Backyard Bioblitz

Tomorrow and Saturday!     
 
5th and 6th of June we need you to find and identify as much wildlife as possible. 
 
All without going further than your backyard!
 
To take part all you need to do is snap pictures of wildlife in your garden on the 5th and 6th of June.
 

A further update during the COVID-19 emergency

 
Further update – for Tuesday 2nd June – from Councillor Fraser Macpherson (West End) and Councillor Craig Duncan (Broughty Ferry) :
 
SELF EMPLOYED AND FURLOUGH
Self-employed people whose work has been affected by coronavirus will receive a “second and final” grant in August.  They will be eligible for a second payment in August of up to £6,570. The Chancellor has also set out how employers will have to start sharing the cost of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
  
From August they will have to pay National Insurance and pension contributions, and then 10% of pay from September, rising to 20% in October.  Workers will be allowed to return to work part-time from July, but with companies paying 100% of wages.
 
 
EASING THE LOCKDOWN
Scotland has now moved to Phase 1 of easing the lockdown. 
 
• Members of two different households can now meet up so long as they remain outdoors in a park or private garden and stay 2m (6ft) apart. You can travel more than five miles to visit.
• People can sit out and sunbathe in parks and open areas, and travel for up to five miles to start that exercise.
• Garden centres can open.
• Construction site preparation can get underway.
• Most outdoor work can resume.
• Some outdoor leisure activities, where physical distancing can be maintained, is permitted – including golf, tennis, bowls and fishing – even croquet!
 
As residents will know, from yesterday recycling centres reopened, and teachers and other staff will be able to return to schools to prepare for re-opening.
 
 
 
 
RECYCLING CENTRES NOW RE-OPENED BUT WITH RESTRICTED CAPACITY
 
Dundee City Council re-opened the Riverside and Baldovie Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) on a restricted basis from yesterday and in accordance with national guidance from the Scottish Government.
 
Residents are asked to use the facilities for essential purposes only which include general waste, garden waste, wood, metals, rubble, fridges & freezers, and gas cylinders & bottles.    Members of the public are reminded that cardboard, large and small electricals, plastics, turf, batteries, fluorescent tubes, vegetable and waste oils, glass and textiles cannot be accepted at the centres initially under the restricted capacity.
 
Sites are of course going to be very busy during the first few days after re-opening and therefore it is likely long waiting times will occur at each centre.   In order to keep the many visitors and staff members safe, Household Waste Recycling Centres will maintain strict guidelines and physical distancing at all times.
 
A number of rules will be followed in order to maintain a safe and controlled environment.   These include:
 
• Anyone with COVID-19 symptoms or self-isolating should NOT visit any HWRC site;
• The number of cars on site will be strictly limited;
• Only one person per car should unload the vehicle at any one time;
• Only cars, estate cars, people carriers, MPV cars and 4x4s will be permitted entry. No vans or trailers will be allowed;
• Individuals should only visit when necessary, avoid queues and consider revisiting when quieter;
• No business waste will be accepted;
• We will be unable to provide assistance on site so only load items you can unload yourself;
• No walk-in disposals of waste will be allowed;
• The two-metre physical distancing rule must be respected at all times.
 
The sites are initially open from 9am to 4pm, seven days a week.   Restrictions will be in place, including only Dundee City Council residents being permitted to the sites, in order to manage the anticipated demands in providing the service again. 
 
Further guidance on the Household Waste Recycling Centres is available on the Dundee City Council website. Residents are advised to check the website and social media channels before traveling, as rules are subject to change.
 
 
The Council’s special collections bulky uplift service also resumed yesterday.
 
 
SHIELDING AND OVER 70s
We understand there is likely to be two separate sets of advice coming out soon – one for the shielding group and another for the over 70s.  This is partly because there has been some confusion for the over 70s group thinking that the very restrictive shielding advice applies to them so there is a need to be clearer.
 
The thinking is to give both groups clear advice on what the clinical risks are for them if they contract the virus, advice on what to do to guard against that risk and what the government will do to support.  There is also a recognition people need room to exercise their own judgement and make choices.
 
Watch out for that guidance.
 
PAMIS DIGITAL PASSPORT 
Scottish charity PAMIS (Promoting A More Inclusive Society) have launched a new resource designed to support families during the COVID-19 lockdown create a digital communications passport for their loved ones.
 
PAMIS is the only charity in Scotland that work solely with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) and their families and they have been adapting their resources to respond to the needs of their families since the first week of the outbreak. This new resource will add to the collection which include postural care guides, art therapy, communication support, and music and drama activities.
 
PAMIS have been working with family carers and people with PMLD for almost ten years to develop this life changing resource that lets people with limited communication express their needs using a multimedia approach. The PAMIS Digital Passport is a simple to use template that sits on a tablet computer and uses video and photographs to support people with PMLD to have a conversation with those who are unfamiliar with them. It is used by people with profound learning disabilities in their daily lives, in hospital, respite care and in day centres and is, uniquely, owned by them.
With the challenges around Covid-19, PAMIS and the family carers that developed the passport, recognised that there is a far wider group of people who could benefit from the PAMIS Digital Passport. Their response was to offer the template, and a series of instructional videos free to anyone who has complex health needs.
 
 
SCHOOLS GUIDANCE
In agreement with councils, professional associations and parent representatives, all schools will return on 11 August while Early Leaning and Childcare settings such as nurseries and playgroups will open over the summer.
 
Teachers and other school staff are able to return this month (in Dundee from the 15th onwards) to prepare for a new model of learning from August.
 
The plans are contingent on scientific and medical advice that it is safe to proceed and complementary public health measures, such as Test and Protect, being in place.
 
There is growing evidence that the susceptibility to clinical disease of younger children is lower than for adults.  The majority view of the Chief Medical Officer’s Advisory Group is that actions to support distancing guidance in schools where children are in indoor environments for extended periods of time would be appropriate, while a minority believed schools could operate without distancing.
 
 
 
COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITIES
Colleges and universities are gearing up for a phased campus return for the next academic year. 
 
 
MOVING HOME ADVICE
The government continues to urge people to delay moving to a new home while stay-at-home measures are in place.  However, organisations and businesses involved in the purchase, sale, letting or rental of homes are permitted to prepare their staff and their premises.  This includes undertaking travel to their premises to check for readiness; making changes to implement their safe operating procedures, such as putting up notices and protective screens, marking distances on the floor; and briefing staff on safe operating procedures, virtually where at all possible to do so.
 
 
TEST AND PROTECT
Everyone aged five and over who has COVID-19 symptoms of a new continuous cough, temperature or loss or change in sense of taste or smell should go to NHS Inform online or call 0800 028 2816 to book a test. 
 
People will need to isolate with their household as soon as they have symptoms and, if they have a positive test result, they will be asked to provide details of all recent close contacts to NHS contact tracers.  Those people will be contacted and asked to isolate for 14 days.
 
 
 
LEGIONELLA
 
Employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises, such as landlords, have a duty to protect people by identifying and controlling risks associated with legionella.  If your building was closed or has reduced occupancy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, water system stagnation can occur due to lack of use, increasing the risks of Legionnaires’ disease.
 
 
INFORMATION
 
Scottish Government Updates: www.gov.scot/news
Dundee City Council updates: www.dundeecity.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19
Covid community helpline for food, shopping, prescriptions, finances, personal care: People in Dundee on the shielded list only – 0300 123 1403. People in Dundee who are vulnerable but not on the shielded list – 0800 111 4000
NHS Tayside website: www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk
Helpline for those who do not have symptoms but are looking for general health advice Tel: 0800 028 2816.
Health Protection Scotland Guidance – www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/a-to-z-of-topics/covid-19
Federation of Small Businesses: www.fsb.org.uk/coronavirus
Helpline for small businesses, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5.30pm. Tel: 0300 303 0660.
Ready Scotland Information – www.readyscotland.org/coronavirus
Tayside Cares – www.taysidecares.co.uk
 
SUPPORT AND ADVICE
This is an anxious and uncertain time but we want you to know that we are here to try to help constituents in whatever way that we can.
 
CONTACT DETAILS
WEST END WARD – Bailie Fraser Macpherson
Phone – Dundee 459378 (home)

Litter and rubbish concerns #dundeewestend

Over the weekend, I have had numerous concerns about a minority of people using our local parks in the lovely weather but leaving their rubbish behind them.
 
The photos below are just a few examples – from Lochee Park and Magdalen Green – and there were also examples on Balgay Hill.
 
I am grateful for the efforts of council environment staff over the weekend to clean this up and have reported concerns raised by residents.
 
Most people are sensible enough to use litter bins and tidy behind them and that’s the message residents would like everyone to take on board.