The newsletter of theOld Aberdeen

Community Council

Issue 13 – May 2011

It’s FREE!

Story continues on page 2 :-Don’t forget, the latest information can always be found on the web at www.oldaberdeen.org.uk.

New King’s Museum opens in Old AberdeenA new museum in the heart of Old Aberdeen, opposite King’s College Chapel, is now open. Althoughthis is Scotland’s newest museum, it may also be the oldest as its origins lie in museum collections inexistence in King’s College and Marischal College in 1727. The opening exhibition is titled “100 Curiosi-ties”. The exhibition has relied on a hundred friends to each choose an object that has a personal reso-nance and to write a caption of 100 words to explain its significance.The museum will be open free throughout the week (9.30am – 4.30pm), staying open late on Tuesdays,and on Saturdays from 11am – 4pm.

Third Don Crossing -"A Bridge to Nowhere"Aberdeen City Council plans for a Third Don Cross-ing were passed at a Full Council Meeting on the23rd of February.This planning application was launched in Novem-ber 2009 and attracted 660 letters of objection. As aresult of these objections there was a public plan-ning hearing where many individuals and groupsincluding Old Aberdeen Community Council maderepresentations arguing against a bridge at thislocation (Tillydrone to Grandholm).Having heard our objections our councillorsdeclined to listen and now propose in their wisdomto build this bridge even though over 300 peoplewill have to be served with compulsory purchaseorders.There is however one problem for the developer(Aberdeen City Council) - they don't have anymoney to pay for the bridge! Due to this lack offunding our council are at present attempting toencourage the Scottish Government to fund thisbridge in conjunction with the Western PeripheralRoute (WPR), ........

Northern Lights FestivalAberdeen is to follow in the footsteps of topveues Rockness and Belladrum with a new festi-val which will bring many chart favourites toSeaton Park on the weekend of July 30th-31st.The two-day festival will see more than 50 actstake to three stages, boasting a stellar line-up ofhousehold names and chart toppers such asMadness, Maximo Park, Kelis, The Noisettes,Paloma Faith, and more, including an appear-ances from Aberdeen’s The Xcerts.An arena will focus on the best from Europe’s topDJs including Scotland’s favourite electromixmaster, Mylo, and the festival will alsoprovide a platform for showcasing local homegrown talent as well. For details, see their webpage at www.northernlightsfestival.co.uk.

Meanwhile, the OACC is now seeking to ensurethat the Council will provide the necessarysupport to this event, from litter collectiononwards. And, if the event is a success, to ensurethat some of the profit is fed back into the parkand the area. Meanwhile, If you run a local busi-ness - is there an opportunity here for you?

2 May 2011

It’s all go, down atSunnybank park!Change is in the air this spring at SunnybankPark. The revitalisation of the area by the Friendsof Sunnybank Park group, who officially tookover the lease of the park from the council inFebruary, is well underway. Litter has beencleared, bulbs planted and hedges trimmed, andmost noticeably allotments have sprung up on thebowling green.BTCV Scotland are running weekly 'Green Gyms'every Monday, where volunteers can pitch inpicking up litter and building nesting boxes forlocal wildlife. These gyms are a way for people toimprove the environment and their health at thesame time as meeting like-minded local peopleand improving the community for all. Volunteershave also been in the park planting trees andhelping to get the allotments set up.Aberdeen Greenspace erected the allotment fenc-ing in March with funding from the ClimateChallenge fund, and the infrastructure for theallotment beds was put in place at the beginningof April.Paths have been cut out though the woodland onthe East side of the park, and log benches havebeen erected on the hill overlooking the park.Bicycle stands have been erected in the parkalongside the new wooden fencing along the sideof the wet area. The still-flooded "SunnybankLake" area has not yet been addressed, but theCity Council has agreed to clear the drains andhopefully remove excess water from the site sothat a formal pond can be created.Although there have been big changes at the parkover the past few months, there are still a lotmore to come – and a lot more work still to do. Ifyou fancy pitching in just pop down to one of theBTCV Green Gyms, which run from 10 am everyMonday in the park or join the 'Friends of Sunny-bank Park' group on Facebook.

Article by Phil Sim - RGU journalism student.

The Students are at itAgain!Following the success of a large tree plantingevent at the Aberdeen University HillheadCampus in February the Students’ Association’sClimate Change Project was quick to organiseanother.In February, 420 edible fruit trees and busheswere planted, kindly donated by the WoodlandTrust, all in only two hours because of the volun-teer efforts of the students. There is a growingmovement among students, concerned aboutenvironmental pollution and inefficient use of theworld’s natural resources, to plant more localfood varieties in the area and use the land aroundus for its full potential.Inspired by the fantastic response, the ClimateChange Project ordered another 275 organicapple trees and planted them over the last fort-night all around Kings College and the HillheadCampus. To link into the surrounding commu-nity a number of trees were also donated toSunnybank Park, Manor Park and HeatheryfoldsAllotments. The trees that have been plantedaround the campus have been planted in theview that they are a community resource so donot feel shy to pick fruit as you walk by. Therewill be plenty for all. Caspar Lampkin

..... Yet these are two completely separate plan-ning proposals. The aim of the WPR is to reducetraffic in the city centre by routing it around theoutskirts. The Third Don Crossing will activelyencourage more cars to cut through the citycentre. The flawed logic required to tie togetherthese two separate projects will not stop our localcouncillors - the majority seem more inclined todo the bidding of property developers (or theirparty) rather than their electorate. So, as the Scot-tish Parliament elections approach, do pleaseadvise the candidates that the 'Bridge toNowhere' is not wanted here. GM

Third Don crossing- continued from Page 1

3May 2011

Small Improvements GrantLast issue, we told you how the Small Improvement Fund had been removed from the Community Councilsand an amount given to each City Councillor. Here is a breakdownas to which good causes their funds went during 2011:- Cllr

CollieCllr

NobleCllr

RobertsonSt Machar Academy - Transport - S4 Youth Achievement Award 150St Machar Parent Support Group - Summer Play scheme funding 200 200Riverbank - Purchase Wii Consol 150Riverbank - P7 School Prom 100 100 100Riverbank School - Christmas Activities 150 150Seaton Primary School Fair Contribution 100 100Seaton Primary School Contribution P6 Trip 100 80 80Sunnybank Community Centre -Open Day 100Sunnybank Park - Various Events 100Tillydrone Church Gala Day 200 100 100Seaton Senior Citizens Leisure Group - Xmas Celebrations 50Seaton Taking Action for Regeneration - Xmas Celebrations 50Sunnybank Park - Various Events 250 100St Peters School - Christmas activities 150 100Powis Gateway Community Centre-Creche 150 150

(Note: amount of spend can depend on amount of carry-over from previous year) £1300 £1280 £780

Seaton Park - WalkaboutOnce a year Aberdeen City Council's Environment Manager, Steven Shaw, and his team carry outwalkabouts around different parts of the city to see for themselves what is going on and what needsto be done. It was Old Aberdeen's turn towards the end of February and I joined him on his tour ofSeaton Park. We discussed the routing of a new electrical cable from outside the Don Street entranceover to Balgownie Lodge in the Aberdeen Science and Technology Park and whether the moneygenerated from this could be used to address the drainage problem that creates a little lake in thepark every year (no answer yet available on returning such money to the park).It was good to learn that our beautiful herbaceous borders will have their summer bedding again asusual, despite cutbacks, and interesting to discover that the public toilet by the play area is the mostused one of all the Aberdeen parks!Steven showed a keen interest in the OACC idea of siting a map of the park at the Cathedral entranceto show the whole existing network of paths that can take the visitor right through to the Brig o'Balgownie and the beach. There may well be funding for this in Core Paths budget and we will bekeeping a close eye on that.Those of you who've noticed that the Grandholm Bridge sign doesn't yet lead anywhere can takeheart: the sign is a little premature and there will be a path round the river eventually. In the mean-time walkers will be directed up on to Tillydrone Avenue and then along the road to GrandholmBridge. And last but not least, the contentious issue of barbecues in the grassy area down by the riveris still being considered despite the large signs forbidding this practice.All in all this was a most enjoyable and useful walkabout. We'd be interested to hear your commentson the park and any ideas you may have for its future. Email us at: mail@oacc.org.uk. CB

4 May 2011

The Old Aberdeen Community CouncilIf you live in the area between Bedford Road and King Street, and between Sunnybank Road and theRiver Don, then you are part of the Old Aberdeen Community and the OACC is here to support you.The Community Council meets (usually) on the third Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m., either inthe Old Aberdeen Townhouse or Dunbar Street Hall:We will post the details on our web site, but if you are not sure, just drop us a line or talk to one of theOACC members. These are always public meetings and you will be very welcome, whether it is toraise a specific issue, or just to see what is going on..

Don’t forget to check out our web-site at www.oldaberdeen.org.uk

Meet the Old AberdeenCommunity Council: -The Community Council can be contacted at:mail@OACC.org.uk, or speak to any of themembers:

Christine Burgess Chair6 St Machar Place, Old Aberdeen AB24 3SF

Simon Barker Vice chair5 High Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 3EE

Isobel Aitken Treasurer1 High Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 3EE

Dewi Morgan Web Admin107 High Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 3EN

Clive Kempe7 Sunnyside Terrace, Aberdeen AB24 3NB

Gordon Mutch5 The Chanonry, Old Aberdeen AB24 1RP

Trevor Stack76A Dunbar Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 3UJ

Katja Brittain12 Bedford Place, Old Aberdeen AB24 3NX

Hilda Meers9 Sunnyside Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 3LY

David Hutchinson51 Don Street, Old Aberdeen AB24 1UH

The City Councillors who represent Old Aber-deen and the surrounding area are: -

Councillor Norman Collie.

Councillor Jim Noble.

Councillor Richard Robertson.

Old AberdeenCommunity CouncilBoundariesIn the last issue of our newsletter wementioned the upcoming review of communitycouncil boundaries and the discussions we hadhad up till then with neighbouring communitygroups. Representatives from Old Aberdeenand Froghall Community Councils met at thestart of January and agreed to submit to Aber-deen City Council a request for the followingboundary changes:

q That Sunnyside Terrace, Sunnyside Avenueand Sunnyside Road, the north side of Sunny-bank Road and Bedford Place, HermitageAvenue and the east side of Bedford Roadbetween Bedford Place and Hermitage Avenueshould come under the remit of FroghallCommunity Council;

q That the Spital, Merkland Road and Merk-land Place, St Peter Street and King’s Crescentup to Mounthooly Way should come under theremit of Old Aberdeen Community Council.

The City Council will begin to consider thesesubmissions over the summer and we under-stand a period of public consultation will beprovided. If the changes are approved, thefinalised boundaries will come into operationin time for the next community council elec-tions in 2012. CB

1. Do you think the Third Don Crossingwill be of benefit to our community?

3. Please list any other key issues that are important to you:

4. How often do you visit the Old Aberdeen web site (www.oldaberdeen.org.uk)? At least once a month A few times a year Never5. How could the website be changed to make it more useful for you? :-

6. What are your thoughts about the Old Aberdeen Community Council newsletter; 'The Auld Toon News':- Interesting Not very interesting Don’t normally read it7. How can we make The Auld Toon News more interesting? :-

8. Please tell us who you are so we can ensure that all replies are genuine. The Old Aberdeen CommunityCouncil will not contact you or pass this information on to anyone else. We are registered under the DataProtection Act. As a minimum, please tell us the name of your street (or hall of residence).

Name: Street: Post Code:

Thank you for your help. If you would like to discuss any local issues, you can contact the CommunityCouncil by emailing mail@oacc.org.uk, or why not come to one of our monthly meetings - they are usuallyheld at the Town House in Old Aberdeen High Street on the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm.Please check our web site www.oldaberdeen.org.uk for latest news - and the results from this questionnaire.

Questionnaire :- Old Aberdeen Community PrioritiesThe Old Aberdeen Community Council exists to help provide a voice for the people living in Old Aber-deen. While the community council area is very small, there are still many different pressures on ourlives, and those who live on Bedford Road may have completely different concerns to those living (forinstance) at Lord Hay’s Grove. Please help us to keep focused on the priorities for the area by taking afew minutes to complete this questionnaire and dropping it off, or posting it to: OACC, 107 High Street,Old Aberdeen, AB24 3EN. Or complete the questionnaire on-line :- just go to our web sitewww.oldaberdeen.org.uk and click on the link on the home page .We welcome a response from each member of your family.

2. Please show us how important the followingissues are to you:

Not anissue

A bit of anissue

Importantissue

Priorityissue

Better public transportParking problemsProtect the heritage of Old AberdeenSupport the redevelopment of Sunnybank ParkImproved facilities for Seaton ParkPotholes in the streetsDog dirt and litterVandalism

Disagree Agree Don’tknow

StronglyDisagree

StronglyAgree