Regarding the previous post, Biggest Pavement Awards, I received the following response from Perth & Kinross Council on 22nd November. I made the fifth paragraph bold. Sorry about the delay in posting this.

I refer to your email which was received by the Council’s Customer Service Centre this morning.

The works being carried out were agreed in full consultation with the Community Council and Elected Members. The school was also involved as part of the school travel planning process.

The works include widening the footway and narrowing the junction bellmouth. We had received concerns about the size of the junction, difficulties crossing the road because of this and the restricted visibility with parked cars, and vehicle speeds.

The scheme will improve the safety for pedestrians and encourage lower vehicles speeds on the main road. It does not affect parking but improves visibility for pedestrians.

It had been the intention to send out consultation letters to the adjacent properties but it would appear that the Officer in charge of the scheme did not do this. He had thought there had been sufficient consultation through the Community Council and Elected Members. I can only apologise for this.

In terms of costs, the order value of the works is £7066.34

If I can be of any more assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Jillian Robinson
Principal Engineer (Traffic & Road Safety)
The Environmental Service
Perth & Kinross Council

If there was a Biggest Pavement Award for the Birnam and Dunkeld area it would surely go to the extended pavement opposite the Spar in Station Road, Birnam. This seems to have been imposed upon us by Higher Beings without consultation, and I have emailed PKC and our local Councillor regarding this.

Regardless of the costs, who in his/her right mind thought that this was a good idea?

By the way, did anyone notice the improvements to the “road” along Birnam Terrace/Gladstone Terrace? Half-hearted to say the least. And there’s still no pavement there whatsoever, nor any signs to limit the speed of traffic.

I only got to know about this event through the PVAF (Perthshire Visual Arts Forum) and wondered how many non-members would be aware of it.

There’s an exhibition by PVAF members at the Scottish Crannog Centre, Kenmore, from Tuesday 30th November to Sunday 5th December, workshops for the public and participating artists from Sunday 28th November to Friday 3rd December, and a grand finale on the Saturday evening (4th December, 6–8 pm).

This final event will feature fire and ice sculptures, flaming torches, ceramic kiln firing, storytelling with Claire Hewitt, drumming, and hot food. I booked my ticket already (adults £7.50, children £4.00) by calling the Scottish Crannog Centre (01887 830583), although I did have to wait until the weekend before anyone was there to pick up the phone.

See you there!