Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
ABERDEENSHIRE Council has re-extended the eligibility of a service for the disabled after a re-think on the matter.
The eligibility of the TaxiCard Scheme, which provides disabled people discounted travel, was changed by the council after it emerged they were going to be facing a £200,000 overspend.
The changes meant that disabled people who had ready access to a car, who could drive and held a disabled person's Blue Badge were disqualified from holding a Taxicard.
The move caused outrage among many disabled taxi users who relied on the scheme to be able to make important appointments.
But following a meeting of Aberdeenshire Council's infrastructure services committee last week the decision has been revered.
"Since then it has become clear that the revision has had unintended consequences for a particular group of people," said committee chairwoman Councillor Alison McInnes.
"We believe that this year the projected overspend can be managed within the budgets."
More informal dialogue with users of the scheme was also promised.
Local MSP Stewart Stevenson has welcomed the u-turn by the council.
He wrote to the council following approaches from constituents and disabled groups concerned that the move was not fully thought out.
He said:
"I very much welcome the decision by the council to reinstate the original terms of the TaxiCard scheme. The decision to reduce eligibility had caused great concern among service users.
"On the face of it, this must have seemed like a sensible decision to the council in order to reduce its costs. However, the decision was clearly not thought through carefully enough as many people would have been disadvantaged by the change in policy.
"For example, Multiple Sclerosis sufferers, whose condition fluctuates so that they are able to drive on some days but not on others when their condition worsens, have to fall back on TaxiCards in order to get around."
The TaxiCard scheme provides a 75% discount on taxi trips for residents with a physical disability or infirmity, up to a maximum of £15 per journey.
The card entitles users to 52 trips every three months.
The original TaxiCard scheme was amended to allow holders of concessionary bus passes to apply for the card, but the huge increase of applications that resulted led to a further revision in December 2006.
At the time of the change, councillors asked for a report to be brought back to a future meeting of the committee to outline the effects of the changes.
As a result, the eligibility criteria have now been amended to entitle those who have access to private transport, and those in receipt of a mobility allowance, to also hold a TaxiCard.
Convener of the Disabled Person's Housing Service Aberdeenshire (DPHSA), Tony Miller, welcomed the decision but insisted that the saga could have ben avoided.
He said:
"I think it is an indicator of how public pressure can make people in authority see sense. It is a victory for common sense.
"If they had impact assessed it in the first place we would have told them how it would have impacted us and it wouldn't have had to have gone through this in the first place."
