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This mee ng took place in Lochearnhead Village Hall at 7:50 p.m. on 30 th March 2022.
Present: David Johnston (DJ), Ruth McLusky (RM), Andrew Poulter (AP), Carolyn Brooks (CB).
Apologies: Donald MacLaren (DM), Daniel Jarre (DJT), Angus Cameron (AC), Cllr Evelyn Tweed (ET), Cllr Mar n Earl (ME), S rling Council; PC Heather Campbell (HC), Police Scotland.
Also Cllr Jeremy McDonald (JM), S rling Council; William Dalziel (WD), Strathyre; A ending: Paul Hicks, minute-taker.
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Approval of previous minutes |
It was proposed by DJ and seconded by RM, that the minutes of the mee ng on 30th March 2022 should be accepted and this was approved unanimously.
2. Declara ons of Interest
None made.
3. Elec on of new member
DJT was unable to a end the mee ng so this item was held over to the next mee ng.
4. Police Report (1 Apr – 3 May 2022)
During this period, in terms of road safety, there were seven incidents involving motor vehicles. A car le the A84 road at Lochearnhead and had to be recovered but its driver was uninjured. Two vehicles were struck by passing vehicles, causing damage, but insufficient details were obtained in either case to trace the offending vehicle. On 17 th April, a collision occurred on the A84 at Strathyre, necessita ng a brief road closure to recover damaged vehicles. On two occasions, reports were received of animals on the road, but in neither case was any animal found. On 28th April, police discovered an oil spillage in Lochearnhead and Bear Scotland a ended to deal with it. There were two instances of vehicle breakdowns near Lochearnhead and police a ended to ensure safety for passing traffic.
On 16th April 2022, police were called to Ben Ledi to assist with a mountain rescue. One male was found deceased and recovered from the mountain by the Mountain Rescue Team (MRT). On 30th April 2022, police were called to Stuc a Croin to assist with a mountain
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rescue. A female with a head injury was assisted off the hill by the MRT and taken to hospital for treatment. |
Since the comple on of this report, further informa on had come to light about bogus traders opera ng in the area, with at least one incident of fraud reported. There had also been several the s of heavy oil (diesel) in and around Killin.
5. Ma ers arising from previous mee ng
a) Li er/Fly- pping . On 1st April 2022, Evelyn Tweed, MSP, responded to item 10a of the minutes from the mee ng on 30th March 2022. The item concerned li er and fly- pping and ET acknowledged the seriousness of the problem with the tourist season about to begin. She requested permission to contact both S rling Council and the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Na onal Park (LLTNP) about it as a member of the Sco sh parliament. This was approved and it was agreed that RM would contact ET to confirm this.
RM to ask ET to raise this problem with S rling Council and LLTNP.
b) Stronvar bridge repair . On 1st April 2022, Stephen Bly (community liaison officer for S rling Council) responded that someone would visit the bridge on Monday 4th April to assess the situa on. In the mean me, temporary barriers would be erected on the bridge as a safety measure. This duly happened but the barriers were unable to withstand the wind and kept blowing away. AP asked if a reminder could be sent to S rling Council about the need to repair the bridge.
c) Ukrainian refugees . The adults and children fleeing from the war in RM to remind S rling Council that a repair is s ll needed.
Ukraine who were being hosted in Callander by the charity, Dnipro Kids, had spent three weeks there before moving on to accommoda on in Edinburgh. S rling Council's Chief Execu ve, Carol Bea e, had paid tribute to all those in the local communi es who had given generously of their me and talents to welcome the refugees and to provide a series of local visits and ac vi es for them.
d) Motorcycles in Strathyre West Forest . On 5th April 2022, Shirley Leek of Forestry & Land, Scotland responded to the report from the community council about motorcycles being ridden in Strathyre Forest West. She stated that this incident would be reported to the police and asked that, if any local residents were to come across similar ac vity in future, would they please report it immediately themselves (by telephoning "101") so that immediate ac on could be taken.
e) Informa on sign, Lochearnhead car park. On 4th April 2022, Stephen
Bly (community liaision officer for S rling Council) responded that he
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Si ng of grit bins, Strathyre . WD stated that his understanding was |
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that members of the community would be asked to look a er the grit bins but nothing more had been heard. AP asked whether S rling Council had contacted the community council about bins, but nobody was aware of any such enquiries. WD also men oned that the Council had offered to supply piles of grit in places such as Keip Road. Several likely loca ons for piles of grit had been idenfied and WD offered to liaise with the Council about this. It was agreed that RM would contact the Council to arrange this. She would also ask about the possible purchase of grit bins on behalf of the community. |
RM to liaise with S rling Council regarding grit piles and the purchase of bins. |
6. MacGregor's Landing
On 2nd April 2022, DJ and AP a ended an online, mul -agency mee ng, chaired by LLTNP, to coordinate a response to the ac vi es at this site. As a result, several agencies were taking ac on:S rling Council will address fly- pping; the Fishery Board will provide contact details for the repor ng of possible fishing offences; Police Scotland will ensure ongoing monitoring by the community police team; NatureScot will be undertaking a survey of the affected area and
LLTNP will address temporary sediment reten on with the Sco sh Environment Protec on Agency and use ranger patrols to monitor further ac vity at the site. A temporary "Stop No ce" has been served and a media statement has been published.
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would no fy the relevant service within the Council, but stated that the sign may actually belong to the LLTNP. If that proved to be the case, he would pass on the request for a replacement board to that authority. |
On 10th April, DJ had circulated a second le er to various addi onal agencies to no fy them of the situa on and the ac on being taken. He also asked S rling Council to re-establish several no ce boards and informa on signs that had suffered damage or been removed altogether. These included signs to indicate that no parking is allowed in designated passing places and signs to indicate that the whole area is covered by the alcohol bye-law. DJ expressed concern that fi een plots of land had been put up for sale but only one of them had access to the Stroneslaney Road. There was also concern that all of the land is located on a flood plain.
7. Place Planning
The new “Place Plan” for the local area has now been published on
8. Forestry Work and Timber Transport
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the LLTNP website and the Community Council's own website. A delivery plan is currently being prepared and will be circulated for members of the community to review and make any comments. It is hoped that the project will be complete by the end of 2022. JM men oned that confirma on had been received that the pavement beside the A85 in Lochearnhead would be constructed during the summer of 2022. |
Gartnafuaran long-term forest plan, 2021-2041 . On 6th April 2022, a formal request for comments on this plan was received from Carole Johnstone, Case Management Officer for Forestry & Land Scotland Perth & Argyll Conservancy. DJ replied on 13th April, on behalf of the community council, itemising six, separate points: reforesta on (querying the proposed balance of broadleaf to commercial conifers); water supply (asking for specific acknowledgement of the needs of a) nearby residen al proper es); public access (querying the lack of designated access for recrea onal purposes); adjacent residen al proper es (asking for specific consulta on with the owners of these proper es and offering to provide contact details); access for mber haulage (reques ng a cost-benefit analysis of various op ons for access and extrac on of mber) and road improvements (for a sec on of the Stroneslaney Road).
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Ardveich - woodland crea on . On 15th April 2022, Barry Harper, Senior Forest Manager for Sco sh Woodlands, contacted the community council with a request for comments about a woodland crea on scheme at Ardveich near Lochearnhead. This was circulated to all members and prompted a unanimous reac on to the proposal that the design would involve removing "areas of deep peat". Concern was also expressed over the si ng of na ve broadleaves and the protec on of water courses. It was agreed that RM would seek clarifica on regarding these concerns. |
RM to respond and seek clarifica on over the concerns expressed. |
c) Harves ng opera ons, Stroneslaney Forest . Weronika Rapa, Forest Manager for Stroneslaney Forest, had given no ce to the community council that opera ons to harvest mber (as outlined in their Long Term Forest Plan from 2014) would begin shortly. The woodland suffered a lot of damage during recent storms, causing this part of the plan to be brought forward. Forest roads will be upgraded to facilitate this work and "best prac ce" for the industry will be followed. If any concerns should arise over ma ers such as private water supplies or
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protected wildlife, the council is invited to contact Weronika directly. |
AP suggested responding to Weronika to ask for signs to be erected at each end of the road, warning of mber traffic on weekdays and to confirm that there would be strict observance of the agreed mes for use of the Balvaig bridge during school term mes. He also asked about a date for publica on of the revised Timber Transport Plan.
RM to respond to Ms Rapa as suggested.
9. Correspondence
From a visitor to Lochearnhead . A recent visitor to the car park at Lochearnhead contacted the community council about the disgus ng condi on of the toilets there and expressed surprise that the local council had allowed them to deteriorate to such an extent. RM had a) nofied S rling Council of the complaint and a reply was later received, sta ng that, because these toilets were open twenty-fours a day, they were used more extensively than most others and this occasionally led to the “Facili es Management” service being overwhelmed.
Insurance (S rling Council) . Stephen Bly (community liaison officer for
S rling Council) nofied the community council that the insurance b) cover for members had been renewed and confirma on documents would be issued in due course.
10. Planning Ma ers
a) DJ reminded members that an earlier applica on to site a mobile snack bar at Derry near Lochearnhead had prompted concerns from the community council regarding poten al problems with li er. He reported that these comments had been considered by the LLTNP planning team and, consequently, the applica on had been rejected.
b) An applica on had been submi ed to site an aerial mast for 4G mobile signals in the area near Monachyle Mhor Hotel. It was agreed that this would be a posi ve benefit for the local community.
c) An applica on had been submi ed to construct a forest road for mber extrac on at Stronslaney near Strathyre. No problems with this
were envisaged.
11. Venues for mee ngs
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DJ reminded members that the Village Hall in Strathyre had been used previously during summer periods and, now that refurbishments had been made, it would be good to use it again. This was agreed and it |
RM to revise schedule of mee ngs |
12. Ma ers from Ward Councillors and Na onal Park
a) Budgets . JM reminded members that the annual budget nego a ons within S rling Council would be star ng in September. He suggested that it might be helpful to start drawing up a list of areas where financial investment is likely to be required, so that bids for funding can be submi ed in line with local priori es.
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was agreed that RM would arrange a revised schedule of mee |
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accordingly. |
b) Parking on pavements . Although this is a nuisance and a problem in urban areas, it has tradi onally been the case in places such as Strathyre, where no formal pavements are provided and the land beside the road is o en owned by adjacent householders, that no ac on is taken to prevent roadside parking. JM stated that S rling Council is to review all parking on pavements throughout its area, with a view to enforcing legisla on more strictly. However, careful considera on will need to be given to areas such as Strathyre. RM reminded members that the land outside the Munro Public house is not private and is available for public parking.
DJ then expressed sincere thanks to JM for all his support and help over several years and wished him well in his future projects, now that he was stepping down as a local councillor.
13. Any other competent business
a) CB asked if S rling Council could be pe oned again to inspect the C33 road from Balquhidder Village Hall towards Dhanakosa and beyond and to do as much as possible to repair the dangerous condi on of the road surface. DJ agreed to write accordingly.
b) DJ reported that the BLS Trust now owns the field besideThe Broch cafe at Strathyre, having purchased it from Forestry & Land, Scotland for general use by the local communi es.
There was no further business and, at 9:00 p.m., DJ declared the mee ng to be closed. The next mee ng is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 15th June 2022 at Balquhidder Village Hall.