Convention of Perth & Kinross Community Councils

CONVENTION OF PERTH & KINROSS COMMUNITY COUNCILS

57 th Meeting of the Convention

MINUTES 26 October 2008, 2:30pm Tulloch Community Centre, Perth

1. Apologies: Abernethy, Dunning, Glen Lyon/Loch Tay, Spittalfield, Bridgend/Gannochy, and Scone Community Councils.

2. Minutes of the 56th meeting held on 30 March 2008.

3. Matters Arising:  CC Budgets o Mike Cheesewright explained that most CCs get an annual grant of £300, and the larger CCs get £406. This is about half the national average. o The point was made that if communities raise money for what they need, PKC will not realise we need more. Members are encouraged to let Brenda Lackey know if they’d like their annual grants increased, and why. o Some members said they would support a proposal for a joint website and newsletter for CCs. o Alex Johnston mentioned that he’s brought this issue up at least twice with PKC and nothing happens. He believes we need help from elected officials. He believes we can ask for grants for specific projects – “in the £1,000s”. o Michael Gallagher mentioned that Grants Direct is an available source of funding, and not just for CCs. o SUMMARY: Those present felt that we want the annual amount to increase, and not depend on grants. Inflation has increased, and costs of communication have also increased. o ACTION: We will put this request to PKC with an explanation of why it’s needed. PROPOSED by George Durnance, and SECONDED by Ian Nicol. o ACTION: Take this up with Councillors for support through face-to- face meetings. PROPOSED by Mike Cheesewright and SECONDED by Alex Johnston.

 Planning o We had a presentation by Alex Johnston of Glenfarg CC regarding the Lochelbank Wind Farm. He reports several problems, including a promise of a meeting with PKC and the local Liaison Committee early in 2008 that had not taken place (as of today), with PKC reporting delays in availability of key people, as well as suggesting meeting dates then not responding to the Liaison Committee until after the suggested dates had gone by. o Suggestions were made by members on how Glenfarg CC and the Lochelbank Liaison Committee might proceed including contacting the ombudsman, contacting local Councillors, and/or going to the press. o ACTION: It was proposed that we bring up this issue at the CPKCC’s next meeting with PKC (March 09). It was suggested that Glenfarg CC compile a sequence of events with dates and actions taken/not taken and present it as an example of the frustrations of CCs when trying to engage the PKC planners. PROPOSED by Alex Johnston and SECONDED by Colin Campbell. o ACTION: It was suggested that we draft a formal proposal to change the planning “scheme of administration” due to these systemic patterns of absurdity. This should also be presented to our elected Councillors. PROPOSED by Michael Gallagher, SECONDED by Wendy MacPhedran.

4. Treasurer’s Report:  Mike Cheesewright reports that we have £2,622.18 in our account. Membership is free at this point. Twenty eight out of forty-seven CCs are members. Fourteen out of forty-seven are members of ASCC.

5. Secretary’s Report:  Letters and reports received and reported were: o Licensing Scotland Act 2005 – applications for premises licenses o Energy Saving Trust – grants available o Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance Note, dated Sept. 2008 – Primary Education and New Housing Development o PKC Summary of Public Liability Insurance Cover for CCs o The National Parks Review o Developer’s Contribution Policy from the Planning Department o The Core Path Plan for Perth and Kinross o Tayside traffic Safety Cameras . PROPOSED by Colin Campbell to ask PKC Tayside Camera Partnership to NOT spend money on colourful brochures and save public money. SECONDED by Michael Gallagher. o Also shared with the group were: . PKC’s list of “statutory consultees” . PKC planning list of “valid reasons for objecting” 6. Guest Norman Bonney from ASCC  Mr. Bonney assured us that the ASCC is still working towards CCs having more influence. He encouraged us not to accept inadequate responses from PKC. He said that the Edinburgh Association of CCs has their own website and holds meetings with their members like we do. Some features of their organisation are: o Their budgets have improved slowly o Neighbourhood partnerships include CCs on their committees o They are active nationally in ASCC o They’ve had President Vince Waters in to speak to them

 Mr. Bonney also invited us to be active members in ASCC o They offer extra insurance to CCs o They have a newsletter o They hold regional meetings in various places for us to attend o Their annual meeting is usually in November

 He encouraged us to hold politicians accountable to the promises they make. The SNP government said it would give CCs £10,000, and the ASCC keeps reminding them of that. The SNP government keeps pushing community involvement, and CCs are part of that. COSLA is keen to see community involvement increase. He said that the reason CCs were created was to be the voice of the communities, and the ASCC wants our voices to lead to action.  There was a conversation about increased statutory responsibilities for CCs. Mr. Bonney said that while some CCs may want this, we have to ask ourselves “how far do we want this to go?” A good question to guide that conversation is “what can we do that’s not being done properly?” When asked how the ASCC will gather these views, he replied that our voices could be heard at the AGMs.  A suggestion was made that we might look to other forms of local representation like holding town meetings (from the USA). In England some groups get ½ million pound budgets and have 20 paid employees.  There was a short conversation about the role of secretaries for CCs. Some examples being used elsewhere: o “clerks” could be used for groups of CCs and not be an elected member of any CC. Their responsibilities would be clerical, taking minutes and writing letters and that sort of thing o In Couper Angus there is a “Town Manager” who provides support to many community groups  There followed a conversation on how we can improve our chances of being listened to by PKC. Many members said they wished PKC saw us as a useful part of the overall communications system. One idea was to have a paid person to help us liaise with the Council, and have more frequent meetings.  Another idea was to invite each Councillor to one of our meetings.  Mr. Bonney had the following recommendations: o Get more contact with Councillors – keep the pressure on them o Have a meeting with each party leader o Have spokespeople for each major subject and offer Saturday morning sessions every 6 weeks or so with people at the Council. Create forums like this and develop relationships with people at the Council so they feel comfortable with this type of interaction. o He will write up a report summarising his meeting with us and put it in the ASCC newsletter.  Chairman Michael Gallagher thanked Mr. Bonney for his time, his contributions to the meeting, and his suggestions for improving the influence of CCs in the P&K area.

7. The date of the next CPKCC meeting and AGM will be 29 March 2009.