Getting things done - Riverside Avenue/Perth Road #dundeewestend

Residents recently drew to our attention issues with the lighting on the path from Riverside Avenue to Perth Road - that reaches Perth Road west of River Crescent and east of Riverside Place - was not all operating properly making the path very dark at night.

We drew this to the attention of the Street Lighting Partnership who agreed to inspect and check the lighting here to ensure all the lighting posts are functioning properly.

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

Many thanks to the residents who recently raised with us the fact that a bollard on south side of Perth Road outside the Red Cross shop was missing, creating a trip hazard.

We reported this to the Roads Maintenance Partnership and received the following helpful reply :

"The inspector has had this missing bollard made safe and raised an order for a replacement to be installed."

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

We were concerned to be advised by a resident recently that an elderly man had take a bad tumble due to the uneven paving on Perth Road just west of Blackness Library.

We reported the pavement to the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership, requesting repairs.

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

We have received requests for the council to look at the viability of an additional pedestrian crossing in the Perth Road shopping area.

The school catchment areas in the West End were altered in 2022 meaning that this area was moved from Victoria Park’s catchment area to Blackness’s.

As a result a stream of additional children and their parents/carers walk along the south side of Perth Road to eventually cross at Sainsbury’s.

The problem is navigating the south side of Perth Road’s pavements with young children – the pavement is very narrow indeed.

We therefore asked the council's road safety team about the viability of a further pedestrian crossing is to the east – eg towards Thomson Street - and have received the following initial feedback from the Senior Engineer (Traffic & Road Safety) :

"I'll have this location added to our list of Traffic Surveys.

Initial thoughts however are that this is unlikely as the pedestrian crossing at Sainsbury's is only 100m west of Thomson Street. We wouldn't have another one so close to an existing one.

I know Perth Road very well and there are our difficulties which limit suitable crossing location such as the numerous under pavement basements, tightly packed utilities within the footways, reinforced concrete rafts within the carriageways from the old days of the trams. To compound this, we have limited useable width on the Perth Road. We are so limited in width from existing buildings that there are narrow footways in places, a trade-off between providing useable carriageway width to maintain two-way traffic flow and adequate footway width for pedestrians.

From memory I'm pretty sure this was why the pedestrian crossing at Sainsbury's was installed where it is because of the above issues.

Once I receive the traffic surveys, I will get back to you with our findings.

Perth Road - 1974 #dundeewestend

With thanks to SJ Bogue and Dundee Memories, a great photo of Perth Road from April 1974.

Perth Road of old #dundeewestend

With thanks to Dundee City Archives, a great photo of 242 Perth Road.

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

Many thanks to the residents who contacted us recently about the deteriorated state of some of the Eurobins and food bins on Perth Road - particularly just east of Ryehill Lane and in front of St Peter's Free Church.

We asked the waste services manager at the City Council if these could be replaced and received the following helpful response :

"Thanks for highlighting. I'll ask a colleague to arrange for replacements to be issued."

A West End Halloween event! #dundeewestend

A great event from Perth Road Launderette :

***A SPOOKY ANNOUNCEMENT***

Get the Kids looking extra spooky this year with a free face paint after school!

We may even have a spook handing out treats but they promise no tricks!

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

Many thanks to the residents who recently highlighted to us that a drainage cover in Perth Road opposite Sainsbury's had become loose from its fixing, creating a trip-hazard - see photo.

We reported this to the City Council's Roads Maintenance Partnership to ensure this was repaired, which was done earlier this week.

Getting things done - Perth Road near Sinderins #dundeewestend

Residents recently contacted us about concerns around pedestrian safety crossing the slip road from Hawkhill to Perth Road near Sinderins, to the immediate west of the shops on the north side of Perth Road.

As one resident advised us :

"Many vehicles turn at a reasonable rate, preparing to slow up. Several, however, come around the bend at speed.

Recently my husband had stepped off the pavement when a car sped round the bend with the driver looking right towards oncoming traffic, completely unaware of the pedestrian on his left hand side. This is not the first time this has happened.

I can walk quite quickly, but many folk can’t. For drivers not used to the setup there, there is no warning sign about pedestrians crossing."

We have raised this with the council's road safety team leader requesting warning signage/road markings to make clear to drivers that pedestrians cross at this location.

Perth Road environmental improvements get go-ahead #dundeewestend

Residents will recall our previous posts about proposed environmental improvements along the Perth Road district shopping centre.

We are pleased to advise that the tender for this work was approved at last night's City Council Fair Work, Economic Growth and Infrastructure Committee.

We had the following update from the project manager on the final proposals :

"The designs were all completed as per previously agreed with community input and tender issued, since then we’ve been successful in obtaining funds from the United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Fund which has enabled us to deliver on the full package of works.

In summary the works comprise:

Miller’s Wynd Park: New planting with a new hedge to screen the car park (with the gap for the community fridge team access) / a new footpath from Perth Road to the Community Fridge / a tidy up of the surfacing around the trees and over by the vehicle entrance / A new screen around the bins / new seating / new covered cycle parking.

During our surveys we also identified that the cabling for the Christmas lights were in poor condition so have added new trunking etc onto the contract to deal with that.

Pennycook Lane: A new planter and two new seats.

Sinderins triangle: new seating / new planting including trees/ new planters and bins / new ground surface / cycle parking.

Union Place: New community notice board (I spotted in the community council minutes that there was discussion on seeking funding to replace the existing one so have managed to include it within this contract)."

If any resident would like to see the finalised detailed proposals, just e-mail us at westendfocus@dundeelibdems.org.uk and we will send you these.

The tender indicates works taking place between November 2023 and March 2024 although the project manager adds, "lead times on some of the materials is significant. We are seeking to issue the contract as soon as possible after committee so will have a better idea of timescales once we engage the contractor."

Getting things done - Perth Road and West Port #dundeewestend

Residents have mentioned to us that the telephone boxes in Perth Road (at the Miller’s Wynd car park - this one is pictured) and in the West Port need flyposting and graffiti removed and a proper clean.

We therefore wrote to BT requesting that this be carried out.

Getting things done - Perth Road #dundeewestend

Fraser is pictured on the north side of Perth Road at a blocked street drain.

In recent weeks, we have had numerous complaints about blocked drains in the stretch of Perth Road between Harris Academy and Glamis Road.

We therefore reported this to the Roads Maintenance Partnership to get them all cleared.

The Little Green Larder Community Soup Kitchen Day

Our friends at The Little Green Larder are hosting the first of our monthly Little Green Larder community Soup Kitchen days on Sunday 30th July between 12 noon and 2pm at the shop at 272 Perth Road.

The team will be transforming surplus food from local businesses into soup and sandwiches, which anyone in our community is welcome to drop in and collect for free.

Find out more at www.facebook.com/events/582338770721084

Update on Perth Road environmental improvements #dundeewestend

Residents will recall the information we have previously posted on possible environmental improvements in Perth Road at three locations - Pennycook Lane outside the police station, the Miller's Wynd car park and area around the West End Community Fridge and the Sinderins "triangle."

We updated residents back in February with the detailed designs and sought feedback which was very positive.    This will brighten up the three sites.

It had been hoped that tender reports for approval would have come to council committee for approval this month but we have been updated by the lead officer as follows :

"The Perth Road project has hit some significant problems at Pennycook Lane.

In short, we've uncovered a whole host of underground issues including very shallow foundations on the adjacent building and a large void under the stairs. We’ve had to redesign the solution there to reduce the weight which has caused us a bit of delay meaning we had to miss June Committee.

The next available committee is now August. All 3 Perth Road sites are linked as they're in the same tender package for the contractors.

On a more positive note, I spotted in the community council minutes that there was an issue with the notice board outside Sainsbury’s and they were looking to make funding applications to replace it. I've included a new notice board within the package of works and let them know."

Many thanks to The Little Green Larder #dundeewestend

Many thanks to The Little Green Larder in Perth Road for the invitation to its relaunch event last night, to celebrate the recent revamping of the shop.

We're pictured with Jillian Crabb, owner of The Little Green Larder.

The shop puts the planet and the people in our community at the forefront of everything it does.    Alongside donating a portion of its profits, it has fundraised over £4 500 for local businesses and charities since opening in 2019.

It also donate excess food to community fridges, and dried foods to our local food banks.

Wishing Jillian and team all the best!

Update from The Little Green Larder! #dundeewestend

From Jillian and The Little Green Larder team at 272 Perth Road :

We’re a more than profit social business that exists to make sustainable shopping easy, affordable and convenient.

We put the planet and the people in our community at the forefront of everything we do. Alongside donating a portion of our profits, we’ve fundraised over £4500 for local businesses and charities since opening in 2019. We donate excess food to community fridges, and dried foods to our local food banks.

The past few years haven’t been easy for us; we’ve come very close to closing our doors for good. But we don’t give up without a fight. So we’re adapting!

We’ll be investing funds into completely revamping the shop, and relaunching with a new community focused offering. As ever we want to support local as much as possible, offer affordable and sustainable options, and introduce new ways to support our community.

Since the pandemic we’ve received countless emails and phone calls from people in our area who are struggling and suffering from food poverty.

We want to pivot our offering, removing barriers to healthy and affordable on-the-go food, and helping as many people as possible. Introducing freshly made health focused lunch offerings, and a pay it forward wall where anyone grab a voucher for a hot drink or something to eat. No questions asked.

We can’t do this without support from our stakeholders and local community, via our recently launched Crowdfunder campaign at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/thelittlegreenlarder

Ben Wilson - "chewing gum man" #dundeewestend

Like many others, we are hugely impressed with the work of Ben Wilson and his miniature paintings on discarded pieces of chewing gum in the Perth Road - and many other locations.

Ben's ‘gum pics’ have amazed and delighted pedestrians since he began creating them in 2004.

With thanks to Jillian at the Little Green Larder for the photo montage, you can read more about Ben's fabulous work at https://benwilsonchewinggumman.com

Getting things done - Perth Road/Ryehill Lane corner site - further update #dundeewestend

Over a long period, the Perth Road/Ryehill Lane corner site and seating area has looked very unkempt.

This was in the ownership of JC Decaux who owned the original advertising hoardings at the rear of the site - but they sold it during 2022.

We asked JC Decaux for details of the new site owner which it has kindly provided and we have asked this new owner to have the site properly tidied.

Lauries of Dundee sign #dundeewestend

As residents will be aware, the former Lauries Nurseries site is now something of a building site as the care home development has commenced.

We had requests to ask the developer to ensure the Lauries of Dundee sign is saved and had the following helpful feedback from Wellwood Leslie Architects, the architects for developers Simply UK :

"Simply UK and the landowner are in discussion with Dundee Civic Trust with regards to the removal and the donation of the existing signage to the trust."