October 2024 Minutes

Balquhidder, Lochearnhead & Strathyre

Community Council Minutes – 23rd October 2024

This mee ng took place in Balquhidder Village Hall at 7:30 p.m. on 23rd October 2024.

It was chaired by David Johnston.

Present: David Johnston (DCJ), Carolyn Brooks (CB), Ruth McLusky (RM), Andrew

Poulter (AP).

Apologies: Bob Wells (RJW), Webster Inglis (WI), Angus Cameron (AC), Mar n Mackenzie

(MM); PC Heather Campbell (HC), Police Scotland.

Also A!ending: Maida MacLaren (MML), local resident; Cllr Elaine Waterson (EW), S rling

Council (via Zoom); David Fe!es (DF), Loch Lomond & The Trossachs Na onal

Park Authority (LLTNPA); Victor Clements (VC), Balquhidder Deer Management

Group; Paul Hicks (PH), minute-taker.

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  1. Approval of previous minutes

It was proposed by AP and seconded by RM, that the minutes of

the mee ng on 11th September 2024 should be accepted and this

was approved unanimously.

  1. Declara ons of Interest

There were no declara ons of interest by members present.

  1. Police report (11 September to 22 October 2024)

During this period, there were no reports of an -social behaviour

or crime in the area. There were, however, seven incidents rela ng

to road safety. Two collisions occurred: one on the A84 near

Strathyre between a car and a motorcycle and the other in

Balquhidder Glen (near Monachyle Mhor) between two cars.

Neither involved any injuries and no offences were disclosed in

either case. There were three reports of poor driving: a campervan

swerving around on the A84, a vehicle speeding and tailga ng

other vehicles and a vehicle that le# the road and had to be

recovered from an embankment beside the A85. Neither of the

offending vehicles was traced in the first two incidents and no

injuries or damage to street furniture was caused in the third

incident. An injured deer was reported on the A84 beside Loch

Lubnaig and police a!ended but could find no trace of the animal.

On 8th October, police a!ended an incident in which a motorcycle

fell from a trailer and caught fire. Traffic control was established

whilst the Fire Service ex nguished the blaze. In two miscellaneous

incidents, police officers were asked for advice by a family looking

for somewhere to camp and by a foreign na onal (who was

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Community Council Minutes – 23rd October 2024

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camping locally) and was offered advice a#er the loss of a passport

in Oban.

  1. Presenta on from Balquhidder Deer Management Group

Victor Clements from the Balquhidder Deer Management Group

gave a presenta on on the work of the group to explain the

contents of its Deer Management Plan for 2024-2029. Full details

of the group's work can be viewed on its website by any member

of the public. [www.balquhidderdmg.deer-management.co.uk/]

  1. Membership of community council

a)

It had been intended to offer full membership of the community

council to a co-opted member, but this person was not present and

had not a!ended two previous mee ngs. It was agreed that DCJ

should write and ask whether the person concerned s ll wished to

con nue as a full member.

DCJ to write to

the co-opted

member and

seek clarifica on.

b)

MML had a!ended earlier mee ngs of the community council and

had expressed an interest in becoming a member. RM proposed

that, in line with sec on 1(7) of the Scheme of Establishment for

community councils, MML should be co-opted as a member and

this was agreed unanimously.

  1. Ma!ers arising from previous minutes

There were no ma!ers arising from the previous minutes.

  1. Forestry and mber transport

The exis ng opera ons were con nuing but no new works had

been no fied.

  1. Correspondence
  2. a) Premises Improvement Grant. A Premises Improvement Grant is

being funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and

is open to local business and social enterprises, as well as

cons tuted community halls. The aim is to enhance (amongst

other things) community well-being and reduced carbon

emissions. Awards between £2K and £20K are available for capital

funding but contracts must be in place by the end of March 2025

with works completed by September that year. The closing date for

applica ons is 12th November 2024. This was noted but no suitable

applica ons were put forward for considera on.

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  1. b) Car park QR code scams. No fica on had been received from

S rling Council regarding fake no ces with QR codes that have

been placed in some car parks. The code takes people to a website

where they are charged excessive fees for parking. This is

fraudulent. The Council will take ac on if no fied, either via its

website or by telephoning 01786 404040.

  1. c) No ce of public processions. No ce had been given by Rocket

Events Ltd that an ultra-marathon en tled "Glen Ogle 33" would

take place on Saturday 2nd November 2024. During the event,

runners will be passing through Balquhidder Glen (between

Mhor84 and Strathyre Village) from 9 a.m. un l 10:15 a.m. that

day. It was agreed that AP should write to the organiser for further

details so that local residents could be given some advanced

warning.

AP to contact

Rocket Events Ltd

for further

details of the

event.

  1. d) NHS Minor Injuries Unit, S rling. No ce had been given that

a!endance at the NHS Minor Injuries Unit (a part of Forth Valley

Royal Hospital but located in S rling) now needs to be arranged in

advance by contac ng NHS 24 (by telephone or online). Further

details are available on the community council website.

  1. e) Damage to Stronvar Bridge. On 15th October 2024, a report had

been received of further damage to this bridge, probably caused

by a vehicle. DCJ had contacted the Timber Transport Management

Plan coordinator to see if any incident had been reported but, to

date, had received no reply. DCJ had also asked S rling Council to

convene a mee ng about the situa on with the bridge.

  1. f) Shared Rural Network project. The Shared Rural Network (SRN) is

a collabora on between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and

HM Government to improve 4G coverage for people living, working

and travelling in poorly-served, rural areas. It is being managed by

a company called Cornerstone which had given no ce to the

community council that it is proposing to build a thirty-metre high

la&ce tower on the hill above Auchleskine Woods as part of the

project. This will provide mobile communica ons at Immeroine

and Ballimore. A formal applica on for planning permission will be

submi!ed once public consulta ons have been completed.

Members had no formal comments to offer.

  1. g) Police Reports to Community Councils. Police Inspector Andy

Bushell (Rural S rlingshire) is seeking feedback from local

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community councils on how best the police can support them. In

par cular, he would find it helpful to know what councils would

like to see covered in the regular reports from local police officers.

Following discussion, it was suggested that more informa on

would be useful as some reports were very thin.

  1. Water provision in Balquhidder

Due to the lack of official informa on from Sco!sh Water, AP had

carried out some personal research regarding the ongoing need for

regular supplies of water for local houses in Balquhidder. Sco!sh

Water is apparently supplying about 30K litres of water per day.

This equates roughly to the es mated number of houses that are

a!ached to the mains supply system in Balquhidder. This water

was previously supplied by the Kirkton Burn so the conclusion is

that water from the burn is no longer available for some reason.

On visi ng the burn, AP found the path to be overgrown and

flooded, but it was not possible to tell whether or not the system

(to abstract water from the burn for the mains supply) was

opera onal or not. It was agreed to send a further request for

updated informa on on the situa on.

DCJ to write to

Sco!sh Water

seeking further

informa on

regarding the

problem.

  1. Disposal of waste from mobile homes

RM had no fied LLTNPA of a concern raised by a local resident in

August 2024 about the disposal of waste from chemical toilets in

public toilet facili es by the owners of campervans and caravans.

(See item 7B of the minutes of 11th September 2024.) On behalf of

the community council, RM had asked that urgent considera on be

given to pos ng signs at all public toilet facili es in the LLTNPA area

to discourage this prac ce. Nothing had been heard from LLTNPA

and DF offered to chase this up. CB men oned that she had

learned that there are two types of waste disposal systems, one of

which is approved for disposal in normal, domes c toilet facili es.

  1. Road signs in local area

CB reported that the passing place at Craigruie has now got two

passing place signs. There are s ll other passing places without

signs. DF stated that addi onal signs had been produced by LLTNPA

but sent to the wrong depot and enquiries were in hand to trace

them.

  1. Speeding in local areas

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In a recent newsle!er, Police Inspector Andy Bushell (Rural

S rlingshire) had provided details of a scheme called "Community

Speedwatch". Its aim is to carry out overt monitoring of speed

limits at pre-approved sites. This is done by local volunteers

wearing high visibility clothing and using equipment approved by

the Home Office. Details of vehicles travelling above the speed

limit are generated and forward to Police Scotland who send a

wri!en warning to the registered keepers regarding their

adherence to speed limits. Further details regarding the scheme

are available from Police Scotland. Alongside this report, RM

advised members that no ce had been received from S rling

Council of a proposal to reduce part of the exis ng 30mph speed

limit on the A827 in Killin to 20mph. Further informa on can be

obtained by emailing the Council via "traffic@s rling.gov.uk".

  1. Communica ons with S_rling Council

On 21st August 2024, Tony Farrant, Chair of Kilmadock Community

Council, had received a reply from the new Chief Execu ve Officer

(CEO) of S rling Council (Caroline Sinclair) regarding the ques on

of how to improve liaison between the Council and community

councils (especially those in rural areas). The CEO proposed using a

session of the exis ng "Informed Communi es" mee ngs on 26th

September 2024 to bring together all interested representa ves

from community councils for a joint discussion. Members were

able to a!end in person (at Old Viewforth in S rling) or online.

EW added that a common complaint had been made, that it was

not possible to contact individuals with responsibility for individual

departments but everything had to be passed through one officer.

It had been agreed that a be!er method needs to be found. DCJ

commented that complaints are o#en le# unresolved. EW agreed

that this was not acceptable and the ward councillors were wholly

suppor ve of the drive to improve the current arrangements.

  1. Community Benefit funding through SSE Networks

DCJ reminded members of the background to this item, which

concerned the development of a wind farm at Glentarken. (Items 5

and 8A of the minutes of 31st July 2024 refer.) DCJ had

subsequently liaised with the Chair of Killin Community Council

(Andy Aitken) about the crea on of a management group to deal

with the ma!er of community benefits deriving from the project.

The composi on of this group would be all-important. Members

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Community Council Minutes – 23rd October 2024

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agreed that DCJ should go ahead with discussions, involving the

ward councillors and other community councils. VC commented

that in his area (where a similar project was taking place), an equal

number of representa ves from each community council had been

appointed to a similar management group, regardless of the size of

each area.

  1. Planning Ma!ers

There were no relevant new applica ons within the community

council area to consider.

  1. Ma!ers from ward councillors and Na onal Park representa ve
  2. a) EW reported that S rling Council had just launched its annual

consulta on on budgets for the coming year (en tled, "The Big

Conversa on"). It is envisaged that there is likely to be an overall

deficit amoun ng to about £80 million and cuts to services or staff

are likely.

  1. b) The recent survey on lending libraries had now closed and there

had been a good response, but a!endance at libraries had stayed

low ever since numbers dropped dras cally during the restric ons

imposed to limit the impact of the Covid pandemic.

  1. c) DF reported that the temporary Trossachs Bus Service had now

finished. It had been used by over five thousand people, although

most of them had been using travel concessions. Nevertheless, it

had been considered a success overall.

  1. d) DF also provided some sta s cs concerning enforcement of the

camping bye-laws and ini a ves to promote and encourage water

safety, especially in schools.

  1. Any other competent business
  2. a) MacGregor's Landing. AP asked if there had been any recent news

of ac ons taken by any of the organisa ons responsible for the

environmental changes that had been precipitated by this scheme.

Nothing had been heard. There was s ll one plot for sale, but

nothing had taken place in terms of further development on any of

the plots of land involved. DCJ undertook to look over previous

correspondence to see if anything needed to be followed up.

  1. b) DF asked about the proposal for repairs to the damaged bridge on

the Glen Ogle Path at Lochearnhead. LLTNPA has offered to make

the necessary repairs, but does not wish to take any con nuing

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Community Council Minutes – 23rd October 2024

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responsibility for the structure. It was suggested that this should

be referred to Angus Cameron at Lochearnhead for considera on.

There was no further business and, at 9:10 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 4th December, 2024

at 7:30 p.m.

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