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Cambuskenneth Community Council
Meeting held on Monday 26 February 2024 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall
Present: Archie McIver (Chair), Elaine Turner (Secretary), Barbara McElhinney (Treasurer), Maggie Ruddy
In attendance: Councillor Susan McGill, 2 residents
Apologies: Graham Barrett
The meeting was chaired by Archie McIver. Minutes were taken by Elaine Turner.
Adoption of minutes from meeting held on 22 January 2024:
Proposed: Elaine
Seconded: Archie
Because Graham was absent and could not propose or second the minutes, we were uncertain if these could be proposed or seconded by Elaine, if she had written them. Action: Elaine will contact Stephen Bly at the Council to check if the minutes can be approved at this meeting or not.
Update: Stephen advised that Elaine can propose the minutes and Archie can second them.
Cambuskenneth Nature & Environment Group (CNEG) Report
This Group meets quarterly. Helen Barratt is the Chair and gave her apologies to the meeting. Archie provided a report in her absence:
Trees
The Group has been working with other organizations such as Treelink, a Charity which promotes tree planting. Other bodies such as Stirling Council and Edinburgh University are involved in tree planting. There are proposals to plant trees around Stirling, to form a woodland crown including trees in Ladysneuk Rd. There are also proposals to create a Forth Climate forest, and for planting on the Ochils (Edinburgh University).
CNEG proposed putting some broadleaf trees down Ladysneuk Rd, to be positioned more than 3 feet from the road and on Cowane’s Trust land. The Cowane’s Trust factor is concerned about responsibility for trees by the road, and is declining to take responsibility for maintenance and liability. This is to be resolved. Councillors who are trustees could influence the outcome.
Biodiversity
Ricoh fields: Helen has held a meeting with Ricoh staff to discuss how to improve biodiversity of their fields, having consulted with experts. Initially Ricoh were enthusiastic, but there has been little response recently and other avenues of communication are being explored.
Bird boxes: Transition Stirling are happy to run a bird box making workshop – CNEG will clarify if Transition Stirling can run and insure the event.
Log piles: CNEG have placed log piles by the river to provide habitat to increase species diversity. Wildlife gardening talk: Speakers, including organic gardeners from Perth will give a talk on wildlife friendly gardening in June in the Hall.
Wildlife spotted: Group members have reported sightings of a kingfisher and an otter.
Next meeting of CNEG: 29/4/24
Treasurer’s Report
There has been little financial activity since the last report.
Total funds: £4009.83 Hall & Park fund: £2073.31 General funds: £1936.52
CNEG Insurance and financial cover for Events
As a subgroup of the Community Council, subgroup finances and insurance are managed through the Community Council account. CNEG request insurance cover and costs to hire the Village Hall and provide refreshments for the Gardening talk and Bird box building event. They planned to ask for donations from attendees to help cover this. As above, it is possible that Transition Stirling may be able to run the Bird Box event. Elaine suggested making a bigger application to Clackmannan & Stirling Environment Trust for their events, as these could be included in the application to the Trust for replacement of the pergola. (See below)
Actions: Elaine to discuss a joint application with Helen to cover the costs of CNEG events
Helen to check with Transition Stirling if they can provide insurance cover for the Bird Box event if they are running it.
CNEG Request for Stirling Council to support Electric Car share Scheme
Archie explained that there is often no local electric vehicle available through the Stirling Council Carshare scheme and asked that the Community Council request better and more local access to cars. Other Council members and members of the public were less aware of the scheme and how it operated, and discussed that it would be helpful to have more information in order to make an informed request. Susan advised that David Hopper may be the appropriate officer as he is the Sustainable Transport Manager.
Action: Elaine to ask for the Officer who oversees the Enterprise Car Club scheme to attend a future meeting
Membership of Community Council
Maggie needs to attend 3 meetings to become a full member of the Community Council, which should be after the March meeting. We can then advertise for a further co-opted member to restore the council to full membership of 6 councillors.
Future funding of Cambuskenneth Village Hall
The Council has now published its proposed budget which will be voted on, on Thursday 28th February. Susan explained that the SNP has produced an alternative budget which will also be debated and voted on. At present, closure of the Hall at the end of its current lease is listed under rejected proposals, so the Hall should be safe until 2025, but could be again targeted in next year’s budget.
Susan explained that different models of management are possible for Community Halls including devolved community management or full ownership. Members of the public and Councillors expressed concern that the current fee structure was reducing the use of the Hall and therefore its financial viability. Susan suggested that we explore more devolved management once the budget has been agreed to give more control over rental fees etc. There was discussion that the Hall lacked a fully accessible toilet and nappy changing facilities, and this should be considered in the future.
Welcome leaflet
Archie had provided feedback that the leaflet should describe the community as within the Community Council area and not just the village of Cambuskenneth to avoid confusion. He also suggested providing information on journey times by car, bike and on foot to show that active travel over the footbridge can be as quick as driving. The leaflet will now be given to recently arrived residents for their feedback.
Action: Elaine will amend and circulate to recent new residents for feedback
Traffic: parking on North St
Elaine had circulated a map with proposed positions of double yellow lines for comment. Those present agreed that the junctions of North St and South St with Ladysneuk Rd gave the most problems, and that yellow lines may improve visibility and safety of pedestrians and cyclists at these
corners. However, councillors and residents present were concerned that there may be difficulties in finding alternative parking places if parking is restricted, and that this should also be discussed.
Action: Elaine will submit a request to the Officer who approves yellow lines and request a site visit to discuss parking more generally if possible.
Pergola
Elaine has identified a suitable source of funding to replace the pergola with new seats and raised beds of bee- friendly plants from previous Community Council minutes - Clackmannan & Stirling Environment Trust.
Action: Elaine will draft a funding application for seats and raised beds and circulate for comment.
Openreach cables over footbridge
Openreach had informed a member of the public that they planned to run a cable over the footbridge on poles to provide another high-speed fibre connection to Cambuskenneth, which we queried, as CityFibre had already provided a cable and ducting. A member of the OpenReach team had replied to Elaine and requested a meeting on the Bridge. He explained that they had been hopeful that they could use the existing duct, but had hit legal problems in coming to an agreement. Elaine has now written to the Council and CityFibre to ask if the existing ducting can be used to avoid the need for unsightly poles and cables in a Conservation Area. A member of the planning Department has written back to say that this is a permitted development, but they will seek more details from Cityfibre and Openreach about the plan.
Drain leak on Ladysneuk Rd
An Officer has replied to advise that the drain has been explored. A brick was found to be blocking it, now cleared, and the problem is resolved.
Gift for Tessa
Action: Elaine will purchase a voucher for Tessa.
Subgroup Reports Social Subgroup
Elaine and Maggie reported that they had held a successful evening of music and poetry on Friday 23rd February, which had been well-attended with positive feedback from performers and the audience. The profits will be donated to Strathcarron Hospice. The subgroup is exploring an event for families – Easter egg decorating in the Hall with an Easter Egg hunt if there is sufficient interest.
Resilience Group
Graham gave his apologies for the meeting – item carried over to the March meeting
Report from Councillor/s
Susan reported that their main concern at present is the planned vote on the budget, as they must pass a balanced budget for the coming year. She contributed to other items during the meeting.
Police Report
The community police had submitted a report of crimes reported from 28/11/23 to 23/2/24, recorded as Cambuskenneth on their recording system. There were no crime reports listed. Five phone calls had been made from the Cambuskenneth area over this time. Elaine had asked specifically about the circumstances of the closure of the footbridge due to a police incident, but this had not been addressed in the email reply.
Action: Elaine will email the community police to ask if they can provide more information about the reason why the footbridge had to be closed for 12 hours, as this inconvenienced many people travelling on foot or bike.
Questions from the Floor
A member of the public asked about the process involved in becoming a community councillor and it was explained that we would seek applications once Maggie had been accepted as a full member.
AOCB
Notice Board: Elaine reported that her husband and son had replaced the old notice board with the new Board purchased with Hall funds.
Planning Applications: There were no applications in the Community Council area. An application has been submitted to develop Debenham’s store into smaller Units which will be of benefit to the local area.
King’s Portrait: An email had been received that Communities could apply for a free portrait of the King following his coronation last year, to display in Community Halls and Centres. Those present did not wish to apply for a portrait, given the uncertainty over the future of the Hall.
Date of next meeting: 7.30pm, Monday 25 March 2024 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.