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Approved
Cambuskenneth Community Council
Meeting held on Monday 22 January 2024 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall
Present: Archie McIver (Chair), Elaine Turner (Secretary), Graham Barrett
In attendance: Councillor Jim Thomson, 4 residents
Apologies: Barbara McElhinney (Treasurer), Maggie Ruddy
The meeting was chaired by Archie McIver. Minutes were taken by Elaine Turner.
Adoption of minutes from meeting held on 27 November 2023:
Proposed: Archie
Seconded: Graham
Items for AOCB: Community Council Emails received.
Traffic flow in Stirling: Causewayhead Rd.
Report from Cambuskenneth Nature & Environment Subgroup: Postponed till next meeting as meeting of Group has been delayed until 29/1/24.
Forthside Development Plan
The Council is consulting on its Masterplan for the Forthside site until the end of February.
Stirling Council has received:
£5 million land transfer of the Forthside MOD site via the Stirling & Clackmannanshire City Region Deal
£19 million from the Levelling Up fund - £16 million to re-develop the site and £3 million to develop Active Travel links with surrounding local areas.
The uses include business/innovation, commercial and residential developments tied together by new and efficient active travel and vehicle routes. Interest has already been expressed in developing the existing MoD buildings for business use. The land close to the through road is allocated for a residential development, as is the gap site next to the Engine Shed. On discussion, the Community Councillors present and members of the public thought that this was a good use of a brown field site and were supportive of the Masterplan. We thought that it was important that the new housing development should be well-connected to Riverside as it is in an isolated position from other housing. The plans show enhanced green areas with more trees which will improve the environment. It was suggested that a covered glazed area would enable public events and socialising in unreliable Scottish weather.
Active Travel Routes – Manor Powis/Alloa Rd route, possible route from Cambuskenneth to the Peak, and routes in Forthside Development Plan
We discussed with members of the public and Jim the information we had been given by Marco Farnocchi at our meeting in October about progress on the Manor Powis route, that they were looking again at a route south of the railway line to link up with proposed route on the A91 connecting to Forthside. Jim Thomson was not aware of this and members of the public were concerned about increased numbers of pedestrians and cyclists on the road to Broom Farm with increased numbers of dogs and risk to livestock. Archie was concerned that the south side of track route option involves going up onto the A91 to cross the railway. The north side option is safer, more direct and allows a good line of sight.
Marco had reported that consultants – Jacobs - have now been appointed to review possible routes and consult on these. Jim explained that the route from Cambuskenneth to the Peak had been
Approved
present in the original City Deal application but some of the River elements had not met the criteria for the Deal and were unlikely to be pursued in the current economic climate. The routes in the Forthside plan would improve connections across Stirling and on to Clackmannan.
Action: Elaine to contact Marco to see if the Consultants can come to our next meeting to discuss their plans and to put forward our concerns.
Future Funding of Cambuskenneth Village Hall: Following discussion last month re the possible termination of the Stirling Council lease with the Cowane Trust for Cambuskenneth Village Hall, we emailed the factor of the Cowane Trust to start to explore other options. The factor, Lorne Scott, has replied to advise that, at present, the Trust has not been notified formally of this intention and it is therefore premature to begin such discussions. He advised emailing the Council Officer who liaises with the Trust to seek her advice. We have therefore emailed Louise Reid-Thomas and await her response.
We also emailed the Council for information on the annual income and expenditure of the Hall and have received this information for the past 3 years, which can be used in any future consideration of Community management of the Hall. However, the income will be lower than usual due to Covid restrictions over this time period.
Welcome leaflet: The Welcome leaflet has now been updated and the draft will be circulated to Community Council members and new residents for comments and feedback.
Action: Elaine will circulate draft leaflet.
Hall funds: It was discussed at the Social Subgroup that there was a need for a supply of glasses for Village events such as the Quiz Night as not every one brings along their own glasses. Members present approved the purchase of twenty wine glasses and twenty tumblers. The Hall curtains are becoming very tatty but it was agreed to wait until the future of the Hall was more certain before purchasing curtains.
Action: Elaine will buy glasses for the Hall
Traffic and parking in the Village: Elaine had emailed Stephen Bly to forward our interest in improving parking in the Village through the use of double yellow lines at corners. Stephen has advised that we should identify the specific locations on a map and forward to him. Jim Thomson advised that the Traffic Officer, Angela McGibbon, is very helpful in advising on this. Jim also advised that the Council will vote on the adoption of the new pavement parking regulations at their next meeting.
Action: Elaine will mark the proposed corners for double yellow lines on a map and circulate for comment.
Wild flower strip in park: The decision on this had been deferred from previous meetings. We discussed that the current location is causing problems for those living closest to the park, the strip is not being properly maintained and therefore a more acceptable location should be sought. We agreed to ask the Council to cut the wild flower strip along with the rest of the grass and assess if it needs further work to restore it to grass.
Action: Elaine will ask the Council to cut the wild flower strip
Pergola: We discussed that the pergola wood is starting to rot and will look for funding to replace it with raised beds and new benches, as there are a number of funding sources available including Clackmannanshire and Stirling Environment Trust.
Action: Elaine to identify possible funding sources and application forms
Approved
Openreach cables over footbridge: Elaine had contacted Openreach to advise that Cityfibre already had ducting across the bridge and that the footbridge is within the Conservation area, where consideration should be made to minimise the visual impact of any cables or poles. An engineer phoned back to explain that they were keen to use the Cityfibre ducting and were negotiating this. Elaine advised him that the Community Council were happy to write in support of the use of the ducting if that was helpful. Action: Elaine will contact the engineer to ask for an update on the fibre plan.
Drain leak on Ladysneuk Rd: Both Tessa and Elaine have contacted Scottish Water about this persistent leak which has frozen across the road in the recent cold weather. Scottish Water have confirmed that is due to a drain being blocked by roots and debris, and is not their responsibility. Tessa contacted the Council in December and reported to Elaine prior to the meeting that an Officer has now visited the site.
Gifts for Retiring Members: Elaine reported that she has bought Ross a gift of wine and whisky. We agreed to buy Tessa a gift voucher for Dobbies. Action: Elaine will buy Tessa a gift voucher from Dobbies.
Social Subgroup Report: Elaine reported that the Social Subgroup has met to plan the next event, a musical evening on 23rd February and a programme of events for the year. The Group is looking for local performers for the event, and will contact various candidates. Other events include a Local History talk by Murray Cook, the summer BBQ, Autumn quiz night and a chocolate tasting event in October.
Resilience Subgroup: This Group plans to hold a meeting soon, as Graham did not have time to organise one over the Festive Season.
Report from Councillor: Jim had contributed to discussions throughout the meeting, and provided more information on the plans for the Forthside development, as summarised above.
He also reported that a new developer owns the site by the level crossing, Kerr’s Yard, and Waterside Cottage has now been demolished. The new owners are awaiting negotiations with SEPA re flood risk and an update on how the site can be used.
Waste management: Jim asked our views on a plan to introduce a booking system to use the Waste Management site at Fallin to stop people from other Council areas using it, at a cost to Stirling Council residents. We agreed this may be helpful, and perhaps the Council should run a 6 month pilot to assess its effects.
Treasurer’s report: This was postponed until the next meeting as Barbara was absent and there had been little financial activity since the last meeting.
Police report: None has been received, so Elaine has sent the dates of the next three meetings to the Community Officer to request further reports.
AOCB:
Emails on CCC shared Google account: Elaine informed Council members of the content of several emails for information. The first was of a link to training documents on the Stirling Council website for Community Councillors. The second was the Scottish Community Councils Newsletter for Christmas 2023 which contained several items of interest including links to an offer of funding for Community Council Resilience plans, a guide for those considering running a Village Hall and further resources for Community Councils. Action: Elaine will forward the emails to Councillors’ personal email addresses.
Approved
Causewayhead bus stop: Graham and members of the public present were concerned that the design of the first bus stop on the left travelling into town along Causewayhead Rd is causing traffic to back up to the roundabout by Corrieri’s, causing a complete jam up of the roundabout resulting in various dangerous manoeuvres. Jim advised that the Roads Dept. has already been made aware of this and are looking at the best way to improve traffic flow.
Date of next meeting: 7.30pm, Monday 26 February 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.