Sandsting & Aithsting Community Council

Chairman: Clerk: Mr John Priest Mrs L Fraser Farmhouse West Burrafirth Reawick Walls Shetland ZE2 9NJ ZE2 9NT Tel: 01595 860274 Tel: Walls 01595 809203 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Minutes of a WebEx meeting of Sandsting & Aithsting Community Council held on Monday 14 December 2020 at 7.30pm. 0800 051 3810 128 745 6635

Present: J Priest Ms D Nicolson Mrs S Deyell M Bennett Mrs J Fraser Ex officio: Cllr C Hughson Cllr T Smith Cllr S Coutts In attendance: Mr M Duncan, Community Council Liaison Officer Mrs L Fraser, Clerk

Mr J Priest presiding

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked for a roll call so that everyone knew who was there no matter in which order they signed in.

APOLOGIES: Apologies for absence were received from Mr J D Garrick, Mr G Morrison and Mrs R Fraser, Community Involvement & Development Worker.

MINUTES & HEADLINES: The minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2020, having been circulated, were taken as read and were approved. Moved by Mrs S Deyell, seconded by Mrs J Fraser.

BUSINESS ARISING: Broadband: The members were pleased that it had been reported on the Radio today that the R100 contract has now been signed and feel that it is a step forward. The Chairman had contacted Cllr C Hughson if she could get reassurance that Skeld has been included and Cllr C Hughson had emailed Mr S Robertson at HIE for information. He had also emailed our MSP, Ms B Wishart. An email was received from a Skeld resident with a reply she had received from R100 enquiries. A message will be sent to her giving her the latest information. Mobile phone coverage: The Chairman reported that the mast at Reawick is now live but it appears only to cover EE customers in the meantime. However, it is hoped that, in the future, it will also cater for other phone companies. Cllr S Coutts said that he thinks it is not quite there yet - but to cover other companies was the plan. Road Matters: Road past Garderhouse: No further correspondence. Roads Reports: The Roads Reports have been received each week and circulated to the members. Speed of traffic coming down the hill towards Sandsound junction: The decision of the Environment & Transport Committee to give this stretch of road a 50mph limit for an 18 months trial period was welcomed by the members. Mr M Bennett thanked Cllr C Hughson for representing us. He had a few questions regarding this provision:- 1. Presumably the trial period will commence from the date that the signs are erected and the speed limit is enforceable? 2. Will the Police be made aware of the new limit and be encouraged to give the area some extra attention? 3. What criteria will be used to inform the review? 4. How will the criteria be monitored and reported? 5. How will be review be conducted? 6. Will the Community Council be updated and consulted on the on-going effects of the reduced speed limit as part of the review procedure? 7. Will the issue/decision be debated in Committee before a judgement on the speed limit is made in 18 months’ time? Cllr C Hughson agreed to get the answers to the questions and let him know. The Chairman also thanked Cllr C Hughson for doing a great job in getting this through the Committee. Cllr T Smith said that he felt that, at the end of the 18 month period, another report would probably be put before the Environment & Transport Committee. Sign on Parkhall/Skeld road: Signs not yet provided. Viking Energy Wind Farm: A meeting of the Liaison Group will be held on 19 January. Ms D Nicolson agreed to place a notice on Facebook early in January asking for questions for the group to be sent to the Clerk by 10 January. They will be submitted to the group by 12 January to give them time to find answers to the questions. Although the writers of the questions will not be disclosed, their name should be included on the submission to the Community Council. A copy of the SSE newsletter – Viking Wind farm and Shetland Transmission Link was received from Mr John Robertson, Viking Community Liaison Officer. It had been circulated to the members. Shetland Community Benefit Fund (SCBF): SCBF have advertised for an admin assistant and it is hoped that it will not be long before grants from the Fund are available. It was agreed that, once that happens, this information should be shared as widely as possible to alert groups to the fact that grants are available. Update on grants: Investing in Communities Fund: Mr M Duncan informed the members that some of his colleagues are investigating how this fund can be sorted out remotely and they will be in touch once they find out. Supporting Communities Fund: The vouchers for all expenditure which were submitted to HIE have been returned and work on this fund has now been completed. Community & Third Sector Community Programme: Mrs S Deyell had spoken to Ms Mhari McLeman at Highlands & Islands Enterprise (HIE) and had asked whether individual groups, e.g. halls committees can apply for funding from this programme and had been informed that they can. Mr M Duncan explained that this programme is part of the recovery phase and that his dept and others, including Voluntary Action Shetland (VAS) are discussing this and trying to find what would be most useful. Mrs S Deyell felt that the halls have been prevented from opening due to the amount of work to be done with Risk Assessments, etc and thought that it may be helpful to them to have a person who is available to carry out the work. The Halls are holding an Association meeting later this week when this will be discussed. Mr M Duncan explained that, with the Supporting Communities Fund, the HIE were the vehicle for the money and that VAS have kindly taken on the role with this programme. They will check whether there are recurring themes and then decide what will be most beneficial. Community Development Fund – Distribution: Consideration will also have to be given to uses for the CDF grant. The Community Council short suvey has been circulated to all the voluntary groups in this area and we hope to have the results for our January meeting. This may give us some information of what is most needful in the community. Community Development Fund – Project: Mr M Duncan confirmed that, providing that the SIC members agree to a CDF Fund next year, the first round of applications for project funding will be in early March. Further information will be sought on what is required and it is hoped to have a project next financial year. Financial Spreadsheet: The up-to-date spreadsheet was circulated to the members. Bin at Burn of Lunklet: Bigger bin not yet provided. Funding: Various information received from Mr M Duncan, Community Council Liaison Officer. Problems with walkers on crofting and farming land: To be discussed at the next Association meeting on 9 March 2021. Clousta phone box: A reply was received from Mr M Coutts saying that they will keep trying to find a way to adopt the phone box. BT Payphone Consultation: An email was received from Mr John Holden at Planning, attaching a letter and spreadsheet in connection with the BT Payphone Removal Consultation. BT has advised that it wishes to remove payphones on the basis that overall use of them has declined by over 90% in the last decade. It says that this is a great opportunity for local communities, councils and charities to adopt their red phone boxes and make them an asset for everyone to enjoy. People are using them for everything from defibrillators to foodbanks and that it is simple to do and costs just £1. Ms D Nicolson enquired whether there had been any mention of the Tresta phone box but it is not on the BT list. Culswick phone box: An email was received from Mr Jeffrey Gaskell saying the Culswick residents are interested in retaining their phone box and asked for information. The Clerk had given him what information was available and also Mr John Holden’s phone number. A further email was received from Mr Gaskell saying that the owner of the land on which the phone box stands is Mr H Anderton who seems to be amenable to the idea of buying the box on behalf of the community. Mr Gaskell has also contacted Mr J Holden and registered an interest in community adoption of the box. They have not yet decided what the box could be used for but feels that the main thing is that the structure should retain its place in the Culswick landscape, will benefit from some TLC and once more have a purpose. CAB Offer to attend meeting: Ms Janice Hawick has not yet informed us she is available. Litter caused by damaged floats leaking polystyrene: This item will be discussed when MSP attends our meeting in January. An acknowledgement of our letter was received from MP . A reply was received from Mr Tavish Scott, Chief Executive of Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation saying that their sector takes their responsibility to both the communities they are hosted by and the marine environment very seriously. He gave a link to their newly published Sustainability Charter and hopes that helps in setting out the broader context of their work and the approach they plan in the coming months and years. He would be delighted to work with us on these issues and will have a member of their team be in touch on these subjects. The members were pleased at this response. Police Report: The November Police Report was received and had been circulated to the members. Virtual meeting with Ms Beatrice Wishart, MSP: Ms Wishart will join our January meeting. Active Travel Strategy: Unsure whether any of the members have sent further comments.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FARES 2020: Mr M Duncan had Sent on a link to ZetTrans’ public survey to inform a review of public transport fares in Shetland funded by Smarter Choices Smarter Places. The closing date is 20 December and everyone was encouraged to take part.

ROTARY CLUB OF SHETLAND: A message was received from Mr Robin Sandison, Secretary to the Rotary Club of Shetland saying that he is sorry to advise that, due to limited funds, it is unable to provide the Shetland Community Councils with a donation towards senior citizens Christmas functions this year. With Covid 19 and other issues, finding funds to help has been very difficult this year but they hope that 2021 will prove more promising for everyone. Due to COVID 19, there will not be any Over 65s party this year.

SCOTTISH OPEN GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE – free places for Community Councils: A conference is being held on 15 December and free places are available to Community Counillors. Ms D Nicolson said that she had given her name but was awaiting a return call with details of how to join the conference.

CONNECT SCOTLAND PHASE 2 – ROUND 2: An email was received from Ms June Porter, Team Leader – Community Development, saying that Round 2 is now open for applications. The scheme aims to get individuals on line so they can access public services, support, learning and training, help find or maintain work and provide resilience in the event of further lockdowns. There are criteria to meet. The closing date for applications is 11am on 18 January 2021.

NEWSLETTER FROM ALISTAIR CARMICHAEL: Newsletter received and noted.

PLANNING APPLICATION BACKLOG: An email was received from Mr Iain McDiarmid, Executive Manager – Planning, giving an update on the backlog of planning applications. The oldest planning application waiting on allocation was made valid on 26 August. There were more recent applications allocated to officers which were identified as being time sensitive and there were 63 in the queue. Pre-applications are standing at 24 no. in the queue but they are at the point when people are appreciating the backlog and are just starting to put applications in. They are also looking to do online Developers’ Workshops in January. These will probably be shorter and more targeted versions of the previous Workshops and will possibly be held over several days. He will let us know once they are a bit more advanced with plans. The members agreed that this is a lengthy wait.

NEXT MEETING: The next WebEx meeting will be held on Monday 11 January 2021 at 7.30pm.

The Chairman thanked everyone for their time. He also wished everyone all the best for Christmas and New Year.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm