February 2024 Minutes

Item

Action

PART 1 : WELCOME AND PROCEDURES

Introduction, Apologies and Meeting Procedures

JK welcomed everyone to the February business meeting. Apologies were received from John Watson, David Moore (leave of absence) and Chiara Fingland.

Recording/Conflict of Interest

JK advised that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of the minutes and asked for any conflicts of interest to be declared. He stated that MM would refrain from any discussion around CCDT, unless the discussion was regarding a joint project with them.

Minutes of the previous meeting

Copies of the December minutes were distributed prior to the meeting. A change had been requested by Tim Crone regarding his comments around the Built Heritage Officer. The minutes were proposed by DS, seconded by RM, based on the amendments being made.

Matters arising from the previous minutes

JK summarised the actions that had been agreed at the December meeting.

• The photos of St.K’s taken at the visit were still to be sent to Stirling Council, therefore this action would remain open.
• EW had forwarded the St.K’s report from 2019 to JK. He advised that he would discuss the report with CCC after the meeting had taken place.
• EW had contacted the Assets Department at SC regarding the Primary School, but no response had been received. JK would follow this up.

Photos of St.K’s to be sent to SC.

JK to follow up
correspondence
to Assets Dept.

Special Items

The Big Conversation

OW gave an update on the Rural Community Councils group regarding proposed budget cuts. In December, the rural community councils sent questions/concerns to SC. A reply was received in January, but it was felt that
the responses received weren’t satisfactory and this has been communicated back to SC. OW summarised some of the responses, including the reply regarding possible closure/cuts to libraries and public toilets. It was felt that
SC hadn’t considered the impact specifically on rural communities.
ME stated that he felt disappointed by the quality of the responses, particularly as the aim of The Big Conversation had been to engage with the community and therefore, the community should have expected to get reasonable answers. He said it was important that SC took a holistic view e.g. the potential impact of closure of public toilets on tourism hadn’t been considered. He advised that many similar points had been made by Ward Councillors who had also asked for extra details. MM asked what the reserves
were for and why SC hadn’t considered the impact on tourism.
OW summarised the response she had received from Scottish Libraries on what legal requirements should be provided by library services. She stated that it was unlikely that there would be any further updates from SC before
the budget meeting.
JK stated he would be available to attend the next meeting of the group of Community Councils on 22nd February - MM will send him the link so that he could join online. MM advised that the survey results on The Big Conversation
had now been published on the SC website. The link is:
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/council-and-committees/budget/budgetdocuments/
budget-consultation-results/
RB had been in touch with Susan McRobbie from Killin Community Council regarding the C60 and stated that Susan had heard nothing from SC. RB had spoken to the new manager at the depot. He had a meeting with SC but there was no information available on any routes that may be cut.

Callander Primary School

The CC applied for and gained an extension on the planning application, then agreed to rescind it and seek permission from planning. JK summarised all the correspondence and highlighted the concerns. There had been 121 concerns
raised. JK had highlighted the main ones and sent a list to the planning department. He stated that this wasn’t a comprehensive list and there may be further concerns after the CCC meeting on 19th February.

• Capacity – was it big enough to be future proof?
• Safe access routes
• Pavements
• Footbridge

CCC endorsed comments from:

• Climate Action Callander
• School Group lead by Gordon Kerr
• Leisure Centre

JK asked if there were any other concerns. A member of the public raised concerns about what would happen to the playing fields at the school whilst building work was being carried out. JK advised that this concern had already
been raised by various sources, including school parents’ groups and individuals. The CC had applied to have representatives on the planning committee but hadn’t had a response. A member of the public advised that the work had already started and JK agreed to raise this with the planning committee. ME and RJ were unable to comment as they stated they sat on the NP planning committee. OW asked who the CC should contact to challenge the issue and ME stated that they would need to write to Stephen Bly ‘for the attention of SC Assets Department’ regarding the pitch/open space.

New online booking system for Callander Recycling centre/HWRC drop in session

JK discussed the introduction of an online booking system at both Callander and Polmaise recycling plants and the recent consultation which he had attended. ME advised that he thought it was set up to be a consultation, rather
an information session. ME discussed why this new system was being put in place. Councillors had wanted to amend it to ensure that the system was introduced for commercial vehicles only, as this had been introduced by 15 other Local Authorities across Scotland. The amendment was defeated in a vote and the system would now be brought in for everyone from 1st May. ME stated that the onus would be on staff at the gates to police the system if anyone arrived without a booking. People who hadn’t booked a slot wouldn’t be allowed access. JK asked if the CC could do anything to question the decision and if a letter should be written to SC, even though the decision had already been made. ME felt it would be worthwhile writing a letter to SC, as there may be the option to amend the policy in the future.
JK stated he felt that the system would need to be allowed to run, so that the CC could gather evidence in case the new system didn’t work and present this evidence to SC.

Letter to be sent to Stephen Bly

Letter to be
written to SC
regarding new
online booking
service for
Callander
Recycling

Questions from members of the public

• A member of the public asked how they could object to the proposal for changes to the recycling plant and the new booking system. JK would ensure that their points raised would be included in the letter he would send to SC.
• A member of the public raised concerns about damage to the former Eagle Hotel and issues with debris on the pavement after the recent storm. MM had already sent a letter with photos to SC. SC sent
  someone to inspect the building - the building was then boarded up and was deemed to be safe. MM read out the reply that was sent by SC after the visit to the site. MM & JK agreed to work together to send
  a response challenging the statement that the building was deemed to be safe and asking for information explaining how SC came to this conclusion. It was highlighted by TC that the building warrant had now expired, and this information would be included in the letter.

Local Place Plan

Chiara Fingland was unable to attend the meeting but had submitted a written report. A member of the public stated that the public didn’t have access to this report and therefore JK read it out at the meeting. A member of the public asked if paper copies of this report could be provided at the start of future meetings. OW advised that any relevant reports could be appended to the Minutes in future.

Citizen of the Year (CotY) 2023

By the end of January 2024, no nominations for the COTY award had been received. FB and MM agreed to extend the closing date to the end of February. MM publicised this on Facebook and 2 further nominations had been received.
MM asked those present to send any other nominations to the Callander CC email address, with reasons for the nomination.
There was a request by Community Councillors for draft minutes to be sent out earlier in future and that possibly the initial draft minutes could be sent to all CC rather than just to the secretary. OW advised that the draft minutes sent by the minute taker to her were summarised by her and then sent on to the Secretary, MM, for final comments. JK asked for a copy of both the draft and edited minutes for this meeting to be sent to him to compare the differences.
It was agreed that in future the draft minutes would be sent out at least one week before the meeting.

Any nominations
for COTY 2023 to be send to the CC in box.

Future draft
minutes to be
send one week
prior to next
meeting.

Reports from Office Bearers.

Police
Constable Lorna Deans introduced herself as the Community Officer covering Trossachs and Teith based in Callander working alongside Donald King. She summarised the Police Report from 15th December 2023 to 15th February 2024. She highlighted the following:

• She had been asked by other Community Councils about the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme which had changed the way it operated, with more of an online presence involving all communities. This was particularly helpful for the farming community, as it allowed issues in all areas to be flagged up.
• Constable Deans had emailed MM prior to the meeting about a new initiative - Community Speed Watch. This enabled members of the public to receive training in becoming involved in speed monitoring.
  Constable Deans stated that the community would have to cover the cost of the equipment, which was around £2500. There was a discussion on accessing grants to cover this cost and whether there would be any interest by the community to get involved. Concerns were raised about possible community backlash if people were being stopped by their neighbours. It was agreed that Constable Deans
  would send on more information, and it would be discussed further once this had been received.
• MM stated complaints had been received about vehicles speeding on the western approach to Callander. She had written to SC and Transport Scotland who had asked about automatic traffic counts, which determined the types of vehicles involved This was being done in order to justify the existence of the 20mph speed limit. Transport
  Scotland were doing an assessment of all 30mph speed limits on trunk road and would be coming to Callander. MM advised that it may be worth looking at this to see if there was justification to go forward with
  the Community Speed watch.
• ME asked if it would be possible to have the Police Report at the start of the agenda in future. JK agreed that the Police Report and Questions from Members of the Public would be moved nearer the beginning of
  the agenda in future meetings.

Chair
JK did not submit a written report but gave a verbal report. He stated that “Callander Connect” was now open and that the CC would offer a surgery every second Saturday starting on the first Saturday in March. JK and DS would
be in attendance for the first surgery which would run from 10am to 1pm. MM asked about other days for people who couldn’t make Saturdays. It was agreed that as a trial it would be offered on a Saturday initially. There would be a rota going round for Callander Connect and JK will liaise with Chiara to ensure that the times and dates were blocked out for the CC.

Secretary
MM did not submit a written report but gave a verbal report. She had sent over 150 emails and received 300 emails in December and January on a range of topics. There had been no grants approved from the B of D account but one application for a full grant had been rejected. There had also been several applications for microgrants that were still to be voted on.

Treasurer
JW had sent his apologies. No written report had been submitted.

Roads
DS stated that he and RM had dealt with 175 issues, of which 18 had now been completed. These included complaints about potholes as well as roads through
the town. DS highlighted some of the main points from his report:

• Item 4 - the work was nearly completed, however there was an issue with a section of the road as a cellar has been found under the road which needed to be investigated. The footpath also needed to be
  lowered but there were limited resources available to do the work.
• Item 5 - refurbishment of the SC roads and pavements off Main Road, DS would follow up shortly.
• Item 156 - South Ancaster Square. DS had sent a letter to BEAR. They weren’t prepared to remove the large sign. JK would take a look at the sign and decide what was the best action.
• Item 169 - there had been several complaints about the state of the road 7 miles out of the town. DS had been dealing directly with Ross O’Brien and it would be dealt with. There had been a 30mph speed
  restriction put in place to slow people down. OW stated there were no signs to let people know when the 30mph speed limit ended, so it looked as though the signs had been left by mistake.

Stirling Council
ME had nothing further to add to earlier discussion.

National Park
RJ advised that things had been very quiet over the previous few months so had nothing to report.

Planning
JK had circulated the planning report prior to the meeting. He advised there was nothing contentious included in it, as only minor developments.

Constable Deans to send on more
information
about Community
Speed Watch.

JK to take a look at sign

AOCB

• The CC had been offered, free of charge from Central Government, a framed portrait of King Charles III. JK proposed that CCC accepted the gift and asked if there were any objections. There was a discussion on
  where the portrait would eventually be hung, such as an initial period in a vacant window or the NP window, followed by a permanent place in the Masonic Lodge. Someone suggested hanging the portrait in the
  Chambers Room in the library as this was open to all the public and was used by community groups. It was agreed that as the CCC had 3 months to decide where the picture would be located, a discussion on this should take place once the portrait had been received.
• MM discussed a unique URL for the CC website, to bypass the home page of the “In Callander “website. LG advised that he had a range of domain names that he could transfer over. MM will liaise with LG to choose one and report back. Information had been circulated prior to the meeting about possible costs. MM explained that the email sent prior to the
  meeting, referring to a cost of £104, was for the maintenance of the website, not the unique URL.
• A joint meeting between CCC and CCDT had been proposed for 6th March 2024, after the SC budget setting meeting. A member of the public asked
  if members of the public were invited and if not, why not, as he was a member of the CCDT and felt that he should be able to attend the meeting. There then followed a discussion on whether or not the meeting should remain closed to the public. JK asked for a vote to be taken by the CC eligible to vote and it was agreed that the meeting would be closed to the public on this occasion. RB advised that she would not be attending this meeting.
• A member of the public wanted to express his thanks in the minutes to DS, RM and Stephen Bly, for their prompt response to a problem he had had with fallen trees. DK highlighted the amount of work that DS and
  RM had done on a range of issues. FB commented that the Roads Report was ‘fantastic’.
• LG stated that there was ‘a clock ticking for CCC to come up with a plan for the old Primary School’. JK advised that it was the property of SC. He asked if CCC needed to do anything to influence the future of the building. CF was working on this as Dev. Officer. LG highlighted the possible closure of public toilets and the need to move on getting the toilets opened at St. K’s. ME advised that there would be a forthcoming
  report on City Deal money that had been originally earmarked for a business hub and that the cost of refurbishing St.K’s had increased to the point where it was no longer practical for SC to do it. There followed a discussion on what money was available to renovate the toilets, such as City Deal money or insurance money. No conclusions were reached but JK advised that a small group should be pulled together to decide what could be done. There had been a planned CCC meeting on St.Kessog’s in January which was cancelled due to the weather. JK asked for volunteers to form a subgroup. It was agreed that TC, JK and LG would meet, with LG taking the lead in the group. LG would co-ordinate with JK and TC to
  arrange a meeting.

LG & MM to meet and report back.

LG to co-ordinate
meeting of St.K’s
subgroup

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting would be on Monday, 18th March 2024 at 7.00 pm in CYP, Bridgend, Callander.