Minutes of Meldrum Bourtie & Daviot Community Council Meeting s1

Minutes of Meldrum Bourtie & Daviot Community Council Meeting

Tuesday 23rd May 2017 7.30pm New Sports Pavilion, Pleasure Park, Oldmeldrum

CC Members Present: - James Milton, Lloyd Duncan, John Pirie, Irene Dunbar, Jan Chalmers, Kaye Cowie, Andrew McCartney, Denise Forsyth, Jeff Goodhall, Willie Sinclair, David Clare, Shona Presly, Alice Hill, Simon Kilkerr, Kevin Douglas Apologies: - Patrick Sleigh, Stuart Baird Members of the public: Cryle Shand Councillors: Cllr Paul Johnstone, Cllr Jim Gifford, Cllr Andrew Hassan, Cllr Karen Adam Police: None Aberdeenshire Council: Paul Gray and David Hancock

James welcomed Cllr Hassan and Cllr Adam and also thanked Cryle Shand for his hard work and dedication over the last five years. Cryle thanked everyone present for their help and support and said he has enjoyed his time as councillor. James also welcomed back Cllr Gifford and Cllr Johnston.

Minutes of April 2017 Proposed: Lloyd Duncan Seconded: Kaye Cowie

Matters Arising

James stated he still has to reply to Stuart Singer’s letter from the April meeting but will do this asap. ACTION JAMES

Police Report Nil. Paul Johnston suggested we email the person above our Inspector as we haven’t received a police report for three months in a row. Paul will find out the name of the person and email through to Jan. ACTION PAUL Paul Gray and David Hancock, Waste Support (Collections and Cleansing) Paul and David started their presentation by giving detailed reports of their job roles within Aberdeenshire Council.

Paul Gray confirmed the deep cleanse will take place in Oldmeldrum on Sunday 25th June 2017. He also confirmed there has been an extra street sweeper secured for our area and will be based at Ellon. A new full time driver will be recruited and part of its role will be to cover Oldmeldrum. Paul Gray stated it would be preferable to put in an additional recycling point in the car park at the new co-op rather than move the one from Baker Street car park as this is beneficial for residents in the town centre who will not be able to get to the co-op easily. Paul Gray did suggest they could put a smaller bin into Baker Street to help with creating space however this would need emptied more frequently. Lloyd asked currently how frequently are these recycling bins emptied and Paul Gray replied anything from a week to ten days.

Kaye asked how many hours the new street sweeper would be allocated for Oldmeldrum. Paul Gray replied it is a full time post so he would hope it is in Oldmeldrum at least one day a week.

Andrew said the community council was previously told we would have access to the street sweeper 50/60% of the time but Paul Gray said this was nothing to do with the street sweeper, this was regarding an additional litter pick going back three years ago.

Kaye asked if the deep cleanse will include drains as the current village orderly is reporting an ongoing problem with drains every day and she is also having problems with cleaning outside the shop fronts as the grids are bolted down. Paul Gray stated he will have a conversation with Ian Daniels in the Roads department to see about lifting these grids before the deep cleanse takes place. Paul Johnston commented that Ian Daniels has previously stated he would arrange to unbolt the grids prior to the deep cleanse taking place.

Andrew asked if there was any progress being made with regard to Inverurie recycling depot being able to accept plasterboard. Paul Gray stated there is progress being made however he doesn’t have responsibility for recycling depots so he was unsure of a timescale. He could confirm however the new HWRC at Ellon opens on 9th June 2017 and there will be a facility for recycling plasterboard there. Kaye stated there have been problems recently with fly tipping and asked how if this should be reported to the council or the police. Paul Gray said to report to the council through the waste line and it will be passed to the appropriate officer within the council from there. Willie asked what evidence is required to prosecute and David Hancock replied address details and a witness would be required.

Kevin asked if the recycling point could be moved to the car park at the new transport hub and Paul Gray replied they could look at adding an additional recycling point there.

Andrew asked if there is only one deep cleanse scheduled for Oldmeldrum this year and Paul Gray replied yes.

Members of the Public Nil

Treasurers Report It was reported the Bank Balance as at 23rd May is £7,591.00. Kaye asked Willie to write two cheques for the village orderly payments for June and July and hand to her before he goes on holiday. ACTION WILLIE Willie asked for approval from the members present to claim his expenses back as he bought the new flower tubs for Daviot. All members present agreed.

Secretarial Report Please see attached.

Andrew asked how the kissing gate at Grezyclo Gardens was progressing. James confirmed the kissing gate is progressing well with the help of Paul Johnston and he has written to Debbie Esslemont to confirm this. Paul Johnston commented the Paths Group have been asked to help and they are currently waiting on a costing to complete the work.

Kaye asked if anything had progressed with Gas Street and King Street. Paul Johnston stated he hasn’t heard anything back from the council regarding this and Kaye commented there was a time limit. Paul said he would try and find out the current situation and report back to the members. ACTION PAUL

Andrew stated there have been complaints of the tipping of garden waste at the back of Benview Gardens down towards Distillery Lane. Kaye suggested to phone and report on the waste line as that is what David Hancock said to do earlier in the meeting.

Planning Report John gave a very detailed report on the planning. John also stated there has been some work going on at Coutens. He noted a hardcore path has been put in at the top of Coutens but there has also been a hardcore path put onto land where he thought the council owned. Kevin commented this is only a temporary path to allow them to tar the Coutens road. John also stated there has been no activity as yet on the amenities land that Wimpey has agreed to develop. Kevin asked if anyone knew about the land at the top of coutens being zoned for housing. Paul Johnston confirmed it was zoned for 50 houses. John stated that the next Formartine Area Committee meeting is on 13th June.

Reports from Elected members

Andrew and Karen both reported they were involved with inductions at present. Jeff asked if there should be a fence up between Forsyth Drive and Westburn Park beside the burn. Paul Johnston replied that landscape services were on board but it hasn’t progressed as there is a land ownership problem.

Standing Committees:

Future Vision Andrew reported the first public meeting will take place on Saturday 27th May between 9.30am and 12.30pm. There will be 11 subjects for the public to give feedback on together with a number of community organisations attending to talk about their groups

Community Organisations:

Meldrum Amenities Improvement Group Andrew reported all flower baskets will be out in the town by 10th June. There will also be a litter pick starting from Meadows Vet Centre at 9.30am on 10th June which will involve MAIG members, scouts, the eco group at Meldrum Academy and any community council members who wish to help. Heritage Society John confirmed the Whin Roadie will officially be opened on Sunday 28th May at 2pm.

Daviot Community Trust Willie reported the car park work is now completed and 2 small bridges have been added through the newly planted trees and over the burn. He added there is still a lot more work to be done on the paths. There is an area that is a mess especially in the winter and is not wheelchair friendly that Daviot Community Trust would like to develop however the land owner is not keen for the trust to complete the work. Jim Gifford suggested Willie write a letter to him regarding the area of land and he will forward on to the correct person to see if they can help. ACTION WILLIE

Jan stated she had received the trophy back from Elmbank Gardens who won the best street garden in 2015. Jan asked if when the judging will be taking place this year. Andrew and John agreed to have a conversation about this and report back to the members at the next meeting. ACTION ANDREW/JOHN

Jan also advised she had received an email through Cllr Alastair Forsyth from Turriff with regard to funding available through SSE. Jan confirmed she will forward the email onto all members to look over and confirm if we want to apply for any funding. ACTION JAN

Andrew asked if a reply had been sent to Piers Blaxter regarding his attendance at one of our meetings later in the year. Jan replied she had emailed Piers with our October meeting date.

Willie stated the new signage in Daviot still had to be completed. Kaye asked if the white lines had been painted on the road and Willie said he wasn’t sure. Jan to email Ian Daniels to check. ACTION JAN Kaye also commented the signage that required to be moved up Kirk Brae together with the speed checks up Kirk Brae and towards the golf club were still outstanding. Jan to email Ian Daniels to check on the progress of the signage. ACTION JAN Kaye said that as the Future Vision group were using the Legion on Saturday 27th May we are obliged to give a donation. Kaye and Irene suggested £100.00 and James suggested £150.00. All members agreed with the £150.00.

Andrew stated the cabinets for high speed internet at the end of his road was still a concern. Cars have to edge right out onto the A947 to see past this cabinet before turning out of the side road. Ian Daniels had previously said to Andrew he would have the cabinet moved but still required to be done. Jan to email Ian Daniels to check the progress on this. ACTION JAN

John mentioned the current Scheme of Establishment. Paul said it was put to full council who did not accept it and was therefore sent back to the working group. Paul advised there will be a meeting held with all community council’s in September regarding this.

Time and date of next meeting 27th June 2017 at 7.30pm in the New Sports Pavilion, Oldmeldrum