AND VICINITY COMMUNITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE INAUGURAL MEETING held in the Community Hall at 7.00pm on Monday 30th November 2015

Present: Chairperson ( Council Ward Manager): Liz Cowie CC members: Ian Bashford, Alison Fielding, Kate Johnson, Liz Johnstone, Julie Mossman, Brian Tolson and Peter Wright Ex officio: Cllr. Dave Fallows (part of meeting) Residents: Anna Barton, Malcolm Clark (part of meeting) and Anne Goodall (part of meeting) Apologies were received from: Alison Greggans

1. Welcome Liz Cowie, Highland Council Ward Manager, welcomed the new council members to the meeting. She reported that the previous council had been dissolved on 17th November, and the new council would only be operational following the appointment of new office bearers.

2. Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils The Scheme of Community Councils was distributed to the meeting and key points expanded upon. The Chairperson explained that its scope covered:  Framework through which councils were created and the arrangements under which they operated. The Scheme had been revised in March 2011 and would be reviewed in 2016.  Role of the Community Council, acting as a voice for the local area  Key roles in the areas of planning and liquor licencing, including compliance with all equality legislation.  Membership provision – 7 members for Boat of Garten and Vicinity Community Council, all of whom had to be voters, over 16 years old and resident in the area covered by the council. Rules and regulations on appointing co-opted members and associate members were explained in some detail, including; a definition of what constituted Ex-officio members. It was noted that the Scheme made no provision for representation from public bodies such as the National Park.  Frequency of meetings – minimum of 6 ordinary meetings pa, plus an AGM which had to be held by the end of June. Quorum for meetings was 4 voting members.  Draft minutes issued within 14 days of the meeting, with a copy sent to the Ward Manager. Draft minutes were only to be sent to Council members and Highland Council Ward Manager, unless agreed otherwise by all members of the Council. Liz Cowie would seek clarification on whether or not Ex-officio members should receive draft minutes ( LC)  Agendas issued 7 days prior to the meeting  Financial Year 1st April – 31st March. Accounts to be examined independently prior to submission; there was a specified format for maintenance of the accounts. A grant was provided by Highland Council to cover administrative costs.  Insurance was required to cover all Council assets (held in trust by Council members) and actions – available via Highland Council and, if subscribed to, costs would be deducted at source from the grant. ( Insurance for 2015-6 is already in place)

Cllr Dave Fallows joined the meeting

 Constitution for Community Councils  Model planning orders  Code of Conduct for Community Council members, in particular the need to reveal any conflicts of interest (e.g. in planning issues) and how to deal with them  Requirement to send Highland Council a schedule of meetings dates, plus agendas, minutes and accounts as detailed above, together with details of any special meetings.

Liz Cowie handed the Chair to Cllr Dave Fallows.

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3. Appointment of Office Bearers The following appointments were made: Chair Alison Fielding Proposed by Kate Johnson, Seconded by Liz Johnstone Vice Chair Brian Tolson Proposed by Ian Bashford, Seconded by Peter Wright Secretary Julie Mossman Proposed by Alison Fielding, Seconded by Ian Bashford Treasurer Ian Bashford Proposed by Alison Fielding, Seconded by Liz Johnstone

Liz Cowie left the meeting.

4. Handover to Duly Elected Chair Dave Fallows handed the Chair to Alison Fielding.

5. Date and Time of next Meeting It was agreed that the next Ordinary Meeting would be held on 18th January, in the Community Hall at 7.00pm. Prior to that, there would be an informal training session for Council Members only on 11th January, in the Community Hall at 7.00pm.

6. Minutes of Ordinary Meeting

6.1 Membership and attendance at the following Ordinary Meeting remained the same as for the Inaugural Meeting, except for the departure of Liz Cowie. In her capacity of appointed Chairperson, Alison Fielding welcomed the new Community Council and thanked them for standing for election. She expressed thanks to Willie Cruickshank for his long service on the Council and reported receipt from him of a thank you card for his present. Thanks were also expressed to Jackie Wilson, who was standing down as Editor of the BOG Standard and a presentation was made to her.

6.2 Minutes of the meeting held on 5th October 2015 were approved, proposed by Ian Bashford and seconded by Alison Fielding

6.3 Financial Report The following Financial Report was presented by Ian Bashford:

Treasurer’s Account-00146446 Balance at 27.11.15 £6621.92 Balance at 25.08.15 £6134.60 Credits this period £1130.00 BOG Standard advertising revenue Debits this period £642.68 Chair Expenses and BOGS Printing

Milton Loch Account-0015716 Balance at 27.11.15.15 £542.01 Balance at 25.08.15 £588.01 Credits in this period 0.00 Debits in this period £45.94 Building Materials

Environmental Account-00105724 Balance at 27.11.15 £3568.31 Balance at 25.08.15 £3568.31 No debits or credits this period

It was noted that application had been made for the HC grant of £900, but this had to be re- submitted in electronic format before it could be paid. The Treasurer explained that the HC Grant was intended to cover community councillors’ expenses, and as such people should ensure that they claimed for any significant travel and administrative costs inter alia. (All) He explained that the Environmental Account ring-fenced grants received specifically in respect of environmental work. He would look into combining the Environmental and the Milton Loch accounts. (IB) It was agreed that Brian Tolson would be added as a signatory for the bank account. (IB/BT) 2 It was agreed to appoint and approve Finlay MacEachern as independent examiner for the Council’s accounts, subject to his consent. – Ian Bashford would follow up on this. (IB)

Items for consideration identified by the Chair

6.4 Waste Water Treatment Works Ian Bashford issued a comprehensive draft report to the meeting following an invitation by Scottish Water for the CC Planning Sub-committee to meet with SW and HC on 18th October. He summarised the outcome under the following topics:

(i) Odour. A report issued following an independent survey on 9-10 September had stated that the odours fell within agreed thresholds, albeit they were relatively high. More detailed examination of the report identified 4 specific sources of odour, the main one being during de-sludging on the SAF plant. Scottish Water had agreed that there was a problem, and had identified that during de-sludging the correct operational procedure had not been followed. They had agreed a number of monitoring measures, adherence to correct operational procedures and fabrication of improved carbon filters for the de- sludging pumps. In addition, they had been asked to explain the findings within the odour survey which described the ‘nature of the sewage being particularly odorous’. (ii) Noise. It had been recognised that the de-sludging process was intrusive and noisy for 6-7 hours one day per month. Consideration was being given to carrying out the process every 3 weeks instead of every 4 weeks, in order to reduce the duration of each individual process. In addition, 1 holding tank in 4 had been taken off line, in order to establish whether that provided adequate capacity, in which case the de-sludging duration could be decreased. Noise insulation on the SAF units was planned. (iii) Overspill. It had been stated that overspill into the was operating within both SEPA and the Planning Authority limits, although in the Community Council’s opinion these limit definitions were vague and they believed the overspill was too high. It had been explained that the overspill was made up of screened, but untreated, sewage. SEPA had agreed to carry out routine and non-routine testing to establish the level of contaminants. Scottish Water had admitted that the automatic detection device on the CSO outflow, which recorded overspill, had been faulty – this had now been rectified. Scottish Water would report to the Community Council incidences of overspill, and the Council would correlate this data with public notifications and complaints. SEPA had accepted that there was a potential problem with the CSO overspills. (iv) Sewage and Drainage. A diagram of the village sewage and drainage had been obtained; which showed some properties with septic tanks and some rainwater drains feeding into the sewage drains, some of which had become damaged. Following a CCTV survey, 125 metres of the main sewer had been upgraded and some defects made good, particularly around the Post Office and Strathspey Park.. There was a separate ground water drainage system and a CCTV scan of this was planned, but no date had been given. HC had agreed to raise the pavement kerbs in front of the Post Office. The Community Council had raised questions about why the recent sewer replacement work had only extended to the top of Road, and not at least to the area of known problems around the Post Office. It was believed this was due to cost issues. The CC had asked both Scottish Water and Highland Council to consider replacement of the complete system and to look at how this work could be prioritised. (v) Landscaping and Pathway. It had been agreed that the terms of the Planning Application Landscaping Plan had not been implemented and a revised plan was awaited. The pathway linking the bridge and Drumuillie farm had been moved due to the re-siting of the Motor Control Room, but the issues of connecting this to the old pathway and its maintenance remained an issue. (vi) Adherence to Planning Application. The Community Council had accepted that the planning process had been adhered to in respect of the WWTP. Scottish Water had undertaken to communicate with all residents direct, via letter, to inform them of a public meeting they would arrange in January 2016 in order to discuss concerns and respond to questions. ( Originally a December date had been expected.)

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6.5 Highland Council Issues (i) Alison Fielding reported having received a questionnaire about school transport across the Highlands. A copy had been passed to Deshar Parent Council and Kate Johnson agreed to complete this and respond on behalf of the Council. She was asked to include a comment about the objection to reduced stops on the Citylink service to Edinburgh. (KJ)

(ii) No notification had been sent to the Council about possible changes in hours, both within schools and at other council-run locations – the Community Council had only become aware of these proposals via the local newspaper; there was no documented information on which to make any consultative response. It was agreed that the Community Council would write to HC to complain about the lack of consultation and would copy their Chief Executive on the correspondence. Cllr Fallows advised the Council to make their representations to Cllr Bill Fernie, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. (AF) He was asked if there was a consultation period for discussing potential changes to school hours but reported he was unaware of specific deadlines. Anna Barton, having checked on line in the course of the meeting, advised that the consultation closed on 21st December. Cllr Fallows reported that delays had occurred in moving Grantown Library into the Town House, with the aim of providing a focal point for all HC services, something which had been agreed as part of cost-saving initiatives. This delay raised questions about when a change in hours would be implemented – Cllr Fallows would follow up and report back. (DF)

Anne Goodall left the meeting.

(iii) It was noted that the Local Development Plan identified a ‘Local Housing Strategy’ which could not be located on the HC website. Cllr Fallows commented that the Highland wide Development Plan did not apply to the area, which fell within the remit of the CNP Plan, and stated that there was no Local Housing Strategy document, rather it was something to be developed locally. He advised contact with Allan Maguire of HC to clarify and make comments. (AF)

6.6 New Housing Development Alison Fielding issued notes from a meeting she had held on 17th November with Allan Munro, Davall Developments. – the information was not included in the report in the BOG Standard, which had already gone to print at the time of the meeting. The Council had received no notification that work, specifically tree felling, would start until after it had started.. Concern was expressed by the meeting that more than the originally expected number of trees had been felled on the instruction of Highland Forestry, purportedly due to health and safety reasons. As a result, the additional areas cleared would be scarified to encourage regeneration and the tree planting plan would be augmented. The affordable sector housing is due to be built first along with 11 of the private houses, sized 2 or 3 bedrooms. The approximate cost of these houses is expected to be roughly between £170.000 and £220,000 depending on style.

July Mossman complained that the over-riding concern from the community was lack of communication. It was agreed that the Project Manager would be contacted and asked to put in place a communication plan based on monthly reporting. Peter Wright advised that the Project Management team should produce their own notice board for this purpose, to include their contact details, health and safety issues, planned activities in the forthcoming week(s), site schematic/ drawings, etc. (AF/PW) It was agreed to invite the Project Manager to the next meeting of the Community Council. (AF)

Discussion and questions followed on various issues in connection with the site, notably:  The bundles of debris would be retained as part of the environmental mitigation plan to protect capercaillie.  Malcolm Clark asked whether paths into the woodland created by machinery would be re- instated. He disagreed with the view that they would grow over with time.  The route into the Community Hall via the new houses was queried. It was agreed that a large drawing of the housing scheme would help understand how traffic would flow – this would be requested as part of the overall communication plan. (AF/PW)

4  At the initial planning stage, it was believed there had been good communication and consultation, but that had been in 2012/13, since which time there had been no activity until the present upon which to communicate – to be addressed via communication plans, to include a request for a large scale drawing for display in the Community Hall (subject to agreement with the Hall Committee).. Anna Barton requested that this information also be obtained electronically so that it could be included on the village website.  Access to the woods during construction was raised. Ian Bashford reported that CNPA had a duty to safeguard access during the building phase and should be asked how they planned to manage this. (AF)  Malcolm Clark reported that quad bikes were using the woodland paths. Alison Fielding advised that any witnesses to this activity had to note number plates and then report the incident(s) to the police. She would email the Seafield Estate to advise them of this unauthorised access to their land and ask them to address the problem. (AF)

6.7 Camper Vans and Rubbish Problems – deferred to January meeting

6.8 Feasibility Study for All Abilities Path It was agreed to use the £500 annual donation from Reidhaven Estate towards funding a feasibility study for an all abilities path. To raise additional monies for this, Liz Johnstone agreed to help with the application for funding. It was also agreed to ask for donations towards this from Highland Council and also approach Allan Munro. (LJ/AF)

6.9 Vodafone – deferred to January meeting 6.10 Superfast Broadband in PH24 3BY – deferred to January meeting 6.11 CNPA – deferred to January meeting 6.12 Sharing Responsibilities between New Members – deferred to January meeting 6.13 Footpaths – deferred to January meeting 6.14 Milton Loch and Woodland – deferred to January meeting 6.15 Playing Field – deferred to January meeting

6.16 BOG Standard – It was noted that a new editor, Cath Wright, had been appointed and that Jackie Wilson would continue to manage advertising.

6.17 Planning (i) The Boat Hotel had lodged an appeal against the refusal of planning permission to build a health spa. Alison Fielding had submitted a letter to the Reporter on behalf of the Council, in order to highlight additional information subsequent to the original comments submitted. The Reporter was due to visit site on 1st December. (ii) Caravan Park planning application had been approved, whilst taking on board comments from the Council which required the owners to retain 5 positions for touring caravans and 5 tent sites, and to retain the washing/ toilet facilities for these groups. (iii) Anderson’s Restaurant had applied for an extension to their liquor licence to cover the period 11.00am – 1.00am. Assurance had been given that this was purely to cover exceptional situations, such as New Year. The normal closing time would continue to be 11pm. On this basis, the Council had no objections. (iv) Mullingaroch Mill had applied to replace an existing extension with a new one. Alison Fielding had consulted with neighbouring residents in Street of Kincardine, who had no objections to the planning proposal.

6.18 Planning Sub Committee It was noted that the Planning Sub-Committee held delegated powers and Alison Fielding received weekly planning notices to be passed onto the committee. It was agreed he following members would serve on the Planning Sub-Committee – Ian Bashford, Brian Tolson and Peter Wright. (IB/AF/BT/PW)

6.19 Reports – deferred to January meeting

5 6.20 Correspondence – A letter had been received from Citizen’s Advice Bureau offering to run a session on how to save money on energy. It was agreed that the Council would register their interest in this, to be combined with other community groups and the community hall committee (AF)

DATE OF NEXT MEETING : 18TH January 2016, at the Community Hall

COMMENTS AND FEED-BACK WELCOME!

The Community Council exists to see that the opinions of local residents are properly taken into account by official bodies, and generally to foster local interests. Your opinions matter and we would like to hear any comments you have on what the Community Council does - or does not - do.

The Community Council owns and manages:

* The Milton Loch and Woodlands

* The Boat of Garten Playing Field (for bookings, contact Alison Fielding)

http://www.boatofgarten.com/community/boat-of-garten-vicinity-community-council/

Email: [email protected] or any of the members.

A full, hard-copy set of the Community Council’s minutes since November 2014, together with other relevant papers approved by the Council, has been deposited in the community space at the Boat of Garten Post Office.

OTHER PUBLIC INFORMATION

Boat of Garten community website http://www.boatofgarten.com/ The Highland Council http://www.highland.gov.uk/ National Park http://cairngorms.co.uk/ Cairngorms Open Access Trust http://www.cairngormsoutdooraccess.org.uk/ Association of Cairngorm Communities http://www.upperdonside.org.uk/waterside/aocc.pdf Voluntary Action & Strathspey http://www.vabs.org.uk/ Police http://www.scotland.police.uk/ NHS Highland http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/Pages/welcome.aspx

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