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Home , Bannockburn, Blanefield, Plean

MINUTES OF COMMUNITY COUNCIL

1st Draft Monday 10th January 2011 in the school

Members Present: - Margaret Vass, Willie Oswald, Joan Hoggan, Fiona Murray, Marian Lever, Elspeth Posnett, Alan Hutton, John Gray, Richard Arnold. In attendance: - Cllr Graham Lambie; P.C. McNally; Sargeant Paul Barr, Gordon Ash CDT; Mary Brailey and Alan Sim both representing the Community Allotments Group + 9 members of the public.

(SC = Council. CC = Community Council. CDT= Community Development Trust * Denotes an action)

1. Welcome from Chair and apologies:

Opening remarks –by Margaret Vass I have a number of things to cover in my opening remarks. First,Happy New Year and very best wishes for 2011. Not everyone has had the start to the new year that they would have wished and I understand that there are still members of our community who are still without water and have been so for a long time.We will discuss this under item 6 on our agenda. I am sorry that we had to cancel our December meeting but I took the view that it would not have been sensible to ask people to go out to a different location even if they could have made it. Particular thanks must go to those members of the community who have helped clear snow, spread grit and checked up on people who may be vulnerable in the very cold weather. I need to ask for your approval for the alteration of the agenda to hear about the planning application for allotments before we approve our November minutes. Mary Brailey and Alan Sim are attending to do this( CC agreed to the change to the agenda). I have apologies from Philip. I have also, unfortunately, received a letter of resignation from Patsy as she disagrees with the consultation process and the publication of the community action plan. The letter with comments was displayed on the screen. The CC unanimously agreed the comments to be made to Patsy in response to her resignation, in particular those thanking her for her valued contribution. Marian has agreed to take over the Health role and Dick has agreed to do the minutes with assistance from other CC members who have a brief, this will be discussed further under item 5 on our agenda.

7a – Blane Valley Allotments Group.

Mary Brailey chairs the allotment group and Alan Sim, a member of the CDT was in attendance to provide help with planning considerations. There are 20 members currently in the group. The proposal for allotments for the village is generally supported by the CC. Until now, no site had been specified. A site of approx 3.5 acres, leased from Duntreath Estates had been identified, being an area adjacent to the old railway line, south west of the Netherblane flats . A planning application for this is about to be submitted. Drawings showing proposals for the site, the equipment and the buildings (huts) proposed, were circulated for information. It was planned to erect deer and rabbit proof fencing around to complete field. Funding from various sources had been applied for with £45K available to date. It was stressed that the whole area would be laid out and kept in sympathy with its environment and there would be discussions with the local community as the project develops. The involvement of the school and schoolchildren was seen as an important goal. 13 tenants are already on the waiting list with 23 plots initially available – expandable.

1 The project was discussed vigorously by the CC and members of the public, with vehicular access, availability to non residents and attractive appearance being matters raised. MB hoped that after initial lorry movements, people would mainly walk or cycle to their allotments. She did not want to be too restrictive about availability of plots and appearance would be controlled. There would not be power or running water to the site. Possibilities of growing the village’s own tub plants were suggested and discussed. MV summed up for the CC by confirming general support from the CC and the matter would doubtless be further discussed when the Planning Application came before us.

2. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising:

Nov 1st 2010 minutes approved . Proposed:Fiona Murray. Seconded: Marian Lever. Changes noted – Item numbering incorrect and failure to note the presence of John Gray.

Matters Arising:

Page 2 item 5 - an email was received on 11th Nov from Mike Fischbacher saying that there was no requirement for a meeting to discuss funding for the Blane by the community council as the Blane can manage without a contribution from the CC. Page 3 item 6 - we previously agreed to distribute the community action plan through the Blane. MV sought CC approval to circulate the plan ourselves with a covering letter, the text of which is still to be agreed by the CC. The CC unanimously agreed to this course of action. Page 5 item 11 - Scottish Democracy website –JG indicated that we should adopt practices recommended by Napier University, but Alan Campbell feels that we can control our own site via the Strathblanefield web site, rather than have this done by outsiders.

4.Police report – from PC David NcNally

MV received a letter from acting chief inspector Catriona Paton to advise that she will be our new Communities Inspector following the retirement of Inspector Brian Sharkey. She is also asking us and any member of the public to complete an online questionnaire on policing priorities for 2011-2015 by 31st January. To complete the survey visit www.centralscotland.police.uk .

Report as follows: Since the last meeting on 1 November 2011, the following items are of note:

Thefts, Thefts by Housebreaking and Thefts from insecure cars continues to be a problem. The recent bad weather brought about a dramatic decrease in crimes of this nature. During December, one house was targeted by housebreakers who fled empty handed after they activated an alarm. A car was stolen from Moor Road whilst another vehicle in Moor Road which had been left insecure had property stolen from within towards the end of the month.

It cannot be said strongly enough that residents, particularly those in , and in the Moor Road, Old Mugdock Road and Milndavie Road areas should ensure their property, (be it a house, shed, car or bicycle) is properly secured. If anyone is suspicious about anything, the police should be contacted immediately, regardless of the time of day.

One example where a prompt call to the police produced results occurred on 11 December in the area. Two males were apprehended after they were found to have broken into two vehicles, stolen a third vehicle, and had committed various other offences including drink driving, disqualified driving and police assault.

2 Due to the recent poor weather conditions, very little activity has taken place with regard to speeding motorists. This will be picked up again as the weather improves.

Developing trends in the area include a recent increase in the tendering of counterfeit currency. Many retail premises in West and have been targeted. The typical modus operandi is to purchase a low value item with a high value note – normally £20 notes. Retailers should be aware therefore of unusual behaviour on the part of their customers – one male roused suspicion when he entered a country pub in the area. The male purchased a drink with a £20 note, drank up within 2 minutes and left abruptly. Due to the suspicions of the licensee an arrest is imminent in this case.

One further ongoing issue is that of anti social behaviour in Strathblane. During November, a number of incidences of egg throwing were reported along with reports of youths singling out specific houses for verbal and other forms of abuse. I wish to get the message out to the community that this behaviour will not be tolerated and where identified, offenders will be charged in every instance. If anyone has any information in this regard I would be pleased to hear from them.

EP queried any update on the school crossing patrol – none. And Alistair Smith raised the matter of parked cars obstructing during the snow. A softly softly approach had been taken as far as safe and possible but dangerous parking would not be allowed to prevail.

5 Role of the Community Council. –report by Margaret Vass

A few people have expressed their concern about the role of the Community Council. For example by agreeing to take actions forward in our Community Action Plan we will be unable to take an impartial view over any proposals coming forward. As chair I am quite clear that our purpose is as set out in statute “to ascertain ,coordinate and express to the local authorities for its area and to other public bodies ( now our community planning partners) the views of the community it represents.” We are doing that and will continue to so on behalf of our community. It has also been suggested to me that the CC is too close to the CDT. Stirling council has advised me that it is good practise for CCs and CDTs to work together closely. I am sure that we can do things even better and I would like to meet with our office bearers to review the Scottish governments good practice guidance for community councils. We will consider establishing subcommittees to widen community involvement. They would have clear terms of reference and produce their own action notes which would form part of the CC minute. If the CC is agreeable to this we report back to the Feb/March meeting. The CC unanimously agreed to this

6 Issues from the community/ Review of extreme weather situation.

Some residents had been without water for some time and some were even now without water. Scottish Water have advised that any people still without water should contact a local plumber to test which side of the toby was frozen. This will help speed up remedial action. Joanna Peebles of SW will submit a report for our February meeting. SW recording and reporting procedures are very poor and not helping the situation. Lack of adequate supplies of bottled water ; galling with all the publicity around our exports to N. Ireland! Graham

3 Dunnigan had heard that there were only three SW repair crews available to cover a huge area. It was noted that rubbish collection had been generally poor throughout with some areas of the village more badly affected. Misinformation regarding collections during the holiday made matters worse. In future, it was suggested that reversing the collection route might help give fairer distribution of service. FM raised the difficulty of residents living on private roads where they were “cut off” from access to the outside world and incoming services. Also raised issue again of sewage back up in neighbours garden which has not been properly addressed. Generally favourable reports on the road and pavement clearing and gritting service by the council. Grit in bins kept reasonably available . In the circumstances SC roads have served us well.

7. Current planning applications. – update by John Gray, Planning and Licensing Correspondent.

Current issues since last meeting:

PPA-390-2002= 10/00027/FUL Edenmill Farm G63 9AX APPEAL - Relocation of landscape business Report has REFUSED this application because the evidence submitted did not reassure him that the impact on traffic movements at the unsafe junction would be negligible.

PPA-390-2003 BLANEFIELD HOUSE, STRATHBLANE, G63 9AJ APPEAL - Erection of 10 close care units The applicant submitted replies to the observations from Stirling Council and ourselves. The applicant has dismissed the difference between owned and rented tenure, which we believe is very important. I found that ownership is not at all typical of this type of development. I drafted and then submitted additional comments. Planning advised me that we have no right to make additional comments at this stage, but I didn't care for that and I see that DPEA has forwarded our comments to the applicant anyway. I am disappointed that Stirling's officers have not picked up this issue themselves, which was raised by SCC and by the Planning Panel.

10/00682/FUL Land At Garden Ground To South Of 40 Old Mugdock Road Strathblane Erection of dwelling house The previous application (10/00027) was refused for lack of quality in the design - a rare and welcome development from the Cc's point of view. A new application has been submitted with ?improved design. In answer to question raised at October or November meeting, the Outline planning application did not identify any particular site or size for the proposed house. The officer's view is that the plot is ample to accommodate a large house. I do not propose any further comment.

10/00601/FUL Land And Buildings At 9, 11 And 13 Old Mugdock Road Strathblane Erection of new Post Office, shop and 5 flats I wrote after the November meeting to express SCC's enthusiastic support for this project, and to urge all council departments to work together to facilitate the development of additional parking, using the applicants ground across the road. Councillor Lambie, enquired as to status and reported. Willie Oswald (SCC Roads correspondent) noted that council departments were obviously not talking to one another as we had asked, and replied to Cllr Lambie to draw this to his attention.

MV –congratulated and commended JG for work he put into Appeal against the Blanefield House planning application. MV also raised the We Love action group efforts, working to restrict the planned huge expansion of the Milngavie Tesco store in a manner they consider not in keeping with the area. Their actions, albeit outwith

4 our council area were unanimously supported by the CC. Trevor Scott asked for it to be minuted that he had requested to know on what grounds we have to complain about a planning application outwith the area. 8. Elected member’s report. - Update by Councillor G. Lambie

The report is shown in full in the Appendix. Queries arising were: WO asked for a large capacity grit bin for the village use in winter months. ML raised the concerns regarding lack of supervision of children at the zebra crossing.

9. Roads. - Update from Willie Oswald , Roads Correspondent.

All issues either covered already in the meeting or are in abeyance.

10. Environmental issues - from Elspeth Posnett

Nothing to report, but thanks to all who helped with the Christmas tree and those who supplied it. The situation with dog dirt concerns some – much worse than usual. Graham Dunnigan raised cocerns re possible dumping of aviation fuel. He feels he can smell fuel in the air at times . We may be able to get comment from the CAA re this.

11. Financial report. –Fiona Murray, Treasurer.

Little to report except that the grant of £650 for the tubs had been received.

12. Correspondence –update from Richard Arnold, secretary. Mail received: a) Community |Council Vacancy Elections 2011 –nominations by Fri 4th Feb. b) Letter from ’s Census 2011 – takes place on Sun 27th March. c) Sales letter from Bluefin Insurance re insurance for CC members. All the aforegoing previously e-mailed to the CC members. Also received Rural Newslatter and Dumbrock Moor SSSI info.

13. AOCB

Area forum feedback a) Efficiency savings & b) Bus franchise. MV to provide further info at the next meeting. Rural Scotland Housing Association meeting had been cancelled due to weather. New meeting arranged for 6.30 pm on Mon 24th Jan at Margaret Vass’s house.

14. Date of next meeting:

Monday, 7th Feb 7.30pm in the school.

Appendix: Cllr Lambie’s report:

• Strathblane Winter Maintenance: The Council agreed to purchase 2,000 tonnes of imported salt, which began to arrive at the Sringkerse depot last week. There are currently no issues relating to salt supply. I have asked roads for an update on the issues below: 1. Location of Community Salt/Sand Piles. 2. Clearing of footways and priority 4 routes. 3. Access to any public buildings - Library, Community Halls,

5 Primary School. On a more general area I have asked if the TayForth agricultural contractors machinery ring is still open to local contractors in West Stirlingshire to join. I’ve also been in discussion with the Cllr Jim Thomson (Portfolio Holder Environment) who is of the opinion that more mini-gritters should be purchased. These have been very effective in the urban areas and I would like to see these used more in the rural areas – Should these be co-owned/run by communities subject to appropriate insurance and safety checks? (Update: I have passed on all email correspondence from residents to council officers on this Contact List – Hunter Jamieson (Community Engineer - Rural), Stephen Todd (Area Inspector), David Hopper (Waste Services Manager). • Strathblane Winter Waste Collection (See report at end of Newsletter):

• Stirling Council Website: The council have been experiencing outages on their website which has been frustrating for residents and elected members. There is an emergency site at http://stirlingcounciluk.wordpress.com/, which contains information about – School Closures, Bin Collections, and Housing Services etc. There is also specific reference to salt bins which states “ If you are aware of a salt bin that is empty please contact the contact centre on 0845 277 7000”.

• School Crossing: I have asked Stuart Geddes (Road Safety Engineer) for an update on this. I understand that he has completed his report and has passed this report to Brian Roberts (Roads Improvement & Development manager). Mr Geddes is also working on a report on the A809, which although not a whole route directly relevant to Strathblane is still accessed by residents using the B821. (Update: We are still awaiting the full report).

• Road Maintenance Programme: Additional to my last report There are works planned for the A811 including the stretch near the Garden Estate, , and Ballat Crossing. (Update: Since my last meeting with Strathblane I have checked out the works done in , Killearn, , and which all look in order and have been completed ahead of schedule. The council resurfacing target per year is 4%; the achieved level for 2009/2010 was 7% as confirmed by the portfolio holder Cllr Jim Thomson. Also, CCs should have received the roads spreadsheet. Also, the current and planned road closures table is available on this link. www.stirling.gov.uk/index/services/roads/roadclosures.htm

• Road Maintenance – Potholes: I have looked at the Local Transport Strategy documentation with respect to Pothole filling. However, what may be more useful is the pothole reporting mechanism on the following link. www.stirling.gov.uk/my/forms/fill/2000300

• Planning – Post Office and Shop 10/00601/FUL: I have visited the site and spoken to the applicant, and I welcome the support from Strathblane CC for this application. I note, from the Planning Portal, that the application is still pending and I have contacted the case officer Iain Jeffrey (Planning Officer) for an update. I have also contacted Les Goodfellow (Head of Roads) re. The potential development of a car-parking bay as suggested by the Community Council. (Update: I have contacted Iain Jeffrey – Case Officer, and the following issues are currently being considered: overlooking privacy, pedestrian and vehicular access, affordable housing, landscaping, land ownership and additional parking).

• Planning: I note the other items on John’s planning report and will make a verbal report on these at the CC meeting.

• Police - Report: The community constables have highlighted the issue of house- breaking in the West Stirlingshire area. The most likely time for this to occur appears to be late afternoon 14:00 to 18:00 – when people are still at work. There are some simple precautions that residents can take such as – Radio Alarms timed for the

6 afternoon, Timed Light Switches, and Security Alarms. Also, the police have appealed to residents to report anything suspicious even if it may appear to be trivial.

• Council Tax Rebate Hoax: This is a warning about bogus phone calls claiming to be about council tax rebates or a band reduction. The bogus caller then asks the resident for bank or credit card details to process the refund. Anyone who receives a phone call should contact the council on 01786 443210 or on 01786 456000.

• Windfarm Proposal: There is a proposal from Banks Development Ltd. to construct an up to 20-turbine wind farm at Craigievern Farm near Drymen. This is on the boundary of the National Park but within an area of search according to the Stirling Council guidelines on Windfarm development. I also note that these guidelines appear to indicate that the maximum turbine height appropriate for this site is up to 50 metres. However, the developer’s proposal is for turbines of 80 to 110 metres. The developers are proposing to speak to local communities, which I am hoping will include Strathblane. This is at proposal level and is not yet a live planning application.

• Shared Working with Council: Both Stirliing and Clackmannanshire Councils have agreed to deliver Education and Social Services services jointly. This will mean that the Head of Education in Stirling (Belinda Greer) will be the Joint Head of Education and Deirdre Cilliers Joint Head of Social Services in Clackmananshire (Deirdre Cilliers) will be the Joint Head of Social Services. There are substantial financial and efficiency benefits, which will accrue from this type of approach, and it allows good practice to be shared across the two authorities.

• Blane Burn - Embankment: I’ve been in contact with Alayne Findlay (Flooding Officer) re. subsidence, with a request for a site visit, and a possible meeting with Stratblane CC on the general issue of flooding.

• High Speed Broadband For Forth Valley: The project will put in place the necessary infrastructure to allow high speed broadband of between 2Mbps to 20 Mbps to be offered wirelessly as a commercial service which, as a minimum, will cover the communities of Tillicoultry, Alva East, Alloa West, Bandeath, , South Alloa, and parts of Rural South West Stirling. Strathblane Winter Waste Collection: Waste Services have undertaken prioritised collections of outstanding bins and recycling boxes, along with scheduled fortnightly collections of grey (mixed waste) bins in rural areas and brown (cardboard + green garden waste) bins in the urban area. Due to the fresh snow and continued presence of ice on untreated local access and residential roads (Priority 4 routes) in rural areas, grey bin collections have been delayed in many areas. As stated previously, recycling box collections are running behind due to seasonal increase in volume of recyclables being presented after festive period, and difficult road conditions in rural areas. Waste Services will be working over the weekend (Saturday / Sunday - weather permitting) catching-up on delayed / outstanding bin and recycling box collections, summarised as follows: Grey bin collections will be completed over weekend at: Buchlyvie / / / Balfron / Strathblane / Blanefield / Cambusbarron / / Cowie / (part of) areas + priority list. Recycling box collections in Plean / Cowie / Bannockburn (part of) / Fallin / Cambusbarron / St Ninians / Kippen / Arnprior / Buchlyvie / Balfron / (part of) / / areas. Refer to website update for details at http://www.stirling.gov.uk/index/services/waste.htm. Residents are requested to leave outstanding waste bins and recycling boxes, etc., at kerbside for collection, which may be delayed in some areas. All presented waste and recyclables are being uplifted. Household waste recycling centres are open and community bring bank recycling facilities are available for public to deposit their excess recyclables after festive season celebrations. It is intended that normal collection schedules will resume on Monday (10/1) - fortnightly collections of grey bins (urban area) and brown bins (rural areas)

7 and weekly collection of recycling boxes (all areas) - weather permitting. (Kevin Robertson - Head of Planning, Regulation & Waste).

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