CHARLESTOWN, LIMEKILNS AND PATTIESMUIR COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES OF MEETING HELD IN THE LIME CENTRE, CHARLESTOWN, ON 29TH OCTOBER 2019

1. Present: Martin Mulube, Geoff Cartwright, Dr Katie Strang, Rob Thompson, Callum MacInnes, Cllr Tony Orton

2. In Attendance: Lord Bruce, George Hipwell, Tom Leatherland, Lorna Stewart, Maggie Cuthbert, Chris Oliver, Christine Macdonald, Ken McNeill, Ian Maul, Paul Spriddle, Adrian Christie, Dorothy Warren, Tom Scott, Mary Scott, Barbary Lindsay, Ian Lindsay, Norman Grant, Fiona Thompson, Steve Pinden, Kate Cameron, Karen Hart, Varrie Wardrop

3. Apologies: Andrew Aldous, Martin Callanan, Lesley Scott, Paul Byford, Cllr Verrechia

4. Chair Introduction a. The Chair welcomed everyone to the session, reiterating CC policy to ensure the meetings are accessible to everyone. He asked those present to please share their views on topics being discussed as this is an open forum for the community

5. Minutes of the meeting of 24th September 2019 a. The Chair summarised the main points covered at last meeting (venue Pattiesmuir) namely a Discussion on Playpark, Schools in area, Finances of CC, Airport flightpath consultation and Plastic Free Initiative. Accepted without amendment. Proposed by Katie Strang. Seconded by Geoff Cartwright.

6. Strategic Development Plans around our Community a. Introduction i. The remit of the CC as defined in the scheme of delegation, is twofold. Firstly, to represent the views of our residents/constituents effectively to council and; secondly to take such actions so as to help meet the needs and concerns of those constituents. ii. As we’ve worked through how to best meet those two goals, it’s become clear that due to the timescales over which so many council and other organisations work we need to be able to have a coherent longer-term view over what we believe should be happening in our community. This would give us the advantages of engaging in the right way with those organisations to address the future and to fully incorporate their goals and aspirations as well; and help us to address more specific activities as and when they come up as part of a wider programme iii. Tonight's meeting forms an important part of that process because across our communities in Charlestown, Limekilns & Pattiesmuir area, there is, and always will be, an intrinsic link to the Broomhall Estate; as we think about the future, having a shared understanding of each other’s priorities is fundamental to us making the most of our common spaces for everyone’s benefit. iv. Our focus on this session is to try and share our views in a positive way across a number of topics and for us to try to come to some shared understanding of what should be included into that vision. We will be capturing everything in detail from this session both into the minutes and into drafting the detail of that vision over the next few months. b. Environment – As a community, environmental sustainability is important to us, what further steps should we be taking to improve on this across our community, topics raised were: i. Having a goal of self-sufficiency of energy supply across the villages and to become carbon neutral would be a good thing to have a plan for over a 5-10 year time horizon ii. Explore developing technologies that can work on a micro level to be more compatible with the surroundings – mini- hydro power and storage, microgrids, alternative fuels (rye grass), biomass and district heating solutions could be possible making use of product grown on the farmland in the community iii. Having access to more active travel would also be a good contribution to the environment and help to manage car dependency iv. As a coastal community the impact of the oil spill and guarantees to avoid this happening again are important, should we engage with other local areas to achieve this end. v. Important to manage the potential tension that can arise between the need to conserve heritage and to implement environmentally sustainable choices. vi. There are ways to think about insulation through cladding in a sympathetic way with the heritage if it’s done across a community vii. Noted that the interceptor ditch across Charles Way/Havens Edge has proved the success of appropriate ways to manage the impact of excess water / floods

c. Heritage – What do we believe are the key elements we wish to preserve across our community and how should we be prepared to think about taking action to maintain them? i. We should be aware that this community represents one of the finest examples of integrated kilns processing industry from the second half of the 18th century – older than New Lanark. ii. There are great stories and individuals that could bring this history to life in terms e.g. William White who lived here and emigrated to great success in Canada, or the levels of healthcare provided which made this area distinct. iii. Awareness of the challenges with making this history of the community accessible and public when it is actually in and around where people live their lives, however, recognise the potential for increasing visitor numbers would help to support local business which are key for this being a thriving place and not just a commuter village. iv. Maintain tradition of innovation within Estate interaction with local community e.g. historical provision of housing schools and transport. v. Involve community in low level preservation of living environment e.g. planting mini orchards, clearing ivy, unmaintained roads and walls etc vi. Concerns raised over Charlestown Harbour with recognition that solution needed multi-million-pound funding linked to viable future usage perhaps around Tourism, but noting the long-term success of the project to restore the Limekilns to the current state vii. Information boards on mapped walks would be a really useful addition to the village to bring aspects of the history to life for residents and for people walking through viii. Understanding age profile of villagers, how needs change through life and how living spaces reflect potential progression of needs - integration of future provision with balanced through housing and social needs. ix. Rosyth Church and associated buildings dates from c1180 and are our oldest buildings and is something that we could lose if it’s not focussed on, is there potential for this to be more of a focus associated with the increased prominence of the Fife Pilgrim Way. x. Recognise that we as a generation have a responsibility to look after and preserve these elements for the future and for that to be a shared responsibility d. Development plans – Thinking about the areas in and around our community what types of development would we like to see, and can we understand how any changes would impact on the existing community? i. Having the infrastructure and housing options which means we can provide through life progression e.g. single-person households, young families on to old age, while remaining in the community; through the provision of social and affordable housing with integrated social and medical facilities would be a good thing to aim for. ii. The relationship between Dunfermline South West and the coastal villages as it develops is something that we need to think positively about and how connections between those sites could enrich both areas e.g. green arteries that improve non car-based transport for those who don’t drive iii. The general context around the cost of housing and rents being bigger than mortgages was noted as being a wider challenge that shapes everything that we do. iv. There hasn’t been any substantial development within the community since the 80’s which is one of the drivers of the local demographic challenge as there isn’t a wide range of housing types, coupled with the general cessation of councils building housing. v. The tension between restrictions on housing specifications that can be legally rented, and the limitations of conservation requirements puts pressure on the ability to bring many properties across the community into use vi. All councils across are short on identifying the land that is to be provided in the wider plans for housing and there is an opportunity to shape the views of the community before the next 10-year plan is put together. vii. Some expressed reservations over any expansion within footprint of current villages concerned about the rural balance of this area being disturbed, however, it was noted that large areas of unbuilt land near existing buildings were subject to subsidence due to generations of mining and therefore unsuitable for building e.g. west of Charlestown where the cricket pitches are. viii. However, it was felt that having a positive approach to discussing where and what type of development would be a more beneficial strategy overall.

e. Transport / Getting around – Being able to get around and in & out of our community is important to our well-being, what should we be focusing on here? i. Across the estate it is estimated that there are 15km of tracks, paths and unadopted roads, however, the railway line belongs to Network Rail/MOD, thinking about integrated routes to new housing development and surrounding areas - particularly cycle and walking routes to Dunfermline would make the most of these ii. Historically, cycle paths have been proposed to ease requirements of access to the A985 have not been taken up by the council iii. While as a community we are currently quite car dependent, having an aim to reduce reliance on car to ease parking congestion and facilitate reduction in carbon footprint would be a good thing. In order to make this possible, having better public transport links to and from Rail stations and Park & Rides are an essential pre-requisite for people to consider this as an ongoing solution. The meeting observed how much more common this use was from Cairneyhill as a function of how convenient this is.

7. Education Committee update a. Fife Council education committee met on 29th October. At this session the process for making the decision about the replacement of High School, narrowed the choice down to 2 locations: one still in Inverkeithing close to the existing site and the second on the Fleet grounds in Rosyth. b. As one of the ongoing possibilities is still geographically close to our community then we need to be aware of the implications of this decision as we collaborate on education strategy with the Parent Council.

8. Date of Next Meeting: Tues 26th November 2019 7.30pm: The Lime Centre, Charlestown.