Cowie Community Council Meeting Minutes of the Meeting 27th November 2024 Cowie Community Centre 7:15pm
Present:
Clare Stevenson
Maria Cooper
Amanda Jaffray
Sara Ann Forshaw
Steven May
Apologies:
Mags Hughes
Jane Hamill
Councillor Alastair MacPherson
Councillor Brian Hambly
In attendance:
Sharon McGrouther- Stirling Council
Veronica- Health & Safety Officer Stirling Council
Paula Harris- Headteacher Cowie Primary
Meeting opened and attendees were welcomed by the Chair. Minutes from the last
meeting were handed out and read over by attendees.
Adoption of previous meeting minute:
Proposed – Clare Stevenson
Seconded – Maria Cooper
Reports:
Police Report:
No Police were present at the meeting but a Police report was provided.
Priorities in the Cowie village area are youth disorder, drug supply and speeding
throughout the village. The police activities this month have been focused towards these
priorities. Between 25th Sept to 26th Oct crime reports for Cowie showed 9 detected
cases and 12 undetected cases. The total crime reports was 21 and over this period 114
calls were made to Police for the area, relating to a range of issues including Anti-social
behaviour, noisy music, drugs misuse, domestic incidents and road traffic matters.
Councillors Report:
Although Councillor Hambly was to attend Councillor Macpherson also wanted to attend
to give an update on the last meeting regarding the Welfare. Both Councillors had to
send their apologies as they were not able to attend. Councillor MacPherson did
however email over a Councillors report for this evening which is attached to this email
with the minutes.
Chair Report:
There has not been an upto date action plan prepared for this meeting as Mags Hughes
was unable to prepare this and attend meeting. A new action plan will need to be made
and a community walk through will take place to highlight any new or ongoing issues in
the village.
Treasurer Report:
Opening Balance- £560.87
Minute Taking- £55.30
Community Centre hire- £160.00
Closing Balance- £345.57
Matters arising/ Community Business:
Cowie Primary Vandalism:
Paula Harris and Veronica Travers addressed the room regarding the issue of vandalism
taking place at Cowie Primary school. This has been an ongoing issue for years and the
biggest issue is the vandalism to the school roof. Not only does it cost alot of money
from the schools budget but is also very dangerous and someone could get seriously
injured. Last year the school had to spend £3000 of their budget to get the roof repaired
and then this year £4500 was also spent to do repairs again. The vandalism from the
roof is as a result of young people climbing on the railings, jumping over the roof and
chimney then up and over the building to reach the top of the roof. It appears the age
range of the young people taking part in this is S1-S2 and not all involved are from the
village. They are from the surrounding villages as well (Plean, Fallin and Bannockburn).
The primary school does have CCTV footage which is then turned over to the Police and
the high schools where the indivduals attend is informed along with the parents of those
who are identified from the footage. Police are aware extra patrols need to be conducted
but this does not happen and when contacted it takes weeks for a reply from them. A full
walk through is needed as there is also signs of drug use within the shed thats located at
the early years area. Lighters cigarettes and other items have been found here and
every morning the staff have to check this before allowing children to play here.
Regarding the main issue of the climbing on the roof there is not much more the school
can do as there has been signs purchased stating “DO NOT CLIMB” the vandalism does
calm down at this time of year but is expected to increase again as we approach Spring.
Veronica from Stirling Council advised that as a last resort the council would be looking
at putting Anti-climb paint on the roof however if this was to be carried out everyone
would need to be notified that this was on the building. The school would put this out in
newsletters and signage outside the building but as they are not on social media would
be looking at other opertunities to make the community aware. Community Council
advised they would be more than happy to share any information passed onto them on
behalf of the school on their social media pages and that the CRAG would also be on
board with this. There is also now a TV in the library that is used for local adverts and to
share information so it could also be shared on this as well. Kids in the school could
also do posters as a school project to ask people not to climb as well.
Local Place Plans:
Sharon McGrouther there was a meeting to take place 6pm-7:30pm on 2nd December in
the Raploch Campus regarding development plans. This would be communities
opertunities to put forward their ideas and opinions on what any areas of land or old
buildings in their areas could potentially be used for in the councils development plans.
This could be anything from whether the community believes it would benefit more from
new housing, alotments or anything else that theey feel would be in the communities
best interest. This can be submitted to the council and any plans or ideas are welcome
and doesnt need to be a major project. There is a deadline of next September for any
suggestions to be submitted by.
Date, time and venue of next meeting:
Wednesday 29 January 2025 at 7.15pm in Cowie Community Centre