Courier Public Debate on Forth Energy Proposed Biomass Power Station Wednesday 1st May

The Courier is hosting a major public event to debate Forth Energy's proposal to build a renewable energy plant at Dundee harbour.

It will be held on Wednesday May 1 at the Gardyne Theatre, Gardyne Road, Dundee, DD5 1NY.

The debate will begin at 7pm (please arrive and be seated for 6.45pm) and will finish at 8.15pm.

The event will be chaired by Steve Bargeton, deputy editor of The Courier. The panel will also welcome questions from the audience.

If you would like to attend please click here to reserve tickets.

Coastal Pathway Improvements Nearing Completion

Works started on the upgrading of the Coastal Pathway near Douglas Terrace just before Christmas and it's now nearing completion. 

Kilmac, the contractors, have kept to the contract period, despite contending with many periods of poor weather and a narrow period of time to work on the beach between the tides. 

The picture shows the row of new railings going up on the upgraded section of the walkway which begins just beyond the lifebuoy ring. 

Working from the Douglas Terrace end, gradually the extended width of the pathway is being opened up as the safety railings are erected.  I am advised however that there may be one further period of closure when tarmac is put down over the concrete along the full length and breadth of the upgraded section of the pathway.

I am sure walkers, dog walkers and cyclists will all appreciate the additional width of the upgraded path when it is completed in the next couple of weeks. 

Now You See It, Now You Don't - Former Site of Ice Cream Shop Cleared

The disused former ice cream shop on the corner of New Road and King Street has been demolished and the site has been cleared. 

My two photos show the before (above) and after (below) views of this site. 

Fintry Place - Beside Forthill Primary School - Proposed Part Time Prohibition of Driving Order 2013

Click on image to enlarge

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL (ST MARY’S LANE, LOCHEE AND FINTRY PLACE, BROUGHTY FERRY, DUNDEE) (PART TIME PROHIBITION OF DRIVING) ORDER 2013

Dundee City Council propose to make an Order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984.Due to high traffic volumes and parking issues during school pick up and drop off times at Forthill PS and St. Mary’s RCPS, it is necessary to prohibit vehicular access to both Fintry Place and St. Mary’s Lane to stop the potential for conflict between vehicular traffic and school children.

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 Dundee City Council offices, Reception, 18 City Square, Dundee by any person, during a period of 21 days from 26/4/13.  A copy of the 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 26/4/13 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 the objector, the matters to which they relate and the grounds on which they are made.

ROGER MENNIE, Head of Democratic and Legal Services

Dundee Sailing Club Open Day at Grassy Beach Centre

The burger and refreshment stall

Earlier today, 12 Noon until 4pm, Dundee Sailing Club held a successful open day at their club house and boat storage area at the Grassy Beach in The Ferry.

They offered an opportunity to have a go at sailing in a dinghy. Their offer helpfully included lending waterproofs and safety equipment.

Refreshments and burgers were also available and the sun shone on the sailors.

Further details:
email
sailing@dundeesailingclub.org.uk
website
www.dundeesailingclub.org.uk/

Consulatation Reports Published on Proposed New Schools in Coldside, Menzieshill and Strathmartine

The Education Department has recently been consulting on three proposals in line with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.

The proposals were:

• to relocate Rosebank Primary School, Our Lady’s Primary School and Frances Wright Pre-School Centre to a new shared campus site with shared community facilities in the Coldside area;
• to discontinue Hillside and Gowriehill Primary Schools and build a new 3 stream primary school incorporating a provision to replace Menzieshill Nursery School; and
• to build a community campus on the site of the existing Baldragon Academy on a phased basis to include Baldragon Academy, Sidlaw View Primary School and Jessie Porter Nursery School.

As part of the process, the authority must publish a report after the end of the consultation period which must contain:

• an explanation of how the proposal has been reviewed;
• the full text of the Education Scotland (HMIe) report which considers the educational aspects of the proposal;
• a summary of the points raised during the proposal (written and oral) and the authority’s response to them;
• a statement explaining how the authority has reviewed the proposal in the light of representations and the Education Scotland (HMIe) report.

The Consultation Reports are available to download below:

• Coldside Area Consultation Report (124KB MS Word doc)
• Menzieshill Area Consultation Report (145KB MS Word doc)
• Strathmartine Area Consultation Report (99KB MS Word doc)

They will be available on the council’s website from Monday 22 April for a period of four weeks. Paper copies of the report will be available to in the reception area of each establishment involved in the consultation process. In addition, a copy will be available at Customer Services Reception, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee.

At the end of the consultation period, a final decision will be taken on each proposal and a report taken to the Education Committee and Policy and Resources Committee on Monday 24 June 2013.

Positive Report from HMIE on Grove Academy

On Tuesday Education Scotland published the report on the inspection of Grove Academy by Her Majesty's Inspectors earlier in the year.

In a very positive report they conclude that, 'this inspection found the following key strengths.

• Progress made by the headteacher and senior management team in unlocking the school’s potential for growth.
• The commitment of staff and partners to providing the range of opportunities for young people to learn and achieve.
• Attainment at S5/S6.
• Responsible, courteous and confident young people.'

HMIE also discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to improve the school. 'This is what we agreed with them:

• Ensure the wider support team works together better to provide a high quality support service for all young people.
• Continue to develop all young people as independent learners.
• Continue to use rigorous self-evaluation to create more consistency in approaches to learning across the school.'

I wish to congratulate the Head Teacher his staff and the pupils for such a positive report. They have clearly earned the confidence of HMIE that the school can be confidently left to make progress on the issues identified in the inspectors' report.

Read/download the full inspection report.

Proposals for School and Family Development Workers At Unacceptable Cost to Support for Learning Teachers

On Monday evening 22 April, the Education Committee was asked to approve a plan to appoint 17 School and Family Development Workers across the city. They will work with primary school and nursery school ,children and their parents and carers. 

The committee report pointed out that:

 'The work of the Early Intervention School and Family Development Worker (EIFDW) is designed to offer early intervention, preventative support and guidance and advice to parents and families to help deal with issues and problems as soon as they emerge.'

I support the case for these staff, but I find it unpalatable that half the cost of this new initiative will be immediately borne by having fewer support for learning teachers in our schools because £250,000 is robbed from their budget which is 'underspent' by not filling vacant posts for Support for Learning Teachers.

As a result, children who have learning difficulties and who are being supported in mainstream schools settings will receive less support in their schools. These pupils will pay for half of this experimental scheme. As the funding for the other £250,000 of the budget is only guaranteed for three years, this proposal asks us to be prepared to reduce support for learning by up to £500,000 in the medium term.

I think the Council should look harder at how they can fund this project; otherwise it would be merely robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Education Committee Papers 22 April 2013

Open Space on Douglas Terrace Needs Attention Once It's Vacated by Contractors Working on Coastal Pathway

Click on image to enlarge

Contractors working on the upgrading of the raised coastal pathway near Douglas Terrace have been using the triangle of green space in the picture for storage of plant and building materials.

Now that the contract is coming to an end, we can anticipate residents and visitors getting their open space back. But I think it will need some initiative from the grounds maintenance staff in the Environment Department to re-seed the bald patches and to flatten out the surface where this has been churned up.

I have contacted the Environment Department Manager for Dundee East to request that once Kilmac, the contractors, have finished on site in the next two or three weeks, that restoration of the this area of open space is prioritised.

Building Work Approved for Eastern and Forthill Primary Schools

At the City Development Committee last night, the Council agreed to funding for two tenders for building work at schools in The Ferry:

Eastern Primary School, a sum of £68,634.90 for "Gym Hall Heating Refurbishment" by Environment Department (Construction Services)

I think pupils and teachers, as well as out of school users of the Games Hall, will appreciate heaters that work effectively.







Forthill Primary School, a sum of £161,299.00 for "Out of School Modular Unit" - Supply of Modular Unit by Elite Systems

This will provide larger premises for the children using the Forthill Out of School Care Club which was recently rated by the Care Inspectporate with Excellent grades for each category of their inspection.

Proposed Dundee Tourism Strategy and Broughty Ferry

On Monday, Councillors will be asked to approve a Tourism Action Plan for the Council. As a Ferry Councillor, I have been looking at where Broughty Ferry fits into this.

Broughty Ferry is mentioned twice in the twenty page report. Firstly, the report acknowledges that in addition to the city centre and the waterfront developments there are other destinations to be promoted: 
"Dundee also has some key locations which are likely to be of interest and could be packaged as visitor attractions in their own right – examples of this would include Broughty Ferry and also West End or Cultural Quarter."

And when it comes to recommendations and actions:
"Identify key geographies in terms of specific areas within the city which can be packaged as a visitor destination within the city.
Lead Department –
• Activities
- Consider the added value to packaging areas together in relation to tourism offer i.e. Broughty Ferry, West End/Cultural quarter and develop marketing information
• Measures
- Additional visitors to areas identified
• Timescale – Ongoing

I know that Broughty Ferry Traders, the Community Council and the Broughty Ferry Development Trust would all welcome better promotion of Broughty Ferry as a destination. Currently, Visit Scotland's offering on their website leaves a lot to be desired as their information is out of date and incomplete. And measuring success of this proposed Tourism Action Plan by increases in visitor numbers to The Ferry would be a fair and acid test.

Back Dundee's Bid to Achieve UK City of Culture Status in 2017

Click on image to enlarge

Dundee is bidding to be the UK City of Culture in 2017, a competition run by the UK government which uses culture and creativity to transform communities. 

It’s an opportunity to remind ourselves what an astonishing place Dundee is, and what remarkable people live and work here.

We Dundee is a way to show the tremendous imagination and enthusiasm of people from all walks of life across the city, and demonstrate the difference that becoming UK City of Culture could make to us individually and as a city. 

The Stage One bid has to be submitted by the end of April and the We Dundee website invites comments in support of the bid - the aim is to have 2017 comments by the Stage One bid deadline.

Back Dundee's bid to achieve UK City of Culture Status in 2017 by adding your comments:

Link to 2017 - Your City, Your Culture, Your Bid website. 

Forward Together - Discovering Out of School Care in Dundee

One of four discussion groups at the seminar
Click on image to enlarge

On Friday morning, I attended the Forward Together - Discovering Out of School Care in Dundee event held in the Marryat Hall.

This seminar was organised by staff from the City Council's Education Department and involved staff and committee members from the seventeen clubs in the city. This network of clubs provide good quality out of school care for over 1000 children. Their flexible service provides before and after school care and extended hours during the school holidays. This not only provides care for children, but also supports parents and carers who are working.

It is often not appreciated that each club is independently managed by a committee of parents who employ staff to run the clubs. Clubs are financed by a mixture of fees paid by parents and carers and fund raising together with grant aid from the Council as well as free access to school premises. So while the Council support the clubs and see them as a vital part of care and learning for children in our city, they do not directly run them like nursery and primary schools.

During the morning, it became clear that there are a number of challenges for the Out of School Care Clubs. First of these, on the road ahead, is that in few years time all managers of clubs will need to be qualified to degree level. Currently, most of the Managers across the city are not qualified to this level.

In The Ferry, each of our three primary schools has an Out of School Care Club. I have recently featured the very positive inspection reports on the clubs based at Eastern Primary School and Forthill Primary School.

North Barnhill Residents' Group Public Meeting

On Wednesday evening I attended a public meeting organised by North Barnhill Residents' Group in the gym hall at Barnhill Primary School.

The meeting heard from Art Sangster, Senior, Community Safety Warden (see picture) with Dundee City Council about the work of the Community Safety workers in Dundee. He stressed the importance of residents contacting Community Safety about issues that concerned them as his team no longer undertook routine patrols but responded to issues that had been reported to them.

Nicola Mitchell, Tenant Participation facilitated a discussion about community issues that the residents would like to progress over the coming year.

For further information about the meetings of this group, please contact:

Nicola Mitchell
Tenant Participation Officer
East District Housing Office
169 Pitkerro Road Dundee DD4 8ES 
Tel 01382 307330 Email nicola.mitchell@dundeecity.gov.uk

YMCA Window Boxes Brighten Up The Neighbourhood

Have you noticed the YMCA have planted primulas in their window boxes this year?  

Despite the hesitant start to Spring, the flowers are peeking over the top of the window boxes and providing a colourful glimpse of Spring in Brook Street as we pass by.

Well done to the YMCA for brightening up our neighbourhood.