Vacancy in WECC

Administrator

Would you like to get involved in helping improve the quality of life in Westhill?

The Westhill and Elrick Community Council (WECC) exists in large part to maintain and improve the quality of life in Westhill and we currently have vacancy for a co-opted Community Councillor. So we are now inviting self-nominations from interested parties subject to the conditions below* 

If you would like to join us please nominate yourself to the WECC Secretary via email to weccsecretx@gmail.com by 30th September latest. 

Please include your home address and contact details along with a brief statement of why you would like to be a Community Councillor and an outline of what you would like to help WECC achieve for our community of Westhill.

Nominations for co-option will be considered at the next Community Council meeting on 15th October. In the event of multiple nominations, WECC Members will use the applicants’ statements to select the successful nominee.  All applicants will be notified of the result immediately thereafter. 

For more information on the role of Community Councils and Community Councillors, see https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/community-councils/.

If you’d like more information or an informal chat about this opportunity please contact WECC Chairperson Mervyn Barr on weccchair@gmail.com or on 07890802181 

Mervyn Barr 

23 Sept 20

* To be eligible to be a Community Councillor, individuals must:

a.   be aged 16 years or over, and

b.   reside in the area of WECC and be on the Electoral Register, or

c.   have had their ordinary or principle residence in the area of the Community

Council for at least three months prior to nomination, and

d.   not be a member who is elected to serve on Aberdeenshire Council, or the

Scottish, UK or European Parliaments.

WECC also have the discretion to allow individuals to become a Community Councillor who do not reside in the area of the Community Council. Such individuals must: 

a.   be permanently employed, or carry out regular self-employed work or voluntary work in the area of the Community Council; or

b.   own a business in the area of the Community Council.

Extracts from:  The Scheme For The Establishment Of Community  Councils, Aberdeenshire Council

Westhill drains water

Administrator

News Release from Aberdeenshire Council
Issue Date: Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Westhill residents asked to check drain connections to protect much-loved Denman Park ponds
Residents living near the Denman Park ponds in Westhill are being encouraged to check their drains to ensure harmful waste water is not damaging the environment.

Denman Park ponds receive their water from the rainwater drains in the adjacent areas of the town from Morvern Crescent near the golf course in the north to Westhill Drive in the east and Westwood Grove in the west.    

However there have been occasions when the ponds have had cloudy water seeping in from unknown sources, prompting both SEPA and Scottish Water to work together to test and trace the manholes upstream of the ponds to try and establish where the wrong fluids have been poured down a rainwater drain and to prevent it happening again. 

Aberdeenshire Council environment planner Steven Gray explains: “If you live in the middle section of Westhill then you can help improve the ponds’ water quality by checking that your rainwater drains which remove surface water are not connected to the foul/sewer drains which take bathroom and kitchen waste water.”

Likewise, people doing external painting, waterproofing or cleaning works must not pour the leftovers or the clean-up water into the kerbside road drains as this will flow into the ponds.   

The ponds – which were dug out when the park was first established – are a much-loved attraction and regularly visited by Westhill residents, forming a boundary between the park and the local nature reserve Arnhall Moss a lowland mire.

The three ponds provide a home for a range of aquatic life ranging from micro-beasties such as freshwater hoglouse, pond skaters, water boatman, diving beetles and midgies, to minnows, pond snails, newts, caddisfly larvae, freshwater shrimp and frogs. Ducks, herons and numerous small birds also visit the ponds.

Aberdeenshire Ranger Service has been worked with Westhill Academy’s Biology Department where the ponds were used by the pupils for freshwater sampling as part of their course work.

Through their studies they identified and recorded findings and, by using an indicator chart, could work out the quality of the water. Water quality indicators found that the majority of species found within the ponds only rated ‘fair’ category with one or two species falling into the other categories of ‘extremely good’, ‘good’ and ‘poor’.

Elrick Primary School pupils and teachers have also been working with the Ranger Service to create a Discovery Trail which features the ponds thanks to funding from TAQA.

To report any pollution of the ponds please contact SEPA via the pollution hotline number (0800 80 70 60) or by visiting http://www.sepa.org.uk

Denman Park pond contamination