This year the Auchterarder & District Local History Association celebrates its Silver Jubilee since being founded and is launching Robin Bell’s book, ‘Set on a Hill’ – a strategic view of Scottish history. This is the first history for over 100 years and reflects Strathearn’s global links from the Romans to the G8 Conference.
The launch coincides with the Diamond Jubilee weekend and will be in the Aytoun Hall, Auchterarder at 7.30pm on Friday 1st June, 2012. The event will be introduced by Martin Haldane, Laird of Gleneagles.

Further details from the Secretary tel. 01764 662035

Taking the lead shown by Katy Gordon in the Strathearn Herald today, LTT is asking “Where are Auchterarder’s Assets?” Even after a Freedom of Information request was sent to Perth and Kinross Council asking for details of Common Good Assets, there seems to be a lack of information. From a previous Freedom of Information request in 2009 citing 5 areas of Common Good Land, Auchterarder now only seems to have 3 areas of Common Good Land.
So where has this land gone, why has it gone? Do we actually have a record of what the Common Good Assets are for Auchterarder.
Certainly it doesn’t seem that Perth and Kinross Council have any idea of what assets many of the local Common Good Funds are in possession of.
I think it is time that the people of Auchterarder start to look for these assets, before we find they have been frittered away in the same manner as the Crieff Common Good Fund. Does anyone know what the Common Good Assets for Auchterarder are in their totality? Does your family know of any land or goods that were gifted to the townspeople or the town in years gone by. What is the general opinion of local residents as to where the Common Good Areas are in the town?
We all know that Auchterarder Golf Club is on Common Good Land, however what about the other areas? The “Common Muir” and “Unspecified Agricultural Land, where are they specifically?”. What about the areas mentioned in the previous Freedom of Information request – Hunter Street Park, Kincardine Road Park, Victoria Road Park, Gardens at the Hospital, Public Park?
We don’t want to lose these areas just because nobody knew they belonged to the town. Let’s get this information together and ensure we don’t end up losing a play area to become the access road to a housing development.

The new website for the Auchterarder area www.auchterarder.net has started to make its presence known on the World Wide Web. Now averaging over 1200 impressions per month, it has recently reached the heady milestone of page 1 on Google Search. Quite an impressive feat considering the site only went live in March.
A spokesperson for the site said they were delighted that their hard work had come to fruition just as the tourist season was starting. “We are looking to make the site a one stop shop for visitors, they can check out what’s available in the Auchterarder area alongside what’s going on during the time of their stay. There is also an area on the site for local services, no one wants to be on holiday and suddenly get toothache then struggle to find contact details for the local dentist. Photographers, florists and wedding car hire are also something that people will be looking for if they intend coming to the area to get married.”
“In the high speed digital world we are now living in, people do not want to spend hours trawling the internet trying to find shops or activities in their chosen holiday area. That is why this site has been designed to bring all these things together so visitors can see very quickly that this is a place they want to visit.”
“Our long term vision is that we will be the most visited site on the internet for the Auchterarder area and this in turn will mean that all the local businesses who have signed up with us will reap the benefits.”

The Scottish National Party’s Ms Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perthshire South & Kinross-shire, and Mr Pete Wishart MP, Member of Parliament for Perth & North Perthshire, have hit out at UK Government plans to do away entirely with the Black Watch name, revealed by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond in an interview in the Daily Telegraph.

Speaking today (Tuesday) Mr Wishart said:

“To suggest, as Mr Hammond does, that units like the Black Watch no longer have close ties to their traditional recruiting grounds is absolute nonsense and a slur both on the soldiers of the Black Watch and the communities from which they come.

“The numbers that came out recently to welcome the Black Watch home from Afghanistan are testament to the link that still exists. Perth is – and will always be – proud to be the home of the Black Watch.

“Philip Hammond sends these brave soldiers off to war but he shows absolutely no understanding of some of the things that are really important in bonding them together into the efficient, effective fighting force that they are.”

Ms Cunningham continued:

“This is precisely what we warned would happen when the UK Government, under Labour, merged the historic Scottish infantry regiments.

“We were assured that despite the merger, regimental distinctiveness and traditions would be retained – the ‘golden thread’ as it was called. Well that thread has been well and truly snapped and frankly was a fraud from the very start.

“The UK Government’s priorities are clear. They prize Trident over tradition and white elephants over red hackles. The price of the Union on Scotland’s armed services is becoming clear for all to see.”

The Telegraph article can be found here  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9251240/SCOTTISH-battalions-to-lose-their-historic-names-as-one-infantry-unit-cut-in-defence-restructuring.html

With the Perth and Kinross Council elections a few days away, now is the time to ask questions of the candidates who are asking for your votes.
One of the questions I would really like answered is “What is Auchterarder gaining from all the houses being built in the area?” The application for 143 houses in the Townhead Farm area has been submitted recently along with other smaller applications for the area. We all know there is to be approximately 800 houses built in the area over the next few years.
What I would like to know is how this is going to improve our town? The school is almost at capacity along with the roads and the sewage system. There are very few leisure facilities for the residents at present, how is it going to be when there are 800 more homes? Yes we have restaurants and pubs, but what if you actually want to do something?
When looking to have an evening out with friends, whether you are an adult or a child, if you live in Auchterarder, you have to go to Perth or Stirling for an evenings entertainment. Is it still going to be the same when all these houses are built? Do Perth and Kinross Council just expect the residents of Auchterarder area to come back to their homes to eat and sleep? Certainly at the present moment if there is no further development apart from housing then that is pretty much all you will be able to do. So Auchterarder will go from being a thriving community to a town where no one actually spends much time.
I do hope this is not the future for our town and hope that the prospective Perth and Kinross Councillors can show me that it is not.