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Kingswells Old
News 3
DATE SET
FOR ABERDEEN FOOTBALL CLUB PUBLIC
HEARING:
Aberdeen City Council today announced the date of
the Development Plan departure hearing into the
application by Aberdeen Football Club for outline
planning approval for a regional centre for
sporting and leisure excellence at Bellfield Farm,
Kingswells. The objections
relate to: The objectors
include Kingswells Community Council; Braeside and
Mannofield Community Council; Bucksburn and
Newhills Community Council; Kingswells
Infrastructure First Group; Aberdeen Civic Society;
Friends of the Earth; the Protection of Rural
Scotland and TRANSform Scotland. They say
that: The football club
also propose to modify the following road junction
- A944 Kingswells Roundabout; A944 Lang
Stracht/Skene Road Roundabout; A944 Westhill
Roundabout. Two new access roundabouts on the A944
and on the C128 have been designed to cater for the
full impact of development traffic. CLUBS' UNITED
EFFORT PAYS OFF TO WIN MINIBUS: Community groups in the North-east are
jumping for joy after picking up the keys to their
own £25,000 minibus. STADIUM
OPPONENTS LAUNCH LEGAL FUNDS DRIVE: The protest
group campaigning against Aberdeen Football Clubs
plans to build a new stadium in Kingswells last
night launched an appeal for funds to take its
battle through the courts if necessary. At
a meeting of the Kingswells Infrastructure First
Group (KIFG) last night spokesman Mike Dunbar
appealed for the public to donate funds by standing
order to the group to help with its work.
He
said: "We've been running this campaign for nine
months now and I offer my thanks to those who have
given to enable us to get that far. We cannot
maintain our momentum at the current rate."
Standing order mandates were passed
out at the meeting. Mr
Dunbar said the group did not have the funds needed
to be able to pay specialists to carry out
litigation work. Mr
Dunbar warned that could result in the collapse of
the campaign against the bid to build a new 30,000
seater stadium and sports complex on the outskirts
of the village. He
said: "Right now we don't have the option to go to
litigation because of a lack of funding. It could
result in this being waved through by Aberdeen City
Council." The
meeting, which was attended by about 150 people,
also heard KIFG chairman Derek Martin argue that
the way the people of Kingswells live their lives
would be largely controlled by the Dons and the
city council every time the stadium was in
use. Mr
Martin also said he had contacted various
politicians but found no support for KIFG.
Conservationist Bruce Stevens
criticised much of the Don's environmental
assessment document. He argued that Kingswells was
the wrong place for the stadium. The quality of
life of the residents would be affected by noise
and light, their view of the surrounding
countryside would be affected, he said. "I
would argue the valuation process in the
environmental statement is largely subjective and
the preferred outcome is that the stadium is built
here in Kingswells. It's a well known principal
clause that the person who pays the bill will tell
the consultant what he wants to hear - essentially
what you see in this report." Dons chief executive Keith Wyness,
who was not at the meeting, said the club stood by
all its recent statements on the supplementary
information provided in support of its planning
application. He
said: "AFC employed the UK's leading consultants
who, in turn, used some of the top experts in the
country to compile the information." The
traffic and environmental impact assessments were
robust and demonstrated that the best site had been
chosen for the development, he said. Mr
Stevens had also argued that a proper wildlife
survey had not been carried out, but Mr Wyness
said: "The only wildlife to be worried about in
Kingswells are the red herrings." Planning agent John Agnew told last
night's meeting that the football club would have
to prove there were very special circumstances for
building on the green belt site at Bellfield
Farm. If
Scotland and Ireland won the joint Euro 2008 bid
that might constitute very special circumstances,
he said. But the bid should not be a consideration
when the application is being looked at unless the
bid was successful. Members of the public raised
questions about the level of transport, children's
road safety, whether the Bellfield Farm site could
be developed in some other way if planning
permission were granted but the Euro 2008 bid fell
through, and where excess water would be drained
off if the proposal did go ahead. ANGELA TAYLOR 23 April
2002 http://www.thisinorthscotland.co.uk
KINGSWELLS
FOLK RESTORE POND IN SPRING CLEAN Kingswells Community
Council and the Aberdeen Countryside Project joined
forces yesterday to organise a Kingswells
clean-up. The public were
asked to take part in the annual event - this time
helping work on the restoration of the village
pond. This year, more
than 15 groups have so far organised clean-ups for
their local areas as part of Aberdeen City
Council's annual Spring Clean Aberdeen
campaign. Ian Hay,
co-ordinator of Aberdeen Spring Clean, said: "The
work that is done by the volunteers in Kingswells
is fantastic. However, it must be said that if
those people who drop litter would show more
consideration, this work would not be
needed. "Its everybody's
responsibility to keep Aberdeen tidy." A clean-up event
was also held by the Marine Conservation Society,
at Nigg Bay, yesterday, in an attempt to clean up
Aberdeen's coastline. This year's drive
to tidy up the city has been given added weight by
Aberdeen's civic pride campaign, launched in
March. It aims to involve
all sections of the community in maintaining and
enhancing the local environment. Anyone wishing to
organise a clean-up can do so by contacting Mr Hay,
on 01224 522767. by
MARK DREVER
http://www.thisinorthscotland.co.uk
NEW DONS
STADIUM MAY LEAD TO PARKING CURBS: Parking restrictions might
be introduced across much of the western fringes of
Aberdeen if Dons bosses get the go-ahead for their
proposed stadium at Kingswells. The parking orders
would aim to prevent fans clogging up residential
streets on match days. The rules would
apply not just to Kingswells but also to the
Sheddocksley and Hazlehead housing estates and
surrounding areas. Cars would also be banned from
parking on the A944 Kingswells-Westhill road as far
west as the Westhill town roundabout, and the C128
Kingswells-Cults road as far south as the Loanhead
junction. These zones would
be patrolled by Grampian Police, although Aberdeen
Football Club has offered to appoint a traffic
co-ordinator to help officers iron out any
problems. If the proposals are approved, residents
will be issued with permits to display on their
cars. Cars without permits would risk being towed
away. The club also says
it would set up a parking hotline so that residents
could report any complaints to the police.
The information has
come to light in the submissions which the club
gave the council this week to support its planning
application for a £30million stadium and
sports complex at Bellfield Farm,
Kingswells. Kingswells
Community Council now intends to alert community
councils in the affected areas. Its vice-chairman,
Alan Stott, said: "At the moment, it might just be
people in Kingswells who think they need to see
these submissions and comment on their contents,
but these measures will affect people in a much
wider area. "It's going to be
an expensive operation and how many thousands of
people is it going to inconvenience? "What if people in
those areas have people visiting on a Saturday?
Will they not be allowed to park either - and how
will traffic wardens be able to tell the difference
between visitors' cars and football supporters'
cars?" John Lawrence,
chairman of Sheddocksley Community Council, wasn't
aware of the implications for him and his
neighbours. He said members were likely to share Mr
Stott's concerns and the issue will be discussed at
the group's meeting on Wednesday. "I'm not against
the idea of them introducing orders to stop people
parking," he said. "The only drawback is that it
might be inconvenient for residents who have people
coming to visit. "If there was some
way of identifying whether cars belonged to people
who were visiting residents or football supporters,
it might work but I don't know whether there's
anything that can be done about that. It's
definitely something that's going to have to be
looked into further." Similar match-day
parking restrictions are in place around the club's
present home at Pittodrie. Michael Heaney, chairman
of Pittodrie and Castlehill Community Council, said
he hadn't been alerted to any problems by
residents. A spokesperson for
the club stressed that the proposed Traffic
Regulation Order (TRO) would be implemented by
Aberdeen City Council and monitored by Grampian
Police and that the areas being put forward were
simply recommendations at this stage. Dons chief
executive Keith Wyness added: "Parking is obviously
an issue of concern for local residents and has
been thoroughly examined, with some innovative
methods of controlling illegal parking put
forward. "The measures
enforced to prevent illegal parking could include
temporary no-parking zones on match days," he
confirmed. "The TRO will prevent parking within
designated areas, such as the village of
Kingswells, during specified times on match
days. "However, in a
proactive move, and probably one of the first of
its kind in Scotland, Aberdeen Football Club would
offer to set up a residents parking hotline whereby
residents encountering illegal parking would phone
in their complaint to the club, who would then take
appropriate action to ensure that the problem is
resolved by the police. In addition to this, we
could have a parking co-ordinator who would meet
residents on a regular basis to address ongoing
situations." Referring to the
submissions which were requested by Aberdeen City
Council planners, he said: "Aberdeen Football Club
appointed the UK's leading environmental and
planning consultants to undertake the research into
the traffic and environmental impact studies for
the proposed development at Bellfield and we are
more than satisfied that the information provided
to the city council is robust and examines all the
issues of concern in a thorough and responsible
manner." MORAG LINDSAY Posted 12.4.2002
http://www.thisinorthscotland.co.uk
KIFG MEANS
BUSINES:Kingswells Infrastructure First Group
has demonstrated the strength of its commitment to
opposing the stadium proposal in the long term by
using the planning process delay to become a
legally constituted body with a framework designed
to protect the area from damaging commercial
developments. In preparation for the
forthcoming departure hearing and any public
inquiry and litigation to follow the group has
formally appointed Derek Martin as chairman and
Mike Dunbar as chief executive. Newly appointed CEO
Mike Dunbar said, "When we started our actions to
defend Kingswells in June 2001, some people said
'You're wasting your time, it's all been decided,
the stadium is going to Kingswells anyway.'
No one says that any more because of the flaws
which have been exposed in the crude plan to open
up a corridor of land for commercial development
and pass it off as works for the North East.
There are better sites in the North East for this
development, if and when it is demonstrated that
there is any need for Aberdeen Football Club plc to
increase its ground capacity." KIFG is authorised
by object to raise funds to achieve its goals and a
public meeting in Kingswells has been organised for
April 22nd at which a multi media presentation
which will be given by KIFG scientific adviser Dr
Bruce Stevens. Planning and local inquiry
expert John Agnew, who will lead for the
group at the departure hearing, will also
deliver an outline of the likely processes issues
to be followed and the prospects for success.
Also on display will be material showing the visual
impact stretching from Rubislaw to Skene and an
analysis of the noise intrusion. Grampian Police
have been made aware of the meeting to ensure that
public order is maintained. Those opposed to
the stadium proposal are invited to attend at 8pm
on April 22nd at Kingswells Community Centre.
(Posted 12.4.2002)
FOOTBALL
CLUB MAKES FURTHER SUBMISSION FOR KINGSWELLS CENTRE
OF SPORTING EXCELLENCE: Aberdeen City Council
has today (8.4.2002) received further submissions
from Aberdeen Football Club in support of their
planning application for a centre for sporting
excellence at Bellfield Farm, Kingswells.
The
further information relating to transport and the
Environment Statement was requested by the City
Council. The
Football Club want to create the centre of
excellence incorporating a 30,000 seat football
stadium, soccer academy, competition swimming pool,
sports hall and ancillary community and sporting
facilities. The
receipt of the new information will be advertised
later this week in the local media and the
Edinburgh Gazette and residents will be given 28
days to make representations. The
executive summary of the transport statement says
that it is planned to have 2,000 car parking spaces
for the football stadium and 500 for the ancillary
sporting/leisure facilities. It
goes on to say that the transport plan is as
follows: * A
transport strategy encouraging access principally
by public transport linked to significant use of
peripheral park and ride sites and public transport
priority schemes, This strategy would encompass
existing facilities as well as a significant
enhancement implemented in the intervening years as
part of Aberdeen City Council's Transport
Strategy. * A
Green Transport Plan for Aberdeen Football Club
which promotes and encourages more sustainable
transport strategies. * A
maximum of 2,000 on site parking spaces which would
be controlled by Aberdeen Football Club. It is
envisaged that car parking provision would require
being a member of car share club requiring high
occupancy car travel and 'travel spreading'
characteristics of its members to promote a phased
access and egress of traffic flow to minimise the
effect on the surrounding road network. *
Promotion of 'home supporter coach clubs' using
season ticket information to promote sustainable
transport with preferential on-site parking to
encourage the concept. *
Further promotion of 'travel time spreading' before
and after games by the inclusion of ancillary on
site facilities to minimise the surrounding road
network and to control the opening and closing
periods of the off-site park and ride shuttle car
parks. *
Control of off-site parking potential in adjacent
areas by implementation of a 'match day' Traffic
regulation Order and associated enforcement.
*
Provision of drop-off facilities for taxis,
mini-buses and private cars. *
Additional pedestrian and cycle facilities.
Also the Football Club propose to
modify the following road junctions: * A
944 Kingswells Roundabout. * A
944 LangStracht/ Skene Road Roundabout *
A944 Westhill Roundabout. Two
new access roundabouts, on the A944 and the other
on the C128 have been designed to cater for the
full impact of development traffic. The
Environment Statement says that the site as "no
acknowledged historic or cultural value". In deals
with landscaping, ecology, badgers, noise, lighting
and drainage. *
The City Council received 1,459 letters of
objection and one of support when the original
application was advertised. *
The Planning Committee has decided to hold a public
hearing later this year into the
application. *
Planning officers will evaluate the new information
and take into account additional representations
from the public. (Posted 9.4.2002)
ABERDEEN
TO BID FOR FUNDING FOR WASTE AND
RECYCLING: Aberdeen City Council is set
to bid for more than £3.5 million from the
Scottish Executive to implement its waste reduction
and recycling strategy. A report to be
presented to the City Council's Policy and Strategy
Committee, which meets on April 16, sets out the
targets which have been set in the council's
Aberdeen Futures programme. They are:
* Reduce household
waste by one per cent each year. * Reduce the amount
of household waste going to landfill by 40 per cent
by 2005. * A minimum of 25
per cent of domestic waste to be composted or
recycled by 2005. The report says
that the Scottish Executive will be making
available £50 million over the next three
years for Scottish local authorities to tackle the
problem - and Aberdeen will be looking for a
substantial share. The report to the
committee says: "At the heart of any sustainable
waste management strategy has to be the aim of
reducing waste at source. "Whilst this is very
difficult to achieve it does present the greatest
environmental benefits. "The reduction of
household waste is an extremely challenging target
for a local authority to adopt as many of the
factors contributing to household waste are outwith
direct control of the local authority. Central
Government will have the greatest influence on
household waste arising through legislation changes
such as the Packaging Regulations. "Practical methods
of reducing waste will include continuing promotion
of a range of initiatives for example home
composting and working with other organisations to
promote the use of real nappies. "Whilst practical
solutions can produce some waste reduction,
substantial changes require a change in attitude
and perception. Intensive education, campaigns and
encouraging people to think about the waste that
they produce are required to change people's
attitude." The report spells
out the following plans in Aberdeen: HOME
COMPOSTING The City Council
will continue to promote home composting through
the discounted purchasing scheme. This has so far
sold 1,400 compost bins and the target is to
increase this by 200 per cent by 2005. REUSE AND
REFURBISHMENT This activity has
declined in recent years as the cost of replacing
consumer durables has fallen in relation to the
cost of repair. However, the
Council will continue to promote reuse and
refurbishment through a range of initiatives for
example Instant Neighbour which involves the
collection and repair of used furniture, electrical
goods, childcare items to be redistributed free of
charge to the most needy in the community.
RECYCLING There are currently
29 publicly accessible recycling sites in Aberdeen
for a population of 212,650 - and this is not
enough. It is intended that
no member of the community in the urban area of
Aberdeen will need to travel more than 1km to
access their nearest recycling site. This will
require the provision of approximately 35 to 40
additional public recycling sites by 2005.
A green waste
collection trial is also planned for Kingswells,
Kincorth and Deeside. The aim of the trial is to
find the best method of collecting household
kitchen and garden waste. These results will shape
a future city-wide strategy. Also the current
kerbside collection of waste paper will be
re-launched to encourage increased participation
throughout the city. (Posted 9.4.2002)
KINGSWELLS.COM
SEEKS A SPONSORSHIP DEAL FOR IT'S FIRST BIRTHDAY -
The
community web site Kingswells.com will be one
year-old in April and it is exploring the
possibility of allowing a local business to sponsor
the whole web-site. The web site has
become an important focus for community activity
and involvement and has received more 190,000 in
its first year. Commercial sponsorship will allow
the site to develop and expand while affording a
potential sponsor an excellent opportunity to reach
a wide range of people living in the Aberdeen
area. Web hits from April
2001 to Februay 2002 Kingswells.com
envisages a potential sponsor paying an annual
fixed fee that will be used to develop the site and
generate greater publicity for the site through an
awareness campaign. In return, part of
the sponsorship fee will be used to put up signs on
each web page identifying the sponsor and linking
it to the sponsors own web site. Involving
businesses will help the site provide a stronger
publicity focus and allow for the introduction of a
data-base of news items and a regular email
newsletter. Kingswells.com is
now inviting private companies and other parties
interested in this exciting sponsorship opportunity
to email their interests to info@kingswells.com
Web mistress Claire
Burt said: "The web site has been very successful
with involvement from local residents, the school,
the community council, action groups, the local
churches and community organisations. "Due to its own
success it needs to be expanded, but there are
financial limitations to what I can do as an
individual. I hope a local businesses will see the
potential in being associated with this active
community web site and help in the development of
this very popular and regularly re-visited
web-site." Business interested
in this type of sponsorship should write to Claire
first instance faxing details to (01224) 746859 or
e-mail her on info@kingswells.com (Posted 8.4.2002)
Wendy
Alexander To Visit Kingswells Park And
Ride Talks with
NESTRANS over future transport
plans
After the early
morning visit she will travel by bus to Woodhill
House to meet members of the North East of Scotland
Transport Partnership, chaired by City Council
Leader Len Ironside. NESTRANS has drawn
up plans for a £247 Million Modern Transport
System for the area - which includes a new Western
Peripheral Bypass - which it believes has the
potential to indirectly create thousands of new
jobs, significantly reduce accidents and pollution,
and halve congestion problems. The Kingswells Park
and Ride, which links with the established Bridge
of Don Park and Ride, opened on September 17, 2001
and a six month review will be presented to the
City Council's Environment and Infrastructure
Committee on Monday (March 18). The report says
that the Kingswells service has links to
Foresterhill, Union Street and Bridge of Don
operating from Monday to Saturday from
approximately 7.20am to 6.20pm. The level of usage
on the Kingswells service has seen a rise to around
140 cars a day, and the number of passengers at
around 200 per day. During the run up
to Christmas the usage at Kingswells and Bridge of
Don rose to the level where they were effectively
out of town car parks. At the Kingswells site 8,000
cars used the site over the five week period and at
Bridge of Don there were 20,000. This equates to
around 60,000 car based trips removed from the city
centre during this period. Dave Gordon, the
Director of Environment and Infrastructure, says:
"The level of usage for both sites, also
considering the recent opening of the Kingswells
site, is extremely encouraging as a tool to reduce
city centre traffic. Mr Gordon says that
customer surveys have been carried out at both
sites and the information has been used to improve
the service to the public. New ticketing
initiatives introduced include pedestrians and
cyclists using CityRide passes as they board a P
& R bus at the sites and anyone boarding at any
of the dedicated stops can use a CityRide pass.
Also as a request of local residents new bus stops
have been introduced on the service at Albert
Street and Woodend Hospital on the Lang
Stracht. Negotiations
continue with FirstAberdeen over other ticketing
initiatives that City Council would like to see
introduced. There are: * Customers can be
dropped off at a park and ride site and are then
able to purchase up to five tickets for £2
with the same entitlements as a car user.
* An individual
customer can purchase more tickets than the number
of individuals than in the car so that more people
can return to the site with them on the return
journey. * The 60 minute
limit from which the onward journey must be taken
on a park and ride ticket be extended. This will
allow more flexibility of use of the network, for
example visitors to Foresterhill can also travel
into the city centre and return to the park and
ride site. FirstAberdeen has
indicated that they are prepared to continue to
operate the service for a further six months on a
commercial basis. * The North East of
Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) is a
cross-sector group whose members are: Aberdeen City
Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Scottish Enterprise
Grampian and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. (Posted
14.3.2002)
UPDATE ON
MAJOR PLANNING APPLICATIONS: Aberdeen City Council officials have
given an update on progress dealing with two major
planning applications. These are the
application by Aberdeen Football Club for a
regional centre of sporting excellence including a
30,000-seat football stadium at Bellfield Farm,
Kingswells and one by Sita Holdings for an
environmental park at Minto Drive, Altens.
Bob Reid, Assistant
Planning Director, reports that more work is
required to take place on both applications and
there will be further newspaper advertising and
consultation with the public leading to a probable
delay of two months before public hearings are
held. It is now likely
that the Aberdeen Football Club application will
not be determined until August 8 and the Sita
application on August 8, or September 5,
2002. Mr Reid said: "With
both of these major applications it is vital that
the highest levels of public scrutiny is brought to
bear. The legal requirement for Environmental
Assessment brings with it a set of extra
procedures. These effectively mean that any
additional material required to supplement the
Assessments will have to be advertised for comment
as well. "The sort of extra
material sought is typically the result of
consultation responses which have already been
received. It is incumbent on the planning authority
to seek answers from the applicants prior to the
matter being taken through to its decision stages,
including public hearing. "The implication
here is that the anticipated dates for the public
hearings for these applications will have to go
back by two months." The full report is
as follows: APPLICATION BY
ABERDEEN FOOTBALL CLUB "The original
consultation and advertisement period for the
Environmental Statement relating to the planning
application has been concluded. "From and analysis
of the Environmental Statement (which incorporates
the Transport Assessment) and analysis of the
comments made by consultees and those contained
within representations of the proposed development,
a number of issues require to be clarified and
several rectified. Aberdeen Football Club are
currently addressing these matters. "On receipt of the
additional information the Environmental Impact
Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999 require this
to be publicised and consulted in a similar way to
the original submission. Accordingly, notice of the
additional information will be advertised in the
local press and Edinburgh Gazette allowing a
further 28 day period for representations to be
lodged on this information. "As a consequence,
it will no longer be possible to hold a Development
Plan Departure Hearing in late March or early
April, as originally anticipated. It is likely that
a Hearing will now take place during the second
half of June with a report on the detailed
evaluation of the proposal referred to the Planning
Committee on August 8, 2002. Dates will be advised
in due course." APPLICATION BY SITA
HOLDINGS "The consultation
and advert period of this application and its
associated Environmental Statement ended on
December 6, 2001. The proposal attracted 450
letters of objection and a petition of 2,780 names.
The application and Environmental Statement are
currently being assessed. "An independent
evaluation of the air quality assessment contained
in the Environmental Statement is being
commissioned from an independent expert consultant
and the results of this evaluation will be used to
inform the consideration of the application.
"The applicant is
to be asked to submit further information in
support of the information contained in the
Environmental Statement and enable a recommendation
to be made. "Any further
information submitted would have to be publicised
and consulted in similar way to the original
submission and members of the public and consultees
would have the opportunity to submit further
representations at the time. The further
information would be advertised in the press for a
period of 28 days. "In the meantime it
is intended to report to the committee on April 18
to seek the committee's views whether a Departure
Hearing should be held after the submission and
advertising of the further information. It is
likely, therefore, that the hearing will now take
place in late June or early July with a report on
the detailed evaluation of the proposal referred to
the Planning Committee of August 8, or September 5,
2002." (Posted28.2.2002)
PARK AND RIDE
FIGURES: Park
and Ride figures for the period January 28th 2002
to February 2nd 2002 have remained steady.
In Bridge of Don
2497 cars and 4024 passengers utilised the service.
While in Kingswells during the same period a total
of 818 cars and 1290 passengers took advantage of
Park and Ride. (Posted 5.2.2002)
hat
The hearing will take place on Thursday, June 27 in
the Town and County Hall at the Town House and it
is anticipated that it will last all day.
The football club and objectors will be able to
give evidence. This will be evaluated with a report
being drawn up recommending whether or not the
project should be approved to the Planning
Committee which meets on August 8.
The application is to create a centre of excellence
incorporating a 30,000 seat football stadium,
soccer academy, competition swimming pool, sports
hall and ancillary community and sporting
facilities.
The community and commercial developments are
likely to include a golf academy including driving
range, curling facilities, indoor bowling, 10-pin
bowling, go-karting, 5-a-side football, sports
science facilities, hotel and fast food
establishments.
The football club has recently submitted a further
submission relating to transport and environment
issues. This has been advertised allowing residents
to make representations.
Before that the City Council had received 1,459
letters of objection.
In their recent submission the football club has
attempted to allay fears over transport
issues.
Papers for the hearing on June 27 will be issued
nearer the time.
Two communities on the outskirts of Aberdeen banded
together to ensure they collected most tokens in
the Press and Journal's fabulous Win A Minibus
competition and yesterday the spirit of
co-operation paid off when they collected their
prize.
The vehicle will be shared between the two
groups.
The Kingswells Breakfast and After School clubs
will use it to ferry youngsters to and from school
in the mornings and afternoons.
In the evenings, at weekends and during school
holidays, it will be available to any of the 30
community groups in Westhill who helped to collect
a staggering 65,000 tokens.
Our competition ran throughout March and attracted
a fantastic response with more than 350,000 tokens
cut out from copies of the Press and Journal and
sent in by community groups across the North and
North-east.
On Saturday, delighted youngsters and parents got
their first look at their new minibus.
The vehicle is a top-of-the-range LDV Convoy
minibus, which boasts 17 seats, power-assisted
steering, five-speed gearbox and a radio cassette.
It is also fitted with a reverse signal and ABS
braking as well as secure overhead storage.
The winners can now nominate three people to
receive Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents driver training as part of the winning
package.
Westhill mum Gillian Smith was thrilled with the
new bus as two of her sons, Jamie, 7, and Callum,
5, helped to collect the many tokens at Westhill
Primary School.
She said: "It is a fantastic boost to the
community. Everybody was collecting the tokens and
it was great to see Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire
working together. It is excellent for the people
living here. It will be well-appreciated."
Carolyn Tanner, whose son, Ross, 9, attends
Kingswells After School Club, said it had been a
real community effort to win the bus.
"The children were really motivated. They would
come home from school and tell us to buy the Press
and Journal and tell all their friends. Everyone is
just chuffed to bits."
Parents also paid tribute to Jackie Steel, who runs
both of the Kingswells clubs and organised teaming
up with their Westhill neighbours.
Mrs Tanner added: "Jackie has so much enthusiasm
and dedication. She is always doing something for
the community. We could not have done it without
her."
"I still can't believe we've won," said David
Ritchie, of the Westhill Residents' Association,
who masterminded the collection.
"All we did was contact all the clubs and
organisations that we thought could help us collect
tokens. We sent fliers round all the houses and put
collection boxes into the shops. In total, there
were about 30 different groups and all their
members helped get the message out to their friends
and families."
The Westhill community were well on their way to
collecting a mountain of tokens when they heard
that the Kingswells Breakfast and After School Club
were also taking part in the competition.
When the Kingswells group realised that they hadn't
a chance of matching the Westhill residents' total,
they agreed to join forces.
The Press and Journal organised the minibus
competition in conjunction with health and safety
training specialists RGIT Montrose.
Group managing director Murray Strachan said: "RGIT
Montrose is delighted to be involved with this
highly successful project.
"Obviously it has captured the imagination of the
North-east community. The approach adopted by the
community groups shows real innovation and
imagination."
Press and Journal promotions manager Susan Blair
said she had been overwhelmed with the
response.
"We received more than 350,000 tokens," she said.
"It's the first time we've ever run a competition
like this and it obviously captured the public's
imagination in a big way. We're hoping to do it
again in the future.
"There was a lot of community effort going on and
it really seemed to bring people together."
The charity Blythswood Care in Evanton was
runner-up with over 55,000 tokens. Its supporters
had teamed up with Alness Academy in the hope of
winning the prize.
Other community groups who deserve a mention for
coming close to the honours included Ellon Parish
Church, Huntly Mental Health, Portsoy Junior
Football Club, Banff Scouts, Dornoch Academy, 2nd
Turriff Boys' Brigade, Muir of Ord Rovers GC,
Peterhead Salvation Army, Keith Community Bus
Group, Oldmeldrum Primary, Auldearn Primary and St
Andrew's Primary in Inverurie.
MORAG LINDSAY AND LEAH WILLIAMSON 29 April
2002 http://www.thisinorthscotland.co.uk
Wendy
Alexander, Minister for Enterprise, Transport and
Lifelong Learning, will visit Aberdeen's new park
and ride service at Kingswells next Tuesday (March
19).
If you can
provide assistance or information with any of the
above please contact me at: info@kingswells.com A credit will be given to
anyone submitting articles and photos used on web
site. Claire Burt Web mistress
