Minutes of Meeting of Bridge of Allan Community Council

Held on Tuesday 19th October 2021.

Due to Covid-19 this meeting was held remotely via Zoom.

Present: Mike Watson (MW) Chair; Janie Meikle Bland (JMB) Interim Vice Chair; Leslie Harkness (LH) Secretary;
Alasdair Taylor (AT) Treasurer; Anna Doeser (AD) Communications Officer; Iain McCusker (IMcC) Planning
Officer; Sandra Davidson (SD); Bill Fortune (BF); Alastair Heron (AH); Vicky McDowell (VMcD);

Apologies: Andrew Drummond Baxter (ADB); Duncan McDougall (DMcD) Associate Member; Moira Randall
(MR) Associate Member; Alyn Smith MP; PC Paul Gilliland; PC Dee Chalmers; Lucy McCormick (LM) Minute
Secretary; Councillor Alastair Majury; Graham Russell ( Chair, Friends of Bridge of Allan) Maria Lucey (SC)

In attendance: Councillor Douglas Dodds; Councillor Graham Houston Councillor Alasdair Tollemache;
Councillor Jeremy McDonald; Alexander Stewart(MSP); Douglas Neilson (Vice Chair of Friends of Bridge of
Allan);

Abbreviations – Bridge of Allan (BOA), Community Council (CC), Common Good Fund (CGF), Stirling Council
(SC), Annual General Meeting (AGM), Wallace Monument Stakeholder Advisory Group (WMSAG)

B 1971 Welcome, Apologies and Conflict of Interest (MW)

MW chaired this meeting. MW opened the meeting at 7.30pm and welcomed all those in attendance via
Zoom. Apologies were recorded as noted above and no conflicts of interested identified.

B 1972 Approval of Minutes, Matters Arising and Action Log (MW)

The minutes of the September 2021 CC meeting were approved by BF; seconded by LH
Matters arising

Reference item B1966 and the issues raised with SC by Councillor Tollemache; the council has confirmed that
the speed indicator sign in Henderson Street is now fully operational. In addition, a SC email to Councillor
Tollemache has also suggested that, regarding the matter of the kerbs and footpaths in the Avenue Park area,
improvements and repairs to any areas unadopted by the council would require private flat owners to
contribute to the costs, although Councillor Tollemache has noted that the relevant maps appear to suggest
that all the properties have actually been adopted. A subsequent SC email forwarded by the councillor has in
fact indicated that a request has been sent to Roads Maintenance to investigate the appropriateness of adding
the improvement of the footways and kerbs at the Avenue Park flatted properties to the works schedule; the
same email confirmed that a works package for improving access to the ‘chicken run’ for those Avenue Park
residents with mobility issues would be forthcoming

Classification: Limited

Reference Item B1960 on speeding and road safety, Councillor Dodds wrote to inform the CC he had spent an
afternoon with the police who were carrying out radar checks in the 30mph section of Henderson Street and
that warnings were given to several drivers whose speed was at or above 35 mph. This monitoring will resume
after the COP event.

B 1973 Flood alleviation (Maria Lucey SC)

Maria from SC was invited to discuss this topic but was unable to attend via zoom due to restrictions. Options
were discussed including meeting via a different platform e.g. Microsoft Teams as this is available to SC
personnel or for a sub-group to meet in person; however due to current COVID situation there is little appetite
to meet physically, and Councillor Tollemache offered to push SC for a proper resolution.

B 1974 Community Resilience Group (Cllr Dodds)

Councillor Dodds is looking to establish a community resilience group; several local residents have already
volunteered and they will receive training etc to be first responders should there be an emergency situation
such as a flood. The CC is broadly supportive but with some reservations relating to the previous attempt to
establish such a group – suggestions for avoiding the same issues arising were to ensure more people are
involved, that strong leadership is put in place to provide direction and better engagement with SC and other
community groups. Councillor Dodds is happy to lead and is already in consultation with the flooding group
who have agreed to assist with writing a plan and providing equipment.

B 1975 Park of Kier / Airthrey Kerse appeals (MW)

Park of Keir appeal is progressing at pace with two submissions already made to the Minister from Dunblane
CC and RAGE and another due to be completed by the end of October.

Airthrey Kerse – pre-examination meeting with reporter due to take place on26th Oct, DMcD will lead with
MW attending to support.

B 1976 Christmas Lights (AD)

Full refurbishment of the lights is planned with the expectation that this will provide functional lights for the
next 4-5 years rather than repeating annual patching/spot fixes. The 18 existing sponsors have been
approached to ask if they are willing to sponsor again for £300 with confirmation received from 12 that they
are happy to continue sponsoring, one is unable to support at this amount, one is unsure and the remainder
have not yet responded. The Crowdfunder is expected to cover the remaining costs (approx. £7000) and the
Scouts are designing an ‘I funded the Christmas Lights’ badge. Due to the Crowdfunding model, if the amount
pledged does not reach the required target, then no monies will be transferred and this will mean the
refurbishment can’t proceed.

£1467 has been pledged so far which is 20% with 12 days remaining; advertising in shops / social media with
QR codes to take people to the page has reached reached thousands of people but this doesn’t seem to be
converting to actual pledges. JMB reassured that there tends to be a rush of donations closer to the end date
and suggested that the CC members make use of their own networks to reach the local community. There is
an article planned for inclusion in the Stirling Observer and there is hope that the badge imagery will help
although a plan B may have to be considered at future meetings if the target is not met.

Classification: Limited

It was acknowledged that repair / maintenance implications were not necessarily understood when the CC
purchased the lights and it was agreed that consideration needs to be given to this over the long term,
although there is still goodwill and appetite for festive / decoration activity within the community.

B 1977 Common Good Assets (Cllr’s Houston & Dodds)

In response to the concerns raised at the last meeting (B 1968) Cllr Houston advised that SC has not been
maintaining a list of common good assets and work is now underway to get that up to date which is why
information was issued and SC are asking for input on what should be considered an asset. This has been
confirmed as entirely separate from the management of Common Good Funds and Cllr Houston is confident
that issues such as maintenance costs etc can be effectively managed through the Civic Panel.

B 1978 Format for future meetings (LH)

Opinions were sought on revising the format for CC meetings now that SC has relaxed the mandate for all
meetings to be online. Various options are available; however a ‘hybrid’ solution may be preferrable so that
individuals can meet in person should they choose but also have video conferencing facility to allow for remote
participation as this makes the meetings more accessible. Cllr Dodds advised to contact the Community
Engagement team for support with setting this up. Cllr McDonald indicated that tablets have been made
available for SC staff to be able to attend zoom meetings although some may not yet be aware of the facility
and advised that SC is also exploring options for a hybrid model.

It was agreed that the CC will continue to meet via Zoom and explore options for holding hybrid meetings
when there is more appetite to return to face-to-face.

B 1979 Community Led Tourism & Destination Marketing (JMB)

A meeting was held with representatives from across the community to help consolidate thoughts / develop
the community led tourist approach and agreement has been reached on establishing a Bridge of Allan
Community Interest Company with brand being Visit BOA. This is expected to be formalised by Companies
House in the next few weeks with Board members as follows:

• Chair - Euan Bain - resident and director Cold Town Brewery, and non-executive director Signature
  Pubs, including the Meadowpark

   

• Vice Chair - Douglas Ross - proprietor Allanwater Brewery, founder member of several tourism and
  food and drink networks including Forth Valley Food and Drink Network

   

• Secretary - Janie Meikle Bland - resident, director Picture the Possible incorporating the Stirling
  Photography Festival, Vice Chair Bridge of Allan Community Council

   

• Interim Treasurer - Sarah Cameron - resident and SENSCOT culture and tourism lead, specialist in
  community led tourism

   

• Non-executive Board Member – Bob McGowan – resident & special advisor with background in local
  government, business strategy and consulting

   

  The Steering Group consists of volunteers from a cross-section of the community with a variety of skills and
  expertise and is due to meet on Friday 20th October at the Innovation Park to finalise the Companies House
  application by agreeing the key activities and benefits to the community. There is a commitment to look at all

  Classification: Limited

   

  the social, commercial and environmental opportunities for the area and an acknowledgement that there
  needs to be an appropriate engagement model to ensure that the various community groups have a clear
  understanding and agree the scope of their activities, particularly where there are shared responsibilities.

   

  Next steps are to setup the required bank accounts etc, engage a project manager and develop a Visit Bridge
  of Allan website.

   

  It was agreed that members of the CC and VisitBOA team will meet separately to discuss roles and
  responsibilities and JMB will regularly provide updates via this forum.

   

  B 1980 Tennis Courts (BF)

   

  On 6th Oct BF met with interested parties from local schools, led by Active Scotland, mums on the run, disability
  groups in Stirling the purpose was to put together a durable application for funding. Another meeting
  organised for 3rd Nov to flesh out that application and determine which funding to target and to discuss
  obtaining new quotes due to recent price increases. Kirsty Hughes (Tennis Scotland) has been engaged
  previously and her opinion was the BOA was over-subscribed with Tennis Courts and therefore not a priority
  candidate for funding however this is going to be revisited following some conversations on Twitter between
  Judy Murray, the Tennis Club and Alyn smith MP.

   

  B 1981 Chair’s report (MW)

   

  Remembrance service time is expected to be 2pm on Sunday 14th November however still to be confirmed
  with Stirling Council. The CC members agreed to fund the usual wreath purchase.

   

  MW expressed thanks to Inga and those involved with the presentation to the Minister regarding the Park of
  Kier appeal.

   

  B 1982 Secretary’s report (LH)

   

  Councillor’s Communications

  Cllr Tollemache forwarded a SC email, confirming, in response to his query, that a community engagement
  initiative on the Pollinator Action Plan will be ready to go in mid-Autumn and that amendments to grassland
  maintenance schemes will be phased in over a two-three year period.

   

  Cllr Tollemache also forwarded an email from a resident who reported that a portion of the riverbank has
  become detached after the heavy rainfall. The councillor has raised the issue with SC and he has forwarded a
  SC response confirming that an officer would inspect the site, would determine ownership of the relevant
  riverbank section and would establish if any immediate action were returned.

   

  Cllr Houston, having raised the issue with SC after being contacted by a resident about the height of the new
  speeding signs, forwarded a response from SC indicating that it would consider whether any of the signs could
  be better located to ensure that motorists could see them more readily.

   

  Residents’ Communications

  A resident has complained about the uncut grass, the broken glass and the unrepaired playhouse in the
  Hillview Drive swing park.

   

  A resident who corresponds regularly has suggested that obtaining a formal financial valuation of the tennis

  Classification: Limited

   

  courts could be helpful.

   

  Stirling Council Communications

  SC wrote to inform community councils of the launch of its new Good Food for All Fund with grants of up to

  £10,000 for third sector and community groups to tackle food inequality with applications to be received by
  11 am on November 8th

   

  The Community Council Enquiries Co-ordinator wrote to point out that the CC minutes for the August 2021
  meeting incorrectly stated that the minutes for the previous August meeting had been approved when, in fact,
  the minutes should have stated that the minutes of the previous meeting of June 2021 had been approved.

   

  General Communications

  A copy of the 4th Save Blairforkie Greenspace newsletter was received along with an intimation that
  Allanwater Homes might be seeking to avoid submitting an Environmental Impact Assessment with the
  application.

   

  A copy of the most recent Scottish Rural Action newsletter was received.

   

  B 1983 Treasurer’s report (AT)

   

  Treasurer’s Report (AT)

   

• SC Admin grant received of £654.66.

• Play Park - £2543.27

• SC Admin fund - £430.42

• Unrestricted fund – £2727

• Covid Fund - £1370

• Christ lights - £24
  Balance of £7,398

  B 1984 Resident’s voice

   

  Care home – Councillor Dodds to take forward concern raised by Gavin Drummond in relation to car parking
  spaces in the plans for the Care home.

   

  Resident acknowledged how worthwhile he finds being able to join the CC zoom meetings.

   

  B 1985 Planning (IMc)

   

• CC objection to the Care Home has been submitted.

• Blairforkie Drive – screening opinion request received for environmental impact assessment.

   

  B 1986 Common Good Fund (AT)

   

  Lengthy discussion about the Well House application. It was stressed that the CC is fully appreciative of the
  importance of the restoration of the building. It was agreed that further clarification to be sought on a
  number of issues raised including – the degree to which it is envisaged that the project would meet the
  common good purpose, intended arrangements for providing access to building, arrangements for providing

  Classification: Limited

   

  appropriate story boards to outline historical context, level of financial support requested.

   

  B 1987 AOCB

   

• JMB raised point about speeding and accident on Kenilworth Road and worrying behaviour about
  people speeding on Kenilworth Road and surrounding roads. Will raise awareness of issue on CC
  social pages.

   

• Graham Houston signed posted to useful information on the Stirling Council called Engage Stirling.

   

• CC to obtain from SC the map of gritting bins for the area.

Date of next meeting confirmed to be 16 November 2021 via Zoom.