The U67K, from East Tilbouries until Altries Cottage, Maryculter will be closed on Friday 7th May 2021 for one day, as BT will be installing a new pole.
Site notices will be erected in due course indicating the temporary restriction to traffic and the diversion route via U67K – B9077 – U67K and vice versa.
Welcome to the KDP Bulletin.
Co-op Local Community Fund
The Co-op Local Community Fund supports projects across the UK, by giving local causes a helping hand each time a member buys selected Co-op branded products and services.
If your project helps people access food, improves mental wellbeing, or provides opportunities for young people, apply here from 4 May.
To be considered for a grant or support from the Co-op, groups must sign-up to the Co-op’s new information sharing platform – Co-Operate. Registration should take around 10 minutes.
For more information on Co-Operate or the Local Community Fund, contact the Coop Member Pioneer, Stewart Aitken – stewart.aitken@coop.co.uk.
Survey: Let’s Discuss Mental Health in Primary Care
Health and Social Care Scotland and the BMA have launched a survey to gather thoughts, opinions, and experiences of mental health in primary care.
Responses are anonymous and will be used to inform future key strategic work and conversations at a national level.
The survey is open to colleagues, from across Scotland, working within primary care, health and social care, third and voluntary sector, and people with lived experience of mental health problems, and their carers.
Link to survey.
The survey will close on Monday 26 April 2021.
Hillhead of Auquhirie
Hillhead of Auquhirie Wind Farm Community Fund is open until 30th June 2021.
Applications to the fund can be made from groups and projects which benefit the communities living in the community council areas of:
Click here for the application form and guidelines.
Volunteer Recruitment in Kincardine & Mearns
A Bulletin highlighting volunteering opportunities across Kincardine and Mearns is to be launched soon; bringing volunteering organisations & volunteers together.
If you would like to feature your volunteer roles in this new K&M bulletin, contact Sandra.McGuigan@AVAshire.org.uk by Friday 23rd April for a launch early May.
They are particularly keen to know about volunteering possibilities for people looking to develop their experience. Would you be able to provide voluntary opportunities in social media, admin, customer service, manual handling, workshop experience, care etc?
The volunteer roles will be shared in:
Magic Little Grants Fund
The Magic Little Grants Fund provides charitable organisations the opportunity to access funding to deliver a range of projects which can fit several themes including improving mental wellbeing, enabling community participation in the arts and many more. Grants can also be used to cover core business costs.
Applications are open until the 31st of October 2021 and you will receive a decision within eight weeks.
For a full list of themes and how to apply, click here.
Community Food and Health Scotland
CFHS’ latest newsletter has lots of useful information around community food initiatives and the response to the pandemic.
Brand for Growth (BfG)
Charities and Social Enterprises can apply to benefit from a fully funded re-evaluation of their brand.
Successful applicants will embark on a bespoke rebranding exercise to align and strengthen the organisation for the new future. Curated by Community Enterprise, backed by the Scottish Government’s third sector division and delivered by ethical brand specialists Bold Studio. Closes 30 April.
Find out more here.
The Big Lunch 2021
The Big Lunch is a chance to celebrate community connections and get to know one another a little better. The big date is 5-6 June – join in online, on your doorstep, or over the fence.
It might be a little different again, but this year there are more reasons than ever to get together for community, friendship, and fun.
Sign up for a free Big Lunch pack full of tips and ideas on hosting your own event!
KDP is here to help in any way we can. Please let us know how we can support you or your organisation. We will continue to share information and guidance in our Bulletins, however, due to the speed of change and quantity of information, the most current details will be found on our Facebook page (@kincardineshiredevelopmentpartnership).
Should you wish to get in touch, our contact details are as follows:
Jacky Niven Development Officer jniven@kdp.scot
Margo Titmuss Office/Windfarm Admin officesupport@kdp.scot
All of this information was correct at time of writing.
Doorstep Crime, Scams & Safety Bulletin ~ No. 19
Doorstep Crime
Reported instances of doorstep crime have been low recently but we mustn’t become complacent about this. Traditionally, this is the time of year we’d expect to see an upturn in the number of incidents reported as the weather improves (hopefully!). To a large degree, this increase is due to one main type of doorstep crime: Rogue Traders. These types of crime usually involve seasonal work such as driveways being tarred, trees being trimmed or felled and rooves being ‘repaired’. We’ll have more to say about this type of crime, and doorstep crime in general, in our next bulletin as part of the Shut Out Scammers 2021 campaign.
If you have been the victim of a Doorstep Crime or an attempted crime, whether Bogus Caller or Rogue Trader, please report the matter to Consumer Advice Scotland so that Trading Standards can build a detailed, ongoing picture of the activities of these scammers throughout the Shire. This would be a great help to us to tackle this sort of crime.
Scams
One area which we’ve not touched on before is dating site scams. One resident recently struck up a friendship on a dating site with a man who said he was in the British Army. As messages were exchanged, the man stated that he wanted to buy his way out of the Army and asked the resident to buy him a small sum of Amazon vouchers and send the details of these to him to achieve this, which she did (this is the ‘test’ part of the scam, to see if the victim is kind-hearted enough to part with money). The man then came back to the resident to say that he needed another, larger amount of vouchers bought which, thankfully, the resident refused. The scam was based primarily on the vouchers being exchanged for cash by the scammer at his end and the cash being given to the Army for the buy-out. Please remember that Amazon vouchers can only be legitimately used on Amazon’s website, not redeemed for cash. At first mention of Amazon vouchers being used for anything other than on the Amazon website, alarm bells should be ringing in your mind. The scam was also based on the man being what he said he was which through time was shown not to be true (This is the basis of many types of internet scam such as dating scams or ‘sextortion’ scams). Finally, if you wouldn’t part with money or money’s worth to someone you know well and trust, you shouldn’t part with it to someone you hardly know, even if dating is an element in the mix, until you are absolutely sure that they are what they say they are.
Residents continue to receive texts from ‘Royal Mail’, claiming that a parcel has not been delivered due to a shortage in the postage paid. The texts usually include a hyperlink to click on to make payment of the additional postage. Clearly, this is a scam. Royal Mail do not operate in this way (for example, how would they have obtained someone’s mobile phone number?). If you receive such a text, please do not respond to it and if you’re unsure, seek advice from Trading Standards or Consumer Advice Scotland. Texts like these can also be sent to 7726, which is a free reporting service run by Ofcom.
A similar scam which was recently reported involving a resident who received a text from ‘Hermes’ advising of an undelivered parcel. The text also attempted to persuade the resident to pay charges for re-delivery of the parcel. However, the text also asked for the resident’s personal details and the date of the previous attempted delivery was set in the future. Also, the web page (www.misseddelivery.com/Hermes) does not exist. The resident did not respond but did report the scam to Trading Standards.
Although not in our area, I think it’s worth highlighting that one resident in another Local Authority received a phone call at home from someone from BT Openreach requesting remote access to their computer to prevent a hacker gaining access. Rightly discerning that the caller WAS the hacker, the resident refused the request and hung up. Please remember that you should NEVER give remote access to your devices to an unexpected caller, no matter who they say they are nor how genuine they sound. Simply hang up, then report the matter to the Police and/or Trading Standards, dependent on the circumstances.
Please note that the advice given in these bulletins has been deliberately kept simple, so that if you are faced with a scenario such as the ones discussed here where fear, panic and alarm are often tools used deliberately by scammers, you will know what to do at that time. Remember; after the initial panic is over, you may have rights which Trading Standards can help you with.
Contact
For urgent Trading Standards matters, contact Aberdeenshire Council’s Trading Standards at 01467 537222. For non-urgent enquiries, please contact Consumer Advice Scotland at https://www.consumeradvice.scot/ or on 0808 164 6000.
Contact Police Scotland on 999 if you need urgent assistance or 101 for nonurgent matters.
For more information about scams please visit Friends Against Scams at https://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/ Please direct any media queries to news@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or 01467 538222 during office hours.
The road works on the U63K Kirkton of Maryculter at the junction with Millbank have been extended until Monday 26th April 2021.
Aberdeenshire Council – Weekly List 19 April 2021
The applications on the attached list have been Registered last week within the Kincardine & Mearns Area of Aberdeenshire Council and can be viewed using the online Planning Register (https://upa.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/online-applications/).
Any person wishing to make comment on an application should do so by the date specified in the list. Please note the date for comment will extend if neighbour notification or advertisement is required. Please quote the reference number and state clearly the grounds for making comment.
Comments can be submitted using the Planning Register when viewing the application. Alternatively, comments can be addressed to Aberdeenshire Council, Planning and Environment Service, Viewmount, Arduthie Road, Stonehaven, AB39 2DQ (or emailed to planningonline@aberdeenshire.gov.uk). Please note that any comment made will be published on the Planning Register.
Please note that some applications require to have site notices posted at the site. As a result of Covid-19, the Scottish Government has passed emergency legislation which now removes this requirement. The alternative is that these notices will be published in the documentation associated with the relevant planning application file published online on the Council’s Planning Public Access Register.
Head of Planning and Environment Service
2021 04 19 Weekly List of Planning Applications – Kincardine & Mearns