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

Empty Grit Bins?

With this prolonged spell of cold and snow, some of the salt/grit bins that are around the area may be becoming low on supplies.

If a grit bin near you is empty or emptying then let the council know and they will have it refilled.

You can report it by telephoning the council on 03000 200 292 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

or by clicking here