Dundee Macmillan improving cancer journey event

The Ethical Christmas Fair

Boxes of Delights - a free talk

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2016

Perth Road (West Park Road to Glamis) – occasional temporary traffic lights for 4 weeks from Monday 28 November for gas main/service connection works.

Perth Road (at Westgrove Avenue) – temporary traffic lights from Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 November for SSE service connection.

West End Christmas Vintage Market

Temporary Traffic Order - Hillside Road

From Dundee City Council :

Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating house building extension works.  The Order is expected to be in force for 3 weeks from 28th November 2016.  Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months.

The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic Hillside Road from its junction with Hillside Terrace to a point 150m or thereby in a northerly direction.

The road closures will be intermittent and should only last several hours on each occasion.

An alternative route will be available via Hillside Terrace, Hillside Drive and reverse.

For further information, please contact the Network Management Team, City Development Department, Dundee House or call 433168.

Environment Capital Projects

I was recently advised by Environmental Management on the council's Neighbourhood Services that it has identified the following sites for forthcoming capital environmental improvement projects :

-  Seabraes (south banking)

-  Riverside (Invergowrie boundary to rail bridge)

-  Greater Balgay

-  Hawkhill (opposite Whitehall Theatre to Globe Bar)

-  Lochee Road/Polepark  (Logie Street from Logie Bar down Lochee Road to and including Polepark Road)

This is good news and with regard to “Greater Balgay” I requested that this should include improvement to the banking at Pentland Avenue immediately east of the Scott Street entrance to the park.     The department has agreed that this also needs to be improved, which is good news.

RRS Discovery Masts and Rigging Conservation Project

From Gill Poulter, Heritage and Exhibitions Director at Dundee Heritage Trust :

I need your help to try and raise funds for a really important conservation project that’s taking place on our lovely ship.

Dundee Heritage Trust is undertaking an essential project focused on Discovery’s masts and rigging which will involve the ship being partially de-masted.  The work will take place off-site at the yard of master shipbuilder Tommi Neilson of Gloucester who specialises in the conservation of historic ships. The project commenced on 1 November 2016 and it is hoped the masts and rigging can be reinstated by June of next year.

The total project cost is £350,000 and we are hoping to generate £40,000 towards the project via a crowdfunding public appeal.

This appeal is being supported by our Patron TV presenter Lorraine Kelly and we want to spread the word to as many people as possible in order to achieve our target as we only have a few weeks to do this.

The link to the crowdfunding site is here.

This contains more information about the project and details of the range of rewards available to people who contribute, depending on the size of their donation.

Launch of West End Christmas Fortnight tonight!

Tonight sees the start of the West End Christmas Fortnight, which will be launched with the Christmas Lights Switch On for the West End and a spectacular fireworks extravaganza.

This year’s West End Christmas Concert takes place at Dundee West Church (enter by main church entrance at 132 Perth Road) at 6.15pm.   

There will be musical contributions from all local primary and secondary schools.    The Concert will be hosted by Gordon Sharp.    

“The Notables” will perform as well as local school pupils.  It will be a great concert and everyone is very welcome to attend.   

Mains of Fintry Pipe Band will pipe everyone from the church to Seabraes for the Christmas Lights Switch-On.

At 7pm, Loadsaweeminsinging will perform by the tree and thereafter at 7.20pm the West End Christmas Lights will be switched on at Seabraes by Lord Provost Bob Duncan, ably assisted by Santa and his sleigh.  

There will again be a spectacular fireworks display after the lights switch-on.

Don't miss tonight's West End Christmas Fortnight events!

Friends of Wighton forthcoming Cappuccino Concert

From Sheena Wellington on the forthcoming Friends of Wighton Cappuccino Concert :

On Saturday 26th, the Cappuccino Concert will feature Abercraig.  

This group of young musicians were brought together by Friends of Wighton tutor Karen Hannah to appear at the MG Alba Scots Music Trad Awards in the Caird Hall on 3rd December.  

The youngsters, ranging in age from 6 to 17, hail from Dundee, Angus, Perthshire and Fife and have been working hard with Karen, Kevin Findlay, Paul Anderson and MoragAnne Elder.   

Why Abercraig?  One of the last two 'Fifies' which linked both sides of the Tay before the Road Bridge opened 50 years ago!

As always doors open for the Cappuccino Concert at 10.30am, tickets £5, and you can enjoy refreshments (available for a small donation) and enjoy a newspaper before the concert starts at 11am.

Good news for ground floor Logie tenants

I am pleased to report that Dundee City Council recently made a bid to the Scottish Government for additional funding for energy efficiency measures - the Capital Stimulus Programme.    As recently discussed at the council's Neighbourhood Services Committee, the bid was successful and the funding will be used to carry out a programme of underfloor insulation for ground floor council tenants in the Logie area, together with some other areas.

The properties that will achieve the greatest benefit from this type of work are those with particularly deep under-floor areas and tenants should notice a marked improvement in their warmth and comfort after the insulation has been installed.  There is a variation in the depth between different properties in the same street and, for this reason, there will be some sample underfloor surveys before the council can determine the flats that need the work and identify those with sufficient underfloor areas to allow the contractor to work safely.  

The work itself entails applying rolled insulation material to the underside of the floor and keeping it in place with nets that are fixed to the underside of the floor joists.     Some flats already have hatches which allow access to the underbuilding but, for those that do not and where there is a deep underbuilding, new hatches will need to be cut to allow the work to proceed.

It is likely that the work will start early in the new year but identified properties were advised over the weekend of the possibility of a survey before Christmas. 

I asked the council's Service Manager Housing about how owner-occupiers can also be helped and he advises :   "This scheme is for tenants only but owners can approach Home Energy Scotland on 0808 808 2282 to determine whether they are eligible for free insulation/heating measures (this is means tested)."

Do please contact me if you have any queries - my hone number is 459378.

Book Week Scotland 2016 in Dundee #BookWeekScotland

Book Week Scotland 2016 is taking place from tomorrow, Monday 21st, until Sunday 27th November.

Book Week Scotland is a week-long celebration of books and reading that takes place every November.

During Book Week, people of all ages and walks of life will come together in libraries, schools, community venues and workplaces to share and enjoy books and reading. 

They will be joined in this celebration by Scotland’s authors, poets, playwrights, storytellers and illustrators to bring a packed programme of events and projects to life.

I’m pleased to see that Dundee again has a programme of events during book week and you can read more details here.

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR SATURDAY 19 AND SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2016

Blackness Road (at Glenagnes Road) – temporary traffic lights on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November for water main tie-in.

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2016

Riverside Drive (at Airport) – off-peak (9.30am – 3.30pm) temporary traffic lights on Monday 21 November for road temperature sensor installation.

Blackness Road (at Rosefield Street) – temporary traffic lights on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November for water main tie-in.

Forthcoming Works

Perth Road (West Park Road to Glamis Road) – occasional temporary traffic lights for 4 weeks from Monday 24 November for gas main/service connection works.

European Week for Waste Reduction

European Week for Waste Reduction starts tomorrow - Saturday 19th November - and runs until 27th November across over 30 different countries.   Zero Waste Scotland is the Scottish co-ordinator.

Each year organisations, businesses, local authorities, schools and individuals are encouraged to take action during the week to raise awareness of how to reduce waste in our society.    Registered actions are eligible for a European award with winners invited to a prestigious ceremony in Barcelona next year.

The aim of the week is to mobilise action across Europe that promotes the three Rs: reduce, re-use and recycle. 

In Scotland, the focus of European Week for Waste Reduction is on food waste, but this year the theme across Europe is wasteful packaging. 

You can find out more about European Week for Waste Reduction here.

Friends of Wighton - latest update

From Sheena Wellington on the forthcoming Friends of Wighton Cappuccino Concert :

On Saturday 19th November,  Mary Ann Kennedy and long-time musical collaborator Finlay Wells who will reveal some brand-new material from two forthcoming albums in a series of intimate concerts. 'Glaschu' - a lovesong to her urban Gàidhealtachd home town, and 'An Dàn' - a unique collection of original Gaelic songwriting by Mary Ann and some of Scotland's finest poets - are scheduled for release in 2017.    Join Mary Ann and Finlay to be among the first to hear these very special songs. 

An urban Gael from multi-cultural Glasgow, Mary Ann Kennedy’s life has been one of music. A younger member of the ‘first family of Gaelic music’, her earliest memories are of a home filled with songs of community, history, work and worship from their exile island of Skye. 

A hothouse classical training - and a brief diversion running the BBC’s Gaelic news service – sees her today as musician, singer, broadcaster, conductor, composer and producer, based at her creative Highland hub, Watercolour Music.   

As always doors open for the Cappuccino Concert at 10.30am, tickets £5, and you can enjoy refreshments (available for a small donation) and enjoy a newspaper before the concert starts at 11am.

Dundee Diabetes Scotland Group

West End resident Mandy Christie recently stepped down as Secretary of Dundee Diabetes Scotland Group - many thanks go to Mandy for all her work in this role.    Mandy was also previously actively involved with the former Blackness Area Residents' Association.

Unless more local people now come forward to help, unfortunately Dundee Diabetes Scotland Group cannot continue in its current form as there are now only two committee members left.

Allan Kirkwood is Volunteer Development Manager at Diabetes Scotland and he would love to see the Dundee Group continue in some form.

He said, "The Dundee Diabetes Group is believed to be the longest established in Scotland and has been running for over 50 years. Type 2 Diabetes is a major health issue in Dundee and we need new people who want to take the Group forward, perhaps in an informal community group structure."

Anyone interested in helping take the Group forward can contact Allan direct at allan.kirkwood@diabetes.org.uk or phone him on 0141 245 6380.

Slippy leaves tackled

A number of residents have contacted me recently regarding slippy leaves on pavements in parts of the West End.

I am grateful to the council's Neighbourhood Services for promptly sweeping up leaves at the locations I have highlighted.

A recent example is at the steps from Scott Street to Pentland Avenue (see right) and also in sheltered housing areas such as Abbotsford Place.

A fabulous West End Christmas Fortnight launches soon!

Wednesday 23rd November sees the start of the West End Christmas Fortnight, which will be launched with the Christmas Lights Switch On for the West End and a spectacular fireworks extravaganza.

This year’s West End Christmas Concert takes place that evening at Dundee West Church at 6.15pm.     There will be musical contributions from all local primary and secondary schools.    The Concert will be hosted by Gordon Sharp.    

We are delighted that “The Notables” will perform as well as local school pupils – it will be a great concert and everyone is very welcome to attend.   Mains of Fintry Pipe Band will pipe everyone from the church to Seabraes for the Christmas Lights Switch-On.

At 7pm, Loadsaweeminsinging will perform by the tree and thereafter at 7.20pm the West End Christmas Lights will be switched on at Seabraes by Lord Provost Bob Duncan, ably assisted by Santa and his sleigh.  

There will again be a spectacular fireworks display after the lights switch-on.

West End Christmas Fortnight is packed with events and we hope that, as in the past 16 years, the local community will take part.      We are extremely grateful to all the local businesses for their support of the Christmas Fortnight, without which the events would not be possible.

Other main West End Christmas Fortnight events include :

• Saturday 26th November – West End Christmas Fortnight’s lovely children's craft event.  Taking place at Logie St John’s (Cross) Church Hall, this event is most suited to young school aged children who will be making trees and wreaths out of last year’s Christmas cards and jigsaws.  

• Saturday 26th November – Harris Academy from 1pm – Primary 6 football competition.

  

• Wednesday 30th November – St Andrew’s Night West End Community Groups’ Social Event.

• Thursday 1st December – The Westport Winter Wonderland – Lights Switch on in West Port at 6.30pm.

• Saturday 3rd December - Vintage motor cavalcade in the West End shopping areas, in conjunction with Dundee Museum of Transport – starts at 1pm.    Kindly sponsored by Barnetts Motor Group, the cavalcade of vintage vehicles will proceed along Perth Road, Nethergate, West Port and Blackness Road.       There will be carol singing from 1pm at the Sinderins too!

• Tuesday 6th December – The Finale!   A candlelit Community Carol Concert at Logie St John’s (Cross) Church at 6.30pm.  This is a perfect way to round off West End Christmas Fortnight.

• Over Christmas Fortnight – Window Spotting Competition for children – prizes include a family membership of the Botanic Garden.

You can download the full West End Christmas Fortnight brochure here - it will be available in local shops later this week and also distributed to local schools, sheltered lounges, the Mitchell Street Centre, Blackness Library and other West End facilities.

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2016

Perth Road (Glamis Road to West Park Road) – temporary traffic lights for one week for gas main renewal.  *

Brook Street, Dundee – off-peak temporary traffic lights on Thursday 17 November for Scottish Water manhole repair.

*    With regard to Perth Road (from West Park Road to Glamis Road), I sought clarification of this as the road is now fully open.    The City Council advises :

“The road was indeed opened up last Monday but there were still some service connections to the west end of the work still requiring to be done. 

These connections are the work that is planned for next week under temporary traffic lights.   Scotland Gas Networks has spent this past week renewing the main in the various side streets of Perth Road, such as Farington Street and West Grove Avenue.”

Getting things done - Blackness Road

Residents have highlighted to me the poor state of parts of the road surface of Blackness Road - much of this caused by utilities' work on the road.   

The photos below were kindly supplied by a local resident :

I have highlighted this issue with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership, requesting improvements.

Lest we forget

Getting things done - Edward Street/Forest Park Place junction

On behalf of residents, I recently raised with the City Council the poor road condition at the Edward Street/Forest Park Place junction - see below :

I raised this with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and thermal repairs on the defects have now been carried out :

Forest Park Place is currently identified for surfacing in 2019/2020.  As this is some time off, the thermal patching meantime is welcome.

Ballads of Battle - Remembrance Day Events

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :

Our current exhibition Ballads of Battle celebrates the life and work of the Dundee writer and illustrator Joseph Lee, and marks the centenary of his first book of war poetry. To accompany the exhibition we have two events taking place tomorrow, 11th November:

1.20pm, Bonar Hall

Lunchtime Concert - Ballads of Battle

As part of the University's lunchtime concert series taking place in Bonar Hall, Ken Murray (baritone) and Graeme Stevenson (piano) will perform musical settings of Lee's poems that have not been performed since the Great War. No need to book - visit the Lunchtime Concerts website for details.

5.30pm, Lamb Gallery (with talks following in Baxter Suite 1.36)

The Things I’ve Seen – Joseph Lee in Context

An evening of short talks and readings exploring the background to Lee’s war poetry. Historian Derek Patrick will discuss the experience of the Black Watch during the war; DC Thomson archivist David Powell will describe the press’s coverage of events and the outpouring of war poetry sent to Dundee’s newspapers; and there will be readings of poems by Joseph Lee and his contemporaries by Andy Jackson, Beth McDonough and John Quinn.    No need to book - meet in the Lamb Gallery.

Alchemy - Exhibition

I am delighted to highlight the involvement of West End resident Lucia Gomez who is participating in an exhibition taking place at the Tatha Gallery in Newport-on-Tay from 12th November.

Lucia is an emerging artist and had work exhibited at the Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts 2016 and the Mall Galleries, London, amongst others.

She will be showing some new pieces at a group show at the Tatha Gallery in Newport-on-Tay this winter and you can read more about her work here : 

RNIB's Looking Forward programme

Janet Webster who is Peer Support Coordinator for the RNIB Scotland (the Royal National Institute of Blind People - Scotland) recently wrote to me as follows :

"I am trying to raise awareness of our free Looking Forward programme for people with sight loss in the Dundee area.  

RNIB Scotland are trying to reach those who have slipped through the net and are unaware of the excellent services Dundee has to offer.

The programme also gives blind and partially sighted people a chance to share experiences and tips; or just a chance to have a right good blether!"

Please find details below :

Blackness Road at its west end - impending gas work

I have been advised that, further to the recent road closure on Perth Road (between West Park Road and Glamis Road), Scotland Gas Networks confirms that it will be starting work towards the end of November of the stretch of Blackness Road between Glamis Road to Oxford Street.   This does not require a road closure or bus diversions.

Scotland Gas Networks' Team Manager advises :

"The work in Blackness Road forms part of the same policy replacement project as Perth Road which SGN are carrying out under our powers as a statutory undertaker in accordance with the New Roads and Street Works Act .  We are not closing Blackness Road and while we may require to use temporary traffic lights on occasion we are not anticipating any significant problems with traffic.  Bus routes will not be affected.  With regard to gas supplies, affected customers will have their supplies interrupted on occasion by prior arrangement.  This will be during working hours and no overnight interruptions are planned.  For vulnerable customers we are able to provide temporary heating and cooking facilities if necessary.

This section of the job covers Glamis Road to Oxford Street and will carried out in 2 stages with the bulk of work being done on the dates following, and then the Glamis Road junction at a later date along with the works we have in Glamis Road itself.  Our actual start date for Blackness Road will depend on progress in other sections of this project but should be between 28/11 and 9/12.  Duration is more difficult to predict as this will depend on what we find once we start digging but all going well I would hope to be finished here before the Xmas holidays.  Our contractors shut down for the holidays so even if we are not complete the site will be cleared for the festive period."

If any resident has a further query, please do not hesitate to contact me at westend@frasermacpherson.org.uk or on 459378.

The Modern Life of Bees - lecture

Later today - and next Sunday - at Riverside Nature Park

Reanimating H G Wells

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :

Reanimating H G Wells :  An exhibition in the Tower Foyer Gallery, University of Dundee 

Saturday 5th November–Saturday 23rd December | Mondays to Fridays 9.30am to 7pm, Saturdays 1pm to 5pm

Starting today and marking 150 years since the birth of visionary writer H G Wells, this exhibition features striking pieces of art, design and typography created by Graphic Design students at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, made in response to Wells’s pioneering scientific romances. Both Level 2 and Level 3 students have created work for the show, resulting in a wide variety of forms including newspapers, posters, book covers, models and films. 

The exhibition will also include copies of contemporary illustrations of Wells’s work and original scientific equipment from the Museum Collections relating to his stories.

This event is part of the University of Dundee’s special programme of activities for the Being Human Festival organised by the School of Humanities –  H G Wells at 150: Hope and Fear.

Toilets in Ancrum Road demolished - at last!

Back in August of last year, I reported that residents had asked me when the now disused (and rather horrible) toilets in Ancrum Road next to the Lochee Park children's play area, would be demolished and the council advised that demolition would take place in October (that's October 2015!)

I have continually reminded council officers over many months about the delays in this happening - and they were finally demolished last week - only a full year late!    See photo (right) :

I am now anxious to see the area properly restored and added to Lochee Park as part of the parkland. 

It should be stressed that there is still public toilet provision very close by - at the Lochee Park Pavilion.

Protecting Paradise - Dundee Science Festival event

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :

A special event in the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum, Carnelley Building, University of Dundee - later today - Thursday 3 November at 6pm -

Protecting Paradise: Wildlife Conservation

As part of Dundee Science Festival, join us to explore some of the projects that University of Dundee staff and students are doing to help marine conservation and the survival of threatened species and environments around the world. The event features three presentations:

Prof Terry Dawson - Large-Scale marine protect areas: what can they achieve for biodiversity, and do they work?

Rachael Hall - The environmental importance of mangroves

Dr Steve Hubbard - Students in the mist: vulnerability in tropical forest bird communities

Admission is free but places are limited so please book via Eventbrite.

Blackness Post Office modernisation

Just a reminder that Blackness Road Post Office will close for its planned modernisation tomorrow, Thursday 3rd November, at 1pm and the upgraded Post Office will re-open on Monday 14th November at 1pm.

In the meantime, the nearest Post Office will be the branch on Perth Road.

When Blackness Road Post Office re-opens on 14th November, it will not only have a bright, new look but will have longer opening hours (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 3pm Saturday).

Take pride in your city events - November #takepridedundee