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Cambuskenneth Community Council
Meeting held on Monday 31 July 2023 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall
Present: Ross McGregor (Chair), Tessa Carroll (Vice Chair), Elaine Turner (Secretary), Barbara McElhinney (Treasurer), Graham Barrett, Archie McIver
In attendance: Helen Barrett (Cambuskenneth Nature & Environment Group), 5 residents
Apologies: Councillors
Minutes were taken by Tessa Carroll
Adoption of minutes from meeting held on 27 February 2023:
Proposed: Elaine
Seconded: Barbara
Adoption of minutes from meeting held on 27 March 2023: Adopted with following amendment:
The CC handbook was checked after the meeting: ‘A quorum is one third of the voting members or three voting members, whichever is greater.’ Noted for future reference.
Proposed: Barbara
Seconded: Elaine
Approval of Annual Accounts – the annual accounts for 2022/23 were submitted to Stirling Council on 5 July.
Minute taker – After discussion of whether to appoint an external minute taker, it was agreed that Tessa would generally continue to take the minutes with some rotation among other members if appropriate/needed.
Matters arising
Community Council elections and inaugural meeting: After the June elections, the inaugural meeting of the CC was held in the village hall on 26 June, chaired by Ferne Milne, Community Development Officer, Stirling Council. The successful candidates are Graham Barrett, Tessa Carroll, Barbara McElhinney, Ross McGregor, Archie McIver, Elaine Turner. Office bearer roles were elected
as follows: Chair - Ross McGregor, Secretary - Elaine Turner, Treasurer - Barbara McElhinney, Vice Chair - Tessa Carroll, Planning - Archie McIver.
Welcome leaflet: Elaine will ask Linda to pass this on to the Community Council for printing and circulation.
Hall and Park Funds: Two gazebos (£545) and a new noticeboard (£278.40) have been purchased. Just over £2,000 remains in the Hall & Park funds.
Pergola: Helen wished to make it clear that the CNEG is not taking responsibility for redevelopment of the pergola area. The group had provided information on possible grant funding sources to the CC, but it is for the CC to take that forward if it wishes. A resident suggested seeking sponsorship and
practical help from local businesses. Graham will investigate these possibilities.
Cycling Route/Manor Powis/Speed limit: Councillor Jim Thomson emailed on 28 June to report that local Network Rail personnel are very positive about using the bridge route for the cycle route and he will be having further discussions with the council’s Team Leader for Sustainable Transport to
progress this. Elaine will send our meeting dates to Stirling Council and ask the new Sustrans officer based there to attend one our meetings to update us.
Archie reminded the group that he had drafted a letter to the Scottish Minister for Active Travel about the long delays in establishing this new route and that Elaine was going to draft an additional paragraph about how busy and dangerous this piece of road is to circulate to other members. Elaine
will do this.
Wild flower strip in the park: Two residents reported that seeds from the wild flower strip in the park had spread into their garden, causing problems. Ross explained that the area had unfortunately not been managed by SC as originally planned and expected. The arrangement was that SC would cut
the strip with the last grass cutting of the year, but this had only happened once; since then volunteers from the village had cut back and cleared the strip in spring but this had not been possible this year. Ross now has a brush cutter and will cut the strip in the next couple of weeks to minimise seeds setting and spreading. We will also seek feedback about the area from residents
more widely.
There followed a wider and lengthy discussion about the park, including dog fouling, dogs not kept under control, cut grass not being lifted, damaged swings. Three CC members went to check the signs at the park entrance; the detailed sign states that ‘No person may: a. Allow a dog or any other animal in their care to alarm, harm or disturb any other park user. Dogs and other animals must therefore be kept under proper close control or on a lead.’ Update: Stirling Council has been carrying out a consultation clarifying its Park Management rules on keeping dogs in play parks under control:
https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/park-management-rules-consultation-1
Tessa will contact SC to ask why the grass isn’t lifted in this park as in other parks and to report the damaged swings.
SUBGROUP REPORTS
Cambuskenneth Nature and Environment Group (CNEG) Report
Helen reported on the CNEG meeting of 5 June and developments since then. She has submitted a report to SC about the tubs and park planters, now completed, which were funded by SC’s Community Pride Fund; many thanks to all involved. The group may ask the CC to fund a few additional plants in future years.
The group had planted 50 trees on the riverbank beyond the septic tank in March and a rowan in Ferry Orchard. It is hoped to plant some trees along the East side of Ladysneuk Rd in the winter, working with Treelink Stirling.
Members of the group had had meetings with Ricoh, a Freshwater restoration lecturer from Stirling University, and the landowner of Broom Farm to discuss ideas to enhance the biodiversity of Ricoh’s land. These include: planting trees and digging ponds in the field by the factory; planting hedges by the field opposite the factory, as far as East Neuk, and between Ricoh’s field and Broom Farm; planting native shrubs in the triangle area by Ladysneuk Rd; planting a wildflower meadow in one of the fields. All ideas to be proposed to Ricoh and various funding/grant possibilities to be investigated.
Riverside Naturally and others involved in similar projects have been invited to a CNEG open meeting - 2.30pm Sunday 20 August, village hall – all welcome.
Archie reported that Riverside has been exploring the possibility of a pool car but does not currently have enough people interested; sharing with Cambuskenneth might make this a more viable proposition.
Social Group Report: The annual BBQ will take place at the village hall from 2pm on Saturday 19 August and tickets are being sold. The group will hold another meeting on 1 August about the BBQ and to plan a quiz for the autumn.
Elaine is still pursuing the refund from Ask Calendars, but costs were covered with the half of the order that did arrive. There will not be a calendar this year, with the group focusing on fundraising events instead.
Sustrans Art: no update
Resilience Group: Graham agreed to be the new CC representative for this sub-group.
Environment & access: Residents had noticed that parts of the verge, particularly brambles, on Ladysneuk Rd had been cut right back, including part of the wild flower strip around the village sign.
Ross suggested it might have been carried out by SPEN to ensure access to the power line. Tessa will contact them to check.
Mention of brambles led to discussion of them obstructing the footpath from the park through Hood Farm to the abbey. Some of those present reported having been scratched by overhanging brambles at the gate there and that access to the abbey with a buggy was very difficult there and very difficult/almost impossible over the cattle grid for prams/buggies/wheelchairs. The footpath from Ladysneuk Rd to Broom Farm cottages is also currently impassable in places and the finger post is down. Ross will contact the SC access officer to ask about core paths management and any maintenance agreements in our area to support safe and responsible access.
Advance Notice of 10K race on 10th September: Central Athletics Club plans to hold the Stirling 10K race on Sunday 10 September, following the same route as in previous years. They plan to put up clearly visible signs on the footbridge and Ladysneuk Rd in the week leading up to the race to inform
everyone coming in and out of Cambuskenneth in advance.
Traffic: Parking on North St and speeding in village: Residents raised again the issues of parking on North St and speeding in the village, particularly (but not only) by delivery vans, both likely to cause accidents. Ross will contact the community police about these issues. He encouraged residents to take registration numbers of speeding vehicles and report them to the police. Once again, the CC asks people to park considerately to avoid blocking the pavement or road and to observe the speed limits. Tessa will ask SC about the possibility of getting a ‘children playing’ sign at the entrance to the
village.
Treasurer’s Report: Balance of £3,386.17, of which just over £2,000 is Hall & Park funds. Some recently acquired assets could not be included in the annual insurance arranged by Stirling Council, and it was agreed to wait to include these assets next year rather than trying to insure them ourselves.
Report from Councillors: No councillors were able to attend.
Police Report: No reports at present
AOCB:
Orchards: The group had held a couple more maintenance sessions in Tower Orchard and a pruning session on the apple trees at the park entrance.
Riverside Community Council: Archie reported that Riverside Community Council would be holding a Volunteer Action Day in the Old Harbour Woods, Saturday Aug 5th, 10.30-1.30pm.
Newsletter: We plan to produce another newsletter soon now we are back to the full number of members for the first time since December and up and running again after the gap for CC elections.
Date of next meeting: 7.30pm, Monday 25 September 2023 in the village hall
Stirling Council: 01786 404040, Police non-emergency 101, NHS 24 111
Scottish Power emergency: 105, Scottish Gas emergency: 0800 111999
Reminder: Minutes are available via the CC website and Facebook page. If you would like them emailed privately or paper copies, please let us know via email at cambuskennethcc@gmail.com or by contacting any CC member.