Getting things done - Hillside Drive #dundeewestend

The state of the road surface in Hillside Drive is now extremely poor and, following complaints from residents, we raised the possibility of resurfacing it with the Roads Maintenance Partnership.

The Roads Maintenance Partnership's Senior Engineer has responded helpfully as follows :

"I am busy compiling through condition scores the schemes for detailed scoring

I will add in Hillside Drive so it is scored for potential inclusion in future programmes."

Getting things done - weeds at road edges #dundeewestend

We have over some time now received complaints about weeds at road edges in various West End streets and have reported these to the City Council.

We were given assurances that this nis being dealt with across the ward but most recently we had further concerns in the Hillside area - see photo.

We have now received a response specifically about this from our local environment manager as follows :

"Thanks for your below email concerning the weeds within the Hillside area.

I can confirm that our operative has recently attended the area to apply contact herbicide.

Given a week or two visible signs should be evident of the weeds dying off."

Getting things done - Hillside Drive #dundeewestend

Residents recently contacted me to say that there is no longer any 'no through road' signage at the cul de sac at the north end of Hillside Drive.

I raised this with the roads maintenance partnership and have received the following helpful response :

"Bailie Macpherson - We have had a look at the complaint. We agree and have put in an order for new sign and pole."

Getting things done - Hillside Drive #dundeewestend

I am grateful to residents who highlighted blocked drains in Hillside Drive at its south end.

I contacted the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership regarding this and have received the following positive response :

"An order has been raised to clean two gullies in Hillside Drive."

Pothole repairs – Hillside Drive #dundeewestend

Further to my recent update about residents' concerns about a poor quality of pothole repair in Dunmore Gardens, I have also had similar complaints in Hillside Drive.

I raised this with the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have been advised :

'Similar to Dunmore Gardens, the repairs were inspected and I note that these pothole repairs do not have a film of bond coat painted on the existing road surface prior to filling which will affect the long term adhesion and therefore durability, and I will take this matter up internally.

DCC Actionable Pothole Definition: "A surfacing defect will become actionable when it is greater than 300mm in diameter, the leading edge of a raised or depressed vertical face is proud of the immediately adjacent surfacing by 20mm on footways and 40mm on carriageways."

The material specified for use in carriageway pothole repairs is chosen to suit a depth of 40mm, or greater.  By trying to carry out a repair to a defect of insufficient depth the material sits proud and fretts at the edges as the aggregate within the material cannot fit in the depression once compacted.  If we use smaller aggregate then there is insufficient strength in the material to resist expected vehicular loading.  

Hillside Drive, Place and the east/west leg of Hillside Road , when assessed in comparison to other adopted residential streets throughout the city, are in fair condition and therefore a proposed timescale for resurfacing in year 2020/21 is in my opinion reasonable.  I can advise that there are 215 streets which have been prioritised in advance of these streets.'

Again, I feel that the poor road condition here warrants earlier resurfacing and I will continue to press this matter with the council.

Hillside area - good news on pavements!

Having campaigned for a long time to see the unadopted and poor-conditioned pavements brought up to a good standard, I am delighted that the area of Hillside Road, Hillside Terrace, Hillside Place and Hillside Drive is now having its pavements upgraded and adopted by Dundee City Council.   

Back in 2007, I proposed - and the City Council agreed - to increase annual capital funding on the unadopted footways programme by two and a half fold to £500 000.   This increased funding is having a real and positive impact in getting unadopted pavements upgraded and improved across the West End and in other parts of the city.

Here's a photo of the footways improvement work commencing in Hillside Road in the past few days:

Jubilee celebrations in the West End!

The Jubilee is being celebrated in style in the West End!   Today, I had the honour of cutting the ribbon to officially open the superb Jubilee street party organised by the folk in Hillside Terrace, Road, Place and Drive.    It seemed that everyone from the four streets was there - all generations - and the committee put in huge effort to organise a wonderful community event - some pictures below:

Later this afternoon, I also had the privilege of joining the residents of Glamis Terrace and the surrounding area at their Jubilee Garden Party - another really enjoyable community event - a couple more photos:

Before the crowds arrived!

Glamis Terrace Jubilee Party in full swing!

With more West End Jubilee events on Tuesday and next weekend planned, the West End is enjoying celebrating the Diamond Jubilee and showing the great community spirit across our area.

Another mobile phone mast - Ninewells Avenue

At the City Council's Development Management Committee tonight, I moved refusal of yet another mobile phone mast planning application in the West End - this time at Ninewells Avenue and close to Glamis Gardens (formerly Wimberley Court) and the Hillside area.

I made the point that there is too little co-operation in mast sharing between mobile phone companies.   This application was by O2 and Vodafone, but there are already three Orange/T-Mobile masts off Riverside Drive and another on the water tower in Yarrow Terrace.

My motion to refuse read :

1. The proposed development is contrary to Policy 1 - "Vibrant and Sustainable Communities" of the Dundee Local Plan Review 2005 as the development is likely to impact adversely on the environmental quality enjoyed by local residents by reason of design and layout. There are no material considerations of sufficient strength to justify the granting of planning permission contrary to the policy.

2. The proposed development is contrary to Policy 78 - "Location of Telecommunications Equipment" of the Dundee Local Plan Review 2005 as there is a failure to demonstrate that there are no other viable options in respect of alternative locations. There are no material considerations of sufficient strength to justify the granting of planning permission contrary to the policy. 

3. The proposed development is contrary to Policy 1 of Dundee City Council's adopted Non-Statutory "Planning Policies in Relation to Telecommunications Masts and Other Apparatus" as the applicant has failed to investigate all alternative sites in order to minimise the visual impact of the proposal.

4. The proposed development is contrary to Policy 2 "Residential Areas" of Dundee City Council's adopted Non-Statutory "Planning Policies in Relation to Telecommunications Masts and Other Apparatus" as there is a general presumption against the siting of free standing masts in residential areas unless the mast is sensitively designed and sufficient justification is provided.

Unfortunately, I lost the vote 15-11, so yet another mobile phone mast will be erected in the area.

More on grit bins in the West End

During the recent very wintry spell, a resident in Hillside Drive asked me if the City Council would provide a grit bin at the top end of the street. The City Engineer has now responded positively to my request as follows :

"Your constituent's request for a grit bin at the top end of Hillside Drive has been assessed by Road Maintenance and as this location meets the necessary criteria it is proposed that a grit bin be set out at a suitable location as soon as this can be arranged."

Also, at the request of residents in Pleasance Court, I have asked for a grit bin to be placed in the courtyard area - currently, the nearest grit bin is in Edward Street.