Yesterday (16th March) I attended the CC meeting at Skateraw Hall. A special guest from Stonehaven Rugby Club came to update the committee on its relocation and development plans. The club has the second largest youth section in Scotland, with its ‘catchment’ extending well beyond Stonehaven. Many children from North Kincardine have been through, or are currently members of, the club during the last 45 years. They have an asset transfer application for land off Forest Drive in Stonehaven. This isn’t the best land for a rugby pitch and will require a lot of investment in drainage works, but it is the only available option for a new home after the club’s current lease runs out in 2026. If the asset transfer is approved next month, then the rugby club will apply for the relevant planning permissions for drainage, fencing, etc. A letter of support from the CC was asked for (and granted), as demonstrating community support can reduce the cost of planning permission. The ruby club intends to ask all community councils in the area for this support.

Newtonhill Library now has a temporary home in the Bettridge Centre. It will only be open for click & collect for five hours a week though (times to be confirmed).

No police report submitted. A Freedom of Information request has been submitted to find the annual statistics for crimes in the area. A monthly update is usually sent to the CC, but no yearly summary. (If a crime is reported one month, but not ‘detected’, or solved, until another month, this would not show up in the information the CC is currently given.)

On the 1st of April, Stonehaven Town Hall will no longer be the area’s vaccination centre. Doubts were raised whether there was any chance of Invercarron Resource Centre being ready to open as the new hub in time. One of the schools might have to be used as a temporary vaccination site during the Easter holidays (first two weeks of April).

Concerns were expressed over the proposed ‘phase 2’ of building housing to the south of Newtonhill, against community opposition. We won’t know for some months yet whether the Scottish Government will again override Aberdeenshire Council to permit more development. It appears that the developers seem to be behaving as though they know they will ‘get the nod’, with suspicious activity regarding their compound now completely blocking the access road that is supposed to be open by the 101st house being occupied. Cllr Pike will be taking forward enquiries to ensure that current planning conditions are being fully adhered to.

Good news and bad news in Muchalls – the worst of the potholes have been fixed, but there is a drainage problem creating a large puddle across one of the roads. The last similar problem took two years to fix!

A lot of anger was expressed at the management of the Roads Department of Aberdeenshire Council. Allegations that promises were made and broken, and that assurances made must have been untrue, as contradicting announcements made within days. The lack of communication from the department was complained about, with the general consensus being that in order to get anything done ‘you have to make a pest of yourself’. Murray Road is no closer to being repaired, the safety bollards also need replacing. Permanent road repairs need to wait until the new financial year.

On a much more positive note, some reclaimed granite has been bought for making the entrance stones to the villages. Newtonhill Primary pupils submitted designs for Newtonhill’s stone, with the staff sending the best seven for judging by the community council.

Unfortunately I had to leave the meeting, just as a discussion on ‘resilience planning’ and lessons learned by Aberdeenshire Council in the aftermath of our winter storms was taking place. I did hear that there is now a 24 hour emergency help line open, rather than office hours being kept.

The minutes of the meeting will be published in due course on Newtonhill, Muchalls & Cammachmore Community Council | Facebook