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Balquhidder, Lochearnhead & Strathyre
Community Council Minutes – 19th June 2024
This mee ng took place in Balquhidder Village Hall at 7:30 p.m. on 19th June 2024.
It was chaired by David Johnston.
Present: David Johnston (DCJ), Carolyn Brooks (CB), Ruth McLusky (RM), Andrew
Poulter (AP), Bob Wells (RJW).
Apologies: Webster Inglis (WI), Mar n Mackenzie (MM), Angus Cameron (AC); Cllr Elaine
Wa erson (EW), S rling Council; PC Heather Campbell (HC), Police Scotland.
Also A ending: Hamish Taylor (HT), Liberal Democrat candidate for S rling & Strathallan
cons tuency; Maida MacLaren, resident of Balquhidder; Paul Hicks (PH),
minute-taker.
Item
Content
1.
2.
3.
Approval of minutes from 1st May 2024
It was proposed by RM and seconded by CB, that the minutes of
the mee ng on 1st May 2024 should be accepted and this was
approved unanimously.
Declara ons of Interest
There were no declara ons of interest by members present.
Police report (30 April to 19 Jun 2024)
During this period, there were two reports of an-social behaviour.
On 4th May, a business owner was driving his vehicle down a
private road in Balquhidder to deliver items when a local resident
began shou ng and being abusive towards him. The police were
contacted but no formal complaint was made subsequently. On
14th May, the police were contacted regarding some vandalism that
had occurred at a property in Lochearnhead. Enquiries were
conducted and successfully concluded with the offence marked as
"detected".
During the same period, there were six reports of road-related
incidents. Police assisted the driver of a broken-down vehicle on
the A84 at Balquhidder and a ended an incident in Lochearnhead
where a vehicle had le the road and needed to be recovered. (No
offences were disclosed in either case.) On 20th May, a complaint
was made regarding an individual’s manner of driving on the A84
in Lochearnhead. A descrip on was circulated but the vehicle
concerned could not be traced. On 2nd June, officers apprehended
someone driving a vehicle with no insurance or MOT cer ficate.
The vehicle was seized and the driver reported to the Procurator
Fiscal. On 8th June, police were contacted about a deer in the
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Community Council Minutes – 19th June 2024
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Content
carriageway on the A84 at Lochearnhead. Staff from BEAR Scotland
also a ended and were able to remove the deer without further
incident. On 10th June, police were asked to assist with the landing
of the Sco sh Ambulance Service helicopter in Lochearnhead. A
member of the public required urgent medical a en on but the
ambulance service was able to deploy and render assistance
before the police arrived.
Two other incidents of note occurred. One concerned a third-hand
report of a hate incident in Balquhidder, but the alleged vic m
declined to engage with the police and no further ac on was
taken. On 15th June, a male contacted the police and asked for
helping in ge ng down from Ben Vorlich. Officers a ended with
the Killin Mountain Rescue Team and the person was assisted off
the hill with no injuries and able to make his own way home.
Officers have been conduc ng regular speed checks in Strathyre
and Lochearnhead and the "pop-up police officer" is back in
ac on! Officers have also helped the Fire & Rescue Service with
water safety talks at Strathyre Primary School.
4.
5.
a)
Full membership of community council
This item was postponed to the following mee ng since neither
member was able to be present.
Ma ers arising from previous minutes
C60 bus service. Further to item 6 in the minutes of the mee ng of
20th March 2024 and item 4B in the minutes of the mee ng of 1st
May, members welcomed the news of a renewed C60 bus service
to be launched by S rling Council. The new service is due to begin
as soon as the required permit is granted by the Office of the
Traffic Commissioner. Further details have been posted on the
community council website since May 2024.
DCJ commented that the S rling Council officials had done well to
persuade the Council to take on the provision of this service as a
two-year project. He said that it was a major step but, if the project
proves successful, it could pave the way for the Council to take on
or create other rural routes. It was, therefore, essen al that the
service should be promoted and helped to success. He added that
a small team, including some from the community, will work with
the officials to adapt the service to local needs. While the ini al
metable concentrates on the essen al deliverables, it is not set in
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stone and can be changed if there is a demand. The metables will
operate in three-month schedules. RM enquired about the
ques on of prescrip ons being delivered via the bus service, but
there was no further news of possible developments in rela on to
ensuring the security of such deliveries, which had been iden fied
previously as a problem.
6.
a)
b)
c)
Forestry and mber transport
Update from Forest & Land, Scotland. DCJ reported that the felling
of mber at Strathyre West is due to finish at the end of June 2024,
whilst mber haulage from Kirkton Forest is due to be concluded
by the end of July 2024.
Ledcreich Forest, Balquhidder. The forest manager, Paige Brown,
had no fied the community council that, before preparing the next
forest plan, all neighbours and stakeholders had been invited to
submit any comments regarding relevant opportuni es, constraints
or other ma ers to be considered in the plan. Any comments
should be submi ed by Friday 12th July.
Timber Transport Management Plan. Further to item 5B in the
minutes of the mee ng of 1st May 2024, DCJ reported that he had
circulated his report on the mee ng with S rling Council Roads
Department, Claire Glaister (the project co-ordinator) and
representa ves of the industry. Despite poin ng out the results of
the consulta ons with the local community, the Roads Department
had opted to accede fully to the posi on put forward by the
industry. Ms Glaister had now circulated the proposed Timber
Transport Management Plan (TTMP) and DCJ had passed it on, but
added that, while the community needed to work with the
industry and the mber needs to be extracted, the current process
is simply not working and makes a nonsense of community
consulta on. He suggested, therefore, that a further mee ng with
the Head of Roads Department (and any appropriate senior
manager) should be arranged, to ask whether they fully realise just
what the departmental official has agreed to at the earlier
mee ng. A er some discussion, this was agreed.
Ac on
Further mee ng
to be arranged
with S rling
Council Roads
Department.
7.
a)
Correspondence
Covid sign displayed in Balquhidder. An enquiry had been
received from Na onal Museums, Scotland, concerning a sign that
had been displayed in Balquhidder during the Covid-19 restric ons.
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DCJ reported that the sign had been drawn by Gillian, an employee
in the Mhor 84 shop. The enquiry had been passed to Tom Lewis
for him to pass on to Gillian.
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Accounts prepared for annual general mee ngs. A request had
been received from S rling Council for a copy of the externally
verified accounts submi ed at the annual general mee ng on 1st
May 2024. AP responded that this was in hand and the accounts
should be ready to send by the end of July 2024.
No ce of public processions. No ce had been received on 15th
May 2024 of an event to be run locally on 9th June 2024. This was
the Run Mhor 84 event organised by Tay Fitness Events. A second
no ce had been received on 16th May 2024 concerning the BLS
Highland Games that is scheduled to take place in Lochearnhead
on Saturday 20th July 2024.
Review of statement of licensing policy. No fica on had been
received that the District of S rling Licensing Board was seeking
views and comments on the dra version of its updated policy
statement. Further details are available on the community council
website.
Communica on with S rling Council. On 20th May 2024, a request
was received from the chair of Kilmadock Community Council for
informa on regarding the level of sa sfac on in communica ons
with S rling Council. DCJ commented that it was apparent that
most of the rural community councils had responded posi vely
and wanted, jointly, to seek an improved means of communica on
with S rling Council officials. He noted that similar complaints had
been expressed from me to me in the BLS community council,
notably about the patronising tone of some emails from Council
staff. No further communica on had been heard from the
proposer to date, but members agreed that they would be
interested to follow any future developments in this ini a ve. HT
added that he had heard similar complaints from the other
community councils that he had visited recently. He agreed that
something needed to be done but emphasised that the response
needed to be consistent across all community councils.
Removal of payphone from Lochearnhead. On 12th June 2024,
no fica on was received from BT Group that it was planning to
remove the public payphone located in Lochearnhead.
Opportunity is being given for members of the public to make
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Community Council Minutes – 19th June 2024
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representa ons regarding the removal before 4th September 2024.
A no ce will be placed in the kiosk, invi ng people to make
representa ons about whether or not to remove it.
8.
9.
10.
11.
a)
12.
13.
Single-track roads - speed limits and addi onal traffic signs
DCJ suggested that these outstanding items could be raised as part
of the proposed TTMP mee ng with S rling Council. (See item 6C
above.) This could also include progress on funding for upgrading
the C33 road and the work on Stroneslaney Road, which is s ll
outstanding. This was agreed.
Glentarken wind-farm
Further to item 6A in the minutes of the mee ng of 1st May 2024,
DCJ reported that a representa ve from SSE Renewables had been
invited to speak to the community council at its scheduled mee ng
on Wednesday 23rd October 2024.
Community benefit from renewable energy
DCJ reported that Local Energy, Scotland is organising a community
mee ng at Sandison Hall, St Fillans, on Thursday 20th June 2024, to
publicise op ons for opmising community benefits from the
development of wind-farms. He planned to a end the mee ng and
would report back to the community council. Someone from the
BLS Community Trust would also be in a endance.
Planning Ma ers
2024/0084/DET. An applica on for change of use of land for the
si ng of a mobile kiosk selling takeaway food in the public car park
at Lochearnhead had been made. The applicants are residents of
Lochearnhead who previously ran a successful café at the former
watersports centre which was located at the lochside below the
car park. Members regarded the applica on as a posi ve addi on
to local facili es and good for the local economy.
Co-op on of new member to community council
DCJ introduced Maida MacLaren from Balquhidder, who was
interested in being co-opted as a member of the community
council. This was agreed unanimously. RM noted that the process
could only go ahead once WI and MM had accepted the offer of
full membership.
Ma ers from ward councillors and Na onal Park representa ve
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Community Council Minutes – 19th June 2024
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No representa ves were able to a end this mee ng.
14.
a)
Any other competent business
Water Deliveries. CB raised a ma er of concern about Sco sh
Water, which is regularly transpor ng clean water to Balquhidder
to top up water tanks that supply local houses. There is,
apparently, a problem with the size of the tanks but this has been
happening for many years. CB was concerned that, if more houses
are built, the water supply for them will be woefully inadequate. It
was agreed that an enquiry should be sent to Sco sh Water
reques ng an explana on.
Ac on
DCJ to ask
Sco sh Water
for comment on
this situa on.
b)
c)
MacGregors Landing. AP queried whether or not the Loch Lomond
& The Trossachs Na onal Park Authority (LLTNPA) had successfully
served the enforcement no ce for restora on of the land at
"MacGregors Landing". DCJ agreed to write to LLTNPA to find out.
Strathyre. RJW reported that work on the Childrens' Play Park had
now been completed and the result was warmly welcomed by the
community. The process for forming a Community Speed Watch
had been briefed to the community council on 1st May and RJW
stated that he was willing to assist with the process if required.
There was no further business and, at 8:30 p.m., DCJ declared the
mee ng to be closed. The next mee ng is scheduled to take place
at Lochearnhead Village Hall on Wednesday 23rd October, 2024 at
7:30 p.m.
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DCJ to ask
LLTNPA for an
update.
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