Apply for council housing in Aberdeenshire are being advised of a temporary pause to online applications as a new system prepares for launch.
Currently, applications for accommodation are made via the Apply4Homes.org.uk website.
The website handles applications for properties managed by Aberdeenshire Council, Hanover Scotland, Langstane Housing Association, and Osprey Housing.
From April, a new online portal will allow users to Apply for council housing for rental properties directly from each housing provider.
In preparation for the change, applications via Apply4Homes will close on Thursday, March 18. Existing applicants will not be required to reapply for properties and are being contacted directly to invite them to register for the new system.
Following the launch of the new portal in April, Aberdeenshire Council will be changing to a ‘choice-based lettings’ approach in May, designed to give greater choice to applicants.
The approach will allow applicants to note an interest on properties they feel best meets their needs in the areas they wish to live. Adverts for properties will provide greater detail, including location, rent, facilities, photos and floorplans where available.
There will be no limit on the number of bids an applicant can make and properties will be allocated to those assessed as being in most need. As applicants will be choosing the property they wish to secure rather than a property being allocated to them, it is expected that fewer offers will be refused.
Support will be provided for those who require assistance in applying online, and further information for existing and new applicants will be provided in due course.
For more information on applying for properties in Aberdeenshire, please visit the Housing Options page on the Aberdeenshire Council website.
COVID-19 restrictions changes, more people will be able to socialise outdoors
More people will be able to socialise outdoors following good progress in suppressing Coronavirus – COVID-19, the First Minister has announced.
COVID-19 restrictions changes up to four adults from two households will be able to meet locally in any outdoor space, including in private gardens, for social and recreational purposes as well as exercise from Friday 12 March.
COVID-19 restrictions changes, more people will be able to socialise outdoors
People should only go indoors if it is essential in order to reach a back garden, or to go to the toilet.
Outdoor non-contact sports and group exercise will also resume for adults in groups of up to to 15 people from this date.
Young people aged 12 to 17 will be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to four people from four different households, participate in outdoor non-contact sports, and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 and travel across local authority boundaries to participate in such activities.
Should progress suppressing the virus continue, the Scottish Government intends to reopen places of worship with attendance limits increased from 20 to 50 where there is space for social distancing on Friday 26 March.
A final decision will be taken on Tuesday 23 March ahead of Passover, Easter, Ramadan and Vaisakhi.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
“In recent weeks, we have seen a significant fall in new cases, deaths and hospital admissions, and the vaccination programme is progressing beyond our initial expectations.
All of this is excellent news, and provides strong grounds for hope, but that hope must also be balanced by caution.
“The changes announced today, while modest, are important, and are designed to help people’s health and well-being by enabling group exercise and allowing more social interaction.
They will also let children see more of their friends, and exercise and play more normally.
“With continued progress, we believe the reopening of places of worship can be achieved relatively safely, and will hopefully enable more people to draw strength, comfort and inspiration from acts of collective worship.
“I expect that further, more substantial changes will be possible in the weeks ahead, and I will set out as much detail as I can about that in Parliament next week.
If the data allows us to relax more restrictions more quickly than we have previously indicated, we will not hesitate to do so.
“We all have a part to play in keeping case numbers down while the vaccinators do their work, children get back to school and we all take tentative but firm steps back to life as we once knew it, so please continue to stay within the rules and follow the FACTS advice.”
Updated guidance and regulations will be published on Friday 12 March to reflect these changes.
The Scottish Government’s priority is to suppress the virus to the lowest possible level and keep it there, while we strive to return to a more normal life for as many people as possible. There are six main tools for achieving this:
the quickest practical roll-out of the vaccination programme
the most effective use of Test and Protect
applying proportionate protective measures (rules and guidance) to suppress transmission of the virus
effective measures to manage the risk of importation of the virus
supporting individuals, businesses and organisations to adhere to protective measures
providing care and support to mitigate the harms of the crisis
The six conditions for safe easing set out by the World Health Organisation are:
Please note that due to water works to be carried out by Sunbelt Rentals it will be necessary in the interests of public safety to apply the following restrictions to traffic.
Location roadworks: Uphill Lane, Peterhead. For 14 Days
Start Date 10 March 2021
ROAD CLOSUREAND PROHIBITION OF WAITING
Location roadworks: Uphill Lane, Peterhead. For 14 Days
Access will be provided for emergency and vehicles requiring access to properties but may be subject to delay until the road is cleared of construction plant to allow safe passage through the work.
Dracula castle is widely acknowledged is Slains Castle near Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire having inspired Bram Stoker to write world-famous novel Dracula.
Abraham “Bram” Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula.
There are many stories about how Bram Stoker came to write Dracula, but only some of them are true. According to his son, Stoker always claimed the inspiration for the book came from a nightmare induced.
Stoker was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1893 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay
Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: The Watter’s Mou’ (1895) and The Mystery of the Sea (1902).
He started writing Dracula here in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel.
Kilmarnock Arms Hotel, Cruden Bay (Port Erroll) Picture: Bram Stoker’s Signiture in hotel Guest Book
The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives.
The nearby Castle (also known as New Slains Castle, Dracula Castle) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase in 1897.
A distinctive room in Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula.
The early chapters of Dracula were written in Cruden Bay, and Slains Castle possibly provided visual inspiration for Bram Stoker during the writing phase.
This is why the other name of the castle, Dracula castle.
The early chapters of Dracula were written in Cruden Bay, and Castle possibly provided visual inspiration for Bram Stoker during the writing phase.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay
The Scotland castle thought to have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been awarded listed status by Historic Environment Scotland.
Dracula Castle
In 1916 the 20th Earl of Erroll, Charles Gore Hay sold the Castle and it’s contents to Sir John Ellerman, the shipping magnate. This ended 300 years of the Earls of Erroll staying at Slains. The surrounding estate and farmland were not productive enough to support the castle, especially after a period of agricultural depression and after death duties (inheritance tax) were introduced.
Dracula castle
In 1925 the Castle was abandoned and the roof was removed to avoid paying taxes. Valuable dressed stone was also taken away and the castle has been deteriorating ever since. It is now quite a surprise to see old photos of how grand Slains Castle used to look. However there are modern-day plans to convert the castle and grounds into 35 apartments.
Slains Castle, Cruden Bay / Dracula castle
To find the Slains Castle, follow signs for Cruden Bay. This picturesque village is 26 miles north of Aberdeen and has a lovely harbour and beach well worth exploring. Impressive architecture is still clearly visible today as you roam the castle grounds and you can climb upstairs to the lookout and downstairs to the basement.
There was once marble steps, fourteen bedrooms, tennis and croquet lawns, stables, a walled garden, a kitchen with firepits and seven main reception rooms! As I walked through the castle I wondered about which room I was in and who might have stayed in it in the past.
Slains Castle is free to enter and the views are incredible.
Peterhead roadworks, North road and Blackhouse Circle
Please note that due to Telecoms works to be carried out by Seivwright Brothers Ltd it will be necessary in the interests of public safety to apply the following restrictions to traffic.
Start Date 1 March 2021
Location roadworks: North road and Blackhouse Circle, Peterhead. For 5 Days
Access will be provided for emergency and vehicles requiring access to properties but may be subject to delay until the road is cleared of construction plant to allow safe passage through the work.
Any queries please contact Katie Morrison – 07384258470
What are the four phases of the Scottish government’s plan?
Phase 1 – (yesterday) early learning and childcare and schools open for Primary 1-3 pupils and senior phase pupils for essential practical work. Limited increase in the provision for vulnerable children.
Care homes opening to facilitate meaningful contact between relatives/ friends and residents.
Phase 2 – (unlikely before 15 March) – More school reopening – Non-contact outdoor group sports for 12-17 year olds. Socialising rules eased, to allow outdoor meetings of 4 people from 2 households.
Phase 3 – (at least three weeks later – possibly 5 April) Stay-at-Home requirement removed.
Third and final phase of schools reopening if required. Places of worship can open on a restricted numbers basis.
Essential retailers list expanded slightly and click-and-collect resumes for non-essential retail.
Phase 4 – possibly 26 April) Limited other easing within Level 4, including permitting non-essential work in people’s homes. Return to variable Levels approach.
This will enable the graduated opening up of economic and social activity.
Numbers who can meet outdoors set to be increased next month
The first minister emphasises how she hopes more pupils will return to school in Scotland from 15 March.
This will involve getting the remainder of primary school pupils and more senior phase secondary pupils back into the classroom for at least part of their learning.
Ms Sturgeon adds that she also hopes to restart outdoors non contact group sports for 12-17 year olds in this phase.
And it is hoped the limit on outdoor mixing between households will be increased from four people from a maximum of two households.
SUMMARY:
The reopening of Scotland‘s economy – including shops, bars, restaurants, gyms and hairdressers – is expected to start in the last week of April, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.
FM said there would be a “progressive easing” of restrictions before then, with four people from two households allowed to meet outdoors from 15 March.
All primary and more secondary school pupils could return from that date.
It is hoped to lift the stay at home restriction on 5 April.
Ms Sturgeon said it would be necessary to “rely very heavily” on restrictions to suppress the virus for “a bit longer”.
Start Date 10 March 2021
