Aberdeenshire latest news - updates from your local council
352 subscribers
Verified ChannelAbout Aberdeenshire latest news - updates from your local council
News from Aberdeenshire Council with important information and service updates for anyone who lives, learns, works, or visits Aberdeenshire.
Similar Channels
Swipe to see more
Posts
Aberdeenshire Council is working with Stella’s Voice to provide a mattress cleaning and reuse service via Inverurie and Ellon household recycling centres that will benefit vulnerable people across the region and beyond. In Scotland, a staggering 600,000 mattresses are disposed of each year with less than one in ten of those being collected for recycling or reuse. Many of these mattresses could be reused for a greater cause than incineration or landfill. Bagged, good, clean mattresses can now be taken to either Inverurie or Ellon household recycling centres where they will be quality checked. The council will deliver the mattresses to Stella’s Voice to be professionally cleaned and disinfected with new equipment funded through the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund. Mattresses suitable for reuse must have... ▪ A blue fire label with the code BS7177 present, ▪ No rips or tears, ▪ No heavy staining, and ▪ A bag protecting them that can be collected for free from either Inverurie or Ellon household recycling centres or from Unit 7 on Harlaw Way in Inverurie. Stella’s Voice will either sell the mattresses through its reuse shop to generate funds or use them directly in its humanitarian efforts to support vulnerable people and those in most need. Pictured is the bag needed for mattress reuse on a mattress showing the blue fire label with the code BS7177. Learn more: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/2025/jun/bag-it-up-your-old-mattress-can-make-a-difference
Eight beaches across Aberdeenshire have been recognised in Keep Scotland Beautiful’s annual beach awards for 2025. Scotland's Beach Award is the benchmark for quality, celebrating clean, well-managed, and sustainable beaches. The award-winning beaches demonstrate excellent beach management and environmental best practice, and the maintenance of high standards. The eight award-winning beaches managed by Aberdeenshire Council are... ▪ Collieston, ▪ Cruden Bay, ▪ Fraserburgh Tigerhill, ▪ Fraserburgh Waters of Philorth, ▪ Inverboyndie, ▪ Peterhead Lido, ▪ Stonehaven, and ▪ Balmedie, which has won the award 20 times! The awards are presented annually after an application and assessment process to ensure the beaches meet strict standards in three key areas: access, facilities and safety; local community and heritage; and environmental quality. Scotland's Beach Award, by Keep Scotland Beautiful, is the only accreditation for beach management of its kind in Scotland that includes an on-site assessment of every beach. Thank you to everyone who helps to maintain our beaches. Together, you protect vital, biodiverse havens for wildlife and ensure our beaches remain a spectacular destination for all. From the bothies to the beach cleans, to our dedicated staff and every visitor who leaves no trace, these awards recognise your efforts and celebrate how fortunate we all are to have access to such amazing and well-maintained stretches of coastline. Pictured is Balmedie Beach.
Aberdeenshire residents waste less and produce higher quality recycling a year on from the rollout of orange lid bins, it was revealed at the council's Infrastructure Services Committee on Thursday 15 May. The council welcomed £3.5 million in total funding from Zero Waste Scotland’s Recycling Improvement Fund to progress the bin collection changes in alignment with Scotland’s Charter for Household Recycling. The charter pledges to maximise the capture and quality of recycling as well as reduce the capacity for waste that cannot be recycled. The rollout took a year to complete, from 17 April 2023 to 22 April 2024. As a result of the kerbside collection changes... ♻ The quality of paper, card, and cardboard recycling (blue lid bin)—which is approximately 70% of the overall kerbside recycling—has improved dramatically and is consistently below 3% contamination. ♻ The overall recycling rate is up by 2.8%, increasing from 40.2% in 2022 to 43% in 2023, with a further increase expected from 2023 to 2024. ♻ Residual waste (black lid bin and recycling centres) being collected and disposed of has decreased by 1,031 tonnes from 2022 to 2023 and a further 1,861 tonnes from 2023 to 2024. ♻ The council is saving of around £2m per year due to the cleaner recycling from the separated bins and the reduction in residual waste. A saving that is now incorporated into the Waste and Recycling Services budget. ♻ The reduction in residual waste has also saved an equivalent of 1,685 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. The next steps are to further increase the recycling rate for Aberdeenshire, where food waste is appearing as more than a fifth of all the stuff that ends up in kerbside black-lid bins. It is a lot of food that is being bought but never eaten. Using the free food waste caddies instead would turn food waste into biogases for heat, power, or even biofuel for vehicles; and digestate for fertiliser for agriculture. Some food waste is also converted into compost for local farms. Food waste is collected each week from the kerbside and residents can get an indoor and outdoor food waste caddy for free from their local recycling centre or service point if theirs is broken or if they need more than one. Learn more: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/2025/may/aberdeenshire-residents-waste-less-and-produce-higher-quality-recycling-a-year-on-from-bin-rollout
We're asking residents to help support the safety of facilities and staff by removing batteries from electricals before recycling following a fire at Kirkhill waste transfer station last week. While the cause of the fire cannot be determined, fires across the waste sector typically occur when electricals containing batteries are thrown in with household waste or recycling. Electricals, if in suitable condition and with all parts and plugs, can also be donated to a directly to a charity or via a reuse container in Banchory, Ellon, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Stonehaven, Portlethen, or Peterhead household recycling centres. If not, they can be placed—with batteries removed—in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) container at any of the council’s recycling centres. WEEE containers are also available at Port Elphinstone’s Davidson Park and at Insch’s leisure centre car park. Our thanks to the transfer station operative who spotted the smoke and contacted the fire brigade, and to the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service for their quick response. If we had lost the waste transfer station to fire, it would cost millions to rebuild and disrupt all waste collections across the northeast of Aberdeenshire. Earlier this year, a fire at Peterhead’s household recycling centre resulted in damage to the electricals container and the loss of valuable electrical items for recycling, serving as a further reminder of the importance of removing batteries wherever possible. Household batteries can be recycled separately from other electrical waste at all household recycling centres. Household batteries can also be recycled as part of a home’s weekly kerbside collections using freely available pink battery bags. Simply leave a full and sealed battery bag on top of a kerbside bin being collected on any given week. Battery bags are available for free from local household recycling centres, libraries, or service points. Please note that these should not be used to dispose of vapes—they are for household batteries only. Pictured is smoke coming from the Waste Transfer Station with a fire engine on site.
The Inverurie service point will be re-opening on Tuesday 27 May at its new location within Inverurie Library, Town Hall, Market Place, Inverurie, AB51 3SN. Opening hours will be Tuesday to Thursday, 08:45 am to 5 pm. Our website has been updated to reflect the change. We look forward to welcoming customers back. Pictured is the outside of the library.
Mackie Academy has been rated “good” following an inspection by Education Scotland. The report, published today (Tuesday), highlights the Stonehaven school’s commitment to providing “engaging and inclusive” learning experiences and its “support for young people to reach their potential”. Headteacher Louise Moir said: “We’re delighted to have received such a positive inspection, which is a testament to the dedication of our staff, pupils and the wider school community.” Learn more here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/2025/may/mackie-inspection
Aberdeenshire Council has launched the first stage of a region-wide consultation around the introduction of permanent 20mph speed limits in built-up areas. Residents and road users in Buchan, Formartine, Garioch and Kincardine and Mearns are the first to be invited to share their views on the proposed changes in their area, followed shortly after by those in Banff and Buchan and Marr. The consultations form part of the statutory process for specific speed limit orders which would introduce widespread 20mph limits. Learn more here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/2025/may/public-consultation-around-20mph-speed-limit-introduction
Community volunteers in Ellon are being encouraged to help re-establish the Friends of McDonald Park group.The call comes after an appeal by the McDonald Park Endowment Trust for support towards sourcing of future funding opportunities for the park’s continued development. Donated to the local authority back in the 1920s, the McDonald Public Park endowment was established to support park maintenance and provide recreational facilities to enhance community wellbeing.
A pre-determination hearing will be held next month to discuss a planning application for a strategic electricity transmission hub at Netherton near Peterhead. The plans – under application APP/2024/1714 https://bit.ly/NethertonHub opens in a new tab – include the creation of a 400kV AC substation, 132kV AC substation, 2 HVDC converter stations, transmission hall, spares warehouse, operations base and associated works on land to the west of Parkhill Farm, Blackhills. The pre-determination hearing will take place at 6pm on Wednesday, June 4 at Buchan House, St Peter Street, Peterhead and virtually via Teams. Learn more here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/news/2025/may/pre-determination-hearing-on-proposed-netherton-hub-near-peterhead
We will be spraying weeds on footways across Aberdeenshire in the coming weeks. The focus will be on town and village centres to ensure we are helping maintain each of our settlements within the available budget. In some smaller settlements this may be two or three streets or the main thoroughfares in our smallest villages. It can take up to two weeks for the treatment to take effect and the weeds will turn a yellowish-brown. New weeds may grow in the weeks after, so we may return to apply a further application of herbicide treatment; this would be prioritised based on the remaining budget. The treatment we are permitted to use does not remain within the soil and so does not prevent germinating seeds from developing. If any residents or businesses are willing, and able, to occasionally brush the footway outside of their property, this would go a long way to removing anything that could harbour weed seed not destroyed by the herbicide application. If you would like further information on how you can help or if you are planning a clean-up and require an uplift of weeds and sweepings, please contact [email protected]
