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A few things of current importance.                                                         Go straight to website

The Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council welcome you to our community website.

News items in which are now out of date may still be viewed here.

The next Community Council meeting will be  on Thursday 25 March and it will be carried out by a Zoom conference call at 7.00 p.m.  If residents wish to participate in the meeting please send a request for the log in details to us at  cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk prior to the meeting.  Residents are invited to submit questions and concerns about local issues to the Community Council at cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk .

MBC News (Edition 190) is being delivered to homes in our area.  Submissions for the next edition 191, are due in by 1 April 2021.

Climate Change Week North East - Treasure Hunt

It is Climate Week in the North East and we have the Climate Week North East Treasure Hunt (Cults) running for you all.
There are 16 clue cards hidden in and around Cults. Your mission is to find these and use the information on the cards to solve the puzzles and and reveal a mystery message about climate change.

Register for this free event at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../climate-week-north-east...

There you register and access a copy of the instructions and a treasure map showing you where to find the lettered clues (A to P) along a suggested 3.5 mile route on pavements or tracks. You can collect the clues in any order in your own time on any route until the end of Climate Week North East on March 21st. Do take care when crossing roads and follow current Covid guidance. We'd love to see some pictures of you hunting for clues - please send to mbcnews@cbmcommunity.org.uk by April 1st to be included in the next issue of the MBC News.
Sun, 14 Mar at 15:30 to Sun, 21 Mar at 23:59
Cults, Aberdeen

Climate Change Week North East - Local Walk

Climate Change Week North East 2021. March 12-21.
Climate Week North East is a week packed full of fun, inspiring and interesting events, designed to raise awareness of climate change but, more importantly, show what we can all do to make a difference and reduce our carbon footprint in a fun way. Full details on https://climateweeknortheast.org/

 
The River Dee and Climate Change – Local Walk. This walk was planned as part of Climate Change Week last year. The nature and environmental impact talks were to be given by local naturalists Alistair Watson and Lina-Elvira Bäck (Kaimhill Ecology). Details of the walk (Walk 13), a summary of their talks and notes on local heritage sites on the walk, can be found on the Community Council’s website:
Please note that the recent flooding has eroded parts of the path along the river and great care is required.

Community Planning Survey March 2021 - What Is Important To You?

Dear community members

Today Community Planning Aberdeen has launched an online simulator to enable citizens to express what is important and of value to them and for their community. Please help cascade and promote the following information to your citizen, customer and community contacts. The survey is open to any resident of Aberdeen City.
What is important to you?
Community Planning Aberdeen is the name for your local partnership of public, private and third sector organisations and communities all working together to improve people’s lives across Aberdeen City.
We would like residents of Aberdeen to participate in this short exercise to discover what things you value and what is important to you.
Imagine you are responsible for improving the lives of the people of Aberdeen. You only have 500 points to give to various improvement projects. You must allocate all of these points. How would you allocate these points? How you do this will help guide the work of Community Planning Aberdeen and the priorities within the City's Local Outcome Improvement Plan. You can, also, give comments and submit ideas.
Open until Wednesday 31st of March 2021
Get Started >>

https://communityplanningaberdeen.pointsimulator.com/

Help us spread the word:
· Promote it on your website
· Share it on your social media accounts – remember and tag others in too
· Follow our CPA social media account Twitter and retweet our What is Important posts - #important4aberdeen #communityplanningaberdeen #communityspirit #LOIPRefresh21
· Write about it in your Newsletters
· Cascade information to your group members/friends/service users and encouraging them to also share
· Support service users/friends/colleagues who do not have online access or digital skills to participate and have their views heard
· Tell us on social media when you’ve allocated your points!
If you have any queries or would like to give us feedback, please use the comments boxes in the link or email us at localityplanning@aberdeencity.gov.uk

Community Council Meetings  - Thursday 25  March 2021 Virtual Meeting at 7.00 p.m.

Following the advice of the UK and Scottish Governments to reduce non-essential social contact and avoid public gatherings while the Coronavirus illness spreads, the Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council have decided to cancel face to face meetings. The monthly meetings will be a virtual meeting using the Zoom technology and it will  begin at 7.00 p.m. If residents wish to participate in the meeting please send an email to cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk and we will provide the joining information.

The agenda for the meeting  can be found using this link when ready. If residents have questions or comments to raise for the attention of the Community Council, we ask that you send them by email to cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk by 5 p.m. on the Wednesday before the meeting. We will then respond to you after the meeting.

The Community Council will continue to function and deal with matters as they are brought to our attention, working through email and telephone communications. Any residents with questions or concerns on community matters can get in touch with us as usual by email at cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk and through the other contact details published in the MBC News. You can also keep up to date through information published on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cbmcomcouncil) and website (www.cbmcommunity.org.uk).

We hope you understand the reasons for this action and thank you for your support.

You can find what you need to know about COVID-19 by following the link to our Coronavirus information page.

 

Cults Station Change of Use to a Food and Drink Business - Cults

A new planning application in Cults is attracting a significant number of comments so we thought we should bring it to the attention of others who may not be aware of it.
It is: 210140/DPP | Change of use to class 3 (food and drink) with outdoor seating area including alterations to a shop front; re-cladding; installation of doors, rooflights and roof repairs with associated works | Former Cults Railway Station Station Road Cults Aberdeen AB15 9NP.
A couple of photos are attached and you will find more details of the proposal on the Aberdeen City Planning website at;
The Community Council will be reviewing the application at the February meeting.
Photos:
 

Pros and Cons - Binghill House - Active retirement community (circa 60 units in mix of apartments, cottages and houses and 20-bed nursing home) including small-scale local shop and café, community allotments and associated infrastructure

Our thanks to the Milltimber residents who responded to our request for input to the Pros and Cons document relating to the proposed development in the grounds of Binghill House (Application 200750). Seven people provided their comments by email and through Facebook and these have been incorporated  into the initial draft prepared by the Community Council – the revised version can be found HERE.

The Pre-determination hearing for the Planning Development Management Committee (PDMC) was held on 15 March following which the Planning Officer will prepare a report with recommendations on the application for consideration by the PDMC.

Binghill House Development - Milltimber

Binghill House Milltimber (ACC Planning Reference 200750)

This development application was discussed at the 23rd July 2020 Community Council meeting and again at the meeting on 26 November 2020. After careful consideration at the July meeting, while noting that around 150 Milltimber residents have submitted an objection to the development, the Community Council felt the need for retirement homes in the Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber area, particularly those including bungalows, and the benefits this would bring outweighed the local objections and submitted a letter of conditional support for the development. Subsequent to this letter being submitted, further discussions with ACC Planning and with the developer highlighted that some of the conditions the Community Council would like to see applied to the development can not be enforced through planning approval. Our discussions with the applicant gave us comfort that they are keen to address our concerns, but that they could only do this as and when the proposal proceeds to a more detailed stage. When the application was discussed again at the November meeting, the Community Council agreed to modify its position to one of neutrality (see link).

The developer put forward some additional proposals on 13 January 2021. After carefully reviewing the additional Heritage, Landscape and Design Statements provided by the applicant and taking the opportunity to listen to the views of a number of local objectors who joined our virtual CBMCC meeting on 28 January to discuss their concerns, the Community Council has now agreed to submit a letter of objection to the development proposal. The letter can be seen in this link.

The Community Council Community Plan for the area of Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber still recognises the need for the building of smaller retirement homes, in particular 2/3 bedroom bungalows and we hope to see developers come forward with this type of proposal rather than the repeated applications to build large detached homes.

 

The Compass Project

The Camphill Wellbeing Trust are excited to announce the launch of COMPASS, a new project to transform the former Waldorf School site into a centre demonstrating practical solutions for healthy, sustainable lifestyles.

The site on Craigton Road, Cults, Aberdeen is owned by Camphill Estates and has been unoccupied since the closure of the Waldorf School in 2014. Keen not to lose the potential of this naturally beautiful & historic site, CWT are taking it on to host COMPASS, with plans to create inclusive spaces that serve and engage the local and wider community of Aberdeen City & Shire.

Project updates can be found using these links:

January 2021              February 2021

This is also available to download from the Compass webpage: https://www.camphillwellbeing.org.uk/compass

COMPASS is envisaged as a place where the ethos and practices successfully pioneered for those with learning disabilities by the North-East Camphill organisations will be translated to benefit all who want to improve their health, maintain their wellbeing or explore a more sustainable lifestyle.

The project will showcase:

  • - sustainable building practices with conservation of the listed main building & sensitive repurposing of the others
  • - an integrated, creative health & education approach, supported by the natural & built environment
  • - sustainable social enterprise projects serving the local community and involving those with learning disabilities
  • - organic/biodynamic land use with nutritious food production, demonstration allotments, bee hives, wild flower meadow and woodland
  • - repair, reuse & recycle practices minimising waste and encouraging sustainability

Field at Friarsfield.

Field owned by Aberdeen City Council at Friarsfield - Update.
The Community Council has now learnt that the City Council is in active negotiations with the Compass project of the Camphill Wellbeing Trust to lease the field below the former Waldorf School. Compass is a new project to transform the former Waldorf School site into a centre demonstrating practical solutions for healthy, sustainable lifestyles.
This is excellent news. The City Council have stated that it will not be appealing to the Scottish Government about the exclusion of the bid to use the field for housing from the Aberdeen Local Development Plan 2022 and if, for any reason, the lease does not go ahead the Community Council will be notified and the future of the field discussed further.

The Community Council would like to thanks all those who have responded to its request for views about the future use of the field. We had over 50 responses to the poster and postings on our website and Facebook page about the future use of the field below the former Waldorf school.Thanks to all those who responded.  Those received before the 20 January have been analysed and a report, copy attached, was considered and approved by the Community Council at its meeting on the 28th January.  The CC is in-touch with the Camphill Wellbeing Trust and we will let you know the outcome of the negotiations about the lease.

The scale and content of the response from the community has been very heartening. These views  will also inform the current review of the Community Council’s Community Plan. (http://www.cbmcommunity.org.uk/community-plan/).

The various suggestions made for the use of the field will collated and sent to the Camphill Wellbeing Trust to let them know local residents’ views about possible uses of the field

See further details here

Cults Medical Group Practice Update

Thank you to all who submitted a question to the Cults Medical Group. The team have reviewed the questions and provided responses to them - the questions posed and their responses can be found in this document link.
If these answers prompt you to raise some additional questions, you can submit your questions directly to the practice for the attention of   Yvonne Spalding at gram.cultsadministrator@nhs.scot

If you wish to share any comments with the Community Council please send them to us at: cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk

 

Countesswells Development - Phase 2 Masterplan

Residents, neighbours and members of the public are being invited to shape the plans for the next stage of development at the growing new town of Countesswells. The first phase received planning permission in 2016 and the consortium is now designing the next phese.
The developers, Countesswells Development Limited, will host a live and interactive session on the project website Countesswellsconsultation.co.uk
on Tuesday 8th December between 4pm and 7pm.
The design and project management team are working on a masterplan for the second phase of the development, which represents a £1billion investment in creating a new town that will, when completed, deliver 3,000 new homes within distinctive neighbourhoods and a town centre with two primary schools and a secondary school, along with other community facilities and businesses.
They are eager for local people, including residents and prospective buyers, as well as relevant, interested parties to participate in the consultation so that their views and aspirations can be considered. The feedback will be used to further inform the design proposal which will go to Aberdeen City Council as part of the masterplan approval process.

The outline proposal, which can be found online at Countesswellsconsultation.co.uk  will build upon the key design concepts and principles established within the adopted Countesswells Development Framework and Phase 1 Masterplan.

Feedback can be submitted to: Countesswellsconsultation@ryden.co.uk or printed and posted to: Countesswells Consultation, Ryden LLP, 25 Albyn Place, Aberdeen, AB10 1YL.
Hard copies of the exhibition material or feedback forms can be requested from the same email address, or by calling Ryden LLP on 01224 569655.
 

Spaces For People – Cults - 17 July 2020

Thank you for your feedback on the proposals from Aberdeen City Council for creating wider pavements to allow continued social distancing in the centre of Cults. We had lots of comments and the view was overwhelmingly against the proposed measures. We have written to Aberdeen City Council expressing our objection to the proposals and asking them to reconsider their plans - our response can be read HERE. We are still interested in hearing your views and feedback on the proposals if you have not yet sent them in so that we can continue to discuss the proposals with Council Officers. You can comment on the post or send an email to us at:   cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk

The City Council is working under the current Coronavirus Regulations and following Scottish Government guidance on “Safer Public Spaces for Scotland”, and using funding granted to it by the Scottish Government to enable social distancing on streets in shopping areas. It should be noted that these powers are delegated to the Local Authority and they are not controlled by your elected City Councillors.

The proposals affect parking in the centre of Cults, with the removal of most on road parking to allow the creation of wider pavements so that people can pass keeping a distance of 2 m. from others walking or queuing on the pavement. This file shows the areas affected and a summary can be read in this file.

Consultation - Aberdeen City Local Development Plan 2022

Some planning applications can generate a large interest. The starting point for most planning activity in our area is the Aberdeen Local Development Plan (and at a higher level, the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Plan). The time to steer the direction development takes in our city is when that plan is prepared. The current plan was issued in 2017 and the next version of the plan has been available for consultation, the consultation period closed on 31 August 2020.

 Your Community Council has reviewed the proposed plan and the proposed submissions from developers and submitted comments, supporting the Aberdeen City Council view that no further major developments in Lower Deeside can be justified for inclusion in the plan. The response can be viewed by following this link.

Previous experience tells us that as well as responding to the Proposed Plan, we should also review once more the proposals put forward by developers in the Main Issues Report 2019 which were rejected as unsuitable to be included in the Plan. No doubt developers who are unhappy with the City Council’s decisions will put their views forward at the Public Examination in 2021 so it is important that community views are clearly expressed to the Scottish Government Reporter (see what happened at Milltimber South). We have done this.

You can find the Proposed Plan and all associated documents at:
https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/…/aberdeen-local-developmen…

which takes you to the relevant page of the City Council website. Please take time to look a them and make your comments to the Council planners through the link provided an that page.

 

The Main Issues Report (MIR) has been published as part of the process in preparation for the 2022 Aberdeen Local Development Plan. It is designed to gather views on specific proposals and sets out options for dealing with the key planning matters facing Aberdeen over the next 20 years.

The MIR and associated documents were available for a 10-week public consultation which  ended on 13 May 2019.  The Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council prepared a response to the issues and questions posed and you can read those by clicking the following link here.

 
We encourage residents to read our proposed response and contact the Community Council if you have any questions or additional comments, as well as submitting their own comments to ACC.
UPDATE: you can see the proposed Community Council position on each of the developer proposals in the document accessed through this link;
or this link to the excel spreadsheet
 
 

Milltimber South Development

Bancon Homes and the Seven Incorporated Trades have now applied for planning permission in principle to build “up to 99 houses” and 2000m2 of commercial or retail space on the open land South of the North Deeside Road in Milltimber. You can find all the details of the application 200535 on the Aberdeen City Council website under Planning at this LINK

It is most important that the City Council receives as wide a range of community views on this application as possible so please take a look at the proposals and make your comments as soon as possible. You can do this by letter, email or through the Council’s planning website. The closing date is 4 June so there is no time to lose!
The documents do not provide details of the types of houses proposed - those details will come in a detailed planning application. However you should note that the proposed number of houses is 99 which is greater than the 60 proposed by the Scottish Reporter.

The Community Council will of course be submitting its own comments

The earlier news which may have pleased many of our residents in Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber - especially Milltimber. The Aberdeen City Council approved the proposed Local Development Plan for the City which, once it has gone through the normal consultation and review processes, should come into effect in 2022. The proposed plan includes the decision to remove Development Opportunity Site OP114 from the plan; this site is the land proposed for the Milltimber South development south of the North Deeside Road.
Before you crack open the champagne, there are likely to be some challenges to the decision and it is only the proposed plan. There is a current Local Development Plan, issued in 2017, which includes the development site following the intervention of the Scottish Reporter. However it is a positive step towards retaining the green fields.
The public will be given the opportunity to comment on the proposed Local Development Plan in the near future.

 

The Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership issued its "West Locality Plan (2017 - 2019)" some time ago but it is still valid.  It may be viewed here. Following a decision to move to three Localities, our area will now be part of the South Locality and the West Locality will no longer exist.

 

Road Traffic Closures

Click here to see pending road closures in our area.

Safety and Security At Home and Out and About

Click here to see the latest safety and security advice from Police Scotland and The Neighbourhood Watch network.

Safety on the Old Deeside Line

Please click here to view the report of the events regarding Safety Events on the Old Deeside Line (ODL)

 

Donate to MBCBM - More Blooms In Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber

The Community Council is seeking funds to sustain its annual flower tubs and baskets programme. If you are considering a donation to MBCBM, the Community Council funded activity to bring plants and colour to our surroundings, please click here.

Community Resilience Plan

This has now been uploaded to the web,  click here.

Food Caddy Liners For Recycling May 2019

Online ordering of food caddy liners will cease on the 31st May 2019. From the 1st June free liners will only be available from distribution points throughout the city. There are currently 37 distribution points across the city. A map of sites is available using this link to the Aberdeen City website.
https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/…/request-bins-and-collect-…

Additional distribution points have been identified and will shortly be added to the map. The recycling team is working on increasing the number of distribution points further to improve accessibility and availability to the householder. The team would welcome any suggestions you may have for new outlets.

It is recognised that some residents may have difficulty accessing a distribution point and we have collaborated with the Home Library Service to continue deliver to these residents. For more information please visit: https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/…/libr…/home-library-service

Residents can contact the Waste and Recycling Team by logging an enquiry at https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/…/b…/waste-general-enquiries for advice and assistance.

The change will be communicated to the public via a press release, social media and the Council website.

Additional distribution points
• Home Library Service Airyhall Library Springfield Road Aberdeen AB15 7RF
• Inchgarth Community Centre Aboyne Pl, Aberdeen AB10 7DR
• Ferryhill Community Centre Albury Road, Aberdeen, AB11 6TN
• Books and Beans Café 22 Belmont Street, AB10 1JH
• CFINE 2-4 Poynernook Road, AB11 5RW
• Multi-Cultural Centre 472 George Street AB25 1ER

New sections on Walks and Footpath Group have been uploaded.

Various walks that have been previously published in the MBCNews.  The walks may now be seen on line and may also be downloaded in printable form so that they may easily be reproduced for taking on a walk.   Details of the Footpath Group which inspired these walks may be seen here.

The members of the Community Council and their primary responsibilities are;

Guus Glass - Chair, Health and Social Care, Resilience Planning
Peter Roberts - Vice Chair and Meetings Secretary, Facebook
Graham Payne - Treasurer, More Blooms in CBM, website, Twitter
Colin Morsley - Planning Liaison, Roads and Traffic
David Anstee - Public Transport
Eleanor Brennan - Diversity and Equality, MBC Festival
Lindsay Davidson - Christmas Lights
Matthew Dickie - Newton Dee
Del Ellbec - Heritage
Joe Ochei - Youth and Education
Tania Qadir
Jim Smith
Peter Smith - Footpath group, Community Plan
Christine Taylor - Planning support

Associate Member -Alistair Mckinnon

You can contact the Community Council at cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk

Community Council Submissions to Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Plan Main Issues and Aberdeen City Local Development Plan Main Issues

The Community Council has submitted comments on the Main Issues Report issued for the update of the Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Plan and you can read those here.
The Community Council has also submitted comments for matters to be addressed within the Main Issues Report which is being prepared for the next update of the Aberdeen City Local Development Plan and you can read those here. The Main Issues Report is scheduled to be issued for public comment in January 2019.

 

 

Consultation on Safety on the Old Deeside Railway Line.

Your views, comments and ideas welcome.

The Cults Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council have  drafted a paper on safety issues pertaining to users of the Deeside Way,  the Old Deeside Railway Line and is keen to receive the comments of  residents, local organisations and businesses.  To view the paper click here.

 All comments  will be collated anonymously and acted upon as appropriate.  Your identity will not be disclosed.

Consultation on draft Community Plan,

Your views, comments and ideas welcome.

The Cults Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council have  drafted a local Community Plan  and is keen to receive the comments of  residents, local organisations and businesses.  To view the Plan click here.    The Community Plan may be downloaded here as a pdf file as can the Appendices.   A hard copy is available for consultation at Cults library.

You can respond  on-line under each section or by entering  your comments on a response sheet, which can also be downloaded here and returned by email to cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk or by post to CBMCC at: 188 North Deeside Road, Milltimber, AB13 0HL. Copies of the response sheet are also available at Cults Library.

 All comments,  however received,  will be collated anonymously and acted upon as appropriate.  Your identity will not be disclosed.

Recently Submitted Planning Applications

Click here to see the recently submitted planning applications for the Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber area. If you want to bring any comments on an application, either objections or words of support, to the Community Councils's attention please contact us at cbmcc@cbmcommunity.org.uk