Westbay Court Residents Await Promised Improvements to Road Markings in Albert Road

Photo courtesy of Evening Telegraph 2016

Last Thursday I met two of the residents from Westbay Court to tell them about the improvements to road markings that the Council had offered to provide outside their block of apartments on Albert Road. This follows many months of campaigning about their entrance drive being obstructed by inconsiderately parked cars on the road outside.

Their concern has not just about their own convenience of being able to gain access to their driveway to their off street parking but also the safety of pedestrians walking along their street. They are especially concerned about the safety of young pupils from Eastern Primary School whose parents and carers use Albert Road as a street to park before walking their children into school. When cars and vans obstruct their driveway, the sight lines of Westbay Court residents are restricted when they are driving in and out. They need to see clearly that there are not approaching pedestrians as they approach crossing the pavement.

While what they have been offered is not all they had originally requested, they they have indicated they were willing to give this a try and hope that it works.

In the light of this meeting, I wrote to the Council to indicate that I was deferring my item from the agenda of the meeting of the City Development Committee last night and that the residents need not come forward for their deputation to the Committee. However, the residents have assured me that if there is any back sliding by the Council, they will not hesitate to resume their campaign with me.

Consultation on Draft Traffic Restriction Orders on Double Yellow Lines in Broughty Ferry

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL
ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984
DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (VARIATION OF WAITING RESTRICTIONS) ORDER 2016

Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of varying the provisions of several Waiting Restriction Orders affecting the

City. The effect of the Order is to consider the city-wide requirement to alter parking restrictions over the last quarter.

Full details of the proposals are contained in the draft Order, which together with a Statement of the Council’s reasons for proposing to make the Order may be examined during normal office hours and without payment of fee at:

1. Dundee City Council offices, Reception, 20 City Square, Dundee and 
2. Broughty Ferry Neighbourhood Library, Queen St, Broughty Ferry,Dundee by any person, during a period of 21 days from 29 April 2016. 

A copy of the proposed plans can also be viewed by searching for "Traffic Regulation Orders (In Progress)" in the A to Z section of our website.

Any person may within 21 days from 29 April 2016 object to the proposed Order by notice in writing to the Head of Democratic and Legal Services, Dundee City Council, 21 City Square, Dundee. Objections should state the name and address of objector, the matters to which they relate and the grounds on which they are made.

Roger Mennie
Head of Democratic and Legal Services, Dundee City Council

No Progress Surfacing Parking Area in Gillies Park

Click on Image to enlarge

In the Autumn of last year before he retired, Chief Executive David Dorward committed the Council to provide a proper surface to the Car Park in Gillies Park and install better lighting. 

Subsequently funds were approved to do the job before the end of the 2014-15 financial year later this month.

This commitment recognized that when the weather was wet the surface of the car park become a bit of a quagmire which turn into pot holes. It is especially bad by the entrance to the car park from Ceres Crescent. It was hoped that surfacing the car park for the first time would not only improve access for parents and carers picking up and dropping off their children at Barnhill Primary School but also provide better access to the park for recreational users such as the footballers who use the pitches.

Yesterday, when I visited Gillies Park, there was no evidence of a start on site. As there are only four weeks to go before the end of the financial year, I written to the Council to inquire about when the work is programmed and to ensure that commitment has not been forgotten.

Change to Free Parking in Gray Street - Consultation

Click on plan to enlarge

The City Council is proposing to make some minor changes to waiting restrictions in Gray Street in The Ferry.

These changes would have the effect of extending some double yellow lines and reducing the space for 45 minute limited parking on the East side of Gray Street between Long Lane and King Street.

Any comments should be submitted not later than 9 February 2015 to:

Caroline Robertson
Dundee City Council, Legal Section
21 City Square, DUNDEE, DD1 3BY
Email caroline.robertson@dundeecity.gov.uk
Tel     01382 434062
Fax    01382 434182

Upgraded Car Park at Gillies Park on its Way

On Monday night the City Development Committee approved a tender for £48,358 for the surfacing of the car park at Gillies Park and some related lighting work.

I welcome this contract for the surfacing of the car park at Gillies Park. Many Barnhill residents have complained to me about the potholes and mud in the car park so I am sure they will welcome this upgrade.

It will also help parents and carers dropping off and picking up their children from Barnhill Primary School. The Nursery and P1 classes located in the new extension to the school are easily accessed from Gillies Park.

There will also be improvements to the lighting which should help all park users feel more confident about walking through the park at night time.

I have been assured that the work will be carried out before the end of March so thankfully folk won't have to endure the potholes much longer.

Parking Issues in Fisher Street Close to the Lifeboat to be Investigated

One of my constituents recently wrote to me about parking issues in Fisher Street in central Broughty Ferry:

"We frequently pass along Fisher Street, Broughty Ferry, and are becoming increasingly concerned about the car/van parking situation at the 'Ferry' end of Fisher Street. Many times we have passed and wondered how on earth emergency vehicles could fit themselves between the vehicles parked on both sides of this stretch of road. This seems to be legal at some times but, if one of the vehicles is a van (as we saw yesterday) the road space is considerably reduced to the point of having to squeeze even a car through the gap. If fire engines or ambulances were trying to pass through we are concerned that, if they could not, the extra time required to find a passable alternative route could be critical."

I have written to the Director of Transportation to ask him to include Fisher Street in his list of roads in Broughty Ferry where parking restrictions may need to be reviewed. It's clearly important that emergency vehicles and bin lorries can get through our streets.

Looking at the photograph of Fisher Street from Norman Moore's collection of 'Dundee in the 1950's and 1960's', the contrast with the volume of cars parked and using the road now is really apparent.

Parked Cars Obstructing Approach at the Bridge

Once again residents have drawn my attention to the row of four vehicles almost permanently parked at the corner of West Queen Street and Dundee Road in The Ferry. 

In the picture you can see that two of the parked vehicles are hard by the approach to the railway bridge and, depending on your direction of approach, the view of the direction signs to The Ferry is partly obstructed. Two or three of these vehicles seem to be semi-permanently parked there, carry extensive advertising.

I understand from the Council's Transportation Department, that parking restrictions in Broughty Ferry are to be reviewed, later this year. I hope that this review will lead to some yellow lines close to the bridge junction to stop drivers sight lines being obstructed by those cars parked closest to the bridge.

Church Street Road Restrictions Drag On and Restrict Residents' Parking

Click on image to enlarge

Some residents in Church Street have approached me to complain about the length of time their road and pavement has been restricted by the building of the infill property in their street. 

Building materials have spilt out over the pavement and into the street. The picture shows that more than half the width of Church Street has been fenced off by the site works. The effect of this is to restrict the number of parking places in a street where residents already compete with shoppers for a parking spot.

I have written to the City Development Department to ask them to get the builders to tidy up their site and minimise their inconvenience to their neighbours in the street.

My Response to Baillie Rod Wallace's Misleading Statement about Resolving Parking Issues at Forthill Primary School

In the Evening Telegraph on Friday 9 March, Baillie Rod Wallace gave the misleading impression that I, amongst others, had blocked an investigation into an examination and response to parking issues at Forthill Primary school. In fact, I supported an amendment that widened the scope of the review that he had requested. I think it is hard to justify investigating these difficulties in only one primary school in the city when this problem is obviously much more widespread. Even in the other three schools in The Ferry there are also parking problems aplenty and many expressions of parental and carer concerns about child safety at and around the school gates. 

The Education Committee on Monday 27 February agreed overwhelmingly to establish a working group to examine and respond to these issues citywide. The School Parking and Pupil Safety Working Group will be chaired by the Chief Executive and he has lost no time in arranging its first meeting later this month. 

Broughty Ferry will be well represented with the Head of Forthill Primary School, the Chair of the Parent Council of Eastern Primary School and me already confirmed members of the group. As part of this review, we have been promised a risk assessment of every school in the city which will allow us to prioritise the order of the schools we focus on. Bearing in mind that Forthill is the largest Primary School in Dundee and its well publicised parking and road safety issues, I am confident that it will be at or very near the top of that list. 

Parents and carers of children attending Forthill Primary School should be assured that the safety of their children is also high on my agenda for action.Laurie Bidwell Ferry Councillor

Conundrum of Keeping King Street Clean

I have recently received complaints from residents in Central Broughty Ferry about the state of the gulleys and road margins, especially in King Street. My picture show accumulations of sludge and grit in the gutters. As well as being unsightly, if this is left to wash down the drains, it it likely to block them. 

Trying to respond to this problem thoroughly is a challenge. Mechanised street sweepers can't get to the road margins because of 24x7 bumper to bumper parked cars. Car parked close to the pavement don't leave much room for a broom either. 

One suggestion that has been passed on to me which is apparently used in parts of Edinburgh is to use occasional one day parking restrictions on one side of a street so that the sweeping vehicles can have a clear run. This would clearly cause real parking difficulties on those days. I think residents and businesses in Central Broughty Ferry need to be involved in a debate about whether the disruptive pain of occasional parking restrictions would be worth the gain of cleaner streets. If there are other constructive suggestions, it would be good to hear them. 

I shall also be referring this issue to the Broughty Ferry Local Community Planning Partnership. Meanwhile, I have also asked the Council's Environment Department to try to clean up as best they can.