A busy week thus far, so quite a few things to update on :* I had a very useful and productive meeting today with the Head of Transportation and the Sustainable Transport Team Leader at the City Council to discuss local bus services, including the report going to the City Development Committee on Monday on the outcome of tendering for local bus services. It looks promising that there will be improvements to the current 69 bus service in terms of timetable - good news for those parts of the West End covered by the service. It is also hoped to see improvements to the Friendly Bus shopping service serving sheltered housing.
I also discussed with the Head of Transportation parking issues around West Port, the speed limit on Riverside Drive and traffic speed in residential areas.
* This afternoon, I attended the City Council's Job Creation Working Group, at which employment initiatives in the city were discussed. This group provides a good opportunity for council group leaders, council chief officers and Chamber of Commerce representatives to discuss the employment situation in Dundee and related matters. I asked questions on a number of matters, including progress with the refurbishment of the Dundee rail station.
* Over the past few days, I have had constituents express concern about a proposal to have a taxi rank at St Andrew's Cathedral in Nethergate. A number of the concerns have been resolved by confirmation that the rank will operate only between 11pm and 6am, but, on behalf of residents, I have sought assurances from the City Council's Director of City Development to ensure arrangements with Waste Management are in place for any litter to be removed before the Cathedral opens in the morning and that any possible alteration to the taxi rank timings in the future would require full consultation before any implementation.
* JC Decaux has agreed to tidy up its advertising area at the corner Perth Road and Ryehill Lane, following my contacting the company on behalf of residents.
* The West End Community Council has updated the design of its new website at www.dundeewecc.co.uk - its well worth a visit and has a crisp, professional look.
* Late this afternoon, along with colleagues from Friends of Magdalen Green and the West End Communities Officer, we met with a parks representative from the council's Leisure and Communities Department on the green to discuss where to site BBQ tables, following our recent consultation with residents.
The outcome of the consultation showed residents strongly in favour of BBQ tables (these will reduce damage to the grass from disposable BBQs) but residents did not want the new tables near housing or where they would not be used by residents. After discussion, we agreed to a site to the west of the bandstand, sheltered by trees. See photo below. We also agreed to more litter bins (and bigger ones!) with Friends of Magdalen Green helping with funding of them.
* Tonight, I attended a walkabout in parts of the north of the West End Ward, along with representatives from the Community Spirit Action Group, the communities officer for the West End, our Community Police Officer and one of my ward colleagues. We looked at various issues affecting the area that we will these take forward with appropriate council departments and others - examples below :
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| Polepark Road - damaged wall |
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| Larch Street - road damage |