AFTER a period of internal wrangling and resignations, Stonehaven and District Community Council, SDCC, has pulled itself back from the brink of collapse thanks to member Ben Plouviez being willing to take the role of chair.
Mr Plouviez will be supported by fellow member Fiona Tavendale who will act as co-chair. A new member was also co-opted at the meeting with Lisa Mackenzie Elliott being unanimously welcomed to the community council. No-one has yet put their hand up to be treasurer so SDCC will continue without one for the short term.
Taking the chair, Mr Plouviez made it clear he wanted SDCC to become more pro-active in its handling of matters of local concern.
”This must not become a talking shop,” he said.
Mr Plouviez said the issue of roads with potholes and pavements with weeds was so pervasive in Stonehaven that it would feel wrong for SDCC not to discuss the matter – but they had no budget, so there is a real danger that all they could do was sit and discuss the problem. He proposed a group should look at the town and come up with a list of the most important areas to be tackled.
”Then we can work on interrogating the Council and putting pressure on the Council through the Town Centre Improvement Group to get some understanding of what can be achieved and what the constraints are on addressing some of these issues,” he said.
”It is intended to be a way we can proactively have a dialogue with officers, rather than just say this is awful.”
Cllr Alan Turner said the issue of potholes was universal across the Shire. He told the meeting it was important residents used the Fix My Street app to report faults.
”Fix My Street is the only way forward, the only chance of getting things done,” he said.
Feature image – Ben Plouviez and Fiona Tavendale have teamed up to keep the SDCC show on the road