Cruden Bay Community Action Plan May 2018 1 Location Community Action Plan 2 Introduction Community Action Plan This is the Community Action Plan All the ideas in this booklet came for the community of Portlethen. from the community. The table at the This Action Plan was created from back shows those ideas which can be various surveys and public meetings, taken forward by the community on held between 2017 and 2019. its own, those which require help These were to establish what the from an external partner and those people of Portlethen wanted in which can only be taken forward by order to improve their area in one or more external agencies, which Portlethen from the air 2008 some way, be it in a material way, can provide moral, technical and by improvement to services, or to possibly financial support. provide directions towards a change. Various inputs were It is recommended that this Action gained from different age groups Plan should have a maximum lifespan and community groups. This was of 3 years. Some projects may be managed by both the Portlethen completed quickly whist others may & District Community Council and take much longer but all should be Aberdeenshire Council. This reviewed regularly to ensure that they project for a Community Action are still relevant. Plan 2019 is being co-ordinated by the Kincardineshire Development It is important that this plan is seen Partnership. by all interested parties, both within the local community and other This information has now been partners who may be able to assist used to guide the community and with the implementation of any the Community Planning Partners actions set out in the table. in compiling a detailed action plan to take forward the top priorities, Kincardineshire Development Partnership as well as addressing the other is one of a number of rural issues which have been identified. partnerships in Aberdeenshire who For each priority, or issue, it has run the Community Action Plan been agreed who needs to be initiatives sponsored by Aberdeenshire involved, and over the coming Community Planning Partnership. months what resources will be required with target dates set for completion. Findon “Harbour” 3 Introduction Community Action Plan Introduction employment has not yet returned to its 2013 level. The unemployment Portlethen is a coastal town in the rate in Portlethen is 1.4% (2017) North East of Scotland, lying along the North Sea. It is in the historic Working Population county of Kincardineshire, which was 1n 2017, 56% 0f the working absorbed into the southern part of population travelled from Portlethen from the air 2008 the modern county of Aberdeenshire. Portlethen to work in Aberdeen Portlethen is in the area that is now City, 20% went to work out with called Kincardine and Mearns, one Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, of six administrative areas in 15% worked somewhere else in Aberdeenshire. Kincardine and Aberdeenshire and only 9% Mearns and covers 756 sq km (292 worked in Portlethen itself. This sq miles). Its “capital” is the market may contribute to the wide town of Stonehaven. spread belief and feeling that Economy Portlethen is really a suburb of Aberdeen City and is sometimes The Kincardine and Mearns area considered by its residents to be a supports 16,850 jobs (2017), not stereotypical “Commuter Town”. including self-employment. The largest sector is the public Population administration, education and In 2017 the population of Medical Centre health sector. However, compared Kincardine and Mearns was to the rest of Aberdeenshire there 45,285. Between 2012 and 2017 are fewer jobs in this sector and the population increased, and proportionately more in banking, Kincardine and Mearns’ share of finance and insurance. The sector the total Aberdeenshire’s population which is most different to the rest increased from 16.9% to 17.3%. of Aberdeenshire is manufacturing. During this same time Portlethen Throughout Aberdeenshire, 7.2% of & District* (part of the North all jobs lie within the manufacturing Kincardine Ward) saw the population sector but in Kincardine and grow from 6,760 (2012) to 9,090 Mearns this figure is 17%. (2017) which is a growth of 34.5%. Unemployment There are currently new housing developments which makes it The unemployment rate in Kincardine likely that the population will rise and Mearns is one of the lowest in again. Portlethen Railway Station the country. Although it rose between 2014 and 2016 it was never above 1.6% and over the last *Portlethen & District: The Town five years has always been lower and Villages. Portlethen, Old than the Aberdeenshire rate. Portlethen (or Portlethen Village) However, the effect of the collapse Findon, Downies, Checkbar in oil price in 2014 can still be seen; 4 History & Development Community Action Plan History From that point onwards Landowners then started to play a There is evidence for man living smaller part in the management and working in the area around of their estates, and farmers Portlethen around 4000 years ago started to play a more important with the standing stones and ring role in care of the land. This also cairns of Aquhorthies, Cairnwell, included Seatown of Portlethen Old Bourtreebush Stone Circle Craighead, Auchlee and Old which was 720 acres in size. In the Boutreebush. The gap between the “book of Bon-Accord”, Portlethen building of these stone circles and was called “Port Leviathan” when people began to use writing because of certain whales that to record the passing of days is a came ashore there. The dating of huge one. this is, however, unknown. It later Although there are hints of the was just called Portlethen. area’s history, with the Romans, Part of the Causey Mounth Sea fishing was undertaken from Picts and many others making Road, a modern section the harbour at Portlethen, from impressions on it, it would be some the coves at Findon, and later time before Portlethen entered the from Downies (set up in the history books. The next historical 1700’s). At times this played a milestone is the creation, from a major role in providing food to drover’s road, of the Causey those inland, and later, fish was Mounth in the 12th Century. This carried on the backs of fish wives was built as a connection between from Portlethen, along what Stonehaven and the City of Aberdeen Portlethen Harbour 1920’s became known as the “Creel and it was also built as one of the Walks”, to be sold at market in few “easy” routes to avoid the hills Aberdeen. and to avoid the boggy areas of the Portlethen Moss. Some of it is Findon was famous for its Finnan still in use today. haddie (also known as Finnan haddock, Finnan, Finny haddock During the following centuries or Findrum speldings) which is a Portlethen, and especially the cold-smoked haddock, smoked Findon estate, passed through using green wood and peat. Its Findon “Harbour” many owners’ hands. Findon, it is origin is the subject of a debate believed, received its name from and the "dispute" goes back to one of its earliest owners Philip De the eighteenth century, although Fyndon, in 1281. The estate and it is hard to trace. Barony of Findon, created sometime after 1320, was broken down or expanded or sold as plots. Creel Fishing off Portlethen 5 History & Development Community Action Plan A testimonial in an early 20th century Portlethen was founded, MacIntosh Donald, Boston cookbook describes the origin from and it is still going strong today. a fire in a fish curing house in Portlethen, very near Findon. It may have been a popular During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, dish in Aberdeenshire starting at least as houses were built along Cookston Road, early as the 1640’s. Burnside Gardens and around that area, which led to the building of the new However, this industry, which has left its Portlethen Primary School. By the 1970’s mark on the coastline and once employed there were more houses, and by the late many folk, has declined as the small coves 1970’s, the population of Portlethen exploded and harbours cannot handle the larger boats with hundreds more homes being built. This and the gear required for larger fishing boats. was due to the rapid raise of the oil and gas Only a few fishing boats are left at industry in and around Aberdeen with an Portlethen, these being small white fishing influx of thousands of workers both for boats and a few creel fishing boats. onshore and offshore work. This continued So, housing growth was slow in the rest of into the 1980’s, 1990’s and the 2000’s with the Portlethen area. As this map from 1950’s housing estates being added piecemeal and shows, Findon and Portlethen Village have with no overall plan, central design or several houses but Portlethen was mainly creation of a unifying Town Centre or facilities. based around the Railway Station and was Portlethen has suffered from this ‘Wild West’ once known as Portlethen Station. In 1955 approach to house-building and was to do what is one of the largest local employers in so for years to come. OS map of Portlethen Area 1950’s 6 Amenities Community Action Plan Retail In Portlethen Academy there is a Gym and indoor basketball, indoor Portlethen has five shopping areas: cricket, and dance studios for hire Portlethen Retail Park, The Green, by the public. Outdoors there is a Muirend Court, Rowanbank basketball pitch, a 2G pitch and Court, and Hillside Road. There is two full size football pitches. an Asda superstore in Portlethen Premier Inn hotel at the Mains of Balquharn Retail Park and two McColl’s There is a desire to improve the convenience stores located at The access to the existing sports pitches Green and Rowanbank Court.