2007
Do politicians have a death wish?
17/12/07 23:01 Filed in: Granite Chips
Judging by the letters and columns in the newspapers, I am not the the only one who is watching the ever unfolding Trump saga with growing disbelief.
First Aberdeenshire Council get themselves into a total guddle, because a minority committee rejects a planning application. The majority of the councillors are apparently in favour, but the council is unable to refer the decision for ratification by the full council. Now when the £1 billion plan looks like it has been saved by the Scottish Government, other politicians now pop out of the woodwork desperate to stick more spokes in the wheel and, potentially, derail the plan. Read More...
First Aberdeenshire Council get themselves into a total guddle, because a minority committee rejects a planning application. The majority of the councillors are apparently in favour, but the council is unable to refer the decision for ratification by the full council. Now when the £1 billion plan looks like it has been saved by the Scottish Government, other politicians now pop out of the woodwork desperate to stick more spokes in the wheel and, potentially, derail the plan. Read More...
Aberdeenshire Council moves to sort itself out
12/12/07 13:38 Filed in: Granite Chips
The removal of Councillor Martin Ford from the chairmanship of the Infrastructure Services Committee and the decision that major projects must be capable of consideration by the full council go some way to sorting out the Trump mess at Aberdeenshire Council. We can also take heart from the support demonstrated by the full council for the Trump International Golf Links Scotland development. Read More...
Credibility of Aberdeenshire Council is on the line
04/12/07 16:05 Filed in: Granite Chips
It is no exaggeration to say that the credibility of Aberdeenshire Council is on the line as a result of the Trump International Golf Links Scotland debacle. How on earth can a council allow seven councillors to halt a £1.5 million project? That's only around 10% of the councillors on Aberdeenshire Council! Read More...
Trump will not appeal and is looking to Northern Ireland
03/12/07 16:26 Filed in: Granite Chips
Donald Trump has confirmed that he will not appeal Aberdeenshire Council's extraordinary decision of just seven councillors to refuse planning permission for the Trump International Golf Links Scotland development. Reports say he is already talking to landowners at an alternative site in Northern Ireland. Read More...
Councillors' Trump refusal causes outrage
29/11/07 16:55 Filed in: Granite Chips
Why would you turn down the potential of a £1 billion investment to create a prestigious development that would not only draw thousands of visitors to Aberdeen City and Shire, but also focus international attention on the quality of the environment and services here in the North East? Read More...
The Herald corrects Kelvin McKenzie's BBC outburst
04/11/07 11:00 Filed in: Granite Chips
The Herald has come up with the answers to blast Kelvin MacKenzie's outrageous anti-Scots outburst on the BBC Question Time programme. Read More...
D for Darkness and Danger in and around Aberdeen
26/10/07 10:45 Filed in: Granite Chips
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is urging people to take special care following the changing of the clocks early on Sunday morning. Indeed RoSPA goes further and is calling for the Government to keep the clocks one hour forward. RoSPA claim this would save 450 lives and serious injuries each year.
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Kelvin MacKenzie promotes Scottish independence
12/10/07 09:16 Filed in: Granite Chips
Kelvin McKenzie's outburst on the BBC Question Time programme where he said that the Scots love to spend (Britain's) money but don't like to earn it, is the sort of racist comment that fuels the drive towards Scottish independence. Read More...
It's whose oil?
04/09/07 10:28 Filed in: Granite Chips
The Offshore Europe conference and exhibition opens in Aberdeen today, with delegates from a hundred countries converging on the city for the biggest oil exhibition outside the USA. True to form, if you are not in Aberdeen you probably don't know it is happening. That's a shame, because the role of North Sea Oil in underpinning the UK economy is something that is all too easily forgotten. Read More...
Scottish Executive becomes Scottish Government
03/09/07 19:03 Filed in: Granite Chips
Scottish Ministers have formally adopted the title Scottish Government to replace the term Scottish Executive as an expression of corporate identity. Read More...
Direct USA flights are good news for Aberdeen
03/09/07 09:57 Filed in: Granite Chips
At the time when the Offshore Europe Exhibition is about to open its doors, the news that Aberdeen will finally have a direct air link with Houston, Texas, starting in January is excellent news. Read More...
Road safety expert group to look at reducing Scottish toll
01/09/07 10:39 Filed in: Granite Chips
An expert group that will advise the government on road safety issues was announced yesterday by Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson. Read More...
Transport hits the headlines in Aberdeen, yet again
31/08/07 16:15 Filed in: Granite Chips
Transport seems to be constantly in the headlines in Aberdeen. Perhaps it is no wonder considering how our transport infrastructure was largely ignored during the period when the North Sea Oil industry baled out UK plc. Read More...
Independence within the United Kingdom?
14/08/07 13:57 Filed in: Granite Chips
The Scottish Government has put forward its proposals for a referendum on independence, with the launch of what it calls Scotland's Future: A National Conversation. Read More...
Aberdeen special needs' workshop nominated for top UK food award
10/08/07 13:52 Filed in: Granite Chips
Well done to all the lads and lassies at Newton Dee Bakery which has been nominated for Local Hero 2007 in celebrity chef Gary Rhodes' UKTV award scheme. Read More...
Scottish Broadcasting commission is step in right direction
09/08/07 10:05 Filed in: Granite Chips
The First Minister's decision to set up a Scottish Broadcasting Commission has to be a step in the right direction. Read More...
Kingswells roundabout drivers risk endorsement
03/08/07 09:32 Filed in: Granite Chips
Being involved in a near miss involving four cars at the Kingswells roundabout this morning highlights the risks that impatient drivers are taking with their safety and others... and with endorsements on their licences. Read More...
Putting Energy Institute in Glasgow is utterly illogical
16/07/07 17:41 Filed in: Granite Chips
The news that Glasgow is likely to be the Scottish centre for the UK Government's proposed Energy Technologies Institute is completely illogical. It is like establishing an institute of crofting research in Swindon, or putting a financial services institute in Barra. Read More...
Delay for the Aberdeen by-pass is a disappointment
29/06/07 10:38 Filed in: Granite Chips
The announcement by the Minister for Transport, Stewart Stevenson, that the completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) would not now be until 2012 is extremely disappointing. But it is not surprising.
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Credit where it is due? North Sea oil 'airbrushed out of history'
29/06/07 10:33 Filed in: Granite Chips
Some of us in Aberdeen City and Shire wonder whether people in London and the Home Counties ever bother to stop and think what it was that built our current strong economy? Do they ever wonder where most of this country's energy comes from? Read More...
Controversy about Scottish Prime Ministers
27/06/07 10:40 Filed in: Granite Chips
I simply cannot understand this controversy about Scottish Prime Ministers, which seems to have been whipped up at the time of Gordon Brown's elevation to the Premiership.
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Remember summer 2007
26/06/07 10:44 Filed in: Granite Chips
Time to express your opinion on Trump International Golf Links
26/06/07 10:42 Filed in: Granite Chips
The £1 billion Trump International Golf Links Scotland plan for Menie Park, just north of Aberdeen, goes before Aberdeenshire Councillors in a few weeks time. So now is the chance to have your say on whether it should be approved - and you can do so in just a few seconds online! Read More...
What ever happened to the Scottish strawberry?
10/06/07 10:45 Filed in: Granite Chips
Remember when Scottish strawberries were a mouth-watering taste of the best soft fruit in the world? Now, if you buy them in supermarkets strawberries are tasteless and unexciting. Why? Read More...
Don't lose the Trump opportunity over SNH
31/05/07 10:46 Filed in: Granite Chips
The SNH objection to Donald Trump's proposed Trump International Golf Links must not be allowed to stop the £1 billion development. As Aberdeen City and Shire looks to build on its role as a global centre for energy, what better boost could we have for our economy than the best golf complex in the world? Read More...
Don't let us have a North/South battle
30/05/07 10:47 Filed in: Granite Chips
The suggestions (probably mischievous) that the Scottish Government is planning to ditch the massively expensive plans for trams and a rail link to Edinburgh Airport in favour of dualling the A9 road to Inverness have been orchestrated to try and create conflict. The schemes should be looked at on their merit. Read More...
Teenage Deputy Provost for Aberdeen stirs comment
17/05/07 10:49 Filed in: Granite Chips
The news that Aberdeen is to have a teenager as deputy Lord Provost and that two other councillors in their early 20s will take control of powerful committees on Aberdeen City Council has produced a froth of coverage in the media.
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The people have spoken, don't defy their will
15/05/07 10:51 Filed in: Granite Chips
As Scotland looks forward to the appointment of a new Government, following one of the most exciting election battles for years, the Lib Dem spokesman this morning took a swipe at the SNP. Basically he was sounding remarkably like Gordon Brown, in effect saying that they wouldn't work with anyone who wanted independence. Read More...
Politicians need to focus on sustaining, not milking, the oil and gas industry
13/05/07 10:52 Filed in: Granite Chips
The UK North Sea oil and gas industry, which is predominantly controlled and operated out of Aberdeen, provides the UK with 75% of its prime energy needs. By 2020 it is estimated that figure will rise to a staggering 80%. It also sustains something like 400,000 jobs in the UK. Read More...
E&M closure is sad news for Aberdeen
25/04/07 11:43 Filed in: Granite Chips
The news that Esslemont & Macintosh is to close with the loss of more than 100 jobs is sad news for Aberdeen. E&Ms has been a local institution for more than a century and was Aberdeen's last remaining department store with real local roots - albeit that it had been bought out of local ownership by Owen & Owen, only for that company to crash into administration.
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Summer in April
14/04/07 11:45 Filed in: Granite Chips
Aberdeen City & Shire was the hot spot of the UK and one of the hottest spots in Europe today with temperatures in the city topping 20C and going even higher in some places. Read More...
Think local when filling your car
11/04/07 11:44 Filed in: Granite Chips
Remember when getting a loaf of bread or a pint of milk meant just a short walk if you lived in any North East town (or a short drive in Aberdeenshire) to the local corner shop? Now you probably make a family excursion to your nearest Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's or Morrisons. Now think about refuelling your car. Remember when refuelling the car was something you did when the fuel light came on? Oh, fuel light on, there's a station... fill up. Read More...
Haudagain needs a flyover
27/03/07 11:46 Filed in: Granite Chips
In response to the Evening Express transport survey in which 55% of all respondents identified the Haudagain roundabout (junction of the A90 south, A90 north and A96) as the worst traffic blackspot in Aberdeen and the call by 75% of respondents for a flyover or underpass, the paper reports Transport Minister Tavish Scott as saying that the option is being considered. Read More...
Trevipark automated parking step in right direction
26/03/07 11:47 Filed in: Granite Chips
News that a new underground automated parking system is being proposed for Golden Square has to be good news. It potentially solves the problem of the unsightly clutter of parked cars in one of Aberdeen's most magnificent squares, while also providing much-needed additional parking to help re-vitalise our city centre. Read More...
A96 upgrade overdue
15/03/07 11:48 Filed in: Granite Chips
As someone who will usually take roads like the Lecht over to Tomintoul rather than brave the dreaded A96, it was good to hear the First Minister Jack McConnell say that he believed the A96 should "probably" be the next priority for upgrading. (Of course, one has to recognise the timing of his comments, just weeks before a parliamentary election at which he hopes Labour will have enough support for him to serve a new term as First Minister.) Read More...
Toll taxes - a reprieve
12/03/07 11:49 Filed in: Granite Chips
In something of a U-turn (hope he checked U-turns were allowed before carrying out the manoeuvre) Tavish Scott, the Scottish Transport Minister, has apparently said that the toll tax will not fall on Scotland's road users for at least four years. Read More...
Road work blues
14/02/07 11:50 Filed in: Granite Chips
If, like me, you recall a fanfare at Christmas time about the road works on Market Street being completed, you may also have found out how much of a false dawn that was Read More...