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<title>Granite Chips blog</title><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/index.html</link><description>News and views from Aberdeen</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2007-08 Aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:rights><dc:date>2009-12-21T13:20:19+00:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:41:08 +0000</lastBuildDate><item><title>Green light for Aberdeen by-pass</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-12-21T13:20:19+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cbb3f15179fde1f1e03da0581da1ba3e-130.html#unique-entry-id-130</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cbb3f15179fde1f1e03da0581da1ba3e-130.html#unique-entry-id-130</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Aberdeen by-pass has finally been given the green light, but the Scottish Government&rsquo;s announcement does seem to be back-pedalling on the commitment to build the AWPR by the Transport Minister&rsquo;s date of 2012. 


...The project gained momentum in 2003 when then First Minister, Jack McConnell confirmed that the Scottish Government would fund 81% of the route, with the remainder being paid by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils. 

...The new bridge was to cross the Dee around where Sainsbury&rsquo;s supermarket is now, it was to have linked to both the outer by-pass and the Anderson Drive ring road. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Get traffic moving says transport chief</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-12-18T15:09:21+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3cd80afe7e6b463e12a91b4403237426-129.html#unique-entry-id-129</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3cd80afe7e6b463e12a91b4403237426-129.html#unique-entry-id-129</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[He is even quoted as saying that bus lanes should be opened to cars with passengers, something that has been regularly urged in recent years &ndash; including this blog. 


...Well there was some sort of garbled suggestion that buses might have to stop at bus stops and cars in the bus lanes might get held up behind them. 

...Oh, and as an add-on to that, everyone would go out and get tailor&rsquo;s dummies or blow-up dolls to put in the passenger&rsquo;s seat so they could drive in the 2+ lanes!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Union Square city centre linkage</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-12-04T10:18:31+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/f36d212cb5f8edcd43ce793508abf4a9-128.html#unique-entry-id-128</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/f36d212cb5f8edcd43ce793508abf4a9-128.html#unique-entry-id-128</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But the big issue with Union Square is still the linkage of the development with the city centre and the other main shopping centres &ndash; notably Bon-Accord and St Nicholas. 


I simply cannot understand how the Union Square plans were allowed to progress over a period of ten years without any definite plan of how to link it with Union Street and the other shopping centres!


...I remember some years ago a monorail was suggested to run in a loop from the Union Square and the station, up Bridge Street and over the heads of pedestrians in Union Street to the upper deck of St Nicholas. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Danger on country roads</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-11-12T09:45:42+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6f089831af5c0c8212a94af28c3b7098-127.html#unique-entry-id-127</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6f089831af5c0c8212a94af28c3b7098-127.html#unique-entry-id-127</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The fatal accident yesterday on the B977 underlines, yet again, the increasing pressure that is being put on totally unsuitable roads west of Aberdeen as we wait, and wait, and wait for the promised Aberdeen by-pass.


As someone who has to commute from north of Aberdeen, to the south side I use these roads regularly and, quite frankly, the number of trucks on these narrow twisty B and C-roads is quite frightening. 


...The Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson confirmed that this was due to problems with some of the orders not complying with EU regulations and the fact that there was no contingency time built in.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump golf centre work starts</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-10-28T16:18:03+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/36e4cdc01e3aea9ff96b6acc1d54bd1a-126.html#unique-entry-id-126</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/36e4cdc01e3aea9ff96b6acc1d54bd1a-126.html#unique-entry-id-126</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[After three years of sometimes painfully slow progress through our convoluted planning system, now the dream has come true for Donald Trump.


While the plan has had its vocal detractors it seems the majority have seen the establishment of &ldquo;the world&rsquo;s best links course&rdquo; just north of Aberdeen as a huge economic opportunity for Aberdeen City and Shire.


...The potential spin-off, from this much-needed &ldquo;magnet&rdquo; development that will draw visitors to our area, could be bigger than the Trump development itself. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Traffic gridlock forecast at Union Square</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-10-28T14:32:56+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8cb3c71bac8ce6d9ffe7477df1cd6739-125.html#unique-entry-id-125</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8cb3c71bac8ce6d9ffe7477df1cd6739-125.html#unique-entry-id-125</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Many of us could see the potential for traffic problems when the idea of building over the railhead at Aberdeen Harbour was first mooted. 

...Sores include the Apple Store, Nando&rsquo;s, H&M, Paperchase, Pandora, Rox, Swatch, Tinderbox, TK Maxx, TM Lewin, Urban Kids, USC , Vero Moda, Zara, ASK, Azendi, Boots, Clarks, Costwold and Cult. 


Although there is a 1,700-space car par for the retail development, Police have urged drivers to leave their cars and walk or take public transport to the new shopping centre. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeen to get first car-share lane</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-10-27T18:44:24+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/224af9b76dd2289df3cae4fea2b21a40-124.html#unique-entry-id-124</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/224af9b76dd2289df3cae4fea2b21a40-124.html#unique-entry-id-124</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The idea is to add an additional 2+ (or HOV) northbound lane &ndash; open only to vehicles with two or more people &ndash; to the A90 at Bridge of Dee.


...	&bull;	It would be a welcome move away from the dogma that sets aside precious road space to be underutilised by a few buses and taxis.


...However the element of realism that needs to creep in here is that the new lane will only accelerate people&rsquo;s arrival at the roundabout. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Green body lobbies for energy tax hit</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-10-26T21:25:55+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1a9b96884513ae656b0623d0540f5164-123.html#unique-entry-id-123</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1a9b96884513ae656b0623d0540f5164-123.html#unique-entry-id-123</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Green Fiscal Commission, which includes representatives of all three main UK political parties, is to call on government to introduce these swingeing new taxes.


...There would be a huge irony in a fuel tax hike that would inevitably damage the competitiveness of the North Sea Oil and Gas industry, largely based in Aberdeen. 

...In any case, would the Green Fiscal Commission not be better tackling really significant sources of pollution (ships, poor housing, industry and power generation) rather than going for the much less significant, but soft targets?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Time to adopt European time?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-10-25T13:45:54+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/97d328e7f8db50e1135236242ebd77a3-122.html#unique-entry-id-122</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/97d328e7f8db50e1135236242ebd77a3-122.html#unique-entry-id-122</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There was an increase in the number of accidents during the darker mornings, but this was more than counter-balanced by the reduction in accidents in the evening. 

...This certainly concurs with opinions that school children, in particular, are more vulnerable in evening darkness returning from school (when they are more likely to be playing with school friends and possibly more tired after a day at school).


...Many of us would be very keen to see either British Standard Time return or &ndash; probably more logical &ndash; would be to align our time with Europe which would mean GMT +1 in the winter and GMT + 2 in the summer. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Charity events for Clan</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Events</category><dc:date>2009-10-15T10:32:16+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e8bf11918424e59c21f14e7461f2ca99-121.html#unique-entry-id-121</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e8bf11918424e59c21f14e7461f2ca99-121.html#unique-entry-id-121</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Acumen Group are holding a 5&rsquo;aside football competition to raise money in aid of CLAN. 

...Send your entry details and entry fee to: Acumen Group, 5 Aside Football, Bon Accord House, Riverside Drive, Aberdeen, AB11 7SL. 

...Acumen Group would like to thank GARTHDEE FOOTBALL CENTRE for donating the use of the pitches and First Aid for the event &ndash; WWW.GARTHDEEFOOTBALLCENTRE.ORG.UK For further information contact : Ross Murray or Iain Murray on 01224 573 904
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Licensing board councillor is right</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-20T09:34:26+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0d811821f5c80d918706593c1885e7e1-120.html#unique-entry-id-120</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0d811821f5c80d918706593c1885e7e1-120.html#unique-entry-id-120</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Councillor Cormie says in today&rsquo;s Press and Journal: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting to a stage where youngsters are coming into the city centre from a very early age to shout, scream and misbehave, and they think that is normal behaviour&rdquo;.


...A lively night life is something that many citizens enjoy and as one of the elements of the &lsquo;quality of life&rsquo; in Aberdeen, people should be encouraged to enjoy the city centre and to let their hair down. 

...But, we need to try to find something that will tone down the excesses to let everyone enjoy their city centre and their weekend unwinding after the working week. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What&#x27;s the truth on the buses?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-20T09:15:15+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/874f66fa4285df6b778e6c8a1bff0f18-119.html#unique-entry-id-119</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/874f66fa4285df6b778e6c8a1bff0f18-119.html#unique-entry-id-119</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It doesn&rsquo;t help that the unions are now trying to tell us that the strike this week was not timed to coincide with the schools going back. 

...It must have come as such a surprise when the union found out that the date they had chosen was the first day of school.   Even more surprising when they realised the time they had chosen just happened to be at precisely the time the kids were getting out of school. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Realistic cycling goals</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-16T19:32:16+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/512a90bb4bc0f70e36c99b6699efba6a-118.html#unique-entry-id-118</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/512a90bb4bc0f70e36c99b6699efba6a-118.html#unique-entry-id-118</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[So, considering trips to work and school form only part of our journeys, the suggestion that &lsquo;10% of journeys in Scotland will be by bike&rsquo; seems a little far fetched. 


...I&rsquo;d like to think more journeys would be taken on public transport, but until we take a lesson in how-to-organise-public-transport from the Swiss, I rather doubt it. 

...On a serious note, I do have concerns that by making an unrealistic statement like this, the bicycle lobby will somehow corner more millions of our very limited public money to be spent on white elephants. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A tax on your view?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-12T16:30:13+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/760e1bd540c5ba3bda062e88e26edd73-117.html#unique-entry-id-117</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/760e1bd540c5ba3bda062e88e26edd73-117.html#unique-entry-id-117</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There were probably many, like me, who sat and chuckled as the panel members on &lsquo;Have I Got News for You&rsquo; joked about government plans to tax people&rsquo;s view from their homes. 

...It is being reported that the part of the manifesto for Labour at the next Scottish Parliament elections will be a new property tax based on the value of your home. 

...According to Dr MIlne an investigation has revealed that recent trips have included &ldquo;jaunts&rdquo; to Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Spain, France, China, Belgium, Finland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Lithuania, Ireland, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Poland. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Road accident questions</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-12T09:10:15+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d8456c824272d8abf6f7058556c2569f-116.html#unique-entry-id-116</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d8456c824272d8abf6f7058556c2569f-116.html#unique-entry-id-116</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[While nationally in Scotland and the UK the numbers of deaths and serious injuries is at its lowest for 50 years, we seem to be seeing a spate of accidents in Aberdeen and around the North East.


...Anyone who has driven roads like the B977 to the west of Aberdeen will be familiar with the dangerous cocktail of drivers on a mission to get round the city and 40-tonne artics trying to save a few hours at the beginning or end of a trans-continental journey. 


Equally, how many of us have taken B-roads, or smaller A-roads, rather than face a hundred-plus miles of the hated A96, with its dangerous mix of three lane and two lane carriageways?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>&#xa3;30 million harbour development</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-08-05T12:16:46+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/34a2985324fb67aafb9e298499da1047-115.html#unique-entry-id-115</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/34a2985324fb67aafb9e298499da1047-115.html#unique-entry-id-115</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Unveiled in The Press and Journal, the plans would breathe new life into an area that is currently rather down-at-heal.   Given that this is close to the station and therefore a significant arrival point for visitors, it doesn&rsquo;t really project a good (or true) impression of Europe&rsquo;s Energy Capital.


...It would be a good &ldquo;stepping stone&rdquo; to help bridge the worrying gulf between the traditional Union Street/Bon Accord/St Nicholas shopping heart of Aberdeen and the new Union Square shopping centre near the station. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Spires posts positive results in recession</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-07-31T09:24:05+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/acbed5a7f807b5024e6f92e890286278-114.html#unique-entry-id-114</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/acbed5a7f807b5024e6f92e890286278-114.html#unique-entry-id-114</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Aberdeen-based serviced suite operator, The Spires has brought some positive financial news into the recession hit accommodation sector by posting a strong performance for the 2008-09 financial year. 


Currently operating in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Birmingham, the company says it remains eager for UK expansion, but admits that progress on this has been slowed by the current financial situation.


...They add that sharing (such as business colleagues sharing a two-bedroom suite, or one suite for a of up to six people), brings the cost per person right down, while enjoying enjoying the facilities fully-fitted dining kitchen, living room and one or two bedrooms and bathrooms. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Call for an oil fund strikes a chord</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-07-26T17:31:53+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/328a802e0bedf679201eec598da509b0-113.html#unique-entry-id-113</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/328a802e0bedf679201eec598da509b0-113.html#unique-entry-id-113</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	&bull;	It must be the only city of its size in Britain that still has no by-pass (there should be one in 2012 &ndash; an outrageous 43 years after the oil started to flow!).


	&bull;	The airport, which is the reason that the oil and gas industry chose Aberdeen as a base, still has no fixed transport link into the city centre and no fixed connection to the rail network. 


	&bull;	The airport runway is still not long enough for intercontinental flights, which is what the oil and gas industry is crying out, to reduce the number of flights needed (for efficiency and environmental benefit) to reach oil patches around the world. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Steven Black youngest assessor</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-07-23T12:48:03+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/7a27beb1a98c5cc9cbbfcc3a4a9b3b24-112.html#unique-entry-id-112</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/7a27beb1a98c5cc9cbbfcc3a4a9b3b24-112.html#unique-entry-id-112</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Steven who has just turned 24 joins a team of volunteer assessors who will work with the Scottish Housing Regulator on its inspections of more than 200 social landlords, including housing authorities, associations and co-operatives. 


...&ldquo;In my work as a tenant assessor, I will be looking for communication with the tenants that is simple and easily understood by people who are new to housing associations and council housing departments. 

...Steven, who is a social care officer at a children&rsquo;s home in Fraserburgh and also a youth worker in Peterhead, has a particular interest in the potential for technology to improve the quality and environmental performance of housing.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Name the red kite chicks</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-07-02T14:54:39+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e5fb42c247ad383b449d9e65a2af4f3b-110.html#unique-entry-id-110</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e5fb42c247ad383b449d9e65a2af4f3b-110.html#unique-entry-id-110</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We have one male chick (No. 70) and one female chick (No.71) growing up fast on our CCTV footage of the nest (in association with Forestry Commission Scotland).  

...Just tick the box and add your signature and you will be doing your bit to help the Aberdeen Red Kites and birds of prey like them.


...For further information on the full range of our activities and your privacy choices please go to the Privacy Policy on our website www.rspb.org.uk or contact Supporter Services on 01767 693680.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeen features little in NPF</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-25T12:03:25+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c5ff6b01b0d03ee1f87164003922bb57-109.html#unique-entry-id-109</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c5ff6b01b0d03ee1f87164003922bb57-109.html#unique-entry-id-109</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Should the new rail link go ahead you will get the nonsensical situation that it could take just three hours to travel from London to Edinburgh or Glasgow, but almost three hours more for your onward journey to Aberdeen!   The potential to shift passenger traffic from road to rail will not be realised until our rail network north of the Central Belt is upgraded to 20th century, let alone 21st century, standards. 


Indeed searching through the list, you will find that Aberdeen features only in the Strategic Airport Enhancements where there is, at least, reference to the need for improving national and international connections to support Aberdeen&rsquo;s role as an international energy centre. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>MSP concerned about threat to rural home value</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-22T16:42:27+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/b8612c59bb9cbcf2e33175f66abd9bf9-108.html#unique-entry-id-108</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/b8612c59bb9cbcf2e33175f66abd9bf9-108.html#unique-entry-id-108</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[LPG has the lowest carbon emissions of all the fossil fuels available in rural areas, emitting 19% less CO2 per kWh than heating oil, 30% less than coal and more than 50% less than electricity.


...LPG is the greenset alternative and emits 19% less CO2 per kWh than heating oil, 30% less than coal and more than 50% less than electricity.&rdquo;


..."Many people in rural parts of Scotland who use Calor or LPG fuel to heat their homes will be worried the SNP Government is just not listening and find that they are given a poor energy rating through no fault of their own," Dr Milne concludes.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Scotland would be in deficit even with oil?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-18T10:23:02+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cdec3788f4ff5d01ee13c5db4a78f7b3-107.html#unique-entry-id-107</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cdec3788f4ff5d01ee13c5db4a78f7b3-107.html#unique-entry-id-107</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[So, according to a UK Government report, Scotland&rsquo;s economy would still be in deficit even with the oil and gas revenues from the North Sea. 


The claim comes in a Scotland Office document which has been released to pre-empt the Scottish Government&rsquo;s annual Government Revenue and Expenditure in Scotland (GERS) report due out later today. 

...	&bull;	A government led by an oil industry economist (The First Minister of Scotland) who have a vested interest in presenting a rosy picture of the Scottish economy as part of their aim for Scottish independence?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Speed limiters proposed in safety framework</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-16T15:18:30+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9de17a670bc9af9d3701d3f6075d3e63-106.html#unique-entry-id-106</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9de17a670bc9af9d3701d3f6075d3e63-106.html#unique-entry-id-106</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Transport Minister has launched a new ten-year road safety framework for Scotland, which sets what are claimed to be the &lsquo;toughest&rsquo; targets in the UK for  for reduction of injuries and fatalities. 


...UK Government figures demonstrate that exceeding the speed limit is a factor in just 5% of UK accidents, while Scottish figures show give a figure of 11%. 

...Remember, Scotland&rsquo;s road accident statistics are an all-time low and in this country we also rank among some of the safest roads in the world. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>When is local radio not local?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-16T13:48:58+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/48575d784a3f13f63227328354bc4b18-105.html#unique-entry-id-105</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/48575d784a3f13f63227328354bc4b18-105.html#unique-entry-id-105</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[If you have tuned into Northsound 2, today (or Northsound 1 after 7 pm), you may have wondered what happened to the familiar voices and why the DJs are talking about Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow as much as they are about Aberdeen.


...Local news will be retained on the networked programmes, until the evening when the stations switch over to a news service from Sky in London. 


...It will be interesting to see how Northsound 2&rsquo;s listening figures compare with the major Aberdeen local station Original FM as a result of this switch. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New City Centre Heart Potential Home for Energy Futures Centre</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-09T15:14:53+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8e097fa391f4d931a15e2279e074eb6e-104.html#unique-entry-id-104</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8e097fa391f4d931a15e2279e074eb6e-104.html#unique-entry-id-104</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The ambitious plans to establish a flagship Energy Futures Centre were originally proposed at Aberdeen's beach boulevard but AREG says the impressive new city heart envisaged for Union Terrace Garden could offer a more appropriate location within the space created by the elevation of the gardens.

..."While the Energy Futures Centre is about stimulating all energy business, we also aim to make it a major attraction for local people and international visitors with a public science centre and viewing gallery. 

...AREG's ambitious plans are to develop a Research Centre in Energy Futures which would reinforce one of its key roles - to lead the way nationally and globally in research and development - and become synonymous with Aberdeen's Energy Capital status.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>War of Worlds coup for social enterprise</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-08T17:01:42+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3ccecc0c59d6126cc370e0fa8f32459f-103.html#unique-entry-id-103</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3ccecc0c59d6126cc370e0fa8f32459f-103.html#unique-entry-id-103</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Artists Gallery &ndash; an Aberdeen business that provides training and work opportunities for people with a disability &ndash; is the only gallery in Scotland offering signed copies of the &lsquo;War of the Worlds&rsquo; album cover artwork. 


The limited edition prints have gone on sale to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Jeff Wayne&rsquo;s musical version of War of the Worlds, which is being performed live on Wednesday (June 10) at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre. 

...	&bull;	The War of the Worlds limited edition signed prints sell for &pound;775.00 and are available from the Artists Gallery, 405 Holburn Street,  Aberdeen (telephone 01224 585188), or on order from its sister gallery Banchory Gallery in High Street Banchory. www.banchorygallery.co.uk 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Chambers demand Forth Bridge rethink</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-07T12:42:51+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad77aa09d7daa34688f12b3b7a64b58e-102.html#unique-entry-id-102</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad77aa09d7daa34688f12b3b7a64b58e-102.html#unique-entry-id-102</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[According to The Sunday Herald, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce have called on the government to revert to plans for a wider replacement Forth Bridge with light rail potential and a motorway approach.


...What is the point of spending billions to get a substandard bridge that is going to provide little net benefit for traffic on day one, let alone having minimal potential for easing greater traffic in the future.


...So almost the same amount of traffic as at present will have to squeeze through the same amount of road space as it does at the moment.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New civic centre for the Granite City</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-05T12:26:07+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/297b478599532818464e09b4d36d3ca6-101.html#unique-entry-id-101</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/297b478599532818464e09b4d36d3ca6-101.html#unique-entry-id-101</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Comparisons are made between the vision presented in the proposal and the bold decision by Aberdeen&rsquo;s historical leaders to build a huge viaduct over the Denburn Valley to open the area to the west for expansion. 

...The six-acre civic space linking Union Street, Union Terrace, Belmont Street and Rosemount Viaduct would be a focus for the city as it aims to keep its role as one of the world&rsquo;s premier energy centres. 


...What makes it more likely that it will be &ldquo;third time lucky&rdquo; is that Sir Ian Wood, whose Wood Group family business is now a global player in the oil and gas industry, has pledged &pound;50 million to turn this dream into a reality. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Political turmoil</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-06-05T11:46:01+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/aedc239b78be9b10d06b902d0ecb48f3-100.html#unique-entry-id-100</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/aedc239b78be9b10d06b902d0ecb48f3-100.html#unique-entry-id-100</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When we were assimilating the seriousness  of the international money crisis at the end of last year we were warned that these were unprecedented times and that no-one really knew what the future held for us. 


...The bankers and financiers took on riskier and riskier deals and investments to feed their greed for obscene salaries and bonuses, totally out of touch with the real world. 


...How could those who have been exposed imagine it was morally right for our money to be used to pay for some of the more extravagant claims, or even for the maintenance and cleaning of their privately-owned property?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Expenses row grows</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-25T08:39:38+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dee9d431950df0bc60c794954a449910-99.html#unique-entry-id-99</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dee9d431950df0bc60c794954a449910-99.html#unique-entry-id-99</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[When the Scottish Parliament was &ldquo;reconvened&rdquo; (as Winnie Ewing put it) it was set up with a different expenses system to Westminster, because &ndash; it was said at the time &ndash; there was a need for more transparency.


...Finally, adding insult to injury, how could they believe that it was OK to avoid the capital gains tax the rest of us would have to pay when it came to time to sell?


...But, such a system needs to be regulated, with a genuine paper trail of receipts and (since it is our money they are spending) it must be completely transparency. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Google reported interested in NE base</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-21T10:11:26+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9fa6d496e0a8d69696d02dbab1cbf650-98.html#unique-entry-id-98</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9fa6d496e0a8d69696d02dbab1cbf650-98.html#unique-entry-id-98</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Press and Journal is running a story today that Google is interested in using part of the former Inverurie Paper Mill as a Scottish green-powered data centre. 


If the story is true then it is cheering news, especially at a time when traditional businesses are still tightening belts.


...Google is one of the world&rsquo;s best-known superbrands and, like Trump International Golf Links Scotland, a decision to locate in Aberdeen City and Shire would be significant beyond the direct economic benefit. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Mystery over Cameron&#x27;s &#x27;rule Scotland&#x27;</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-16T11:48:35+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/451c8c524d843a3ce618966d1c23b86a-97.html#unique-entry-id-97</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/451c8c524d843a3ce618966d1c23b86a-97.html#unique-entry-id-97</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Puzzled, because the assertion that he would &ldquo;rule&rdquo; Scotland implies anything but &ldquo;respect&rdquo;, I tried to find a transcript of his speeches and quotes on the subject.


...But, so many headlines use these exact words that I suspect it is the line that has been peddled to the press by the Conservative spin doctors.


If that is the case, then letting slip the word &ldquo;rule&rdquo; negates the Conservative&rsquo;s claim to &ldquo;respect&rdquo; Scotland, the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Let&#x27;s embrace the new city centre plan</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-15T17:01:43+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0174296b5f5e9241885894eabcf4640a-96.html#unique-entry-id-96</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0174296b5f5e9241885894eabcf4640a-96.html#unique-entry-id-96</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Raising Union Terrace Gardens to street level is the modern day equivalent of the vision and forward thinking that, 200 years ago in the era of spades and shovels, produced the grand thoroughfare of Union Street leaping over the Denburn Valley on 30-foot high granite arches. 


The new city centre plaza would not only create walkways from Union Terrace to Belmont Street, with open spaces and performance areas, but it would cover over the eyesore of the railway and the Denburn dual carriageway. 

...Can&rsquo;t wait to be able to drive into the centre of Aberdeen, park in the underground car park, then walk around the central plaza and enjoy a cafe while admiring the cityscape around Union Terrace and Rosemount Viaduct. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What happened to the political antennae</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-09T14:35:49+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d773cb955ec0f65694aef31a77aad31f-95.html#unique-entry-id-95</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d773cb955ec0f65694aef31a77aad31f-95.html#unique-entry-id-95</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[At a time when young couples are finding it difficult to afford a homes, when families are cutting back on non-essentials and those approaching retirement age are realising that their pensions are going to be worth a fraction of what they expected, some of our MPs show themselves to be out of tune with the times by awarding themselves frankly ridiculous expenses.


...That insistence on producing a receipt surely gets over the &ldquo;John Lewis list&rdquo; problem, where MPs claim for goodies for their second home based on a notional price taken from the catalogue of John Lewis. 


...David Dimbleby resonated with the public mood when he rounded on one politician who strove to justify his second home because he lived 37 miles from Westminster and had to be in the house at particular times. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What was no 10 thinking about</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-06T16:41:44+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5bf0ca5a7d13391577e076034298b854-94.html#unique-entry-id-94</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5bf0ca5a7d13391577e076034298b854-94.html#unique-entry-id-94</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[What were the spin doctors at No 10 thinking?


Did they really think that making the Prime Minister Gordon Brown go on You Tube would make him seem trendy and dynamic?


Did they really think that demanding that he grin like his predecessor Mr Blair, would make everyone believe that he was a nice guy?
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>iPod for everything but music&#x21;</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-05-03T12:36:16+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a1de972976071d85d9ce0b80c0cd2954-93.html#unique-entry-id-93</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a1de972976071d85d9ce0b80c0cd2954-93.html#unique-entry-id-93</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[With a little bit of setting up to the address of all my favourite newspapers, radio, television and other RSS feeds, newstand brings me a customised daily news read of all the news items that I am really interested in.


You click on the stories that are of interest and, as long as you are in a wifi network area (or if you are using an iPhone anywhere with cellular coverage) you can read the full story. 


Since getting this all set up in my iPod Touch I have become much more aware of the news that interests and affects me, without having to buy half a ton of newspapers and magazines. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Helicopter tragedy memorial service</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-04-11T10:34:22+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0fb8ef786546d981e0974d6781bdb8e9-92.html#unique-entry-id-92</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0fb8ef786546d981e0974d6781bdb8e9-92.html#unique-entry-id-92</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[As the news breaks that the helicopter which crashed last week had suffered a catastrophic failure in its part of its main gearbox, details have been announced of the memorial service that is to be held next week. 


...The service is to be broadcast live on BBC2 and Radio Scotland in Scotland, on BBC Scotland&rsquo;s digital channel across the UK and around the world on the internet via the BBC website. 


...So far, 921 messages have been submitted to on an online Book of Condolence on the Oil Chaplaincy website and a Bebo page entitled Bond Helicopter Tragedy 01/04/09 has been signed by 4,000 members. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>UK faces disastrous North Sea decline</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-04-11T11:20:20+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cd003044ab3c22b02a97f373134b7a10-91.html#unique-entry-id-91</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cd003044ab3c22b02a97f373134b7a10-91.html#unique-entry-id-91</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A top Aberdeen oil executive has sounded a warning in The Herald today that the North Sea oil and gas industry faces a disastrous decline if the government does not take action on the tax regime. 


...All the North Sea oil and gas industry is asking for is an easing of the punitive tax regime that applies to this most vital of UK industries. 


Anyone who is interested in ensuring that there is gas in their central heating system, light when they flick the switch and fuel for cars, trucks, buses, boats and planes would do well to urge their politicians to wake up to this ticking time bomb....]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeenshire provost&#x27;s new wheels</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-04-10T17:58:23+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0c8056b873f2a70185a2df767dd3a3ff-90.html#unique-entry-id-90</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0c8056b873f2a70185a2df767dd3a3ff-90.html#unique-entry-id-90</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Aberdeenshire Provost* Bill Howatson is to follow the Czech President in the choice of official limousine.


Not so many years ago the choice of a Skoda would have brought derision on the council.   But, the Provost&rsquo;s new Skoda Superb should fit the bill ideally and suit the council tax payers to boot.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Shock at helicopter crash</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-04-02T14:51:59+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dac198e499386b6181894b0bdb55d80f-89.html#unique-entry-id-89</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dac198e499386b6181894b0bdb55d80f-89.html#unique-entry-id-89</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Then, on April 1, when reports came in that another helicopter, with 16 people on board had crashed into the North Sea off Crimond, north of Aberdeen, the people of Aberdeen and the North East held their breath. 

...Following the tragedy that occurred today in the North Sea, the UK Oil and Gas Chaplaincy has arranged for the Oil Chapel located within the Kirk Of St Nicholas Uniting, Union Street, Aberdeen to be open for those wishing to leave floral tributes and to spend time in prayer and reflection. 

...&ldquo;The families of those affected by this tragedy and the wider family of those who work offshore and onshore are in our thoughts and prayers&rdquo;.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>50 mph limit is wrong tactic</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-03-28T14:45:02+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6b6779ae776d1e6514ecafe150e360fc-88.html#unique-entry-id-88</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6b6779ae776d1e6514ecafe150e360fc-88.html#unique-entry-id-88</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[So, you would think, that any politician on a crusade to improve road safety on what are already some of the safest roads in the world, would focus on factors that could potentially make the most improvement, wouldn&rsquo;t you?


...It&rsquo;s ironic, then, that our politicians are proposing to make us take our eyes off the road more often to develop a fixed stare on our speedometers, not the road!


...But, I do think we need to get our priorities right and take a measured approach that focuses on the real issues, not the easy, headline-grabbing options. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>New name for special needs school</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-03-24T10:57:58+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/4f2740a4d811a9058b49735f365165b7-87.html#unique-entry-id-87</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/4f2740a4d811a9058b49735f365165b7-87.html#unique-entry-id-87</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[An Aberdeen school, which has been recognised for its sector-leading standards in special needs education, is to adopt a new name and new identity as it develops its services to meet a growing need. 


Camphill Rudolf Steiner School will now be known as Camphill School Aberdeen and, at the same the school has adopted a stronger visual identity that will be gradually phased in as existing materials are replaced.


...Camphill School Aberdeen holds Autism Accreditation and was also recognised for its sector-leading standards of excellence in the most recent joint report by the HM Inspectorate of Education and the Care Commission. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Happy 100th birthday motor club</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-03-17T12:36:27+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1e71ab246cb8fc1dc9b3ffb545d95b2a-86.html#unique-entry-id-86</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1e71ab246cb8fc1dc9b3ffb545d95b2a-86.html#unique-entry-id-86</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In the 1960s, the club came to national prominence with its motor races at Crimond and Edzell.   It was at Crimond that Scotland's two-times World Champion, Jim Clark had his first race.   Later the club started the long-running hill climbs at Fintray, near Dyce, and the Granite City Rally &ndash; both events reaching British Championship status. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Children&#x27;s illustrations exhibition</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-03-09T09:07:05+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad0cfa0afad96803f76b75c134c284ea-85.html#unique-entry-id-85</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad0cfa0afad96803f76b75c134c284ea-85.html#unique-entry-id-85</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Banchory Gallery, a social enterprise that provides training and work opportunities for people with a disability, opens a new exhibition of children&rsquo;s illustrations this Saturday (March 14).


The exhibition will include illustrations by Shirley Hughes, one the world's best loved children's authors and illustrators, and Roald Dahl illustrator Quentin Blake. 


...The exhibition runs until April 11 and is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What is the truth about paper mill sale?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-02-25T09:56:45+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8762238c9f0cbb169b9d901bf4b262a0-84.html#unique-entry-id-84</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8762238c9f0cbb169b9d901bf4b262a0-84.html#unique-entry-id-84</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The latest in this claim and counter-claim controversy is reported in today&rsquo;s Press and Journal, where International Paper deny blocking the sale of the paper mill. 


...Paper making used to be one of the main industries in the Aberdeen area with a string of paper mills, including Inverurie Paper Mill, along the River Don and the Culter Paper Mill on the Dee.


...But, if there was a management team more committed to sustaining traditional manufacturing in this area, could it not be made to work? 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Don&#x27;t attach too much authority to tweets</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-02-19T15:54:16+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8fc2951c401f1df910b67870afadf630-83.html#unique-entry-id-83</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8fc2951c401f1df910b67870afadf630-83.html#unique-entry-id-83</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Within minutes of the helicopter accident in the North Sea last night the first reports of the incident were reverberating around the globe on Twitter, the internet short messaging phenomenon. 


...We are indeed fortunate that the two big incidents that have been reported by citizen reporters on Twitter &ndash; the US Airways crash on the Hudson River a month ago and now the helicopter accent in the North Sea &ndash; have had remarkably positive outcomes with no fatalities. 


But we need to be clear that &ndash; as with anything with open access on the web &ndash; we need to be careful we do not attach to much reliability to the information unless we know the source.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Job losses at Inverurie paper mill</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-02-17T12:18:37+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ba1bf45d23697808673f9b56a15509b7-82.html#unique-entry-id-82</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ba1bf45d23697808673f9b56a15509b7-82.html#unique-entry-id-82</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It is particularly sad to those of us who can remember the mill&rsquo;s heyday when Captain Copier photocopy paper seemed to be the standard in offices up and down the land.


..."Over the last three months, we have worked hard together with the appropriate representatives to evaluate alternatives for the future of the mill,&rdquo; said Mary Laschinger, president of International Paper Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia. 

..."I am very saddened for our people and the local community that we had to come to this decision but we have acted in order to match our machine capacity to the paper volumes demanded by our customers."
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What do do they learn at driving schools?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-24T16:21:12+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c17d66b3347cd78741039e30ed50c6cc-81.html#unique-entry-id-81</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c17d66b3347cd78741039e30ed50c6cc-81.html#unique-entry-id-81</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[He turned the corner, ignoring the passing place as he was obviously blithely unaware that there was a car heading towards him. 

...On any road your eyes should be scanning from the furthest point you can see to the immediate area in front of the car, looking for hazards and danger.


...It&rsquo;s at times like this that you would be forgiven some surprise to hear that Scotland&rsquo;s roads are safer now than they were 50 years ago.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>plane daft</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-24T11:06:43+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad2997643f89292d2aa9c1753b89928f-80.html#unique-entry-id-80</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ad2997643f89292d2aa9c1753b89928f-80.html#unique-entry-id-80</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[&ldquo;At the moment we have a situation where airport taxis are not licensed to pick up in the city, and city cabs are not licensed to pick up at the airport.


...It must make sense for a taxi that picks up a passenger at the airport and takes him, or her, to the city centre, to then be able to operate efficiently by taking a passenger to the airport on the return journey.


It would seem logical that a taxi taking a passenger to the airport should be able to pick up fares there. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Yet another local government reform?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-14T09:36:27+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/21952e3e0de5ddcf62d042d7a227bdda-79.html#unique-entry-id-79</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/21952e3e0de5ddcf62d042d7a227bdda-79.html#unique-entry-id-79</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Herald today carries a story that politicians, academics and business leaders have united to propose a change in the structure of local government in Scotland, cutting the number of local authorities from 32 to just ten.


...Given that timeframes on organisations as big as local authorities are that much greater, it sounds a little like re-arranging the furniture obsessively.


...	&bull;	Yes, many of us believe that there should be more joined-up thinking between neighbouring authorities (greater Aberdeen being good example), but that is happening anyway
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Flying the Saltire in Aberdeenshire</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-10T15:16:35+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1a8652a24a4f89c66032415b9a3dbe4f-78.html#unique-entry-id-78</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1a8652a24a4f89c66032415b9a3dbe4f-78.html#unique-entry-id-78</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[A mystified letter from Detroit in The Press and Journal this morning questions the extraordinary decision of Aberdeenshire Council not to fly the Saltire &ndash; Scotland&rsquo;s national flag &ndash; from council buildings. 


...Let&rsquo;s be proud of our heritage and fly our flags from public buildings more often.


...Let&rsquo;s hope our Aberdeenshire councillors can be as good at changing this corporate decision as they were to see the logic of getting the Trump decision overturned.  ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Spend&#x2c; spend&#x2c; spend </title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-09T08:07:38+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/076bd0922b3f4cf3f04e2512344c9c87-77.html#unique-entry-id-77</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/076bd0922b3f4cf3f04e2512344c9c87-77.html#unique-entry-id-77</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Those wise heads who live within their means and save had nothing to do with the cause of all this trouble.   Now with a 1.5% interest rate, they are the ones who will suffer.   (Check the interest you are likely to earn from a &pound;5,000 bank savings account.)]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Big Brother: is 2009 our 1984?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-09T08:33:42+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9c5407db7781abc992e91b4f58294a37-76.html#unique-entry-id-76</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9c5407db7781abc992e91b4f58294a37-76.html#unique-entry-id-76</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Apart from the occasional misdemeanour behind the wheel (yes, I know I did 35 mph for the first hundred yards of the 30 limit yesterday), I am not a law breaker.


...Why, then, am I concerned that from March this year, the UK Government plan to keep a record of everything I do online? 


...The postal service has been around for years and &ndash; other than for criminals, or during wartime &ndash; no-one has ever suggested that mail should be opened and recorded. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>RIP conventional bulbs</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-08T08:25:12+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/00c33d54a1d3394b61c3ee46d2fa978d-75.html#unique-entry-id-75</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/00c33d54a1d3394b61c3ee46d2fa978d-75.html#unique-entry-id-75</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[After that the EU presumably will expect us all to install energy saving light bulbs.   You know the ones I mean &ndash; you turn them on and leave them on all evening (presumably undoing all the good by burning unnecessary lights) because they take so long to warm up. 


But the other likely outcome must be that people will buy additional standing lamps or one of those multi-bulb ceiling lights. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Battle rages over vital NE transport link</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2009-01-05T14:30:50+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/599a931def41f16cea7b2e8aff143d5d-74.html#unique-entry-id-74</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/599a931def41f16cea7b2e8aff143d5d-74.html#unique-entry-id-74</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There is agreement from the UK and Scottish governments that a new bridge is needed, with the threat that the bridge might have to close to heavy traffic in the medium term and to all traffic long term.


...After spending &pound;1.7 to &pound;2.3 billion and closing the existing bridge to regular traffic, the new bridge will bring us.... two lanes of traffic either way.


...And it is a big question &pound;1.7 to &pound;2.3 billion to be precise. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Visitors find closed doors</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-12-23T11:12:05+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3e37dba2b790953cbef80a4596531097-73.html#unique-entry-id-73</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/3e37dba2b790953cbef80a4596531097-73.html#unique-entry-id-73</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I don&rsquo;t have any recent figures, but in 1999, tourism was said to be worth &pound;200 million to our local economy in North-east Scotland.


If we are serious about growing that, we have to be a bit more serious about providing tourism opportunities the year round &ndash; especially at one of the peak tourism times, Christmas and New Year.


...According to their website their visitor centre is at least open one day during the Christmas to New Year period. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Third world roads</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-12-09T16:48:20+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/154a620aff5b7dd885c818d39c4cff8d-72.html#unique-entry-id-72</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/154a620aff5b7dd885c818d39c4cff8d-72.html#unique-entry-id-72</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The bill for damage to tyres and suspension is mounting and there is the ever present danger of people veering into your path either to avoid a crater, or because they have been bounced by one.


...In 2005, NESTRANS said that an estimated &pound;250 million would have to be spent to catch up with repairs on the north-east's 3,750 miles of roads. 


I think we can safely assume that investment was never made and the state of our roads has deteriorated dramatically as a result. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What do we offer for Festive visitors?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-12-09T08:50:57+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d221657ce44a21070ce567b0e7bef746-71.html#unique-entry-id-71</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d221657ce44a21070ce567b0e7bef746-71.html#unique-entry-id-71</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[We are still trying to find out if any are open between Christmas and New Year.


...If we want to make the most of the Trump International Golf Links opportunities we are going to have to sharpen up our tourism ideas. 


...Scots singing stars Amy Macdonald and Sandi Thom are headlining the event that starts at 9pm in the Castlegate and runs through to 12.30am. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Older employees offer experience to ride out the recession</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-12-06T10:07:20+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/404e6fd00d1933314318365dc8b06371-70.html#unique-entry-id-70</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/404e6fd00d1933314318365dc8b06371-70.html#unique-entry-id-70</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The 57-year-old newscaster who began her TV career fronting Grampian TV&rsquo;s North Tonight claimed she was in line to cover for a colleague but was discriminated against for being too old.


...(With the current economic situation marking time is more often likely to be redundancy with little prospect of a new job, other than at enlightened employers such as B&Q.)


...	&bull;	All have been brought up in an environment of relying on credit to finance business and personal acquisitions and have no idea what do do now that particular bubble has burst. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Safe drivers are made&#x2c; not born</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-12-04T18:03:18+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/07ec28fb69d0090b8f5dc9a36d547b55-69.html#unique-entry-id-69</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/07ec28fb69d0090b8f5dc9a36d547b55-69.html#unique-entry-id-69</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Speaking in a Members&rsquo; Debate in the Scottish Parliament on Alison McInnes&rsquo;s motion &lsquo;Safe Drivers are Made, Not Born&rsquo; Dr Nanette Milne, Conservative MSP for the North East said that in her time as a North East MSP, it had become clear that the area has a major problem with road accidents. 


...Dr Milne welcomed the publication of the &lsquo;Young Drivers - where and when they are unsafe&rsquo; report by the IAM motoring trust, and she said she supported many of the measures which are identified to improve road safety for all our young drivers.


...&ldquo;Anyone who has driven on the A96 or A947 will be aware of the long stretches of straight road which can lull drivers into a false sense of security and encourage excessive speed, and all means of making drivers aware of the risks of this must be pursued, including warning signage and non-skid road surfaces.&rdquo;
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Road accidents in 2007 at all time low</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-11-24T13:36:38+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e281a007fd1b478a4568aed9851dcf5c-68.html#unique-entry-id-68</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e281a007fd1b478a4568aed9851dcf5c-68.html#unique-entry-id-68</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	&bull;	In 2007 there were 281 deaths on Scotland's roads, a reduction of 11% on 2006 and the lowest figure ever since records began in 1950.


...The UK figures had failure to look properly as the top accident cause, noted in a third of all accidents &ndash; compared with 18% in these Scottish figures.


Across the UK in 2005 exceeding the speed limit was a contributing factor in only 5% of accidents, compared with 11% in these figures. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Sir Ian Wood&#x27;s city centre plan</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-11-12T21:59:36+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a3236e0d017b24eaa963e65605d4863d-67.html#unique-entry-id-67</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a3236e0d017b24eaa963e65605d4863d-67.html#unique-entry-id-67</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Sir Ian Wood has pledged &pound;50 million to re-kindle interest in the plan to create a new civic square at street level in Union Terrace Gardens.


...While it would be a shame for that project to founder completely as a result of Sir Ian Wood&rsquo;s ambitious plans, this is too big a project to abandon without examining how the two developments could not only co-exist but complement each other. 


...It would be a shame if Sir Ian&rsquo;s generous offer were not be used to make it third time luck for the Union Terrace project.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump&#x27;s &#xa3;1bn golf plan is go</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-11-03T14:50:01+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5aa70a749e55bbd61a461b1347a60516-66.html#unique-entry-id-66</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5aa70a749e55bbd61a461b1347a60516-66.html#unique-entry-id-66</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[You could almost sense the corporate sigh of relief from Aberdeen City and Shire when word came through this afternoon that the &pound;1 billion Trump International Golf Links Scotland plan had been approved.


Especially in the current economic climate there can be few people who cannot see the potential benefits that will accrue from having the &ldquo;best links golf course in the world&rdquo; located just north of Aberdeen.


...Let&rsquo;s look forward to the potential spin off benefits that undoubtedly flow from such a high-profile, quality leisure development right here in the North East.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Politicians - let&#x27;s have a new approach?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-10-25T12:29:23+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/001f59c63a25d3afa34117ba7e0e0f59-64.html#unique-entry-id-64</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/001f59c63a25d3afa34117ba7e0e0f59-64.html#unique-entry-id-64</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Do politicians &ndash; local and national &ndash; not realise that it is only the integrity of politicians, as a whole, that suffers when we get down to such childish tactics? 


...McCain immediately made it clear that he thought Barack Obama was a man of some integrity, even if he disagreed with his ideas.


...Politicians should do their profession the favour of saying they respect their opponents (when appropriate!), but that they disagree on the strategy, actions, or whatever.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Paper mill future under threat</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-10-21T18:48:52+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8b3e45843d3311cb2b2b6904cb7d75d4-63.html#unique-entry-id-63</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/8b3e45843d3311cb2b2b6904cb7d75d4-63.html#unique-entry-id-63</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Why produce paper in a centre that is remote from the main European markets, with transport costs that are inevitably higher than mills located closer to mass markets?


...But to International Paper, with a $22 billion revenue and a workforce of over 51,000, you can see why the corporate team in Memphis might be wondering why they even had a mill in a place called Inverurie.


Management has announced a three-month consultation on the future of the mill, but the fears must be that an unprofitable factory far from global headquarters is under serious threat. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Credit crunch bites</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-10-15T12:43:52+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dcadec58696cf6ab6144c89ea91f295b-62.html#unique-entry-id-62</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/dcadec58696cf6ab6144c89ea91f295b-62.html#unique-entry-id-62</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Ever since the Credit Crunch took hold and grew into one of the biggest financial crises of our time, there have been a succession of journalists taking the shuttle to Aberdeen to present stories about the city that &lsquo;escaped the crunch&rsquo;.


...Most interested spectators should have expected a day of reckoning at the end of a period where loans were being handed out willy nilly and racking up thousands of pounds of debt on your credit card seemed to be the norm. 

...Now is the time for wise businesses to look at their future markets and gear up their marketing and promotion to ensure that they are the ones in pole position when we see the green light come on. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Bus lanes fines increase? Let&#x27;s have a rethink.</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-08-08T09:48:32+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a09ce86f877e1fbb106bfc862b37ba09-61.html#unique-entry-id-61</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a09ce86f877e1fbb106bfc862b37ba09-61.html#unique-entry-id-61</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It simply cannot make any sense to bunch all the traffic into a big long, time-losing, fuel-wasting, pollution-producing line, while the lane on the left sits empty and unused.


...The Association of British Drivers has unearthed what it claims is the first admission that Transport for London  implemented policies to reduce road and junction capacity in central London. 

...There are many who believe that other cities, including Aberdeen have implemented similar policies to reduce road capacity and that bus lanes are among the methods. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Road works nightmare again&#x2c; 18 months later</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-08-05T19:09:44+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ae0be6d0af82285d78c25ae90064f322-60.html#unique-entry-id-60</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ae0be6d0af82285d78c25ae90064f322-60.html#unique-entry-id-60</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It is just 18 months since everyone was seething over the long-running road works in Market Street, surely one of the busiest streets in Aberdeen city centre. 

...After all, they had even put in the new traffic lights for the access to the retail park that is replacing the harbour rail freight terminal. 

...Presented at the council as a "transport interchange" for the 21st century, it actually removed part of the city's transport infrastructure &ndash; the railhead serving Aberdeen Harbour. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Scots road casualties lowest for more than 50 years</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-06-26T19:43:38+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e5d313edb5bf6f077484c1c1d1d94860-59.html#unique-entry-id-59</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e5d313edb5bf6f077484c1c1d1d94860-59.html#unique-entry-id-59</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The number of deaths and serious injuries on Scotland's roads fell to their lowest level for more than 50 years in 2007, according to latest statistics.


Provisional statistics for the UK from the UK Department for Transport show 282 people died on Scotland's roads in 2007,  10% downfrom 2006), with 2,315 people seriously injured (12 per cent fewer than 2006).


...We are currently working with the some of the leading thinkers on road safety from across Scotland and Europe to help inform a new Road Safety Strategy for Scotland which will be published later this year."
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Scotland in surplus say Scottish Government</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-06-24T19:52:00+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0bd2e45940cd503ead822a2f17bc5af9-58.html#unique-entry-id-58</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/0bd2e45940cd503ead822a2f17bc5af9-58.html#unique-entry-id-58</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[With recent increases in North Sea oil revenues, John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, pointed to a Grant Thornton estimate that Scotland's surplus would now stand at &pound;4.4 billion.


..."With a current budget surplus in 2006-07 of over &pound;800 million," commented Mr Swinney, "in the context of a UK deficit of over &pound;4 million - the flow of resources to the rest of the UK is some &pound;1.2 billion."


With a GDP per head of &pound;29,764, some &pound;12,000 more than the UK average of &pound;17,400, Aberdeen is one of the real power houses of the Scottish and UK economy. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Haudagain action? But is it flawed?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-06-19T19:20:35+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1c84cc7ea437b6aba3f938184db1ddf5-57.html#unique-entry-id-57</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1c84cc7ea437b6aba3f938184db1ddf5-57.html#unique-entry-id-57</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The infamous Haudagain roundabout has been accused of costing the country between &pound;15 and &pound;30 million in lost time, delayed deliveries and wasted fuel, let alone the undoubted diversion of trade away from Aberdeen.


...What we wanted to see was an effective and radical solution that befits a country and a region that wishes to demonstrate a determination to be a "competitive place" for international business and more world headquarters to locate. 


Instead, I can see potential international investors continuing to shake their heads in disbelief at this example of our inability to really tackle our transport infrastructure needs, as they continue to hit the interminable queues on the way to and from our disconnected international airport. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump headlines first day of golf inquiry</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-06-11T21:20:26+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/31d0a6f081032ec46a509f8581214b1c-56.html#unique-entry-id-56</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/31d0a6f081032ec46a509f8581214b1c-56.html#unique-entry-id-56</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[His motorcade arrived at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on Tuesday and the star of the show strode through the door, surrounded by some 40 television cameras, journalists and photographers. 


...Meanwhile the rest of us are left wondering at the expenditure of millions of pounds on a three-week public inquiry into a project which has overwhelming support from Aberdeenshire councillors and, by all accounts, the majority of the public in Aberdeen City and Shire. 


...Perhaps uncharacteristically, Mr Trump is showing remarkable patience with what seems to be the negative and even obstructive ethos built in to our planning system. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Unity needed to rebuild Aberdeen&#x27;s reputation</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-05-29T15:58:28+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9e3fcfd4ee200b245237de7fc76730b0-55.html#unique-entry-id-55</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9e3fcfd4ee200b245237de7fc76730b0-55.html#unique-entry-id-55</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Accounts Commission report into the financial state of Aberdeen City Council is yet another blow to Aberdeen City and Shire's reputation, coming, as it does, hot on the heels of the Trump debacle. 


...That is a very sorry state of affairs for a council that aspired to be "one of the leading councils in northern Europe". 


...So, there may be a temptation for us all to stand around wringing our hands picking over the details of what has happened in the past few months. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A modern parable?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-05-27T13:28:22+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/b3ee5187a07dd75331bb610a682e01ef-54.html#unique-entry-id-54</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/b3ee5187a07dd75331bb610a682e01ef-54.html#unique-entry-id-54</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Ken Livingstone (yes it was before the recent Mayoral election) rants in an interview with Trevor McDonald that the squirrel got rich off the backs of grasshoppers, and calls for an immediate tax hike on the squirrel to make him pay his "fair share" and increases the charge for squirrels to enter inner London. 

...He is taken to court and fined for failing to hire grasshoppers as builders for the work he was doing on his home and an additional fine for contempt when he told the court the grasshopper did not want to work. 

...The local authority takes over his old home and utilises it as a temporary home for asylum seeking cats who had hijacked a plane to get to Britain as they had to share their country of origin with mice. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Have fun with money</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-05-29T13:21:14+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/438b6d7aa3b854ccf4a4fdfeff6a61db-53.html#unique-entry-id-53</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/438b6d7aa3b854ccf4a4fdfeff6a61db-53.html#unique-entry-id-53</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[But we could all be having fun with our money soon, even if we only have loose change.


The reason is the new design being proposed for the reverse of our coins, according to Marketing magazine.   They feature sections of the Royal Coat of Arms, in such a way that - if you shuffle your coins into the right order - you get the full coat of arms!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Funny how Chancellor and PM find the way to Aberdeen when they need oil</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-05-28T12:06:53+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/377751cf7fb275078ef1fa9669996bd0-52.html#unique-entry-id-52</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/377751cf7fb275078ef1fa9669996bd0-52.html#unique-entry-id-52</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In need of a lifeline from the industry they have hampered in the past, the Prime Minister and Chancellor visited to seek the help of the North Sea operators in opening the taps a bit, to reduce the oil price. 

...The Prime Minister is reported as saying that the price of oil that is crippling business and putting an unbearable squeeze on rural residents who rely on oil for heating, is not the fault of the tax regime.


...The Prime Minister and the Chancellor need to commit to promoting Aberdeen City and Shire as Europe's Energy Capital and reversing past under-investment to ensure this is a competitive place that will sustain energy developments for our future. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Let&#x27;s show Aberdeen has a heart</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-03-22T12:53:10+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d6fcf52f1c619525158a39981f57dd41-50.html#unique-entry-id-50</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/d6fcf52f1c619525158a39981f57dd41-50.html#unique-entry-id-50</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It matters not whether it is Aberdeen City Council who have brought this financial crisis on, or whether it is a desperately unfair system that means Aberdeen gets &pound;320 less per head than any other local authority in Scotland.


...Today's front page story in the Press and Journal which talks about the Downs Syndrome man sobbing his heart out at the closure of Aye Can, surely underlines in very real terms that these cuts must not happen.


...	&bull;	putting parents through the trauma of not knowing whether their children and young adults can continue to get the best possible education and support through places like Camphill, Linn Moor and Easter Anguston.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Unfair system squeezing Aberdeen finances?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-03-13T09:46:11+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cb20cc9434fc8f3dec8910f275780880-49.html#unique-entry-id-49</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cb20cc9434fc8f3dec8910f275780880-49.html#unique-entry-id-49</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Many of us may take issue with the services that the councillors have chosen as the target for their axe, but there seems to be a basic unfairness in the way Aberdeen City Council is funded. 


...It appears that the reward we get for hosting much of the infrastructure for an industry which has kept the UK economy afloat for four decades, is to have the money drained out of our coffers. 


...It's time for Aberdeen's councillors to prove their mettle and set about finding a way round this ridiculous situation, before we have to close Glencraft, respite day services, special needs schools, centres of excellence and a range of services for our vulnerable citizens. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeen cuts deep into support for society&#x27;s most vulnerable</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-03-07T19:01:48+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/28c5b298d1e3ac4c08dcbeb595cecbb0-48.html#unique-entry-id-48</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/28c5b298d1e3ac4c08dcbeb595cecbb0-48.html#unique-entry-id-48</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	&bull;	Did they know they were voting for the removal of the children of Aberdeen families from sector-leading facilities for children and adults with special needs like Camphill and Linn Moor?


...They could easily have said that the damage inflicted on services for vulnerable members of Aberdeen's community was too great and that their officials would have to think again.


...If that is true, and I believe it is, then Aberdeen has taken a huge step backwards in its stated ambition to be the leading council in Northern Europe. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump saga takes another turn</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-02-29T20:48:27+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9e398ee9ab8e482e22e735db3ddf694a-47.html#unique-entry-id-47</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9e398ee9ab8e482e22e735db3ddf694a-47.html#unique-entry-id-47</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[As if the system did not grind slow enough (we should know, we have a seemingly-simple planning application that is coming up for its anniversary, still without a decision) the politicians seem to be determined to mire the whole issue in all sorts of witch hunts.


It really did seem a bit rich, therefore, that &ndash; after the Scottish Government announced that the whole application would go to a public local inquiry &ndash; one of the ring leaders in organising the parliamentary witch hunt over Alex Salmond's involvement in the application, had the audacity to criticise the government for its delay!


If any good is to come out of this, then (apart from the fervent hope that Donald Trump hangs on in there with his application) it must be the recognition that we need a wholesale review of the planning system.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>EU oversteps its mark again</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-01-30T19:58:15+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9fa3dd53919afbbb3f11283d408f354e-46.html#unique-entry-id-46</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9fa3dd53919afbbb3f11283d408f354e-46.html#unique-entry-id-46</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There is a street right in the heart of the capital where the restaurants on both sides of the street spill out onto the pavements and diners sit outside all year round. 

...Enjoying the outdoors at street caf&eacute;s could be a rare pleasure of the past if the EU gets its way


...For those of us living in the northern parts of Europe, patio heaters give us the opportunity to enjoy the alfresco life which would otherwise prove impossible.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The vitality of the oil industry</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-01-26T16:14:31+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/acc91b8866d6e473cbdd40dbd003ec70-45.html#unique-entry-id-45</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/acc91b8866d6e473cbdd40dbd003ec70-45.html#unique-entry-id-45</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[How have our politicians let the reality of this industry, which has kept the economy of this country afloat for more than 30 years, such a secret?   The UK and Scottish Governments should be singing the praises of our oil and gas industry from the rooftops and fighting to give it all the support it needs to continue to bolster our economy for the next 50 years.


...To them, it is more important to provide support for traditional businesses in the Central Belt than provide the road, air and rail infrastructure for what must surely be one of Scotland's most important industries. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeen drops off Edinburgh&#x27;s radar</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2008-01-22T19:10:29+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/641c4c404bb9627274c9c399782b7c08-44.html#unique-entry-id-44</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/641c4c404bb9627274c9c399782b7c08-44.html#unique-entry-id-44</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA["Enhancing our national infrastructure with National Developments will create a more successful country, increase sustainable economic growth and create opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish," said Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney.


...The AWPR must be one of the very top strategically important national projects if we are serious about helping to sustain the oil industry into the future. 

...Responses should go to Graeme Purves, Planning, Scottish Executive Development Department, 2-H Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ or e-mail to graeme.purves@scotland.gsi.gov.uk 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Do politicians have a death wish?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-12-17T23:01:57+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/60a2070435a0dc0a02cad6fcb8bd5996-43.html#unique-entry-id-43</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/60a2070435a0dc0a02cad6fcb8bd5996-43.html#unique-entry-id-43</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Now when the &pound;1 billion plan looks like it has been saved by the Scottish Government, other politicians pop out of the woodwork desperate to stick more spokes in the wheel and, potentially, derail the plan. 


...Across the Irish Sea, First Minister Ian Paisley's grin is getting wider and wider as he sees the potential &pound;1 billion development heading his way, with many more billions of future business following in its wake. 

...Given that some of the current detractors are supposedly in favour of this development, would it really hurt to stop scoring points and work together to get this through? ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeenshire Council moves to sort itself out</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-12-12T13:38:50+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5fa7b63191cd3e4d6b5fb1d6f8b26c2b-42.html#unique-entry-id-42</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5fa7b63191cd3e4d6b5fb1d6f8b26c2b-42.html#unique-entry-id-42</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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. 

...The question has to be asked how we allowed ourselves to get into this mess, which has sent appalling signals reverberating around the world about Aberdeen City and Shire not being the place to do business. 


...We may yet see the benefits of a &pound;1 billion boost to our local economy and the name of Aberdeen City and Shire writ large in the list of world-class destinations. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Credibility of Aberdeenshire Council is on the line</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-12-04T16:05:37+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/21ad2a657f85ed462972a24da5d28418-41.html#unique-entry-id-41</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/21ad2a657f85ed462972a24da5d28418-41.html#unique-entry-id-41</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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. 

...Some of the councillors protested afterwards that they didn't want to stop the development, they just wanted to get the developer to "compromise".


...The fallout will not only be loss of billions of pounds of potential business from the development and the huge spin-off potential, the loss of potentially millions of pounds of planning gain and incalculable damage to the reputation of Aberdeen City and Shire as the region "not to do business".
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump will not appeal and is looking to Northern Ireland</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-12-03T16:26:13+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6740b40c55f975604728a1c62eb1b265-40.html#unique-entry-id-40</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6740b40c55f975604728a1c62eb1b265-40.html#unique-entry-id-40</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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. 

...Last week, Liberal Democrat Councillor Martin Ford used his chairman's vote to sway Aberdeenshire Council's Infrastructure Services Committee against the development, potentially scuppering the entire &pound;1 billion project.


...One Liberal Democrat convener is apparently proud of potentially killing off a project that that his Liberal Democrat leader describes as an "extremely important diversification"!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Councillors&#x27; Trump refusal causes outrage</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-11-29T16:55:20+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/491d79b24cb81f0bcaa99c469eaed81a-39.html#unique-entry-id-39</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/491d79b24cb81f0bcaa99c469eaed81a-39.html#unique-entry-id-39</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Why would you turn down the potential of a &pound;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? 


...	1	Is Councillor Ford - who appears not to be a fan of infrastructure projects like the AWPR or the Aberdeen Airport runway extension and now Trump International Golf Links Scotland &ndash; the right person to chair a committee on infrastructure issues?


...It appears that Aberdeenshire Council &ndash; apparently shocked into action by the volume of public outrage which jammed their switchboards and clogged their email systems &ndash; are planning to hold an emergency meeting to overturn the decision of the Infrastructure services committee.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The Herald corrects Kelvin McKenzie&#x27;s BBC outburst </title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-11-04T11:00:18+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/64e542b6eed2ab751dddcd800d0e4c7e-38.html#unique-entry-id-38</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/64e542b6eed2ab751dddcd800d0e4c7e-38.html#unique-entry-id-38</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It is to be hoped that the BBC take note of these figures and make sure that, in future, they only spend our licence fee on booking people who (while they may be outspoken) at least base their statements on knowledge and understanding of the facts.


	&bull;	If Kelvin MacKenzie's distorted vision of the facts is indeed prevalent in England then perhaps it is time to call their bluff and call for the repeal of the Act of Union.   That would return Scotland to the status a sovereign nation, within the United Kingdom, as we were after the Union of the Crowns and before the union of the parliaments.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>D for Darkness and Danger in and around Aberdeen</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-10-26T10:45:59+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e44460d0473a1e34580c86fa4a39f47a-37.html#unique-entry-id-37</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e44460d0473a1e34580c86fa4a39f47a-37.html#unique-entry-id-37</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[RoSPA says that vulnerable people, like children and the elderly, are in much more danger during dark evenings than in the mornings. 


...Can we add to that the commuters who are perhaps tired and exhausted at the end of a day, rather than awake and alert after a night's sleep?


...They say that the extra hour of daylight at the end of each day would give people a chance to be more active outdoors, walking, jogging, or even just working in the garden.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Kelvin MacKenzie promotes Scottish independence</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-10-12T09:16:30+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/560a6cbe70f9cacc188c44d16cac5d08-36.html#unique-entry-id-36</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/560a6cbe70f9cacc188c44d16cac5d08-36.html#unique-entry-id-36</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Kelvin MacKenzie'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 comment that fuels the drive towards Scottish independence.


Listening to these words in the part of Britain that has probably done more to underpin the UK economy for the past 30 to 40 years than any other, these words are exposed as the arrant, anti-Scottish nonsense that drives the Scots towards independence. 


...It seems that Kelvin MacKenzie must have been duped by what almost seems like a shameful consipiracy (as Andrew Marr put it in his his "History of Modern Britain") to airbrush the huge significance of the North Sea oil and gas industry out of Britiain's history. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>It&#x27;s whose oil?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-09-04T10:28:47+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/088368c9c58fee9c023bdaa1a550f6f3-35.html#unique-entry-id-35</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/088368c9c58fee9c023bdaa1a550f6f3-35.html#unique-entry-id-35</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In the early years of North Sea Oil, the SNP used to say "It's Scotland's oil" and, sure enough, by normal rules of international boundaries it would seem that the bulk of the oil and the gas on the UK continental shelf was, in fact, in waters that would be Scottish if Scotland was indeed independent.


On the other side of the North Sea, Norway (which has been independent since the early years of the 20th century) has used oil to make itself one of the richest countries in the world, in terms of gross domestic product per head. 

...But, at the exhibition today, UK Minister at the Scotland Office, David Cairns will tell delegates that it is not Scotland's Oil, but the UK's oil. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Scottish Executive becomes Scottish Government</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-09-03T19:03:37+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c74271812ae91c4f733fe8f5a041d359-34.html#unique-entry-id-34</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c74271812ae91c4f733fe8f5a041d359-34.html#unique-entry-id-34</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Signs at the six main Government buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow have already been changed but other material such as stationery will only be changed gradually to be as cost effective as possible in the transition.


The government says the decision was taken to adopt the new identity because research showed that the term Scottish Executive was confusing or meaningless to many members of the public.


...But the Government claims a &pound;1.1 million saving made from having fewer Cabinet Ministers than the previous administration, fewer private office staff and fewer special advisers more than covers the cost of rebranding.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Road safety expert group to look at reducing Scottish toll</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-09-01T10:39:47+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e48e8b8f526695616197c3266097c06a-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/e48e8b8f526695616197c3266097c06a-33.html#unique-entry-id-33</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I also have a concern that the culture of movies and computer games that feature lurid crashes, from which you emerge unscathed (and indeed some games where you are rewarded for crashes) could be carrying a subconscious message that reckless and dangerous driving is laudable and without harm.


...As Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson pointed out, too many lives are being &ldquo;needlessly&rdquo; lost on Scotland&rsquo;s roads, with young drivers in particular taking unnecessary risks and putting lives in danger.  

...For me one situation that really has me fighting the "red mist" is the number of drivers in this area who are apparently unaware of one of the most basic rules on our roads - "KEEP LEFT". ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Direct USA flights are good news for Aberdeen</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-09-03T09:57:25+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/92cdea8640676e2c0812fb4fa94f14da-32.html#unique-entry-id-32</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/92cdea8640676e2c0812fb4fa94f14da-32.html#unique-entry-id-32</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


According to reports in today's Press and Journal the new direct will be operated by City Star using a 50-seat Boeing 757 with the fare for the ten-hour business-class-only flight to Houston being around &pound;2,500 return. 


Not only is this a great boost for the industry, as it battles against an inequitable tax regime, to retain its competitive edge it is surely good news all round for Aberdeen. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Transport hits the headlines in Aberdeen&#x2c; yet again</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-08-31T16:15:26+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a1cb90616e84e75bc1e0bb609c476da3-31.html#unique-entry-id-31</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a1cb90616e84e75bc1e0bb609c476da3-31.html#unique-entry-id-31</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	1	The long saga of the third crossing over the River Don and the suggestion by Scottish Executive Reporters (safely tucked away in the central belt and isolated from the reality of Aberdeen's shocking transport infrastructure) that we don't need a third bridge over the Don.   Easy for them to say - they don't have to suffer the daily misery of sitting in traffic queues, or sit doing the business balance sheet and watch the hours and delivery times drain away.


...But, for the Haudagain, there are noises that maybe, perhaps we might get a solution based on an extra road and more traffic lights, or a bigger roundabout.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Independence within the United Kingdom?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-08-14T13:57:37+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c54f43bec0f28e087a823857ff6e42b4-30.html#unique-entry-id-30</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c54f43bec0f28e087a823857ff6e42b4-30.html#unique-entry-id-30</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In their first 100 days in power, the SNP Scottish Government has come forward with a series of policy changes that signal quite clearly that Scotland is "under new management".


...First Minister Alex Salmond points out in his foreword to the document that our union with the other nations in the United Kingdom has two bases: 


...Alex Salmond makes the point that amending, or repealing the 1707 Act of Union, would still leave the Union of the Crowns intact and leave us, presumably, as... a nation within the United Kingdom. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Aberdeen special needs&#x27; workshop nominated for top UK food award</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-08-10T13:52:14+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/566c7275258ec0b2098c5380d86c6565-29.html#unique-entry-id-29</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/566c7275258ec0b2098c5380d86c6565-29.html#unique-entry-id-29</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


The winning Local Hero 2007 award winners will go on to feature in a UKTV series and will also win &pound;40,000 to invest in their business. 


...The bakery is just one of a number of work opportunities within the community - the others are the excellent cafe at Newton Dee (drop in for a coffee and home bakes or soup and bread it is a real experience!), the food store, woodwork workshops, metal work, toy workshops, two farms and even an architects' practice. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Scottish Broadcasting commission is step in right direction</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-08-09T10:05:09+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/709d71676dc5dd6f8a3394c0dba0b086-28.html#unique-entry-id-28</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/709d71676dc5dd6f8a3394c0dba0b086-28.html#unique-entry-id-28</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[	&bull;	We have been taught that our lowland language - Scots - is an "add-on" to English, whereas it was a totally separate language that has evolved closer and closer to English as the increasingly dominant language of the world. 


...Well, what do you think the reaction in England would be if 97 or 98% of their programmes came from Scotland and if the English news was an afterthought added on to the news from Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen!


..."I will be speaking to the BBC and other television networks about what we can do to ensure that they are getting the right kind of talent and ideas from Scotland, so they can start investing the right amounts of money in Scottish drama, entertainment and documentaries.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Kingswells roundabout drivers risk endorsement</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-08-03T09:32:15+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/fc393fcc47650ef162b535302ed67acd-27.html#unique-entry-id-27</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/fc393fcc47650ef162b535302ed67acd-27.html#unique-entry-id-27</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[It's not my favourite place on earth, but I seem to spend a lot of time sitting at the Kingswells roundabout, thanks to the peak-time traffic light phasing that only allows five or six cars through on each green phase from Countesswells. 


During the time I am there, usually there are two or three drivers who blatantly flout the law and pull over onto the wrong side of the double white lines into the path of oncoming traffic to steal a march on other drivers.


...This morning's incident was when four cars came off the Kingswells roundabout heading to Countesswells, only to meet a driver in a big 4x4 coming down the wrong side of the road, round what is a semi-blind corner!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trump&#x27;s &#x24;1 billion Aberdeen golf plan</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-11-27T11:55:31+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/73d7a74b69662da75f101ddda898b7d1-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/73d7a74b69662da75f101ddda898b7d1-26.html#unique-entry-id-26</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Donald Trump's organisation has submitted its plans for what Trump says will be the world's best golf course on the Menie site just north of Aberdeen.


...While it's true that Trump should not get preferential treatment simply because "money talks", let's just hope that the plans do not get caught in the sort of mire and small-mindedness that sometimes seems to categorise our planning system. 


...If international golfing clients can't get to and from the airport, or into the city past the Bridge of Don snarl-ups or the Haudagain disaster area, then the plan could flounder.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The new road tax coming to your car...</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-12-14T11:54:26+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/005c76468194f0cb574acd190d076fec-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/005c76468194f0cb574acd190d076fec-25.html#unique-entry-id-25</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[As soon as we hear that this could raise &pound;28 billion for the government, you can imagine how the momentum to install these little spy boxes in our cars is unstoppable. 

...Arrive at Amsterdam Airport direct from the dark ages of Aberdeen and you find yourself at an airport with a built-in railway station, where reasonably priced trains will whisk you into the Centraal Station in no time. 


...CONGESTION: We are told that we would have to build five times as many roads as are currently proposed, if we don't introduce a mileage tax. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Chancellor avoids hammering road users&#x2c; for now&#x21;</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-12-18T11:53:16+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ce39d513fb4f14e4486ee75598f8cda9-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ce39d513fb4f14e4486ee75598f8cda9-24.html#unique-entry-id-24</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On the other side of the North Sea they have had low-energy homes (costing no more than a few hundred pounds per year to heat) and even zero energy homes for years. 


...If the civil liberty concerns of tracking every vehicle's movements could be addressed, road charging might be acceptable if it didn't mean an increase in taxes (in other words if fuel and road tax were scrapped). 

...Taxation may still be a matter for Westminster, but you should demand that your candidates tell you where they stand on road pricing and the balance of overall taxation on road transport. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>North east road death toll</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-12-15T11:52:25+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1182ed997cc3b038448316db4778fabd-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/1182ed997cc3b038448316db4778fabd-23.html#unique-entry-id-23</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[With road fatalities now topping 61 this year in the North East, there should be growing concern not just from the public but also from the authorities charged with looking after our roads.


...In the absence of proper roads round Aberdeen (roll on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route - 20 years late is better than not at all) we were travelling on a minor route from the Westhill area across to Blackburn. 

...Despite being in a modern, four wheel drive vehicle and driving reasonably quickly there was no way I could keep up with the determined white van driver.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Transport to the fore</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-12-15T11:51:41+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5a514038be408a4410a6fe138e646478-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/5a514038be408a4410a6fe138e646478-22.html#unique-entry-id-22</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The focus in the last few weeks has been very much on transport, with the Eddington Review, the National Transport Strategy in Scotland, the announcement of the draft orders for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and now the launch of Nestrans Regional Transport Strategy for North East Scotland.


The announcement on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral route follows on from its incorporation within the National Transport Strategy so now, hopefully, we can expect it to head towards the target opening date of 2011. 

...It includes reference to the long-awaited Aberdeen Crossrail which aims to have trains running every 30 minutes from Stonehaven through to Inverurie, with a new station at Kintore estimated to open in 2009.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Airport set for take off&#x21;</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2006-12-16T11:50:50+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/85e83b4edd9971071279eebfa76e2c62-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/85e83b4edd9971071279eebfa76e2c62-21.html#unique-entry-id-21</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There is still almost as much oil to come out of the North Sea has already been extracted over the past four decades, but production figures are inevitably shrinking each year. 

...If Donald Trump's plans for the "best golf course in the world" just north of Aberdeen come true, the full potential for the local economy will be more easily realised if patrons can fly directly into Aberdeen, without having to change planes in London, Paris, or Amsterdam. 


...During the second half of the 20th Century and the opening years of the 21st, Aberdeen City and Shire's future prosperity has been compromised by a transport infrastructure in which some key elements (like the Bridge of Dee!) ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Road work blues</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-02-14T11:50:01+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cab6aa58c1a7d8acb42d70d06a96d505-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/cab6aa58c1a7d8acb42d70d06a96d505-20.html#unique-entry-id-20</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...How wrong I was as I sat in one lane of traffic with the centre coned off for what - if my eyes did not deceive me - looked suspiciously like the major reconstruction that we had been told was finished before Christmas. 


...Pedestrianise Union Street by all means, but make sure that it is possible for us to get there by our chosen means of transport, quickly and conveniently... and ensure there is convenient car parking at the end of our journey.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Toll taxes - a reprieve</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-03-12T11:49:13+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a0019ee44bbca2123342cfcb4eef1d38-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a0019ee44bbca2123342cfcb4eef1d38-19.html#unique-entry-id-19</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...Road users have been hit with so many messages about how naughty we all are for daring to use our cars and polluting the planet that we are a soft target. 

...&bull; Public transport is not always greener (studies in Germany and UK have shown public transport producing more pollution per head and a Lancaster University study showed that - even with all seats taken - an intercity train from London to Edinburgh produced more pollution than if the passengers all drove in reasonably economical cars!)
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A96 upgrade overdue</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-03-15T11:48:35+00:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/903e20f69381531be611353be3abc934-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/903e20f69381531be611353be3abc934-18.html#unique-entry-id-18</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.)


...I know myself that the red mist sometimes descends and you have to exercise control to remind yourself of the the vital motoring moto: "If in doubt, don't!".
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Trevipark automated parking step in right direction</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-03-26T11:47:44+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/05afba7f00006dac691e8add86822324-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/05afba7f00006dac691e8add86822324-17.html#unique-entry-id-17</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...The reality is that, if Aberdeen city centre is to prosper, people need to be able to get there easily, park quickly and efficiently and do their business. 

...If Aberdeen really does get one of the first Treviparks in Britain, it will highlight the city as being an innovative, forward-thinking city that seeks out radical solutions to the need to conserve the cityscape while allowing people to use the transport means of their choice to travel into the city to support its economy.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Haudagain needs a flyover</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-03-27T11:46:45+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/86d9c93f1e3fd6d0f64a802e3d156520-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/86d9c93f1e3fd6d0f64a802e3d156520-16.html#unique-entry-id-16</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...It's been estimated that this junction alone costs the local economy between &pound;15 and &pound;30 million a year in delays and an upgrade is long overdue.


There have been suggestions of a sticking plaster solution (which frankly sounds as though it would make things worse rather than better), involving two additional traffic light controlled junctions and a short section of link road.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Summer in April </title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-04-14T11:45:42+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/f38dd27a9e437a00f971cda1157e3b19-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/f38dd27a9e437a00f971cda1157e3b19-15.html#unique-entry-id-15</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


It really was a case of "Smile you are in Aberdeen" as the posters above Union Street proclaim!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Think local when filling your car</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-04-11T11:44:54+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9b193d075f39bf4cd6a0904a3c9c8e10-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/9b193d075f39bf4cd6a0904a3c9c8e10-14.html#unique-entry-id-14</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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? 

...The only remaining non-supermarket filling stations I can think about in the central part of Aberdeen are BP on North Esplanade West and the Ruthrieston Filling Station on Holburn Street - and it has a 'For Sale' sign on it, so it probably won't be long until it becomes more houses.


...It's bad news for people like me who hate queuing, because - as the number of filling stations dwindle - the only ones remaining get busier and we have to queue for the privilege of filling up our cars. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>E&#x26;M closure is sad news for Aberdeen</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-04-25T11:43:20+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6e2c4bf18f339c80b0c0d3e0a615159f-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/6e2c4bf18f339c80b0c0d3e0a615159f-13.html#unique-entry-id-13</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...But, if our city fathers 200 years ago had not made bold and imaginative decisions, like investing in a grand plan to bridge the Denburn Valley with a viaduct called Union Street, Aberdeen might not have existed.


...You don't even have to look back 200 years to see the sort of vision and forward thinking that would make you just about weep at the state of our city in 2007. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Politicians need to focus on sustaining&#x2c; not milking&#x2c; the oil and gas industry</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-05-13T10:52:13+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c6bb5ed04138440e09664303dfd1f8d6-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/c6bb5ed04138440e09664303dfd1f8d6-12.html#unique-entry-id-12</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I mention that, because so many people in the UK seem to be ignorant about the oil and gas industry's importance to them in their every day lives and politicians seem cavalier about its future.


...But the fact that this industry has helped to sustain UK plc for four decades and now needs a little support back, seems to be lost on our political leaders in Westminster (for it is there, for the moment at least, that our tax regime is decided). 


...Now, when the return on oil in the North Sea is already less attractive than most other oil producing regions in the world, that is a very strong incentive to turn your back on the UK and head elsewhere. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>The people have spoken&#x2c; don&#x27;t defy their will</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-05-15T10:51:11+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/62775b93305c20254a186dc736de7215-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/62775b93305c20254a186dc736de7215-11.html#unique-entry-id-11</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The SNP has made it crystal clear that they do not see their election as a mandate for independence, but a mandate to hold a referendum for independence. 


...But many of them may not want independence (much though the reactionary utterings of Gordon Brown, the Lib Dems and others might start to make them change their minds). 

...If the Lib Dems, or Gordon Brown, or Westminster, or anyone else tries to defy the democratically expressed will of the Scottish people it will bring the whole political process into disrepute. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Teenage Deputy Provost for Aberdeen stirs comment</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-05-17T10:49:36+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a4321698593938815fd0becb82efdb5b-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/a4321698593938815fd0becb82efdb5b-10.html#unique-entry-id-10</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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.


...These appointments certainly breathe new life into a council which, like so many around Scotland, has tended to be dominated by older people who have reached a position in life where they are able to give take time away from their employment to serve on the council. 


...I know it's asking a lot of our new younger local politicians, but I hope they can stay away from the attitudes of "that is how we do things, because that is how they have always been done".
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Don&#x27;t let us have a North/South battle</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-05-30T10:47:31+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ef9c36914828188edb12a8f43cab2143-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ef9c36914828188edb12a8f43cab2143-9.html#unique-entry-id-9</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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. 

...I simply cannot see it being of huge national significance that I could get a train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh Airport when I can hopefully fly most places I want to go out of Aberdeen! 

...And even if you put on your environmental hat, if I fly from Aberdeen the chances are that I am reducing my carbon footprint compared to travelling to Edinburgh before even stepping aboard the aircraft.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Don&#x27;t lose the Trump opportunity over SNH</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-05-31T10:46:05+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/78352747ed24ac56db84f90b8e9e1773-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/78352747ed24ac56db84f90b8e9e1773-8.html#unique-entry-id-8</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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?


...One thing is for sure, Mr Trump's "go getting, no nonsense" style and our slow, grinding planning system were always going to be at odds. 


...The First World Headquarters proposal is a case in point and any organisation less determined to stay in Aberdeen would have been off down the road to London or Leeds in a flash, given the drawn-out decision making process.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>What ever happened to the Scottish strawberry?</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-10T10:45:19+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ea43870a13bedc09202668a8e8b50f2a-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ea43870a13bedc09202668a8e8b50f2a-7.html#unique-entry-id-7</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[For that reason the fruit growers of Tayside have been persuaded to plant new varieties of strawberry that have the vital attribute not of taste, but an ability to survive being dropped on the supermarket floor!


Let's boycott supermarket strawberries until they bring back real Scottish strawberries, rather than the notorious El Santa variety. 


Until then, I advise you find a small shop, pick-your-own, or roadside that stocks the real McKay. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Remember summer 2007</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-26T10:44:04+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/088706c70d5675352ff72bf567b59ff9-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/088706c70d5675352ff72bf567b59ff9-6.html#unique-entry-id-6</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[OK, that is maybe a bit harsh but it is now past Midsummer's Day and we seem to have been stuck in a northerly airflow for weeks, bringing cold air from the Arctic Circle. 


To be fair, the East of Scotland was quite badly affected in June by the sea haar. ...  In coastal areas of California for example they have "June gloom" caused by the "marine layer" coming in from the Pacific and I can recall sitting in Carmel shivering, while hearing that, back home, Aberdeen was enjoying temperatures of 25C+!
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Time to express your opinion on Trump International Golf Links</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-26T10:42:14+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/60ae886a9f349dfb3c5234b8ba42b044-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/60ae886a9f349dfb3c5234b8ba42b044-5.html#unique-entry-id-5</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[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!


...It would be something to really put Aberdeen City and Shire on the world tourism map, drawing visitors (who normally bypass this area in their haste to get from Edinburgh to Loch Ness) into our part of the world. 


...Add to that the economic benefits for our economy and the spin-off benefit of visitors visiting other golf courses, businesses, distilleries and tourist attractions in the area and the potential benefits of this development are huge. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Controversy about Scottish Prime Ministers</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-27T10:40:47+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/75277d74ae305ff4672cab2daffb22db-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/75277d74ae305ff4672cab2daffb22db-4.html#unique-entry-id-4</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[In actual fact, if the place of your birth dictates your nationality, we have had a Scottish Prime Minister for the last ten years in Tony Blair - born and brought up in Scotland! 


But even if you forgive that bit of amnesia by those who are getting into a froth about Gordon Brown's Scottishness, have the chattering classes in England forgotten that that building in Westminster actually houses the United Kingdom Parliament - not the English Parliament?


...As far as I am concerned, if English MPs are so insecure that they don't want Scots in charge of departments that run affairs in England and Wales and if they don't want Scots to vote on matters that don't affect Scotland, the remedy is in their own hands. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Delay for the Aberdeen by-pass is a disappointment</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-29T10:38:25+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ac32dbf9d934801524e8d8a8af7d5647-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ac32dbf9d934801524e8d8a8af7d5647-3.html#unique-entry-id-3</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Unbelievably, this historic bridge, with its seven-foot width restriction remains the only trunk road link between Europe's Energy Capital and the rest of the UK and Europe beyond!


...The new Scottish Executive have made it clear that they are working flat out to deliver the road, but they claim that there was no slack built into the programme set by their predecessors. 

...The bottom line is that, those of us who are daily inconvenienced, penalised and disadvantaged by an archaic roads network want this petty mud-slinging to stop.
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Credit where it is due? North Sea oil &#x27;airbrushed out of history&#x27;</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-06-29T10:33:42+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ab5db34e92f20ab8915718a9b5e552a1-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/ab5db34e92f20ab8915718a9b5e552a1-2.html#unique-entry-id-2</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[And it is not just today, but as Andrew Marr pointed out in his excellent history of modern Britain programme on BBC TV, the North Sea oil and gas story seems to have been airbrushed out of past history.


Speaking of the Margaret Thatcher era and how the radical plans to revive the British economy might have gone off the rails had it not been for North Sea oil and gas, the programme cut to a North Sea oil platform.


...Yet, to this day there are policy makers in London who appear to be unaware that 70% (and expected to rise to 80%) of Britain's prime energy needs stem from the oil and gas industry in the North Sea. 
]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Putting Energy Institute in Glasgow is utterly illogical</title><dc:creator>webmaster@aberdeen-info.co.uk</dc:creator><category>Granite Chips</category><dc:date>2007-07-16T17:41:39+01:00</dc:date><link>http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/67479787fa67c0d0e6504e669ac3757d-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.aberdeen-info.co.uk/weblog/files/67479787fa67c0d0e6504e669ac3757d-1.html#unique-entry-id-1</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The news that Glasgow is likely to be the Scottish centre for the UK Government's proposed Energy Technologies Institute is completely illogical. 

...I have always been told that, to make a success of anything, we should play to our strengths and build on them.


...Aberdeen is one of the world's leading energy cities - surely the only logical home for the UK energy institute?
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