Andrew Bowie MP has wrote to Aberdeenshire Council regarding the lack of parks and greenspaces in Hillside, Portlethen following conversations with residents.
This issue has been raised by the community over the past few years with it even being raised as part of the Local Development Plan Main Issues Report but was omitted from the final Local Development Plan.
The 2022 Portlethen Town Health Check suggested that there is ample greenspace but fails to reference Hillside. The same report included a golf course as greenspace, skewing the results despite it not being public greenspace.
Residents feel that housing developers have been able to avoid providing the facilities they should due to several reasons, some of which Andrew highlights in his letter.
Some residents expressed their view that there are too few parks within the settlement and that those that do exist appear entirely designed for toddlers and pre-school age children with very little and limited equipment.
Andrew recognised the challenges faced by local government with council budgets already stretched and the restrictions imposed by national planning legislation. However, he stated that it was clear that the concerns of residents need to be addressed, especially considering the health and wellbeing impact that sufficient open spaces can have.
You can read Andrew’s full letter to Aberdeenshire Council below.
