a range of services for older adults and people with disability so they can continue living in their own home and remain connected to their community for longer. These services range from domestic chores (cleaning, hoovering), to shopping, companionship and social support. They endeavour to deliver a service to suit the individual.

All the services can be seen by visiting Bon Accord Care website on http://www.bonaccordcare.org/

Callers at your Door

 Police Scotland have issued the following information on rogue traders that travel from door to door.  There is a lot of good advice to stop you becoming a victim.

Anyone can be a victim of a bogus caller or rogue trader – so don’t let your doorstep be their marketplace. That’s the message to every single homeowner and tenant in Scotland as Police Scotland launches a campaign to raise awareness under Operation Monarda.

Between April and September 2017, 336 victims of doorstep crime were defrauded out of around £420,000. While most victims were considered vulnerable in some way (54%), or were of pensionable age (79%), a significant proportion were outwith these groups which are traditionally targeted by such offenders.

Bogus callers will visit a property claiming to be from perhaps a utility company or a charity in order to gain access and steal from within.

Rogue traders offer services typically carried out to a poor standard at over inflated prices, and may use violence or threats to get payment or consent to carry out work – sometimes they will just take the money and do no work whatsoever.

During the campaign Police Officers across Scotland will be running events and stalls to speak to the public at key locations such as banks, garden centres and supermarkets, as well as events giving advice to partner organisations and their clients such as care providers, groups that support those with dementia, and Citizens Advice Scotland.

In the north-east stalls can be found at:

Tuesday 22 May, 10am-1pm at Tesco, Harlaw Road, Inverurie

Tuesday 22 May, 10am-1pm at The Spotty Bag Shop, Old Market Place, Banff

Thursday 24 May, 10am-1pm at Tesco, Rousay Drive, Aberdeen

Thursday 24 May, 10am-1pm at Asda, Muirend Road, Portlethen

Friday 25 May, 10am-1pm at Sainsbury's, Berryden Road, Aberdeen.

For more information on Doorstep Crime please CLICK HERE to be taken to the Police Scotland website.

Battle of the Badges - 30 June 2018

Every year the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital cares for more than 100,000 sick children. The ARCHIE Foundation is the hospital's official charity and makes a difference for these sick children and their families. 

Providing amazing environments, cutting edge equipment, advanced staff training, extensive family support and, of course, lots of toys - the charity transforms the healthcare of every local child when they are in hospital.

Fundraising events not only help gather vital funds for the charity's work but also raise awareness of the support the charity provides to the local community.

This year, the ARCHIE Foundation are organising a charity football match between Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland, called ’'Battle of the Badges”.  The event will be held at Balmoral Stadium on Saturday 30 June 2018 with tickets costing £10.  The tickets are available through battleofthebadges.co.uk or by calling 01224 559559

Why not go along, enjoy the football and support a worthwhile charity?

Police Report - April 2018

The local Community Policing Team of Police Scotland have responded to our request to provide information that is more pertinent to our locality.  They have responded and the style of reporting has changed.  We will no longer be provided with crime statistics rather we will be given contextualised information that will allow us to assist our policing team in preventing and reducing crime or to solve crime after it happens.
This months report follows:

BRAESIDE & MANNOFIELD Community Council Report

This report covers progress we have made in dealing with your priorities for the Braeside & Mannofield Community Council area during the period 1st April to 30th April 2018.

The report aims to highlight emerging issues in your area, and to provide crime prevention advice and guidance to Community Council members and residents you represent. Our focus is to reduce crime and disorder, help create safer communities and respond effectively to local concerns.

Community Policing Priorities
Antisocial behaviour, Violence and Disorder:There continues to be a decrease in the amount of Antisocial Behaviour calls within area, those reported mostly relate to late night revellers returning home and the antisocial use of motorcycles predominantly along A93 and Craigton road leading out of the City. 

There have been no Assaults this reporting period. 

There were 2 instances of Vandalism reported, both where windows of vehicles were broken 2 but not in circumstances which would suggest a Theft.

Acquisitive Crime:
There have been 2 Thefts in the area, enquiries are ongoing and we would ask you to check your sheds and garages are locked and the valuable items within are secured, enquiries are still ongoing into these crimes. There have been no reported Housebreakings in the area.

Road Safety & Road Crime:
In response to your requests Officers will be taking a robust approach balancing education with enforcement to ensure the relatively small minority who are responsible for committing offences and antisocial behaviour with vehicles are held accountable for their actions. We will be working with partners and making use of antisocial behaviour legislation. Residents in the areas affected by antisocial driving are encouraged to contact Police on 101 at the time to report incidents in order for us to take positive action.

We will continue to address local speeding issues and support our local schools in
ensuring the safety of YOUR children with operations around our local Primary's to
educate irresponsible and selfish parents, I'm sure you know who they are!

Community Engagement & Reassurance
I am certain you are tired of me saying LOCK YOUR DOORS month in month out and at every meeting, however if there is one thing YOU can do to reduce crime in YOUR community its circulating the message to LOCK THEIR DOORS. Don’t get me wrong the others are important but when you get up to find that your car is missing because someone left the front door open and the keys hanging up beside it you will rightly expect ALL our local resources to be deployed to help you.

We want to address ALL the local issues, but need to place a significant emphasis on acquisitive crime. The majority of those stealing from us don’t live in our area, so if in the middle of the night you think something just isn't right, trust your judgement and give us a call right away, either as an emergency on 999 or to the Service Centre on 101.

Over the last month there has been an increase in people reporting door to door salesmen, invariably offenders wanting to sell you something from the doorstep these people need to have a peddlers licence even then we would like to know about them via 101 as on occasion this has been a method of  "distraction" theft.

The importance of the relationship between you the Community Council and us your CPT in preventing crime cannot be underestimated, you are an integral part of our community and as such have access to information and opinions not open or readily accessible to us. 

You can help us in being able to take local action on behalf of local people. We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks for the overwhelming support our feedback plans have received. We will continue to feed back to the individual Community Councils the specific points they have raised.

National Campaigns
We all think we are too savvy to be taken in by fraudsters, that’s why they choose to pray on the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Please take a moment to have a look and pass the message on to anyone you think could be at risk. We cannot over emphasize the importance of ensuring our seniors are aware of the advice contained below, every month we hear of instances when this knowledge would have saved someone becoming a victim of this type of fraud and often loosing
substantial sums of money. Please share this advice with everyone
https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/


Want to know more about how we measure up, this is where to find out.
http://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/our-performance/

Follow us on Twitter @NorthEPolice #WestEndCPT


Also available are the three following contact email addresses for the West End:
AiryhallBroomhillGarthdeeCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
HazleheadAshleyQueensCrossCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
TorryFerryhillCPT@scotland.pnn.police.uk

Contactless Bus Fares

Stagecoach North are introducing contactless payments on their buses

find out more here

Community Council Meeting - 22 May 2018

The next meeting of the Community Council, will be held on Tuesday 22 May 2018.

The meeting, which will begin at 7pm prompt, will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Parish Church, Great Western Road.

Access to the Church is by the Countesswells Road entrance.

The Agenda for the meeting can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here

ALL WELCOME

Road Closures - Countesswells Road and Duthie Terrace

Aberdeen City council has announced the following road closure in our area.

Countesswells Road between Great Western Road and a point 20 metres north west from the junction and in 

Duthie Terrace between its junction with Great Western Road and the access to "The Spires" car park. 

These roads will be closed in the evening and overnight between 6.30pm on 14 May and 7am on the 15 May 2018

The closures are to allow work on the carriageway by Scottish Water.

Alternative routes are available via Craigielea Avenue and Craigton Road, and via Duthie Place and Cranford Road.

Community Choir still need help/members

The new Community Choir has not yet secured the services of either an accompanist or a Choir Leader.  It is essential for the success of the choir that these positions are filled as soon as possible.

If you can fulfil any of these two roles (either on a temporary or permanent basis), or you know anyone who can and might be interested, the organisers would love to hear from you. 

If you can help please contact Audrey Harvey at audreyharvey@talktalk.net

The next meeting of the group is on Tuesday 1 May at the Airyhall Library and it would be really great if someone would volunteer to act as accompanist either as a temporary measure till they can get someone longer term or for the longer term.

As well as a leader and an accompanist, the choir is need of an administrator and some more singers (pretty short on males).  If you can help in an capacity drop Audrey a line or just turn up.

Meeting Minutes - 24 April 2018

The minutes of the meeting of the Community Council held on Tuesday 24 April 2018 can be viewed by clicking here or by accessing through the Document Archive on the right.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Church at 7pm on Tuesday 22 May 2018.

Meeting dates till the end of the year have also been agreed and are listed on the right.

All Welcome

We can still be contacted with queries or comment by sending an email to the Secretary - bandmcommcouncil@gmail.com

Look out there are Thieves about!

Police Scotland are concerned about the recent spate of thefts of, and from, motor cars parked in the area.  

Many of the thefts being reported are from unlocked cars.  There are some steps to take to make sure that you are not the next victim to lose property from your car.

1.  Make sure your car is locked.  Every time you leave it make sure you have locked it, no matter for how short a time that may be.

2.  Don't leave valuables in you car.  Leaving property in plain view is an open invitation to the thief.  An invitation they is happy to take.

3.  If you must leave property in your car then make sure it is out of sight in the boot. If they can't see it then they don't know it's there.

4.  Park in a well lit open area where a thief would find it difficult to operate without being seen. 

Modern cars are difficult to steal.  Most car thieves now will steal a car having acquired the key from its owner.  The most common form of this is to gain access to the owners house and steal the keys.

Again there are steps you can take to minimise the risk of becoming a victim.

1.  Lock the doors to your home.  If they can't get in, then they don't get access to your property, including your garage and car keys.

2.  Don't leave keys to your home or car in plain sight.  Lock all your keys away, or store them in a safe place.  If a thief enters your house through a window, house keys will let them out  and your car keys give them a means to transport your property in your car.

Finally if YOU think someone is acting suspicious in your area please contact 101 or 999 in an Emergency and let the police know.

By working together we can all make Braeside and Mannofield a safer area to live and work - for everyone except the criminals.

New Bus service 15a Timetable

Aberdeen City Council has agreed to continue assisting in funding the evening 15a bus service.

As of 1st April, the service will be run by Stagecoach Bluebird rather than by First Aberdeen.  As has been said many times, we have fought hard for this service and if we don't use it we could lose it.  So if you are heading into town of an evening, think about taking the bus.

Stagecoach have issued the timetable for the service and it can be downloaded or printed by clicking here.  For those who can't download the information the service times are as follows:

Community Council Meeting - 24 April 2017

The next meeting of the Community Council, will be held on Tuesday 24 April 2018.

The meeting, which will begin at 7pm prompt, will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Parish Church, Great Western Road. 

Access to the Church will be by the Countesswells Road entrance.

The Agenda for the meeting can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here

ALL WELCOME

Community Choir - Important information

At the initial meeting of the Community Choir last week, it was agreed to meet again this Tuesday - 17 April.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, organisers have been unable to secure the services of a choir leader and accompanist for the meeting this Tuesday.

In order that everyone has an enjoyable experience at the next meeting, it has been decided to postpone the next meeting until Tuesday 1st May at the same venue, and the same time. This will allow time to identify and organise the appropriate logistics required.

If anyone can help or can suggest either a choir leader or an accompanist audreyharvey@talktalk.net would be delighted to hear from you.

Community Choir - URGENT ASSISTANCE

The new Community Choir is URGENTLY seeking an accompanist and a choir leader.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen and personal circumstances the choir organisers find themselves without either.

The next meeting of the group is on Tuesday 17 April at the Airyhall Library and it would be really great if someone would volunteer to act as accompanist either as a temporary measure till they can get someone longer term or for the longer term.

Alistair Stark, of the Mango Choir has agreed to lead some singing on the day, but the group are seeking a permanent choir leader.

If you can fulfil any of these two roles (either on a temporary or permanent basis), or you know anyone who can and might be interested, the organisers would love to hear from you. 

If you can help please contact Audrey Harvey at audreyharvey@talktalk.net

Community Choir Meeting

As reported earlier, The Community Council is working with the West Locality Leadership Group in establishing the feasibility of forming a Community Choir in the area. The formation of a choir will have a number of benefits to individuals and the community as a whole.

The meeting to consider the formation of a Community Choir was held at Airyhall Library on 10 April. Although the weather was unkind with rain and wind, almost 30 people braved the elements and came along.

The initiative was well supported by those who attended and it was decided that the choir would meet at Airyhall Library every Tuesday at 6.30pm.  Attendees were keen to ensure that the objective of the group was to meet, sing and socialise and that there should be a broad music selection rather than any particular format.  It was agreed that a nominal fee of £2 per week would be levied toward the cost of hiring the room.

There was an obvious lack of male singers, with only two men attending. Gents, if you have an interest and fancy exercising your vocal chords, you will be made most welcome or, ladies, if you know of a man with a good voice who might be interested please encourage them to join in.

The more people who come along, the more fun the evenings will be - so, if you are interested in singing, playing a musical instrument or helping the choir in some other way get in touch or just come along to a meeting.  If you want more details then email Audrey Harvey on audreyharvey@talktalk.net

Further details on organisation and the way ahead will be discussed at the next meeting but, attendees were assured that at that meeting….the singing begins.

The next meeting of the choir will be held at Airyhall Library at 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 April 2018

ALL WELCOME

Meeting Minutes - 27 March 2018

The minutes of the Community Council meeting of Tuesday 27 March 2018 can be viewed by clicking here or by accessing through the Document Archive on the right.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Church at 7pm on Tuesday 24 April 2018

All Welcome

We can still be contacted with queries or comment by sending an email to the Secretary - bandmcommcouncil@gmail.com

Nuart returns 12-15 April 2018

Following its huge success in the city last year, Nuart is returning to Aberdeen in 2018.

Nuart Aberdeen, a new international platform, is designed to not only present the most interesting and relevant Street Art of its time, but to also activate and inspire an emergent local scene whilst encouraging creative collaborations with Aberdeen's twin city Stavanger.

Brought to you by the team behind Stavanger’s internationally renowned Nuart Festival, the award-winning festival returns to the Granite City for its second year this April.

Developed in collaboration with Aberdeen Inspired and Aberdeen City Council, Nuart Aberdeen will provide a platform for local, national and international artists to showcase their work through a series of site-specific murals, installations, interventions, and temporary exhibitions.

The festival takes place from Thursday 12 – Sunday 15 April 2018 and is supplemented by a program of talks, presentations, film screenings, walking tours and workshops.

Visit Nuart Aberdeen’s web site for more information about the festival, the activities and the various venues.

http://2018.nuartaberdeen.co.uk/

Police Report - March 2018

Sergeant Simon Lewis-Dalby says, "During the reporting period there were no reports of theft by housebreaking, there have however been two instances of break-ins to sheds in the West End, one of which involved eight sheds/garages being broken into and a number of cycles and garden tools were taken in this case the culprits were apprehended and have been reported. The one break into a shed in the Mannofield area resulted in two off road motorcycles being taken.

Although the nights are growing lighter we would still remind people to chain their cycles and motorcycles up when in a locked garage, particularly if they are on view from a garage window. Use a substantial lock/Chain and it would probably be best not to keep all your tools for removing
such a lock/chain next to it.

We would ask that anyone seen hanging around the rear of properties and in common lanes in
suspicious circumstances is reported to us.

The vandalisms across the area relate to either single unrelated incidents or were part of another
crime. In the case of the theft from vehicles the car in question had been left unlocked with valuables on display the culprits stole small amounts of loose change and personal items. As keyless entry becomes far more common in vehicles we would ask you to check the door is locked when you leave the vehicle.

The calls in relation to substance misuse in the Mannofield area is where to local resident smelled cannabis being smoked, whilst we are always happy to hear about such instances for intelligence purposes we would urge residents to call us as you see/smell it to allow us the best opportunity to attend and address these issues.

One of the issues constantly brought up at Community Council meetings are concerns regarding speeding, those reported for no insurance were stopped as part of our commitment to address your concerns during local speed checks.

Our team is committed to keeping the community safe, preventing and detecting crime. If you think something just isn't right, trust your judgement and give us a call right away, either as an emergency on 999 or to the Service Centre on 101. Quick and effective reporting allows our team to react accordingly and maximise the opportunity to apprehend offenders"

Can you help us?
The importance of the relationship between you the Community Council and us your CPT in preventing crime cannot be underestimated, you are an integral part of our community and as such have access to information and opinions not open or readily accessible to us.

Whilst we rely on trends, analysis and sometimes a good old fashioned Police Officers feeling about something, in many instances it is often the local householder who notices something out of the ordinary first. This will assist us greatly in being able to take local action on behalf of local people.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks for the overwhelming support our feedback plans have received. We will feed back to the individual Community Councils on the specific points they have raised.
Addressing Local Concerns
Over the next month in response to local concerns we plan to conduct speed and safety checks around our local Primary Schools to ensure drivers are doing all they can to keep OUR children safe. In addition we will be conducting late night foot patrols around the area to detect and deter acquisitive crime, if you see the officers in your back lane please give them a wave.

National Campaigns
We all think we are too savvy to be taken in by fraudsters, that’s why they choose to prey on the elderly and other vulnerable groups. Please take a moment to have a look and pass the message on to anyone you think could be at risk. We cannot over emphasize the importance of ensuring our seniors are aware of the advice contained below, every month we hear of instances when this knowledge would have saved someone becoming a victim of this type of fraud and often loosing substantial sums of money.

Please share this advice with everyone  https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

What to know more about how we measure up, this is where to find out.  http://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/our- performance/"

The local policing team are based at Whinhill and request that if any suspicious activity is seen they are contacted, either as an emergency on 999 or on the Police Scotland Service Centre at 101.

Follow the Local Policing Team on Twitter @NorthEPolice #HazleheadCPT

Also available are the three following contact email addresses for the Hazlehead Policing team:

HazleheadAshleyQueensCrossCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
LowerDeesideCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
KingswellSheddocksleyCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk

Margaret E Stewart, Garthdee Spirit of the Community Awards

One of our neighbouring Community Councils, in conjunction with their local Community Centre, organise an annual Community Award event.

Paul O'Connor, chair of the Garthdee Community Council has issued this invitation:

"I am delighted to extend to you, your friends, family, and colleagues a very warm invitation to the 2018 Margaret E Morrison Garthdee spirit of the community awards and Inchgarth AGM. This is our tenth awards ceremony and it's going to be our most powerful yet with those nominated to date a real mix of long term volunteering and outstanding stories of triumph over adversity.

For 2 of the stories you will need your hankies such is the strength and emotion of their journey, but fear not, there are plenty of uplifting award recipient nominations in, each with a wonderful story to tell.

Nominations are still open so if you know of anyone deserving of recognition then please do nominate them by filling in a nomination form and emailing it back.

We would love to see you at the event and would be grateful if you could share the information attached.

Thank you for your time and I hope you can join us on the 29th June for an evening of awards, buffet, wine, ice cream, fantastic entertainment and community celebration with another 400+ from all walks of life and services.

Best wishes,

Paul"

For more information visit the Inchgarth Community Centre web page on 

https://www.inchgarth.co.uk/

We wish Paul, the organisers and the award nominees and winners all the best.

Community Council Meeting - 27 March 2018

The next meeting of the Community Council, will be held on Tuesday 27 March 2018.

The meeting will begin at 7pm prompt and will be held in the Gordon Room at Mannofield Parish Church, Great Western Road. Access to the Church will be by the Countesswells Road entrance.

The Agenda for the meeting can be viewed or downloaded by clicking here

ALL WELCOME

Community Choir - Interested?

The Community Council is working with the West Locality Leadership Group in establishing the feasibility of forming a Community Choir in the area. The formation of a choir will have a number of benefits to individuals and the community as a whole.

There are known therapeutic advantages in certain illness to exposure to music, involvement could relieve loneliness and that a multi-cultural, multi-aged involvement would be very positive within the community. 

Work is already ongoing to secure the services of a choir master and meeting venue, however, there is a need, before progressing further to gauge the support for forming a choir.  There is little point in going ahead if there is not the numbers.

You don't need to be the next winner of the X Factor or Britain's got Talent, you just need to be enthusiastic (holding a note would be useful of course).

With this in mind, there will be a meeting at the Airyhall Library on 10th April at 6.30pm, to gauge interest.   If at all interested as a choir member, a musician or just to help out with teas and coffees, why not come along to the Library and let us know.

ALL WELCOME

Reporting Potholes and other Road Defects

Following the recent snow and rain, the problem with potholes on our roads has become more noticeable. If you have concerns about any road in the city you can report this to the City Council through a link in their web page:

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/roads-transport-and-parking/report-road-and-pavement-faults-and-potholes

On their website, the Council has this to say about potholes:

"a pothole is: a sharp edged hole anywhere in the road surface where part or all of the surface layers have been removed. In order for us to consider it a defect and therefore fill it, it generally needs to be more than 50mm deep. However, some potholes in the city centre or on crucial access roads that are deeper than 35mm will be filled. How quickly they are filled depends on the severity and location. If the pothole is in a footway, it needs to be more than 20mm deep before it will be treated as urgent.

Potholes can return after being repaired if, in the first instance, it is more practical to do a temporary repair in order to get this done quickly and prevent further deterioration. We may do this if the road is due to be completely resurfaced soon."

In case of an emergency the Council can be contacted on 03000 200 292.

The Council aims to resolve emergency reports within 2-24, with other serious defects being repaired within 7 working days.

It should be noted that Aberdeen City Council is not responsible for maintaining any private or 'unadopted' roads or trunk roads. Trunk roads such as the A90 North Anderson Drive are the responsibility of Transport Scotland. Go to BEAR Scotland for more information on trunk roads in the North East.

There are numerous private (unadopted) roads, lanes and footways in Aberdeen, many of which are used by the public. The Council have a duty to maintain roads on the Statutory List of Public Roads however but have no obligation to take care of private roads. If you want to find out whether a road has been adopted by the Council, you can call 03000 200 292.

If the defect is to damaged or dislodged manhole covers, some of these will be the responsibility of utility companies, such as Scottish Water, electricity and telecommunications companies. It should say on the cover who is responsible. Please contact the utility company in question direct if the manhole cover belongs to them. If it is not clear who the cover belongs to, please call us on 03000 200 292 in order that further investigation can be carried out.

Police Report - February 2018

Sergeant Simon Lewis-Dalby says, "During the reporting period there were no reports of theft by housebreaking, there have however been 3 break-ins and thefts from garages and sheds in Mannofield. We believe these continue to be by individuals looking to steal push bikes. In all instances either cycles or power tools were taken.  Whilst it would seem overkill we would remind people to chain their cycles up even when in a locked garage, particularly if they are on view from a garage window.

Once again, we ask that anyone seen hanging around the rear of properties and in common lanes in
suspicious circumstances is reported to us.

The theft from the motor vehicle was from an unlocked car with valuables on display the culprits stole small amounts of loose change and personal items, as keyless entry becomes far more common in vehicles we would ask you to check the door is locked when you leave the vehicle.

Our team is committed to keeping the community safe, preventing and detecting crime. If you
think something just isn't right, trust your judgement and give us a call right away, either as an
emergency on 999 or to the Service Centre on 101. Quick and effective reporting allows our team
to react accordingly and maximise the opportunity to apprehend offenders."

Can you help us?
Whilst we rely on trends, analysis and sometimes a good old fashioned Police Officers feeling
about something, in many instances it is often the local householder who notices something out
of the ordinary first. Reporting your suspicions to us will assist us greatly in being able to take local action on behalf of local people.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks for the overwhelming support our
feedback plans have received. We will feed back to the individual Community Councils on the
specific points they have raised.

Addressing Local Concerns
Over the next month in response to local concerns we plan to conduct speed and safety checks
around our local Primary Schools to ensure drivers are doing all they can to keep OUR children
safe.

The local policing team are based at Whinhill and request that if any suspicious activity is seen they are contacted, either as an emergency on 999 or on the Police Scotland Service Centre at 101.

Follow the Local Policing Team on Twitter @NorthEPolice #HazleheadCPT

Also available are the three following contact email addresses for the Hazlehead Policing team:

HazleheadAshleyQueensCrossCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
LowerDeesideCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk
KingswellSheddocksleyCPT@Scotland.pnn.police.uk