Delting Community Council MINUTES OF A MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY 27TH AUGUST 2020 – Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this was a virtual meeting held through FaceTime. 2020/08/01 MEMBERS Mr A Cooper, Chairman Ms J Dennison Mr A Hall Mr J Milne Mr B Moreland Mr E Smith Mr W Whitrow 2020/08/02 IN ATTENDANCE Mrs A Foyle, Clerk 2020/08/03 CIRCULAR The circular calling the meeting was held as read. 2020/08/04 APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr M Duncan, Ms A Arnett, Councillor E Macdonald and Councillor A Manson. 2020/08/05 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING The Minutes of the meeting held on 25th June 2020 were approved by Mr J Milne and seconded by Mr B Moreland. 2020/08/06 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 2020/07/7.13 The Clerk declared an interest with regards to the Clerks pay. 2020/08/11.1 The Clerk declared an interest with regards to purchasing postage stamps. 2020/08/07 MATTERS ARISING 7.1 Muckle Roe Road – Improvements – The Chairman has spoken to Mr Neil Hutcheson, SIC Roads Service and they are going to be getting passing place signs in Muckle Roe soon. Ms J Dennison has seen arrows painted where the signs are to go. However, the SIC Roads Service have chipped the road and covered some of these arrows up! 7.2 School Transport Issue – Mossbank service not fitting in with the school times – The Chairman reported that this is not in the new school transport contract. He is trying to get an addition to the contract and awaiting feedback to see what can be achieved. 7.3 Digital Highlands and Islands – Broadband Rollout – MSP Beatrice Wishart is going to raise the issues with poor broadband in Mossbank and Voe with BT and the SIC. She also sent an e-mail about the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme. This is to be launched in September offering support to customers to ensure they can access superfast broadband of at least 30 mega bits per second. Anyone whose home or business broadband speed is less than 30mbps and where there are no plans to bring superfast broadband to their address by the end of 2021 will be eligible for a voucher. People can check their eligibility for SBVS through the online checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com The Chairman told Members that the SIC are currently doing work on connectivity in Shetland to try and get 100% coverage and get the best for the community as a whole. The SIC have a meeting to discuss this on 9th September 2020. Page 1 of 8 MINUTE: JUNE 2020 2020/08/07 MATTERS ARISING 7.4 Mossbank Play Park – Toddler Swing – Mr M Malcolmson is to get back to the Clerk to say when this will be done. 7.5 Delting Boating Club – Bin for Dog Waste – Mr B Moreland is going to check if a dog litter bin has been placed outside the Delting Boating Club yet. If it is not, the Clerk is to contact Mr Brydon Sinclair, SIC Environmental Health again about this. Clerk to progress. 7.6 Tree Planting at Moorfield Esate, Brae – The Chairman has spoken to Ms Anita Jamieson at SIC Housing to check if planting trees at the Moorfield Estate is acceptable for the SIC. She has received objections to this proposal. They are trying to find a solution. 7.7 DCC Computer – The Clerk has received a quote from ITS Shetland regarding the laptop. It is £569 + VAT and Microsoft is £213 + VAT. The Clerk can get the installation done and data transferred. This was approved. Clerk to progress. 7.8 Shetland Community Benefit Fund – The Chairman told Members that a director is needed for this role. He asked for this item to be carried on to the next meeting as someone needs to be appointed. It is important for Delting to be represented and involved in the process of getting the money not inhibiting things in the Delting area. Mr Chris Bunyan, Chairman of SCBF sent an e-mail explaining how the Advanced Grant Scheme works and this was forwarded on to Members. They do not know when they will launch the scheme but it depends on receiving funding from Viking Energy. 7.9 Supporting Communities Fund – The Clerk checked if the Community Council could apply for additional funding to help people re-train in the Delting area. Ms Fiona Stirling, HIE responded that this fund cannot be used to support re-training costs for individuals and the focus is responding to Covid-19. The Chairman said that the SIC have formed a group with HIE and DWP to look at this issue. The SIC report will address employability and re-training skills that Shetland will need for years to come. This will be in the public domain in the next few weeks. The Clerk confirmed that the Brae Foodbank have been sending through receipts and have spent their full £2700. Ms Jessica Johnson sent the Clerk an e-mail thanking Delting Community so much for enabling them to help so many families. The demand for food parcels has decreased slightly with a couple of single folk no longer requiring parcels as they are back in employment. They currently deliver between 45-50 boxes per month. They are at the end of their funding and are unsure how much longer they will be able to run the food bank for. They are aiming to keep going until the October school holidays but may only be able to source dry food as fresh items tend to be quite expensive. The hygiene side of the food bank will also need to be reviewed as with the UK now officially in recession there is no government funding available for this. The council is hoping to have a food larder in Brae up and running shortly and their drop in food bank will then close and clients will be able to make use of the food larder. Until there’s a definite opening date, however, they plan to carry on with a drop in food bank every Friday from 9.30- 10.30am. The Chairman reacted that this is quite serious how fast that money has gone and the Community Council does not have funds to keep these things going long term. Mr W Whitrow stated that many families are facing hardship. Page 2 of 8 MINUTE: JUNE 2020 2020/08/07 MATTERS ARISING 7.10 Connecting Scotland – The Clerk sent the application form requesting 20 laptops for school pupils at Brae High School (junior and primary) and Mossbank Primary School due to many children having ASN and families facing hardship. Unfortunately the application was unsuccessful due to the high demand and they prioritised individuals who were ‘shielding’ or at higher risk of illness due to the coronavirus. The Clerk informed both schools about this. She also told them that she spoke to staff at the SIC Community Planning and Development Department and there is another Government scheme aimed at schools getting devices for pupils who need them. They can speak to SIC Education Department to find out more about this. 7.11 Community Development Fund (CDF) – SIC Community Planning and Development – The application forms for both the project fund and distribution fund were successful. This has secured £4000 to go towards the end of the Muckle Roe road. This is a popular area for people to leave their vehicles and walk to the Hams of Roe. DCC want to give an adequate sized car park for people to park their vehicles and plenty of room for vehicles to turn. The Clerk received an e-mail on 26th August confirming that the £4000 is in the DCC bank account and the funds are to be spent prior to 31st March 2021. The Chairman has spoken to Mr Neil Hutcheson, SIC Roads Service and they could possibly do this work. Mr Hutcheson agreed to do the costing for this and report to the next meeting. 7.12 Community Wellbeing Fund – Corra Foundation – The Clerk spoke to Ms Jessica Johnson at the Brae Foodbank about the £2000 to help people in Delting with their electricity costs who are facing hardship. She agreed that she could give £50 per month per household. On the first payment, a signature with no further detail is sufficient. On the second and any subsequent occasions a signature plus the beneficiary will need to show evidence that the previous payment has been spent on electricity. We need evidence each month to show how many have received an initial payment and how many have received a repeat. Nine households have received the first £50 payment towards electricity costs and three households have received the second payment of £50. Some of the families were not in when Ms Jessica Johnson dropped off food parcels last week so they haven’t got a second payment but she will try and pass that on when she delivers food parcels on Friday. So far they have given out £600. They have £1400 remaining of this fund. Those who have received an electricity payment of £50 are very thankful for the help. 7.13 Clerks Pay – The Chairman said that SIC staff received a 3% pay rise from 1st April 2020. The Chairman proposed the Clerk receive this. Members agreed. 7.14 Total - Shetland Gas Plant – Ms Della Armstrong sent an e-mail asking for Total to be included in the distribution list as Mr Andy Cripps would like to attend a meeting to provide an update to Members.