East End Ward

The City Council have informed me of a proposal to install a new recycling station in Westcroft Place. It is proposed that this be installed on the large section of pavement in front of the two parking bays (on East side of the road).

The council will also send letters to nearby households at least one week prior to installation to provide occupants with an opportunity to comment.

Nearby householders will also be provided with an information leaflet and reusable jute bag to carry recyclables to the bins.

Each Neighbourhood Recycling Point will consist of 4 steel containers for recycling each of the following materials: Paper, Clear glass, Green glass and Brown glass.

With recycling being something that many of us are trying to do more of, I welcome this proposal. As with the other recycling centres in the are both myself and Christina will be watching the containers to ensure that they are not vandalised. Thankfully, I have not heard of any being vandalised as of yet.

My other concern at the moment is the road layout at the Claverhouse Junction, especially at Fintry Road and Fountainbleu. The reader's letter page of the tele has had some worrying letters in it recently indicating that drivers feel this particular junction is an accident waiting to happen. I have to agree.

Prior to these letter going to press, I spoke to the Director of Planning and Transportation raising these concerns. The basic crunch issue is this. On approach to this junction, their is only one sign indicating which lane you should be in. Blink and you miss it. It is not the first time I have been in the correct lane for a driver to cut me up.

Ok, it always takes time for people to settle in to a new junction and sometimes I think it is easier for out of town drivers as they will generally be paying more attention as the layout is unfamiliar to them. However we have become very used to the old junction and simply do not know what to do when we approach something new. I say this from experience as the first time i got to this junction, I didn't have a clue and ended up in the wrong lane myself!

Along with Christina and my SNP colleague's in the North East Ward, we will be asking for immediate improvements to be made before an accident does happen.

Further to my previous post, I have to admit a mistake! Doesn't happen often but when they do I admit to them. Mini recycling facilities have been installed at the Ballindean Shops however you could be forgiven for not noticing them!

They are installed at the taxi rank under the trees. I still think that the others located on Ballindean Road are in a poor position but will speak to the department regarding this.

Glad to announce that Douglas has another excellent resource for residents to use. A mini recycling station has been installed on Ballindean Road which means that for certain recyclates, you will no longer have to make a trip to ASDA or Sainsburys. I fully welcome this sort of innovation and cannot wait to see more throughout the area.

I am thinking however of questioning the location of this unit as I believe that this would be beneficial if situated closer to the shops on Ballindean Road. These shops are used by a huge amount of people and would possibly make it even more valuable if situated there.

I have asked Christina to look into this with her remit as our groups spokesperson for all things recycling. Will update once a reply is received