MINUTES OF STRATHBLANE COMMUNITY COUNCIL 2nd Draft Monday 7th March in the school Members Present: - Margaret Vass, Willie Oswald, Fiona Murray, Marian Lever, Elspeth Posnett, Alan Hutton, John Gray, Richard Arnold, Philip Graves. In attendance: - Cllr Graham Lambie, Dai Hutchinson CDT; Pam Campbell SC; PC David McNally. + 26 members of the community. (SC = Stirling Council. CC = Community Council. CDT= Community Development Trust * Denotes an action) 1. Welcome from Chair and apologies: Welcome to all of all you and thank you for coming along to the March meeting of the Community Council. We continue to work hard on your behalf and have more successes to report to you tonight. However it would be wrong of me not to refer to the difficult meeting we had last time and to the public consultation meeting on allotments that was held last Wednesday where residents shared and listened to the views expressed. It is extremely unfortunate that people felt intimidated and I do hope that we are able to share views better in the future. These have been difficult times for everyone involved and comments were made in the heat of the moment that probably shouldn’t have been. Views became very entrenched and rumours and misleading information was spread around which may have damaged the reputation of our community. Much of this could have been dealt with by improving communication which has been suggested by a number of people in the community and we have an item on this on our agenda tonight. I would like to move forward in a positive way but take time to reflect on what has transpired and to mend bridges. We can always improve on how we do things. I would like to propose that towards the end of April/beginning of May we hold a community forum to discuss and learn from what has happened; agree transparent processes for taking forward future projects whether or not they are in the Community Action Plan. At this forum I would also like to discuss the roles of the CC and CDT and the conflict of interests that both I and Alan are perceived to have and get clarity on this to assist the community to understand this relationship which exists in most communities. We may devise a new way of working for both the CC and the CDT; let us see what we come up with. This forum, if agreed, will be advertised specifically to all groups within the village and interested individuals. It was agreed to progress the idea of a community forum. Apologies received from Joan Hoggan. 2. Conflict of interest for noting: - there were no conflicts to note. 1 Report re this year’s summer fair. - read by MV on behalf of Linda Barclay who was unable to attend. The Summer Fair will be run again this year on Saturday 4th June between 1.00 and 5.00 pm. The purpose of the event is to provide a sense of community celebration, pride and identity and create a forum for organizations and local businesses to promote themselves. Also to act as fundraiser for the school – target £3000.00. There will be new attractions at this year’s show, including a dog show, laser maze, evening bands on the Friday rather than Saturday. The beer tent and BBQ will be run during the event this year. Various related issues were pointed out. Summer Fair is the preferred name for the event and they are trying to involve all segments of the community. Potential funding is being sought from Strathblane Primary Parents Council, CC and CDT, donations from local residents, advertising from a Summer Fair booklet. and from a Community Pride Fund grant. Linda is seeking support from the CC. The CC agreed to support the fair and to provide assistance.FM also agreed to help with funding applications. 3. Minutes of February meeting: Minutes were lengthy to properly report contentious issues. Future minutes would be summarised as far as practicable. There has been a request from Mike Fischbacher for amendment of the following item : Page 2 - penultimate paragraph to read ”Michael Fischbacher apologised to Margaret Vass for a misunderstanding around an alleged request to change the order of the agenda. Mr Fischbacher had been mistaken and apologised accordingly”. Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Fiona Murray and seconded by Elspeth Posnett 4. Matters Arising As per page 3 item 5, notices have been place in several locations around the village giving contact details for each of the Community Councillors and the wards they represent. All our contact details would be posted on ALL notice boards. 5. Police Report – from PC David McNally A number of issues were reported, including persons in possession of drugs, diesel thefts, a disturbance in licensed premises in the village, an assault in Mugdock village and an alcohol related driving offence. 6. Roads Report- Update from Willie Oswald (WO) Roads Correspondent. Zebra Crossing on A81 – SC engineers have agreed that the crossing is not operating as intended and corrective action is needed. This will take the form of new posts with improved lighting with a 2 metre extension above incorporating floodlighting to illuminate the crossing. There has still been no instruction to adjacent owners to cut back overhanging vegetation. The Parents Council of the Primary School want a light controlled crossing and this was reinforced from the floor, especially where there is no Crossing Patrol Person, as at present. Some discussion followed re a central island, but this has its own related problems. It was drawn to the CC’s notice that someone had had a fall recently on the crossing due to a severe pothole being present. This has since been filled in. There were several comments re the danger of this crossing and the fact that some drivers seem to ignore or are oblivious of it. A resident complained about the recent the relocation of the “Milndavie Road” bus stop to its current location 50 metres south. This was carried out without any reference to the CC and 2 with no cognisance of earlier discussions re its location. The original site closer to Milndavie Road end is far preferred as it has street lighting as well and the poor state of the main road footpath makes walking from the existing stop hazardous. SC engineers have agreed to reinstate it, but in future it is imperative that SC consult the CC before any bus stop is moved. A further issue is the state of footpaths outside the village boundary. The footpath to the current (relocated) position of the bus stop is dangerous with ground and vegetation obstructions present, needing urgent attention. SC has indicated that due to budget restraints there is no funding for footpath maintenance. AH- drew attention to the poor state of the Lennoxtown Road footpath, making it difficult for residents in that area to walk to the village. Various other discussions pointed out the dangers on the Carbeth Road for West Highland Way walkers and it was suggested that there could be self help by villagers and the possibility of relocating footpaths behind hedges etc away from the road should be considered. A query was raised whether there was a weight/size limitation for vehicles on the Old Milngavie Road. Signs used to show a restriction “Except for access”. Attention was drawn to the daytime closure of the access road to Mugdock Park between 13th and 17th March. 7. Youth Issues - No report available. Discussions followed on from a query from the public re earthen bike ramps which were impinging on footpaths. JH and CC youth members are trying to come up with a proposal for a cycle “stunt track” area.. It was suggested that someone would chat informally with the cyclists and ask them not to cause footpath problems. 8. Current planning applications - from Planning Correspondent John Gray 11/00005 /FUL – Allotments and Community Garden. Application withdrawn. Appeal PPA –390-2003 Blanefield House. Reporter turned down appeal. 10/00601/FUL- Old Mugdock Road, New Post Office. Application likely to be approved, but much concern regarding lack of additional parking provision. Cllr Lambie will put this to the Planning Panel for discussion and will organize a site meeting to discuss the issue. 9. Issues from the Community. EP advised that on 8th June the changeover from analogue to digital TV will commence. Alistair Smith offered his help with the changeover for any residents having difficulty. Information was available in the library. The authorities provide help for the over 75s; the CC would co-ordinate this help for others. It was suggested that bookings could conveniently be managed via a folder in the library. 10.Elected Members Report. Reports on School Crossing, various issues re Road Maintenance and Repairs, various planning issues, details of meetings re a windfarm proposal at Craigievern Farm nr Drymen and finally summary points from the Stirling Council Budget. Full report detailed in Appendix – on web site www.strathblanefield.gov.uk 11. Communication Strategy- from Alan Hutton a) Discussions are needed to establish the best way to communicate with the community at large and with individuals within it. It is hoped that a report can be given in the June CC meeting. 3 In the meantime a short-life working group will be set up to look into this and volunteers are sought from the community. Alan McNulty and Marian Lever have offered to help. Alan Morris might help? b) Website forum – this is going live soon under the auspices of John Gray and Alan Campbell. There will be public and private forum areas.