Temporary Traffic Order – Riverside Approach
From Dundee City Council (having long campaigned for resurfacing of Riverside Approach, I am pleased that this is now going ahead) :
Dundee City Council proposes to make an Order under Section 14(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for the purpose of facilitating carriageway resurfacing works. The Order is expected to be in force for two weeks from 2nd May 2017. Its maximum duration in terms of the Act is eighteen months.
The effect of the Order is to prohibit temporarily all vehicular traffic in Riverside Approach from the south side of its junction with Roseangle/Magdalen Yard Road to the north side of its junction with Riverside Drive.
Pedestrian access is unaffected.
An alternative route will be available via Riverside Drive, South Union Street, South Marketgait, Nethergate, Perth Road, Roseangle and reverse (including West Marketgait).
Please forward any comments you may have regarding this proposal to the Network Management Team, City Development Department, Dundee House, 50 North Lindsay Street, Dundee DD1 1LS, no later than five working days prior to the commencement date. If you have any queries please contact 433168.
Friends of Balgay Spring Litter
The Friends of Balgay Spring Litter pick at Balgay takes place at 2pm on Saturday 29th April.
All welcome to help tidy the park!
Equipment provided – meet at Balgay Bridge.
Local TV no more?
This week’s launch of STV’s new television service STV2 is, I feel, a disappointing missed opportunity.
STV2 has been created by STV by weaving together several local TV franchises it successfully bid for covering Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr into one single output. The idea behind the local franchises had been separate, local TV output at each one and that STV has undermined the spirit of the local TV franchise deals by creating just one TV service spread across all 5 areas.
Katie Martin of STV’s public relations and communications team advised me :
“STV2 will deliver a single schedule across Scotland that includes local material from all five local licence areas in line with individual licence commitments; all programming will air across the channel with no local opt-outs. Content will come from all areas with production bases and staff in all five licence areas and will be clearly marked as such, covering Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr.”
This is not the local TV output that STV originally promised. Whilst some additional local output from Dundee on STV2 is a step forward, the station will be, as is usually the case with both STV and the BBC, dominated by Glasgow and Edinburgh. STV has fallen well short of what it originally promised and I am doubtful that what it is proposing truly meets the local and regional commitments of the Ofcom franchises covering Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr that it won.
STV has attempted to create a second STV national service by the back door. I am sure that there will be some good content on STV2 and I wish STV well with its venture, but for the many people who thought that, in winning in separate local franchises, we would see truly local and regional services in different parts of Scotland, STV has fallen short.
Bobby Hain, director of channels at STV, had confirmed “STV2 is the new channel for Scotland.”
A new national channel has been created at the expense of local television and it is surprising that Ofcom, the regulator, has allowed this to happen.
Blether Tay-Gither – Storytelling in Dundee
From Blether Tay-Gither :
Our April Blether will be tonight – Tuesday 25th April – at 7pm in Madigan’s Food Emporium and Bookshop, Castle Street.
The theme this month is “Running Away With the Circus.”
Hope to see some of you there – all welcome!