May 2024 Minutes

Item

Action

PART 1: WELCOME AND PROCEDURES

Introduction, Apologies and Meeting Procedures

JK welcome everyone to the May business meeting. Apologies were received from John Watson.  

Recording/Conflict of Interest

JK advised that the meeting was being recorded for the purposes of minutes taking and asked if there were likely to be any conflicts of interest. None were declared.   

Minutes of the previous meeting

Copies of the April minutes were circulated prior to the meeting and RJ requested some amendments to the information he had given under AOB. The minutes were proposed by DS and seconded by DM, based on the changes being made. 

Matters Arising from the previous minutes

RJ had submitted a written response from the NP with regard to the safety concerns raised around Bracklinn Falls. JK read out the response, for the benefit of members of the public who were present. The response stated that the NP Chief Ranger had carried out a professional risk assessment at the site. There was a visitor risk assessment already in place for the Bracklinn Falls bridge. It was felt that the hazards were obvious and therefore a level of personal responsibility would be required by visitors to avoid any accidents. It was identified that there was the need for further signage at the start of the path and the NP would investigate designing and installing this signage. RJ passed on correspondence to RB to be given to the member of the public who had raised the concerns. There was a discussion about the possibility of

erecting a barrier, but it was agreed that the CC would not be taking any further action at present.  

Report from Police 

There was no representative present from Police Scotland, therefore JK read out the submitted report. There were concerns raised by some councillors about Police Scotland using public charging points at Station Road car park to charge their electric vehicles.  JK and MM will raise this with Police Scotland. 

MM/JK to raise

with Police

Scotland

5.  Special Items

Letter of resignation from Tim Crone

JK read out the letter of resignation that had been received from Tim Crone

(TC ) on 17^th May 2024. TC had resigned from his position as an Associate Member of the community council with immediate effect. Some members of the CC did not receive the letter prior to the meeting as there were issues with the Google group email, so MM stated that she would recirculate the correspondence. LG proposed that this matter should be added as an agenda item for the next meeting, and this was seconded by OW.  

6.  Questions from Members of the public

There were no questions from the public 

MM to circulate resignation letter. To be added as an agenda item for next meeting. 

7. Local Place Plan

CF gave an update on the LPP and Callander Connect:

•      A report had been circulated from Callander Connect and CF was happy to take any follow up questions. There were now extended opening times with Freddy Bowen-Bate, CCDT Operations Manager, being in post. It would now be open Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the CC surgeries taking place every second Saturday, as well as other organisations using the facility on an ad hoc basis. If anyone was interested in volunteering their time, they were asked to contact Freddy. 

•      Information panels were on display with information about the Design Callander Learning Campaign. This would allow ongoing dialogue and well as access to the information for people who had no access to the internet.

•      The meetings space had been used by the LPP project team, SC employability, Forth Environmental Link Climate Hub as well as the Operatic Society and the Horticultural Society. 

•      An online tracker was now in place where any issues raised would be recorded and would be assigned to the appropriate organisation for action. 

•      Cycle Share Fund, a proposal document had been sent to SC and CF awaited a response. CF had been in touch with David Hopper to try and gets things moving. There were plans to have a launch on 15^th June during “Green Week”. 

•      LPP focus group had 4 main priorities that were identified – the pedestrian bridge, safe walking routes to the primary school, regeneration of the Main Street and the Meadows Master Plan. Any

updates would be displayed in Callander Connect and if anyone was interested in joining any of the subgroups, they were to let CF know. 

 There was a funding drop-in event planned for June to meet the July deadline for the Hydro fund. There would be various case studies, highlighting projects that had been funded in the past, to inspire other people to apply. 

8. Reports from Office bearers

JK discussed the planning report and advised that there were low levels of activity. There were 4 entries since the last meeting and 2 had been withdrawn. There were questions raised about the work in CYP and if the proposed testing had taken place. MM advised that they were awarded a B of D grant and therefore would send a final report once any work had been completed. MM would chase this up if it was not received. JK would also ask CYP for a follow up. 

St Kessog’s 

LG gave an update on St Kessog’s. There was a recent meeting of the subgroup, and the Facebook page now had 80 members. LG had identified various grants that he was researching. LG also hoped to get answers to several questions from SC, including:

•      what were their plans for the sale of St Kessog’s?

•      what would the rates be?

•      could CCC have access to the report for the cost of repairs?

•      what would be the cost to the local community to take over the building?

LG proposed that a letter be sent to SC seeking clarification on these points. LG would draft a letter for MM to send to SC. 

There was a question raised by a member of the public about what CCC’s intentions were for St. Kessog’s and if the community planned to take on the building. LG clarified that CCC could not own the building but it would like to have an input on its future. LG gave a short summary on why he was passionate about the future of St. Kessog’s.  JK stated that CCC would not commit the local community to something that was not financially viable.

RJ advised that he has been involved in the future of St. Kessog’s for many years and referred to the business plans that had been previously drawn up which indicated that there had been no desire in the community to own the building at that time. RJ stated that when the business plans had been drawn up, the other option which had been considered was to lease the building, but this may no longer be a viable option. He advised that CCC should look at the work that had been previously carried out.  EW highlighted that the Development Trust had paid for a report and suggested that this was also considered.  

Roads’ report 

DS and RM gave an update. There had been 205 items dealt with over the previous year, 158 items had been finalised with 47 ongoing. Only 5 new items

MM & JK to ask for an update

from CYP

LG to draft a letter to be sent via MM to SC. 

had been noted over the month, due to moving into a new financial year. DS summarised the main points of the report:

•      A84 - the work had now been completed by BEAR, with the work on the pavements due to be started. DS stated that usually any work would not be carried out during the tourist season but felt it was important that the work was planned, so that it could start in October. DS asked if everyone was in agreement with this – there were no objections. 

•      There were problems at Tom Na Chisaig, as ownership was unclear therefore unable to deal with the problems. MM had written to Mike Aldridge of the Drummond Estate (also with connections to Ancaster Estate) but had not received a reply. 

•      Regarding the pathway down the side of the Roman Camp Hotel - DS visited Mr Brown (owner of roman Camp) who advised that his gardener would now look after it. 

•      There were issues with ambulances and other vehicles accessing Ancaster Road, due to vehicles parking at the bend in the road. DS would contact SC and ask the engineer to assess what needed to be done to resolve this issue. 

Stirling Council

EW provided an update for SC.  

•      Budget setting meetings were already taking place for the following year. There were likely to be further cuts and the plan was for the budget review group to meet every 2 weeks with an aim to identify where cuts could be made by October 2024. 

•      The current Chief Executive of SC, Carol Beattie was due to leave her post on 23^rd May 2024 and a new Chief Executive had been appointed.   EW had been busy with Provost duties. She was involved in the “Walking of the Marches” to mark out the city boundaries as part of the Stirling 900 celebrations. There were several events still to come, including the Church of the Holyrood laser show and the summer sessions in the event park. 

•      EW had been invited to address the mosque on Friday 24^th May 2024. She would be the first female Provost to be asked to do this, along with the Lord Lieutenant. 

•      EW would be visiting secondary schools in Stirling as part of the 900 celebration and hoped to visit all primary schools in September and October to give a history of Stirling as Royal burgh. 

RJ proposed that CCC sent a letter to Carol Beattie, expressing its thanks for the support that she had given to Callander and CCC over the years. 

National Park

•      Still developing the LPP so a lot of consultation going on with the Board of the NP.

•      There would be a consultation with all the communities and RJ advised that an email would be sent out with more information to all CCs. MM would send to this to all CCs once it had been received. 

DS to contact SC

MM to send a letter of thanks to

Carol Beattie

MM to circulate email from NP  

once received 

Licensing team sub-group

DK, FK and RB gave an update:

There had been 3 applications made: 

•      Abbotsford Hotel - no objections from the sub-group

•      Venachar Lochside - change of name as well as a request for an extension to the hours and to be able to accommodate 10 more people. Sub-group thought this should be acceptable, subject to fire regulations.

•      Beer Garden at the Dreadnought Hotel - no plans had been provided with the application. DK summarised the plans. There followed a discussion on possible restriction and licensing laws, as well as potential issues with wheelchair access. DK summarised his understanding of the by-laws pertaining to a “Street café”. OW asked if residents had been consulted regarding any of the licensing requests and advised that the role of the CC was to express the views of the community and not to ‘police’ the applications. The subgroup would meet with MM to make a list of concerns about this application. 

•      MM would inquire about any upcoming dates for up-to-date training for the licensing sub-group members.

•      MM suggested holding a session at Callander Connect to obtain community views. 

Feedback from surgeries at Callander Connect

OW and RW attended the surgery on 4^th May when 3 people visited. The issues raised were:

•      A woman raised the problems of rural transport for her elderly mother with dementia and how difficult it was for her to access transport. OW felt that it would be useful to have a one-page summary that could be distributed to the community on what was available at present and how it could be accessed. OW/RB to take this forward. 

•      The damage to the wall in the Friendship Garden had now been repaired. There was a discussion about reporting issues to SC and getting feedback once the work had been completed. OW wrote to SC asking if there was an option to give feedback to individuals who had reported faults, but SC advised that they did not have the resources to do this. 

JK advised that in some of the sessions:

•      Issues with access to a driveway on Ancaster Road had been raised

•      People were keen to get involved with St Kessog’s, once things started to happen

•      Access issues opposite the Co-op had been discussed

Secretary

MM gave an update:

 Joint project between CCDT and CCC subgroup, looking at the regeneration of Main Street. MM (CCC) would be working with Mark Griffiths (CCDT) and Mark Nicols (Owner Ancaster Square Café) to carry

DK, FB, RB and

MM to meet 

OW/RB to summarise transport options currently available for older

people

out a survey of the businesses on Main Street to identify what was most needed by shop owners/keepers to improve the external appearance of their property.  Grants to improve shop fronts would be sought by Mark Griffiths and MM would prepare the applications. This was a rolling project to improve the look of Main Street, with shop front painting, new signage etc. Existing street signage and street furniture also needed cleaning. 

•      150 emails had been received with 90 responses sent. 

•      MM was reviewing the accounts to ensure she was able to hand over a clean bank account to the new treasurer.

•      The King Charles portrait had arrived.  MM has spoken to the librarian Fiona, about displaying this in Burgh Chambers above the library as it is a public space.

•      The traffic speed strips from Main Street had been collected and MM had contacted Transport Scotland for feedback. 

•      SC would no longer manage the flower beds in Callander due to budget cuts. Greener Callander already looked after the majority of flower beds but did not have enough volunteers to take on anymore. If anyone was interested in supporting with this, Lesley Hawkins, MM and Scott Mason of SC planned to look at all the flower beds to see what needed to be handed over to Greener Callander or other groups. 

•      FLS had issued a long-term plan for Callander woods. MM has reviewed the responses from Climate Action and Greener Callander and sent a composite response. A letter was received back to say that FLS was happy to send a representative to speak about the 10-year plan at a future CC meeting. 

•      The fire station was having an Open Day on 30th May. between 6 and 8pm. RB and DS would be attending.

•      There had been 2 applications for BoD microgrants that had been agreed by CCC.  McLaren High PTA had requested funding for hall hire. Callander and District Horticultural Society had requested funding to provide a bus to transport local people to the Annual Show which was being held just outside Callander. There was one major application still out for comments.

•      There was a substantial amount of money in BoD account including

£50,00 for a one-off capital project for the benefit of the town.  The Funding Open Evening would seek community views on ways to use the remaining funds.  

JK would circulate a timetable for community councillors to give their availability to attend further ‘surgery’ sessions being held twice monthly in Callander Connect. 

JK to circulate timetable for cover for Callander

Connect surgeries 

AOCB

 Trossachs Search and Rescue had received the King’s Award for Voluntary Excellence. This award was rarely given, and they had to undergo a detailed audit of the work they did as part of the process.

MM to send a letter of congratulations. 

MM to send a

letter of congratulations

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting would be on Monday, 17^th June 2024 at 7.00 pm in CYP, Bridgend, Callander.