Event tonight at Dundee West Church

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 27 FEBRUARY 2017

Perth Road (at Arnhall Drive) – temporary traffic lights for 2 weeks for gas main renewal.

Blackness Road (at Glenagnes Road) – temporary traffic lights for one week for Scottish Water mains renewal.

Nethergate (West Marketgait to South Tay Street) - closed for 3 weeks from Monday 27 February for carriageway resurfacing works.

Riverside Drive at airport – off-peak temporary traffic lights on Tuesday 28 February for maintenance to Department of Transport monitoring site.

Forthcoming Roadworks

SSE Glenagnes Cable Renewal – Lochee Road lane restrictions and closures on Blinshall Street, Fleuchar Street and Scott Street from Monday 6 March for 5 months.

Fairtrade Fortnight events at the University of Dundee

Family event at Mills Observatory tomorrow

Blether Tay-Gither - Storytelling in Dundee

From Blether Tay-Gither :

Our February Blether will be on Tuesday 28th February - at 7pm in Madigan's Food Emporium and Bookshop, Castle Street.

The theme this month is "Tales Frae Ower the Water."

Hope to see some of you there – all welcome!

Further Temporary Traffic Order - Nethergate

From the 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 carriageway resurfacing works.  The Order is expected to be in force for 3 weeks from 27 February 2017.  Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months.

The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Nethergate from West Marketgait to 20 metres or thereby west of South Tay Street.

Limited access will be maintained to properties for deliveries etc.

An alternative route will be available via West Marketgait, Hawkhill, Perth Road and Nethergate.

Please forward any comments you may have regarding this proposal to the Network Management Team, City Development Department, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee  DD1 1LS and if you have any queries please contact 433082.

Stories Fae Me Tay You project

Ninewells Community Garden event

On Thursday 23rd February, Ninewells Community Garden is running a workshop to help develop a vision for the garden. 

• How do we see the garden and charity develop? 

• What are the opportunities and challenges? 

Starting at 1pm, the workshop will take approximately 2 hours, after which there will be refreshments and a presentation to volunteers.

All are welcome - no booking required - please bring food or drink to share if you are able.

More information is available here.

Concern over closure of university adult learning classes

Following concerns from constituents, I have written to University of Dundee Principal Professor Sir Pete Downes expressing dismay at the closure of the School of Humanities’ educational and creative adult education classes as of April 2017.

Residents are concerned that the replacement which is a suite of credit-bearing modules will be more costly and deviates away from the principles of the adult education classes that have been so successful over the years.

These adult learning courses have run for many years and have been really successful.    Many, but not all of the students, are at or beyond retirement age and many are already well- qualified, so replacing the courses with award bearing courses sadly will end a long tradition of offering general interest courses to members of the public.  

At present there are 13 courses on offer at Dundee University, with over 200 registered enrolments.   It seems such a shame to end the courses and I have asked the university for a re-think.

Professor Downes has now advised me :    

We are replacing the current `Courses for Adults’ programme with a new suite of modules for students of all ages, which will give an introduction to studying at higher education level and will be credit bearing.

This aligns with our commitment to widening access to higher education. Modules will be available at the start of the next academic year in English, History, Creative Writing and Philosophy. There will be an option for students to opt-out of studying for credit.

These courses are replacing our previous provision, which was no longer sustainable and did not align with the priorities of the School of the Humanities and of the University.

The University’s contributions to the local community are very important to me and to many of our staff and students. The breadth of these depends on building sustainable models of delivery wherever possible. I expect adult education will remain an important part of our work with the local community but we need to consider adult education in a broader context and across a wider range of subjects and disciplines. The approach being taken by the School of Humanities to ensure sustainable provision of Continuing Education is as follows:

•         The School of Humanities initiative to change its continuing education offering to a suite of four 10 credit bearing modules will widen access to higher education and be in line with the Universities commitment to public engagement and outreach.

•         This offering will extend the opportunity to reach people who may wish to engage with HE later in their lives, or who wish to study whilst having other commitments which prohibits them from a full time programme.

•         A matriculated student undertaking study for credit may be able to apply for help with course fees from the following:

o   Individual Learning Account (ILA) 

o   Part-time Fee Grant 

There are wider implications for the University as a whole and for our commitments to, and responsibility for, public engagement.  Much work is currently being done to prepare the University’s strategic plan for the period from 2017 to 2022 and I have asked our Vice Principal (Learning & Teaching) to review Continuing Education and its part in our widening access and public engagement work as part of the refreshed University strategy, which will be in place from the start of the next academic year.

I hope that the Vice Principal (Learning & Teaching) when reviewing Continuing Education will bear in mind that many constituents and the Dundee University Courses for Adults Association committee do not want the present provision to end.

Nethergate roadworks today - temporary traffic order

From the City Council :

THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1)

THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of water service works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Nethergate (from its junction with West Marketgait to its junction with South Tay Street), Dundee.

This notice comes into effect on Sunday 19 February 2017 for one day.

Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained.

Access to premises will be maintained where possible.

Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Marketgait/ Hawkhill/Hunter Street/Old Hawkhill/South Tay Street and reverse.

For further information contact 433168.

Executive Director of City Development

Dundee City Council

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD FOR SATURDAY 18 AND SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2017

Blackness Road (at Wilkie's Lane) – temporary traffic lights on Sunday 19 February for mobile platform operations.

Nethergate (West Marketgait to South Tay Street) – closed on Sunday 19 February for water supply connection works.

REPORT FOR WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2017

Perth Road (at Arnhall Drive) – temporary traffic lights for 3 weeks for gas main renewal.

Blackness Road (at Glenagnes Road) – temporary traffic lights for 2 weeks for Scottish Water mains renewal.

Shaftesbury Road (at Seymour Street) – closed on Tuesday 21 February for 3 days for Scottish Water repair work.

Hunter Street – temporary traffic lights from Tuesday 21 February for one week for Scottish Water repair.

Forthcoming Roadworks

Nethergate (West Marketgait to South Tay Street) - closed for 3 weeks from Monday 27 February for carriageway resurfacing works.

Temporary Traffic Order - Shaftesbury Road

From the City Council :

THE ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 : SECTION 14(1)

THE DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL AS TRAFFIC AUTHORITY being satisfied that traffic on the road should be prohibited by reason of Scottish Water repair works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Shaftesbury Road (from Seymour Street to approx. 35 metres in a westerly direction), Dundee.

This notice comes into effect on Tuesday 21 February 2017 for three working days.

No pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained.

Diversion routes for vehicles and pedestrians are available via Seymour Street / Speed Street / Hyndford Street.

For further information contact 433082.

Executive Director of City Development

Dundee City Council

Balgay Road/Scott Street pavement improvements

Having, on behalf of residents, raised the poor condition of pavements along Balgay Road and in the short west part of Scott Street west of Balgay Road (towards the Balgay Park entrance) in the past, I am pleased to see the long-awaited resurfacing now being completed.

Here's a plan of the works kindly supplied to me by Tayside Contracts and a couple of photos of the works :

Blackness Road area - roadworks clarification

Residents will have noted that the temporary traffic lights on Blackness Road at the Glamis Road/Glamis Drive roundabout (see right) have disappeared.     However, this is unfortunately not because the works by Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) are completed.

I have been updated by Scotland Gas Networks' Team Manager as follows :

"Unfortunately our work at the Glamis Road roundabout is well behind schedule due to the ground conditions we are encountering.   However, as Scottish Water (SW) is programmed to start in Blackness Road shortly which would conflict with our work, we are lifting the traffic management at the roundabout before they start and will return to complete our work here after SW have finished.  

In the meantime we will be continuing on Glamis Road itself as this won’t disrupt traffic, and will also be returning to Perth Road to complete the service works and mains abandonment which we had to abort previously.

Scottish Water is starting Blackness Road 20th February for approximately 2 weeks so we’ll be back at the roundabout probably mid March for about 2 weeks."

The Scottish Water work is further east on Blackness Road.   The City Council has further updated me as follows : 

"The SW work will start 20 February at Glenagnes Road junction.    The second week they will move south to Rosefield Street for the second week.

Once SW is complete on their section of Blackness Road, SGN will return to Blackness Road Glamis with their original set up to complete works there. 

As SGN intimated, it will utilise the two weeks of 20/27 February, when SW are in Blackness Road, to complete the remaining services connections left behind in Perth Road at Arnhall Drive area."

West End Community Council Update

I have today launched my February 2017 Update to West End Community Council.

Subjects covered are :

• Seabraes Lift

• Riverside Drive improvements  

• West End Road Safety Improvements

You can download a copy of the Community Council Update here.

The Community Council meeting takes place at Logie St John's (Cross) Church Hall in Shaftesbury Terrace at 7pm tonight - all residents welcome!

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2017

Blackness Road (at Wilkie's Lane) – temporary traffic lights on Sunday 19 February for mobile platform operations.

Nethergate (West Marketgait to South Tay Street) – closed on Sunday 19 February for water supply connection works.

Police Community Surgeries in the West End

I am pleased that Police Scotland is now running community surgeries in the West End.

The surgeries at Blackness Library start tomorrow - see below :

There are also surgeries at the Mitchell Street Centre (first Tuesday of each month) - further details available here.

Getting things done - Saggar Street

I recently received complaints from residents about potholes in the roadway of Saggar Street - see below :

I raised this with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have now been advised by the department that "there is a CAT 3 line in to fill three potholes in this area."

Getting things done - Douglas Street

At the request of residents, I have asked the City Council's Rapid Response Team to remove graffiti at the south end of Douglas Street - see below :

Getting things done - Glamis Road

I am pictured below towards the top of the south section of Glamis Road :

At the request of residents, I asked the City Council for a safety traffic island at this location to complement the one north of the roundabout I previously successfully campaigned for and I am pleased to say this second island has been agreed to and will be installed in the spring.      

Residents have also requested a similar island at the south end of Glamis Road and I have been advised by the City Development Department this will be considered along with other similar requests during 2017/18.

Relaunch of the West End Community and Sports Hub - survey

I recently participated in a very well-attended meeting at Harris Academy aimed at relaunching the West End Community and Sports Hub.   There was a great mix of local sports clubs there and much enthusiasm. 

To help the West End Community and Sports Hub relaunch to assist with and build community sport in the West End, there is now an on-line survey.   This takes just a couple of minutes to complete and you can access it here.

Seabraes Bridge - lift

Residents pointed out to me that there is still no signage at the Seabraes Bridge to let people know who to call if the bridge is out of order.

I contacted the engineer responsible for the bridge maintenance and he has updated me as follows :

"At present there is no signage on the bridge to advise users of the phone number to call in order to report a fault with the lift.  

I have been advised that the call out telephone number is likely to change at the end of February, therefore I will arrange for a temporary sign with the current number to be displayed at the bridge by the end of this week.

Once the new number is confirmed late February, I will arrange for a more permanent sign to be installed."

West End electricity cable replacement project - assurances given

I have obtained assurances from Scottish and Southern Energy about a high-voltage electric cable replacement project for part of the West End, following the failure of the first attempt to replace the cable last year after some five weeks into roads disruption on Lochee Road, Fleuchar Street, Scott Street, Blinshall Street, Glenagnes Road and other roads in-between.

Last year, after this disruption, the company abandoned the work as the new underground cabling failed a final quality test.

Last year, whilst it was understood that the company would not implement a cabling system that failed a safety test, I questioned why the testing took place some five weeks into roads disruption.   At the time, I wrote to Scottish and Southern Energy seeking an explanation as to why was testing of the new cabling not undertaken before the roads were dug up and made it clear this disruption for no purpose should never happen again.

I have now been advised that the company is coming back next month to re-do the project, as follows :

“The highly technical and challenging project will commence on 6 March 2017 and is programmed to take six months to be completed. 

Traffic management systems and diversion of footpaths will be required to protect the public and also our workforce. A brief summary of the requirements as follows: 

A923 Lochee Road, Joint Bay 1/2 – An excavation will be located mostly in the public footpath. A traffic management system will see the A923 road slimmed down in two locations to accommodate a diverted footpath. The road will remain open to traffic which will be able to pass with care. The works are programmed to be undertaken between 6 March 2017 – 24 August 2017. 

A923 Lochee Road, Joint Bay 2/3 – The excavation is located in the road and will impact traffic turning left into Polepark Road from the City Centre, a traffic management system will see the sequencing of traffic lights staggered to accommodate single direction traffic. The works are programmed to be undertaken between 13 March 2017 - 24 August 2017.

Fleuchar Street, Joint Bay 3/4 – A road closure will be required as the excavation will take up a large section of the narrow public road. The diversion around the excavation is 0.3 miles and would take approximately 1 minute by car. Local access for residents, pedestrians, cyclists etc. will be maintained whilst the excavation is open. The road closure and associated works will be in operation from 20 March 2017 – 24 August 2017. 

Scott Street, Joint Bay 4/5 – There a requirement to divert an existing gas pipe ahead of the cable installation works. This will require a full road closure and will be in place for approximately 4 weeks, between 27 March - 24 April 2017. When the gas pipe has been relocated, the road will be opened to a single lane. A traffic management system will be used to protect the public and workforce during the works. All works are programmed to be undertaken between 27 March 2017 – 24 August 2017. 

Glenagnes Road , Joint Bay 5/6 – The final excavation will be mainly located on the main road across form the Junction at Logie Avenue. The road is wide enough that traffic will be able to pass the works with care. A traffic management system will be used to protect the public and workforce during the works. The works are programmed to be undertaken between 3 April 2017 – 24 August 2017 

SHE Transmission will be engaging the specialist services of Balfour Beatty and Nexans to undertake the project. Balfour Beatty and Nexans are regarded as industry leaders in this field of work and have completed two similar projects in Aberdeen, on behalf of SHE Transmission, to a high standard. 

The works are being undertaken through our permitted development rights for underground electricity cables and are programmed to be undertaken between 0730 – 1900, Monday to Friday and 0730 – 1700 on Saturdays. We do not anticipate the need to operate on Sundays unless an emergency situation arises. 

Where works are in a residential zone, Fleuchar Street as an example, we will aim to begin the working day from 0800.”

I therefore wrote to Scottish & Southern Energy as follows :

“Can I have an assurance that the new cable has been fully tested in advance of the work taking place to give a guarantee that, unlike in 2016, the area will not be disrupted then the work abandoned due to failure of the safety test on the new high voltage cable?”

I have now received the following reassurance from the company’s Community Liaison Manager :

“In relation to the high voltage cables, you have our assurance that no works will commence on site until the cables have passed their final factory assurance test (FAT).  The cables have been through numerous quality and assurance tests and they have passed.  The final assurance test will take place on 14 and 15 February.  I can certainly let you know the outcome of this.”

I am pleased that Scottish & Southern Energy has given assurances that the new cabling will have completed its testing before any road is dug up to fit it.    We cannot have a re-occurrence of what happened last year.     There’s been a lot of utilities’ work in the area in the past year and I am anxious this electricity work is undertaken with the minimum of disruption to residents and businesses in the area. 

Image of area affected (thin red line shows route of the cable) :

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2017

Blackness Road/Glamis Road – temporary traffic lights for one week for gas main renewal.

City Road (at Pitfour Street) - temporary traffic lights for one week from Wednesday 1 February for Hydro Electric cable fault.

Getting things done - Annfield Street

Residents have expressed concern to me that the temporary barriers round Scottish Water's contractor's works in Annfield Street have fallen over, partially blocking the road - see below :

I have drawn this to the attention of Scottish Water and requested these be reinstated and properly secured as soon as possible.

Getting things done - Guthrie Street

I have received residents' complaints about the dumped mess in Guthrie Street opposite the junction with Session Street - see photo below.

I have asked the City Council's Neighbourhood Services if this can be cleaned up :

City Road Allotments - fencing improvement

I recently welcomed the council's commitment to a proposed improvement to the security fencing at the City Road allotments.

I am pleased to note that the work to upgrade the security fencing is now well-underway - see below :

Food recycling - Perth Road Lanes - further update

I recently updated residents about the impending food recycling extension to cover the Perth Road lanes and surrounding area.

There was a drop-in session yesterday for residents that I previously advertised and I thought it would now be useful to give a list of the streets wholly or partly included in the new food recycling extension :

     AIRLIE PLACE

     BALTIC GARDENS

     BELLEFIELD AVENUE

     FORDS LANE

     GREENFIELD PLACE

     HIGH MILL COURT

     MAGDALEN MEWS

     MAGDALEN PLACE

     MAGDALEN YARD ROAD

     MCGONAGALL SQUARE

     MCVICARS LANE

     MID WYND

     MILLERS WYND

     OSBORNE PLACE

     PATONS LANE

     PATRICK PLACE

     PENNYCOOK LANE

     PERTH ROAD

     RITCHIES LANE

     ROSEANGLE

     RYEHILL LANE

     SEABRAES COURT

     SEABRAES LANE

     SEAFIELD CLOSE

     SEAFIELD LANE

     SEAFIELD ROAD

     SHEPHERDS LOAN

     SPINNERS WYND

     SPRINGFIELD

     ST PETER STREET

     STEP ROW

     STRAWBERRYBANK

     TAYFIELD PLACE

     TAYLORS LANE

     THOMSON STREET

     UNION PLACE

     WESTFIELD AVENUE

     WESTFIELD LANE

     WESTFIELD PLACE

     WINDSOR PLACE

I have details of the locations of communal on-street recycling units in the area so do please contact me if you wish further information on this (recycling@frasermacpherson.org.uk).

Last week, I attended a briefing for councillors about the proposed final extensions of all other household recycling across the city (paper, cardboard, metals, plastics, etc) and this will take place in two phases - commencing April and June.    The above area is the only part of the West End left to have this extension (the rest of the West End being covered from 2015) and I will update with further details on this soon.