Kingswells NewsLetter April03original.kingswells.com/KingswellsNewsLetter_Apr04.pdf · My name is...

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KINGSWELLS NEWS Keep in the know with www.kingswells.com and Kingswells News Email: [email protected] C ONTENT S P2: Cllr Peter Stephen P3: Your Letters P4: What Value Life P5: Police Warning P6: & P7: School Playing Fields P8: Blooming Good Idea? P9: Local Businesses P10: & P11: Community Council P12: Kingswells Primary School THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004 Open area management – common sense prevails. It appears that at long last, common sense has prevailed at Peverel. The Wellside Wynd Residents Association has reached agreement with the factor whereby a credit will be passed for the overcharge on play area inspection for the past three and a half years. This means that the charge for play area inspection from 2000 to December 2003 will be reduced to £117.50 per annum and not the over £700 that had been charged. This is not the end of the good news. In order to maintain consis- tency, a similar credit will be passed to all the residents covered by the Stewart Milne Phase II development contract, where there are a number of play areas. No doubt Peverel will be in touch to clarify the situation. After such a long period of aggravation it is pleasant to report such a significant change in attitude. Future inspections of the play equipment will be carried out by Dunlop Playground Services who also do the inspections for both Aberdeen City and County councils. There has also been a change of landscape contractor. From this year on this work will be carried out by MillPark Grounds Maintenance and so far their performance has been a distinct improvement on Ocean Land. Having talked to Walter Garland , the boss of MillPark, I am certain that we will all see an improvement in maintenance of the planted areas in the Wellside, Concraig and Derbeth sections of our village. We are indebted to Jill Robertson the new Scottish Regional Director of Peverel Scotland for her efforts on our behalf. By Alan Stott Kingswells Guides Open Evening 26th April 2004 An introductory evening for any girl aged from 10 to 14 who is interested in finding out about Guiding. The venue is the Community Hall, Webster Park and we will be there from 7.45 until 9pm. We look forward to meeting you and seeing if you can sur- prise yourself! Come along and have some fun. Anybody requiring information can contact Lorna Yates District Commissioner on 744853. A Gardening Club for You. Hello to all budding Gardeners (excuse the pun), the gardening season is on us again! Kingswells village has grown to a size where there are some hundreds of homes, which ben- efit from long hours of work by its householder in laying out gardens, which are a credit to each property and eventually the village as a whole. The Community Council has spent considerable time with our local councillor, Peter Stephen upgrading the area around the shops and it would be nice to see that extend throughout the village as a whole. Gardening Clubs benefit every- body from the novice to the expert and from the young to the very old through the sharing of experiences if not tips, cut- tings, plants, collective buying, discounts, speakers, and indeed possibly its own local flower and vegetable show. Gardening brings communities together. Interested, please contact John Gerrie, 75 Concraig Park, Kingswells 01224 747996

Transcript of Kingswells NewsLetter April03original.kingswells.com/KingswellsNewsLetter_Apr04.pdf · My name is...

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KINGSWELLS NEWS

Keep in the know with www.kingswells.com and Kingswells News Email: [email protected]

CONTENTSP2: Cllr Peter Stephen

P3: Your Letters

P4: What Value Life

P5: Police Warning

P6: & P7: School Playing Fields

P8: Blooming Good Idea?

P9: Local Businesses

P10: & P11: Community Council

P12: Kingswells Primary School

THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

Open area management –common senseprevails.It appears that at long last, common sense has prevailed atPeverel. The Wellside Wynd Residents Association has reachedagreement with the factor whereby a credit will be passed for theovercharge on play area inspection for the past three and a halfyears. This means that the charge for play area inspection from2000 to December 2003 will be reduced to £117.50 per annumand not the over £700 that had been charged.This is not the end of the good news. In order to maintain consis-tency, a similar credit will be passed to all the residents covered bythe Stewart Milne Phase II development contract, where there area number of play areas. No doubt Peverel will be in touch to clarifythe situation.After such a long period of aggravation it is pleasant to report sucha significant change in attitude. Future inspections of the playequipment will be carried out by Dunlop Playground Services whoalso do the inspections for both Aberdeen City and County councils.There has also been a change of landscape contractor. From thisyear on this work will be carried out by MillPark GroundsMaintenance and so far their performance has been a distinctimprovement on Ocean Land. Having talked to Walter Garland , theboss of MillPark, I am certain that we will all see an improvement inmaintenance of the planted areas in the Wellside, Concraig andDerbeth sections of our village. We are indebted to Jill Robertson the new Scottish RegionalDirector of Peverel Scotland for her efforts on our behalf.By Alan Stott

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An introductory evening forany girl aged from 10 to 14who is interested in finding outabout Guiding.

The venue is the CommunityHall, Webster Park and we willbe there from 7.45 until 9pm.We look forward to meetingyou and seeing if you can sur-prise yourself! Come along andhave some fun.Anybody requiring informationcan contact Lorna YatesDistrict Commissioner on744853.

A Gardening Clubfor You.Hello to all budding Gardeners(excuse the pun), the gardeningseason is on us again!Kingswells village has grown toa size where there are somehundreds of homes, which ben-efit from long hours of work byits householder in laying outgardens, which are a credit toeach property and eventuallythe village as a whole.The Community Council hasspent considerable time withour local councillor, PeterStephen upgrading the areaaround the shops and it wouldbe nice to see that extendthroughout the village as awhole.Gardening Clubs benefit every-body from the novice to theexpert and from the young tothe very old through the sharingof experiences if not tips, cut-tings, plants, collective buying,discounts, speakers, and indeedpossibly its own local flower andvegetable show.Gardening brings communitiestogether. Interested, pleasecontact John Gerrie, 75Concraig Park, Kingswells 01224747996

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Update from Cllr. PeterStephen (Newhills)

The delayed, and somewhat con-troversial, Local Plan has nowbeen processed through Council,and the "objection" period will fol-low in due course, commencingpossibly in May. The City Councilwill produce leaflets explaining theobjection procedure. A cisting ofthe public enquiry in respect ofthe Gillahill Development wasrequested by Aberdeen CityCouncil on 11 March, a moveagreed to by the appellants andthe Community Council. A deci-sion will shortly be made by theReporter.

School Playground:The extension isproceeding andshould be completedby end of May. Thishas given rise toproblems for theyoung school foot-ball teams, and theircoaches and helpers,who put much effortinto the sport. It ishoped the fieldalongside FairleyRoad School can beutilised, and theStewart Mine Grouphave agreed to dosome improvementwork on the field atthe Webster Park.

Pond Tidy Up:Talking of the Stewart Milne Groupreminds me that John Low, theirLand Director, has offered to joinin a partnership arrangement withthe Aberdeen Countryside Project,to clean and tidy up the pondbehind Kingsmead Nursing Home.Photo shows John & myself at thepond on a cold wet March Day.Unfortunately it may be late sum-mer before this work actuallystarts.

Accord Card Update:Bankhead Academy went live on24 March and as with all the otherSchools, encountered no technicalproblems, although it does takestaff and students a little time toget up to speed with operating thecard system. Having cleared this mark theAccord system will now move onto being used in libraries andleisure centres over the summer.The evident success of the AccordCard is encouraging other organi-sations to seek to utilise the card.As an example, the next Phase ofdevelopment will see the busoperators in Aberdeen andAberdeenshire starting to use thecard for all concessionary travel,park and ride, season tickets, etc.The overall objective of creating a

valued citizens card is now beingrealised.

Miscellaneous matters Recycling collections - there havebeen one or two blips recentlyowing to the system having tocope with a number of difficulties.Can I ask that you be patient - wewill get there.

Vehicles: Speeding on Kingswells Crescentat Derbeth/Concraig area. -there have been a number ofcomplaints from residents and Iknow the police intend to do arandom visitation - you have beenwarned!

Shopping Cemtre:Altered traffic systems atShopping Centre - this ongoingprocess finally cleared the lasthurdle at the Environment &Infrastructure Committee meetingat Council on 23 March, with noobjections haveing been received.Hopefully the work will be donequite soon. You will also havenoticed the 20's plenty signsspringing up around the School

area.

Bus Shelters: Having spoken aboutthese for more thana year I am almostfrightened to saythat at long lastthey should beerected in relativelyearly course. Workhas already beendone on preparingthe bases and rais-ing the kerbing.Altogether 13 shel-ters are being erect-ed, and the fundinghas been allocated. For those followingthe progress of the 3 Rs school pro-

gramme, Full Council on 9thMarch approved the bid content.Included in the programme is anew Bankhead Academy with thefavoured site being at the Beacon.It is hoped the new school wouldopen late 2008/early 2009.

Kind regards Cllr. Peter Stephen

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

John Low Land Director of the Stewart Milne Group andCouncillor Peter Stephen survey the Duck Pond.

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Computer Literacy RedefinedI consider it part of my job to build the confidence of PC owners in theirmachines and their ability to use them. When I visit a customer I’m oftengreeted with the declaration “I’m stupid when it comes to computers!” orsomething similar. As far as I can tell, this is solely based on their com-puter having a problem that they can’t solve by themselves. This reallyisn’t a fair assessment though; after all, there are not many people who, if their car broke down, would expect to be able to sort out the problemthemselves. In the same way, there are few people who can sort out problems with their computer without help.There was a time when people using computers required a lot of training – they had to have a sound understandingof how computers worked in order to use them at all; they had to be able to speak the computer’s language toinput commands and get the computer to respond – what was then dubbed ‘computer literate’. Computers weremuch simpler then too. The outcome of all this was computer users who could sort out most problems with theircomputers by themselves.Things have changed a great deal since then. Computers are more powerful, more flexible and far more complex.They are also friendlier; we don’t have to talk their language to get them to work for us, which has made them farmore accessible to everyone. The unfortunate drawback to these developments is that the typical modern PC user isnot so well placed to fix them when they go wrong. That’s when they need a good ‘mechanic’, and I would like tothink that’s where I come in! As to what qualifies as computer literate – as far as I’m concerned, anyone who sitsin front of a PC and gets it to do what they want it to is computer literate.

By Alistair Bain, Kingswells Computercraft

YOUR LETTERSDear Kingswells News,On reading a letter in the lastissue of the newsletter, a gen-tleman requesting traffichumps in Kingswells as he isvery upset at traffic speed.I would like to state thatmany, many people do notwant speed humps but abhorthem. There are more efficient waysto conquer speeding cars with-out posing problems for servic-es the general public. Mostspeeders in Kingswells are ratrunning and their are otherways to deter.20 mile and hour limits havebeen put in place, with greatsuccess, without impeding onpeople who are in need ofprompt assistance, nor peoplewho wish to drive without fearof risk of damage to their car.

They also are a huge blight onthe landscape apart from thepractical nightmare! I wonderif this is also a more costeffect solution.Please do respond, I do wantto know how the Kingswellscommittee view this.regardsHilary Davorn25 Broaddykes Avenue

Dear Kingswells News,I think the lady expressing herviews on the pages of theNews has got her facts wrong the main problem with theroads at the shopping centre isindiscrimate parking by a smallproportion of parents whorefuse to walk any distance toschool .After all the car park isthere for the use of everyoneand perhaps a 30 minute limiton the one in front of theshops would help, additionallythe surfeit of Pizza delivery

vehicles does not help .I do not know who told her itis unlawfull to walk a dog offthe lead as thid is incorrect,dogs must be kept under con-trol ,that is a different matter!I feel sorry for her dog whichis being badly restricted byhaving no freedom. I do how-ever agree that dog ownersMUST clean up their mess .Alan Morrison 9 Kingswood Road

Dear Kingswells News,My name is Abbie and I live inCallum Wynd!I would be interested in theKingswells running club men-tioned on the web sites bulletinboard - although I'm not very good! Is anyone else interested instarting a running club?cheers AbbieCallum Wynd

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YOUR LETTERS AND VIEWS ON LOCAL ISSUES ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

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What value Life? Cheap life? Nations and cultures put differingvalues on human life. In some placeswomen and children are not seen to have

equal value to men. In other parts of the world life ischeap. Early death is common. People can be a unit ofproduction. Losing their usefulness means they can betreated as a burden rather than a person of value.How do we value people in our nation, in our culture? Issomeone’s worth measured by wealth, power or by abili-ties? How do we see value in those of different lands?When we see the desperate plight of these people doesour compassion move us to practical action? How does it affect our sense of self worth when peoplecriticise or put us down? Are we valued by what we door by who we are? So what value should we put onhuman life?Precious life! What value does God put on our lives?We can look at evidence of God’s love for everyone atEaster. This is why Christians celebrate it! Let’s imagine the value of humanity to God shownthrough the Easter events: Humanity was made to be in relationship with GOD theirCreator.Our rebellion (SIN) against GOD breaks that relationshipand there is a barrier to knowing GOD personally. Godstill wants to communicate His love!Upon the cross Jesus said ‘My GOD, my GOD, why haveYou forsaken me?’Jesus died, cut off from GOD, taking the blame for ourrebellion (SIN) against GOD.

We can know God’s forgiveness and relate to Him!Jesus Christ would rather die a criminal’s death on thecross than be cut off forever from the people He loves.We are so valuable that Jesus took the punishment thatshould have been ours!The E change: Jesus died our death – We receiveHis life!He took our SIN – We receive His righteousness (rightrelationship with GOD)Jesus was cut off from GOD – We are able to know GODand relate to Him!He took blame for our SIN – Asking forgiveness, we areproclaimed innocent! What am I worth? Take a look at God’s love displayedfor all on the cross this Easter! Jesus was raised fromdeath, enabling us to know God is real and enabling arelationship with Him!ROMANS 5: 6 You see, at just the right time, when wewere still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Veryrarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for agood man someone might possibly dare to die. But Goddemonstrates his own love for us in this: While we werestill sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, howmuch more shall we be saved from God’s wrath throughhim! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were rec-onciled to him through the death of his Son, how muchmore, having been reconciled, shall we be saved throughhis lifeFor further information contact Andrew Chadwick Tel:01224-743955 or Ian Ferguson Tel: 01224-740007. Services at Westhill Episcopal Church 11.15 a.m. in theAshdale Hall, Westhill Drive. Westhill.

By Andrew Chadwick

Kingswells Community CentreWeekly Programme. To find out more contact (01224) 741806Monday Bowling 10:00 12:00

Gentle Exercise 2:30 3:30Football 3:30 4:30Rainbows/Brownies 5:30 7:45Badminton (24 Club) 8:00 10:00

Tuesday Toddlers 9:30 11:30Football 3:00 5:30Karate 6:00 9:00Badminton (KCC) 7:00 9:00

Wednesday Dance 3:00 8:30Keep Fit 9:30 10:30

Thursday Toddlers 9:30 11:30Bowling 1:30 3:30Football 3:30 4:30Karate 6:00 9:00

Friday Football 9:30 10:00Football 2:15 6:00Bridge 2:00 4:00Brownies 6:00 7:00Bowling 7:00 9:00

Saturday Dance 9:00 5:00Sunday Karate 5:00 7:00

Webster Park, Derberth GrangeWeekly Programme. To find out more contact (01224) 749525Monday Maureen Stretch

& Tone (713141) 11:00 12:30Rainbows/Guides 5:30 9:00GordonSchool 5-a-side 6:00 8:00

Tuesday Alison Gee Dance 6:00 8:30Millburn 5-a-side 6:00 8:00

Wednesday Stoneywood AFC 7:00 8:00Bunga Yoga 7:00 8:00

Thursday SAIC AFC 7:00 8:00Mark Milne 5-a-side 6:00 7:00Concraig 5-a-side 8:00 9:00Bunga Yoga 7:00 8:00

Friday Gillian Pilates 9:30 11.30 amMaureen Pilates 1:30 2:30

Saturday Stoneywood or SAIC 2:00 4:00Sunday Trevor 5-a-side 8:00 10:00

Culter FC 13yrs 9:30 12:00Culter FC 15yrs 12:30 2:00

All users must join the centre. Juniors (5-11)£5.00; Youth (12-17)£6.00; Adult £10.00; Seniors £5.00; Family £20.00; Mum and Infant£10.00.The hall at Webster Park, all weather pitches and full size pitch(Changing room/showers) are available for hire.

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WARNING REBOGUS DOOR TODOOR SALESMENPlease be aware of personstravelling across Scotland in ablue Vauxhall Astra who areknown to Police for offering todo various types of jobs, forcash payments.

Never accept work from any-one "cold calling" at your doorand never handover cash priorto any work being done.Always employ a reputablecompany to do work for you orsomeone who has been per-sonally recommended to you.

Please advise elderly or vul-nerable neighbours or familymembers who may betempted to employ them.

A incident occurred onWednesday, in Duthie Terrace,where the after-described malewas calling at doors, sellinghousehold goods, sayinghe had been advised to do thisby his Probation Officer.

Enquiries revealed that theProbation Service would neverallow this sort of activity.

The man was described aslate teens/early 20s, 5'8" tall,with dark hair, average buildand a local accent.Again, be aware of this type ofcaller and alert elderly or vul-

nerable neighbours or familymembers.Please report anyone suspi-cious to Grampian Policeimmediately on 0845 600 5700.

SPRING SHED ADVICEAs Spring approaches, it's timeto start work on our gardens.There have been a few recentincidents involving break ins tosheds or simply removingtools from unlocked sheds andusing these tools to force openpatio doors or windows andgain access to homes. Pleasepay attention to the followingadvice.

A Practical Guide toGarden SecurityBreak-ins to garden sheds andthefts from the garden are aproblemthroughout Scotland.Valuable equipment, such aslawnmowers, bicycles andgolf clubs, are often stolenfrom sheds and outhousesbecause security is inadequate.The following advice on simpleinexpensive security measureswhich will help reduce the riskof theft from your garden.

Boundary Fences andWallsThe boundary fence or wall tothe rear of your home shouldbe constructed in such a waythat it is difficult to climb.

The fence or wall to the frontshould be kept to waist heightto avoid obscuring doors andwindows. This discouragesthieves because they cannotwork without being seen.

Garden Sheds Doors: Fit a good qualityhasp and padlock to the door.The hasp should be

held in place with dome head-ed bolts to prevent tampering.

Windows: Fit windowsgrilles internally or use heavywire mesh. Reinforced glass isa good alternative. If the win-dow opens, a window lockshould be used.Consider using curtains to stopthe thief seeing what is insidethe shed.

Garden Tools andOther EquipmentEnsure that all your gardeningtools, including your lawnmow-er, have been security postcoded.

Never leave tools or ladderslying around the garden. Theycan be used by a thief to breakinto your home

Linking garden tools with achain and padlock when not inuse will also reduce thechances of theft. Ensure bikesare secured to each other or toa secure fastening in the shed.

LightingInstall security lighting to illu-minate your gardens. Passiveinfra red sensors can switchlights on when movement isdetected.

A low cost alternative arelights fitted with sodium tubeswhich come on automaticallyat dusk and switch off again atdawn.

If you have any informationregarding any crimes,

please contact Grampian Police on

0845 600 5 700 or Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

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Aberdeen City Council kindly provided this plan, in a format suitable for publicing fields, alongside Kingswood Drive. This is the first part of the extension toat the site progresses.

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

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All change at the P

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The repositioned football pitchwill run North-South.

Broadband4Kingswells– Status UpdateThe initial stages of promotingand raising interest in bringingbroadband to Kingswells havebeen an overwhelming suc-cess! In a short period of timewe have managed to take over200 registrations of interest,more than double the 100 thatwas anticipated at the start ofthe campaign.

We have been working aroundthe clock to generate a proposaldocument which has been sentto 15+ Internet ServiceProviders who specialise in pro-viding Community Broadbandsolutions. This document can bedownloaded from our website:http://www.broadband4kingswells.org.uk/20040330-proposal.pdf

The 30th of April is the closingdate for submissions and allthe proposals will then bethoroughly analysed by theBroadband4Kingswells cam-paign team. When this processis complete we will publish therecommendations on our website. All residents who haveregistered will be invited toparticipate in the final selec-tion of the Internet ServiceProvider.

Over two hundred residentshave now registered! If youhaven’t yet registered then doso now at http://www.broad-band4kingswells.org.uk

Visit our forum athttp://www.broadband4kingswells.org.uk/forum/

Broadband4KingswellsCampaign Team,[email protected]

To the shops

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cation in this newsletter. We hope to give you a clearer idea of what will emerge once the diggers have left the play-o Kingswells Primary School. More plans will be published in future editions of the newsletters, as the building work

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

Playing Fields.

Kingswood Drive

Small marshland area for envi-ronmental study. There will bea boardwalk and on ocassionsthis area will have standingwater, like a small pond.

Undulating meadow land, seeded with wild grasses.

Slide down the grassy terraced banks.Second slide down a small arti-ficial grassy mound.

P1 / P2 children’s garden. Thisarea will be fenced off.

Tarmac area for ‘quieter’ playand non ball games.

Tarmac area for 5-a-side foot-ball and other ball games.

Outside teaching area for fineweather days. There’s seatingfor the children.

Trees

Shrubs

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Blooming Good Idea? By Anon

With the arrival of Spring it is nice to see the splashesof colour of Crocuses, Snowdrops and Daffodils bright-ening up the village. It would be great if we had thatcolour throughout the Summer and Autumn.Over the years Aberdeen has had major successes in the Britain inBloom competition and many local communities are now involvedwith huge visual impact. With your support I am sure that we canemulate the achievements of Dyce!Do you want to get involved in brightening up your village? We canall play a part by adding a splash of colour to our gardens -flowerbeds, tubs or hanging baskets. It would also be good to havedisplays at the village entrances, the Village Centre and possiblythe roundabouts.Have you been involved in initiatives like this before and could helpwith the co-ordination? Your views, offers of assistance and regis-tration of support would be most welcome. Please contactKingswells News today and let’s go for Kingswells in Colour.PS offers of sponsorship to help with the planting in commonareas would also be appreciated.

Keep in the know with www.kingswells.com and Kingswells News Email: [email protected]

NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

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A message fromWalker the KingswellsGuide Dog Puppy. Hello, folks. You've probably seen myDiary on the Kingswells web-site (at least, I hope youhave), but the Editor allowedme to have this corner of theNewsletter just to remind youof a couple of things I'vementioned in my Diary.First of all, do remember

"Shades for a Day", special-ly all the girls and boys. It'sthe fun day for schools andalso businesses everywhere.Wear your sunglasses atschool or work - if the HeadTeacher or boss allows, ofcourse - and look cool forGuide Dogs. You pay £1 and,if you are atschool, half of all the moneyraised goes to school fundsand the other half to GuideDogs. I won't say more, as allthe details are on the"Shades for a Day" websiteat www.shadesforaday.org.uk.But do try to get your schoolor business to join in. It'sgreat fun and great for GuideDogs too. I'll be happy to joinin on "the day", with my Mumand some other Guide Dogpuppies too. If you want to

contact me about it, I'm at 31Kingswood Crescent.

Don’t forget GuideDogs need yourstamps.Don't forget to keep collectingused stamps from letters,parcels, etc. If there isn't acollecting box for stamps atKingswells school, you cangive them to Debbie at theCommunity Centre and shewill pass them on to my Mum,who sends them to the GuideDogs Association ScottishHeadquarters at Forfar. Thesame goes for old, unwantedmobile phones, even brokenones. If you hand them toDebbie, she will give them tomy Mum who sends them toGuide Dogs, Forfar who get£3.50 for every old or brokenphone. So remember: stampsand old mobiles all help toraise funds for Guide Dogs.By Lydia Martin and Walker

DonationsVarious residents in Kingswellshave donated money to helpfund the newsletter. All havewished to remain annomous.However, we felt is was onlyright to say thank-you for yourfinancial support.Anyone else wishing to makea finacial donation, to helpfund this or future editions ofthe newsletter, can do so bysending a cheque payable to:Kingswells Community News,C/o The Treasurer, Mr BertNoble at 18 Coldstone Ave,Kingswells. We would also wish to takethis opportunity to thank allthose who kindly give of theirtime to deliver the newsletterto the homes, businesses andfarms in the area. Your effortsare truely appreciated.Thanks.

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ADVERTISEMENTSTo advertise your business in the next edition of the

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Email: [email protected]

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

10

Result ofthe RecentPollsOver the last few months Kingswells CommunityCouncil (KCC) has asked your opinion on certainissues that affect our community. Unfortunately,the level of response has been very poor andthus the information that was gathered has beenrendered useless.

If Kingswells is to develop in the way identifiedby the majority then KCC needs to be aware ofwhat that view is. Currently, we can onlyprogress based on the poll that was conducted in2002. We really need to gather more up to dateinformation.

Claire and the Kingswells News offer KCC theopportunity to keep in touch with the residents;but this really needs to be a two way flow ofinformation.

There are several major issues coming up in thenear future that will significantly changeKingswells. It is really important if we are toinfluence these changes that KCC knows YOURview. Please provide your input when asked.

Issue No 1: The Local PlanThe Local Plan considers factors regarding howAberdeen is to develop in the future. The currentLocal Plan considers development in two phasesup to 2010 and 2010-2015.

One issue that will affect Kingswells more thanany other is the allocation of housing and industrial land. In the last issue of Kingswells

News the Council’s ‘Vision for the Future’ wasdescribed. They describe a need for further housing and basically ask that each area takes its‘share of the pain’. Kingswells share is 200 houses in Phase 1 and 400 in Phase 2.

Currently the number of houses in Kingswells iscirca 1800. The housing intended for Kingswellswould thus increase the size of Kingswells byabout a third. Although KCC accepts that somegrowth is inevitable there is no other area thatwill increase in size by as much as 1/3. We consequently, consider the amount of growth as‘out of scale’ with the existing community.

The largest part of the proposed developmentwill occur on Gillahill (the area above and behindConcraig Park). Kingswells is currently built onlow lying ground and does not significantlyimpact on the surrounding countryside. The proposed development on the side of a hill wouldbe a blot on our landscape.

Gillahill supports endangered bird life that cannotsurvive if the surrounding countryside isdestroyed. It also supports a host of wildlife inaddition to the endangered birds and providesvaluable amenities to local residents and to thepublic of Aberdeen as a whole. This area shouldbe re-designated as protected green space andtaken out of the local plan.

Bob Reid, head of planning was quoted in theP&J as saying: "A development of the scale proposed, located on a prominent site and alsoresulting in a significant loss of trees would havean adverse impact on the landscape of the city."

KCC is totally bemused by the conflicting messages coming from the planning department.On one hand they are against the developmentof Gillahill and are currently about to spend tensof thousands of pounds defending this view at apublic enquiry; and on the other hand, include adevelopment of 400 houses in the local plan forthis same site. What is going on?

The obvious concern is traffic. All the roadsaround Kingswells are currently beyond capacitywhich results in major congestion problems atpeak times. The addition of 200 houses before2010 and the planned introduction of the WPR isunacceptable.

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NEWSLETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY OF KINGSWELLS ISSUE FOUR APRIL 2004

The existing school cannot accept all of the children from the 200 houses from Phase I Theplanning department have stated in the pressthat the school can only take children from 170new homes.The new school build was designed toaccommodate the children of Kingswells as thevillage stands now. KCC is very concerned thateven 170 new houses built within Kingswells willbring numbers up, or beyond capacity. It is disappointing to think that as the school extension is about to start being built - it mayalready be too small. History, unfortunately, maywell be repeating itself.

The land allocated to industrial development isfar in excess of the need of the local communityand should be reduced. Friends of the Earth recommend that "New development near theroute of the WPR should be appropriate to thescale of the communities in which it takes place,and should be designed largely to serve thosecommunities"

What Will Happen Next?Currently the local plan is being printed so that itcan be formally be put out for consultation. Thisshould happen in the next month. Aberdeen thenhas a period of six weeks (possibly extended toeight due to holidays) in which they can com-ment on the plan.

What Does KCC Want From YOU?The only way that Kingswells can now change thehousing allocation is by objecting to the proposedplan. KCC will encourage you to do this in thenext Kingswells News; but in the meantime we

wish to gather your views on the subject. Thesewill form part of the comments / arguments wewill put to the council. These can be positive ornegative.Please send your comments to:

Ian Cox, 3 Corse Avenue, Kingswells, AB15 8TLOr by email to: [email protected]’s who in the Community CouncilEmail: [email protected] Carnie, (Chair) 1 Corse Avenue

745169Alan Stott, (Vice Chair) 39 Wellside Wynd

749990Ian Cox, (Secretary) 3 Corse Avenue

749743 Email: [email protected]

Dot Batchelor, 22 Migvie Grove 744629

Barrie Buchan, 3 Cromar Gardens 741329

John Gerrie, 75 Concraig Park 747996

David Meiklejohn, 10 Broaddykes View 745323

Tom Straiton, 3 Kingswood Walk 742943

Joyce & Michael Jones, To follow

"Thinking of Selling?Your property may be worth more than you

think. Contact us today for a FREE valuation."

3 Village Centre, Kingswells Tel: (01224) 741411 or visit our web site www.acandco.com

NOT FOR PROFITKingswells News is a not-for-profit community newsletter, produced by

volunteers. If you would like to contribute in any way. Please write to

us at on eof the following addresses:Kingswells Community News,

21 Wellside Ave, Kingswells or 18 Coldstone Ave. Kingswells.

Alternatively email us at :[email protected].

The next edition of this newsletter will be distributed in mid June.

Copy deadline for next Kingswells News is Friday 28 May.

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WRITTEN BY THE CHILDREN OF KINGSWELLS PRIMARY SCHOOL

OUR TRIP TO DISCOVERY

P5 Mrs McLennan’s class went tothe Dundee Discovery for a trip onWednesday the 10th March. Wegot to go into the Museum and togo on the discovery ship it hadrooms a small kitchen and hadonly two toilets and a big wheel.The crew had to scrub the decksand sometimes had to climb therigging on a dark freezing coldnight. In the museum there was manyrooms with fake people that gaveFiona a big fright! Most peopleliked the chairs that turned over ifthe leather got hot and sweatyfrom lots of people sitting there. Ihope you go to visit the discoverysome day!By Claire Murray

OUR GREAT TRIP TOSATROSPHEREWhen you go to Satrosphere itsfun because you get to see someshows. For instance, when wewent we saw a body show. Wealso went to Conoco and we putcellotape on our arms pulled it offand looked at it with a micro-scope. We could see lots of littlehairs. When we went toSatrosphere we also got to haveour lunch in the cafeteria. We gotto have a wee play before wewent home. My favourite partwas a satellite at one end and asatellite at the other end. I alsohad another favourite part it wasthe spinning chair. My friendRebecca nearly fell off. Its fun, ifI was you I’d go.By Chloe

OUR TRIP TO DISCOVERYP5 Mrs McLennan’s class went toRRS Discovery on the 10th ofMarch 2004. My name is FionaShepherd and I am going to tell

you a bit about it. At Dundee we were divided into 4groups, 2 groups went aboard theship and the other 2 groups wentto the museum. In the museumthere were short videos to watchand lots of information to readabout the food they ate and theicy conditions. They had freshbread cooked everyday but theships biscuits had grubs in them. On board the ship they havereplaced the boilers with falseones and the coal is also fake.They have replica crates of thefood they ate and the sounds ofthe seas and ice breaking. We gotto see the captain’s quarterswhich was the coldest room in theship. The seats swirled but werebolted to the floor. When theweather was hot the leather melt-ed so the seats were changedfrom leather to cane. My first tripto Discovery was amazing. I hopeyours is too.

SCHOOL FOOTBALLHi, We are going to write aboutthe football teams of the school.We both play for the schoolteams. Lindsey plays for the girlsand the 7 a-side boys, and Calumplays for the 11 a-side boys. At our football we practice ourskills and drills every Tuesday andThursday and we play matchesevery Saturday and Sunday.Recently Lindsey and the rest ofMiss Torrance’s girls have beenplaying in a tournament but theyunfortunately got knocked out inthe semi finals against theunbeatable Fishermoss with ascore of 3-0. The 11 a-side teamhave been on a winning streak inthe past few months with scoresof 2-1, 3-1 and even 3-0. By Calum Robertson and LindseyCoutts P6

OUR GREAT TRIP TOSATROSPHEREWhen you go to Satrosphere it’s aone in a liftime experience. Thereare lots of shows and things to do.There is a café for snacks and achildren’s play area for youngerchildren. You get to use micro-

scopes and look at all sorts ofthings such as shells, sugar,peb-bles and stones. There is a spin-ning chair which is one of my favi-rots as well as the whisper-ing dishes. My first trip toSatrosphere was amazing Ihope yours will be too!By Alexandra Cameron P3

EDINBURGHP6 has just come back from theirschool trip to Edinburgh. On theirtrip they visited many of thetourist atractions such as the fas-cinating Dynamic Earth, NationalPortrait Gallery of Scotland with itsbeautiful paintings, FalklandPalace and the creepy and darkMary Kings Close when you take atrip back to 1753 AD, but watchout the black plague could beheading towards you! We stayedat the Haymarket and BuchanHotels and the food was delicious.On the first evening we wentbowling at the megabowl. It wasa really enjoyable school trip and Iwould go there again and again. By Ben Lobban P6LT

PRIMARY 1 have had lots ofvisitors from the community.

Today I went to seeDoctor White andshee lookct in my ers.Shee rot me asuprisksin. I took itto the cemist. By Ross P1

EMERGENCY 999The fire brigade visitedus. A fireman had amask on his face. I sawthe fire-engine and thehose. They had to go toa house fire. By Georgia P1

Mrs Steel is a police woman shecame to visit us. By Emilie P1

Printed as submitted.

OUR NEWS FROMKINGSWELLS