Wednesday 31 January 2018

Glamis Road - tree and pavement works - and road closure

Further to the weekly road report information I updated residents about recently in which work in Glamis Road was mentioned, the following information has been issued by the City Council to affected residents about the work in the street and the resultant road closure :

"Glamis Road (Ninewells Avenue to Blackness Road) East & West Footways -  Forestry & Remedial Footway Works

I wish to notify you that work is programmed to commence at the above location on Thursday 15 February 2018 and will last for approximately 2 and a half weeks. The works involve tree canopy pruning and remedial footway works associated with tree root damage.

Tree works will be carried out by Dundee City Council Forestry Section and the footway works will be carried out by Tayside Contracts.

Initially, footway works will be undertaken starting Thursday 15 February using temporary traffic lights off peak at localised areas as the work progresses. From Monday 19 February 2018, the works will be carried out by closing the street to all traffic from Ninewells Avenue to Blackness Road. Road traffic will be diverted via Glamis Road south of Blackness Road to Perth Road and Ninewells Avenue and the reverse.  

For safety reasons, parking, waiting, loading and unloading will be prohibited on both sides of the street for the duration of the road closure. Due to the recognised volume of non resident vehicles parking on Glamis Road on a daily basis, parking enforcement will be in place for the duration of the road closure and parking enforcement notices will be issued where required. Accommodation will be made for residents’ access and servicing of properties if safe to do so though areas may be temporarily inaccessible during forestry operations. Site personnel will advise however we would ask that vehicular traffic movements be kept to a minimum, where possible. 

Please note that pedestrian access will be maintained to both sides of the street for the duration of the works unless it is unsafe to do so due to ongoing works and localised alternative pedestrian walkways will be provided where required,  

Bus services will be affected by this closure and I would advise bus passengers to visit www.dundeetravelinfo.com or telephone the bus operator for further details of diversion routes and alternative bus stops."

Tuesday 30 January 2018

Getting things done - fencing damage at Pleasance Court #dundeewestend

Following concerns raised by a resident with me yesterday about the damage to fencing at the side of Pleasance Court, I immediately raised this with the fence owners, Home Scotland.

See photo - right :

The broken fencing was lying across the public pavement at the Brewery Lane/Brook Street junction.

Home Scotland's Maintenance Surveyor responded very promptly late yesterday afternoon as follows :

"I have attended and removed the fence from the street. We will now organise repair / replacement. Thanks for bringing this to our attention."

Monday 29 January 2018

Council to make changes to recycling collections

Dundee City Council is to alter the recycling arrangements for thousands of Dundee households from April in order to ensure that the recycling offer is consistent across the city.

I recently asked for an update on the recycling roll-out as Phases 1 and 2 undertaken in 2015 are done differently than the later phases.      Phases 1 and 2 includes all of the West End Ward apart from the area around the Perth Road Lanes, together with parts of Broughty Ferry, Menzieshill, Lochee and Charleston and affects some 24 000 households.

In Phases 1 and 2, paper, card, plastics and tins were recycled together in the same blue recycling bin with a burgundy bin used for glass recycling.    However, since then the Scottish Government’s ‘Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland’ has insisted that paper and card should not be collected along with tins and plastics, so from April, the 24 000 households on the ‘old’ method of separation of recyclables will be switched to putting tins, metals and plastics into the burgundy bin.   Glass will no longer be collected in a household recycling bin but at nearby neighbourhood recycling points.

It is unfortunate that a change is necessary to what goes into each recycling bin for 24 000 households in the early phases of the recycling rollout back in 2015 but the government’s ‘Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland’ did change the goalposts in terms of what can be collected together.   It is necessary to ensure that the recycling offer is the same for everyone right across Dundee – the later phases’ households rolled out last year are already on the new method of recycling and use of bins.

It is vitally important that this change in recycling arrangements this coming April goes smoothly for households and is well-explained and communicated to residents.    This is particularly important as the later phases of recycling changes last year had not gone according to plan at implementation and had led to many complaints and concerns from residents.    

I have also sought assurances that any outstanding issues from Phases 3 and 4 have now been implemented – such as the siting of Eurobins and requests from residents to move or site them better.

I am happy, as always, to speak with any West End resident with any outstanding bins or recycling problems or concerns.

Copy of detail sent to councillors by the council’s Implementation Project Manager :

“I am writing to advise you of the forthcoming changes to recycling collections in parts of the West End, Broughty Ferry, Charleston, Menzieshill, Lochee and all surrounding areas which were previously included in Phases 1 & 2 of changes to waste services in 2015.

As you know, in recent months we have been introducing a slightly different version of the 2015 changes across other areas of the City. The reason for the difference was the 2016 introduction of the Scottish Government's "Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland" which details a preferred single collection methodology for all councils in Scotland. 

The aim, in asking all Councils to adopt this standard collection model, is to make recycling systems easier for residents to use and understand as well as increasing the quality and quantity of recycling collected. 

In order to comply with this Charter, Dundee City Council subsequently amended the collection model from the 2015 version and introduced this across other areas of the City in 2017. 

We now wish to revisit the areas covered by the original changes and bring them in-line with the rest of Dundee.

These changes will commence on Monday 16th April and will comprise:

Blue bins - these will revert to PAPER & CARDBOARD only & collection frequencies will be amended;
Burgundy bins - these will be repurposed from glass bins to METALS, PLASTICS & CARTONS & collection frequencies will be amended;
Glass collections - these will change from kerbside collections via a burgundy bin to bring site collections via an enhanced network of these sites.

Information on the changes will be communicated to residents in the next few weeks by means of "teaser" letter which outlines the new system and lists the dates for a series of Drop-In information sessions which have been arranged. 

A subsequent full information leaflet and revised collection calendar (where applicable) will then be delivered to affected households approximately 1 week prior to the new service starting. Copies of these communications will of course be forwarded to yourselves in due course. 

These communications will fully explain what residents should do if their bins contain the OLD material mixes (e.g. glass in a burgundy bin) at the time of the first collections. There will be no requirement for residents to empty any materials out of the bins themselves.”

Sunday 28 January 2018

Blether Tay-Gither - Storytelling in Dundee


Our January Blether will be on Tuesday 30th January at 7pm at our new venue - The Butterfly Café, 28 Commercial Street.

The theme this month is “Resolutions."

Hope to see some of you there – all welcome!

Saturday 27 January 2018

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward #dundeewestend

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - SATURDAY 27 AND SUNDAY 28 JANUARY 2018

Nethergate (West Marketgait to Park Place) – closed on Sunday 28 January for crane lifting works.

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 29 JANUARY 2018

A85 Riverside Drive – prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for one week for works to the sea wall.  Prohibitions will only be in place when required.

Riverside Drive at Dundee Railway Station – eastbound nearside lane closure for 6 weeks for footway works.

Tullideph Road (at City Road) – lane closure for one week for Scottish Hydro Electric cable works.

Forthcoming Roadworks

Lochee Road (Polepark Road to Gardners Lane) – closed on Sunday 11 February for Scottish Water reinstatement works.

Glamis Road *  (Blackness Road to Dickson Avenue) – off-peak (7.30pm - 6.30am) temporary traffic lights on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 February, then closed from Monday 19 February for up to 10 days for footway and tree works.

*    Glamis Road at this section was originally to be closed from Monday 29 January for 10 days for forestry and footway works.    I queried both residents’ access and bus diversion arrangements and on the latter matter, the council decided to put back the works to mid-February to enable discussions and agreement with the bus companies on diversions for the services 5, 73 and 204.      I will do an update on this closure in the next few days.

Friday 26 January 2018

Handrail extension - Pennycook Lane - now in place #dundeewestend

In September, I highlighted that, at the request of residents, I had asked the City Council to add a short extension to the handrail down the east side of the pavement of Pennycook Lane - at Pennycook Court sheltered housing – so the rail would go right down to the flat pavement of Perth Road.

I am pleased to say this was agreed to and has now been installed – see below :

Thursday 25 January 2018

Nethergate - Public Notice #dundeewestend

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 crane lifting works being carried out HEREBY PROHIBIT the driving of any vehicle in Nethergate (from West Marketgait to Park Place), Dundee.

This notice comes into effect on Sunday 28th January 2018 for one day.

Pedestrian thoroughfare will be maintained.

Alternative routes for vehicles are available via West Marketgait /Hawkhill by- pass/Perth Road and reverse.

For further information contact 433168.

Executive Director of City Development
Dundee City Council

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Apple Pruning Session at Ninewells Community Garden #dundeewestend

There's an apple pruning session at Ninewells Community Garden tomorrow - Thursday 25th January - from 1pm to 3pm.

It is a relaxed and informal pruning session at this lovely garden and no experience is necessary. 

Tools and training will be provided. 

Please wear suitable clothing and some sturdy footwear. 

Meet at Ninewells Community Garden, set in the Arboretum at Ninewells Hospital near Maggie's Centre.

For more information please contact 0754 074 6075 or e-mail facilitator@ninewellsgarden.org.uk.

Tuesday 23 January 2018

University of Dundee exhibitions

There are two new exhibitions at the University of Dundee.

In the Lamb Gallery, the exhibition "Botanical Conversations" features highlights from the University’s amazing Herbarium collection, stunning botanical teaching charts and beautiful works of art inspired by plants. It describes the history of botany teaching at the University and also showcases some fascinating projects being carried out both here and at the James Hutton Institute.

Meanwhile, in the Tower Foyer Gallery, "Exploring our own Backyard" has been put together by the University of Dundee Botanic Garden and highlights the current project to revamp the Garden’s native plants area. 

This is the jewel in the Garden’s crown and is still unusual in botanic gardens, which traditionally showed little interest in their natives. Dundee’s garden is young, founded in 1971, and it was committed from the start to telling the story of Scottish plants and their ecology.

This exhibition also celebrates the work of William Gardiner, a working man from Dundee who became a distinguished botanist in the first half of the nineteenth century, and was the first to compile a flora of the local area, unique examples of which will be on display.

Exploring our own Backyard runs until 17th March and Botanical Conversations ends on 31st March. 

Opening hours are Monday to Friday 9.30am to 7pm;  Saturday 1pm to 5pm.   Full exhibition details are available here.

Monday 22 January 2018

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward #dundeewestend

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 22 JANUARY 2018

A85 Riverside Drive – prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for one week for works to the sea wall.  Prohibitions will only be in place when required.

City Road (at Tullideph Road) – lane restrictions on Thursday 25 January for smart meter antenna works.

Nethergate (West Marketgait to Park Place) – closed on Sunday 28 January for crane lifting works.

Perth Road (at Invergowrie Drive) – off peak temporary traffic lights on Tuesday 23 January for Scottish Water ironwork repair.

Riverside Drive at Dundee Railway Station – eastbound nearside lane closure from Monday 22 January for 7 weeks for footway works.

Sunday 21 January 2018

Flooding work at Riverside - an update #dundeewestend

Residents contacted me recently following reports that the completion of the work to improve the flood defences on Riverside Drive was possibly going to be delayed by passing trains causing vibration that was stopping the cement from setting properly.

To get clarification of the extent of the issue, I contacted the City Engineer who has made clear to me that this is "a minor localised construction issue" and adds :

"At this particular location the traffic is currently running on the temporary lane and there is slight dip in the road and when traffic travels over this, some vibration can be felt through the carriageway.    Slow-setting traditional lime mortars are being used to construct the wall and the vibration was causing some minor localised issues with the mortar.     No additional shoring or special engineering measures were required to overcome this, merely ensuring the mortar had sufficiently cured prior to adding subsequent courses of stone.

Overall, this section of work is slightly behind programme but nothing to do with this, mainly due to the Contractors resources, outputs and adverse weather.     Just to reiterate this was a minor issue that has nothing to do with trains travelling above.    For information, it is anticipated that the traffic management will be removed from Riverside Drive by the end of January 2018."

Saturday 20 January 2018

Getting things done - West Marketgait #dundeewestend

I recently received complaints from residents about the slippy state of the pavement in West Marketgait near the junction with Hawkhill - see photo - caused by leaves.

I have reported this to the council's Neighbourhood Services seeking these being cleaned up - along with similar complaints in other streets such as Roseangle.

Friday 19 January 2018

Friends of Wighton event

From Sheena Wellington :

Wighton Heritage Centre, Central Library.    Tomorrow - Saturday 20th January, 11am (doors open 10.30am) - Admission £5, tea/coffee available for small donation

Cappuccino Concert with Simon Kempston, singer songwriter and guitarist

Simon Kempston is an Edinburgh based award-winning singer-songwriter and leading acoustic fingerstyle guitarist composing and performing original and contemporary acoustic music.    Though he is a Dundee lad, Simon’s busy schedule rarely allows time for him to perform in his native city so we are especially thrilled to welcome him to the Wighton!

Simon’s original, distinctive guitar playing is founded upon a complex, finger-picking style which technically reveals his classical training yet is steeped in the history of the folk, blues and celtic traditions and is complemented by Simon’s rich, powerful and compelling clipped vocal style.

Simon has performed at many of the major venues, folk/blues clubs and festivals in Scotland, the UK and regularly tours the length & breadth of Europe. He has also performed live on BBC Radio Stations across the UK, as well as other local and specialist music radio stations.   

Thursday 18 January 2018

Getting things done - Logie Avenue #dundeewestend

I recently received complaints from residents that a drain is flooding near to the lock-ups at the east end of Logie Avenue.

I took up this concern with the council's Roads Maintenance Partnership and have received the following feedback :

"The gully was cleaned and pipework jetted as far as possible on Thursday of last week.

The pipe is partly blocked due to roots which is causing the problem,  which we plan to tackle this week with the root cutter."

Wednesday 17 January 2018

Soup and home baking lunch #dundeewestend

A reminder about this Saturday's soup and home baking lunch, in aid of the Blackness Primary School playground fundraising project :

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Harris Education & Recreation Association - new classes enrolment

The Harris Education & Recreation Association new evening classes enrolment takes place tomorrow night (Wednesday 17th) at the school from 6pm to 7.30pm.

There's nine great evening classes to choose from.    

You can read details of all the classes here.

Its great to see Harris Education & Recreation Association running another excellent set of evening classes and I hope these are well-supported.

Monday 15 January 2018

Weekly Road Report - West End Ward #dundeewestend

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL - WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD - WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 15 JANUARY 2018

A85 Riverside Drive – prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for one week for works to the sea wall.  Prohibitions will only be in place when required.

City Road (at Tullideph Road) – lane restrictions on Monday 15, Tuesday 16 and Thursday 25 January for smart meter antenna works.

Forthcoming Roadworks

Nethergate (at Queens Hotel) – closed on Sunday 28 January for crane lifting works.

Sunday 14 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Perth Road at Seafield Road :

Saturday 13 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

West Port :

Friday 12 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Airlie Terrace - now DUSA (from the University of Dundee Archives) :

Thursday 11 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Logie Street :

Wednesday 10 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Logie estate :


Tuesday 9 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Hawkhill/Kincardine Street area   :    The photograph appears to be taken from the Trades College in Balfour Street and is looking towards Balgay Hill.    At the bottom of and in the middle of the picture appears to be the junction of Kincardine Street with Hawkhill (Photo - Dundee City Archives) :

Monday 8 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

South Tay Street - 1956 :

Sunday 7 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Blackness Road :

Saturday 6 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Keillor's on the Hawkhill :

Friday 5 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Magdalen Green :

Thursday 4 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

Brook Street (Dundee City Archives) :

Wednesday 3 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

View of Hawkhill Place at the junction of Perth Road prior to the building of the art college extension  :

Tuesday 2 January 2018

West End history #dundeewestend

To usher in 2018, I'm posting some of the most requested photos of the West End, starting with 242 Perth Road (from Dundee City Archives) :

Monday 1 January 2018

Happy New Year!