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20th January 2009

Alex Johnstone Speaks At Westhill Public Meeting

North East MSP Alex Johnstone attended a packed public meeting in Westhill last night to hear the complaints of householders from the Dawson, Leddach Grange and Meadowlands estates about the performance of Greenbelt Ltd, the company charged with the responsibility of maintaining the green spaces in and around their homes.

Speaking during the meeting, Alex Johnstone said, “While it would have been much better if ground maintenance was in the hands of the Council, the developers made the decision to bring in Greenbelt because it would save them money. For this reason, the developers themselves must accept a great deal of responsibility for the situation you find yourselves in.

“While the best option might be for you to take over the land and pass it on to the council, this will be difficult because it would require the agreement and full cooperation of all the residents of each estate, which would be difficult to achieve, and it could also be an expensive option.

“The truth is that people don’t mind paying for a service if the service is delivered and they feel they are getting value for money. The problem in this case is that Greenbelt has failed to deliver anything like the service you expect to get.

“The solution, in the short term, is for greenbelt to do what you have been paying them to do and bring their standards up to and acceptable level and make sure that they do not provoke this level of hostility next year – it’s up to them.

“I will work, together with colleagues, in the Scottish Parliament to ensure that this process is properly regulated in the future, that the hand of the home owner is strengthened to make sure that you are in control and, ideally, that this responsibility falls to the local council in future, unless a more affordable and reliable alternative which is acceptable to householders can be put in place.”