June 2021 Minutes

Drymen Community Council

 

Minutes Of The Ordinary Meeting
Held On Tuesday 01st June 2021
Via Skype Online

Virtual Meeting Platform

 

At 7.36 pm Fraser Robb opened the meeting, welcomed all of the attendees and
thanked them all for participating.

 

Present

 

Fraser Robb (FR), Marie Elder (ME), Andrew Richardson (AR), Jemma Allan (JA),
Walter Hemfrey (WH), Carol Hemfrey (CH), Mike Kane (MK), Adriana Dent (AD) and
Carole Kerr (Minutes)

 

Also Present

 

Councillor Alistair Berrill (CAB) representing Stirling Council, Willie Nesbit
representing Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority, and two
members of the public: Mrs Kate Robb (KR), and Mr Robert Edwards (RE).

 

Apologies

 

None

 

Declarations Of Interest In Any Agenda Item

 

None

 

Approval Of The Minutes Of The Last Meeting

 

The minutes of the previous meeting were proposed by JA, and seconded by ME.

 

Matters Arising From The Previous Minutes

 

None

 

Police Report

 

AR read out the police report:

 

 

 

    • Antisocial Behaviour – There have been no reports of anti-social behaviour
      in the Drymen area since the last meeting.

    • Road Safety – On 6th May a male reported he had struck a vehicle which
      was parked outside the hairdressers in Drymen. He turned his vehicle around.
      However, by that time the parked vehicle was away. There is no registration
      number of the parked vehicle.

      A vehicle parked in Old Gartmore Road appears to have been struck by
      another vehicle, possibly a tractor or HGV. No details of the other vehicle.
      An RTC occurred in Stirling Road, whereby wing mirrors from both vehicles
      were damaged. Both drivers exchanged details.

      Male found to be drunk in charge of a vehicle at The Square, Drymen. Report
      sent to the Procurator Fiscal.

    • Theft – There have been no thefts in the Drymen area since the last meeting.

    • Bogus Workmen - Bogus traders have recently been reported in the
      Aberfoyle area.

    • Sheep Worrying - If a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in
      charge of the dog is guilty of an offence. The Act considers sheep worrying to
      include attacking sheep, chasing them in a way that may cause injury
      suffering, abortion or loss of produce, or being at large (not on a lead or
      otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep.

    • Fraud - Fraudsters can make contact with you by phone. The caller might
      pretend to be from your bank and ask for personal information such as bank
      details or they might be someone offering you a deal or a prize. Other calls
      have been made by persons purporting to be from HMRC stating that there
      was a warrant out for the receiver of the call, and the call receiver was asked
      to contact the number that was given.

       

      Correspondence

       

      AR informed the meeting of the following correspondence:

    • 01st June – Received an email from the Community Development Team at
      Stirling Council, informing us that grants are available to help improve the
      wellbeing of children over the summer holidays.

    • 01st June – Received an email from Dr Susan Warren of Loch Lomond & The
      Trossachs Countryside Trust, providing us with a copy of the report entitled,
      “Harnessing Community Engagement For Visitor Management Planning in
      Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park”, and the response from the
      National Park Authority.

    • 27th May – Received an email from Kay Robertson of Stirling Council, with a
      letter attached to it informing us that Stirling Council are proposing to
      permanently close Buchanan Primary School.

    • 27th May - Received an email from Richard Boddington, inviting us to attend
      at the Development Trust’s AGM on the 21st June 2021.

    • 24th May - Received an email from Alistair MacPherson of the National Park
      Authority, providing us with the terms of reference for the East Loch Lomond
      Visitor Management Group.

    • 19th May – Received an email from Simon Frank of the National Park
      Authority, informing us that tree works have been carried out on trees within
      the Drymen conservation area, without the required notification to the National
      Park Authority. Mr Frank also reminds us that tree preservation orders are in
      place on trees within the Drymen area, and notification must be given to the

       

       

  1. National Park Authority before work is carried out on those trees. Carrying out
    tree works on trees subject to a tree preservation order is an offence.

    • 19th May – Received an email from Mhairi Duncan of the Drymen Community
      Development Trust, offering us the opportunity to have an entry about the
      community council put onto their new Drymen community website. I have
      submitted an entry to Mhairi.

    • 13th May – Received an email from Jakki Sendall, asking if we would like to
      include an article about the community council within the next issue of the
      Drymen Reporter. I have submitted an article to Jakki.

    • 13th May – Received an email from Paul Saunders of the Drymen Community
      Development Trust, containing the latest copy of their newsletter.

    • 10th May – Received an email from Lorna McInnes of Audit Scotland, with the
      link to the Audit Scotland report on Stirling Council.

       

      Chairman’s Report

       

      FR informed the meeting of the following:

    • He asked Drymen Community Development Trust if they could support
      Drymen In Bloom. David Mackie has offered them £200.

    • David Mackie intends to open his shop within the next week or so.

    • Drymen Community Development Trust have secured funding to repair the
      parking spaces within The Square.

    • Doune Pipe Band are looking at dates when they could play at The Square.

       

      Treasurer’s Report

       

      JA informed the meeting of the following:

    • Total in bank: £5184.

    • Marina Brennan has collected her cheque.

    • Drymen Community Development Trust have still to collect their cheque,
      which will be sent to FR for Paul Saunders to collect.

       

      Planning Correspondent’s Report

       

      WH informed the meeting of the following:

    • Planning permission has been submitted for the site above Drymen cemetery
      for 12 units, comprising of 4 houses near Main Street, and 2 blocks of 4
      affordable houses further down the hill. The roads department are still to
      comment on it. The previous application for 10 units was approved with a
      central access. WH recommends that the application should be refused
      because:

      1. The development is within the conservation area.

      2. There will be traffic management issues due to the amount of traffic
        already using that section of Main Street.

       

      RE asked for the planning reference number. WH did not have the reference
      number at hand. However, the application can be found on the National Park
      Authority’s website.

       

       

  2. RE then asked when the development of the primary school, including the
    library, would be completed. It was believed that the development has been
    postponed by a couple of years.

     

    FR then asked the community councillors if they were for or against the
    proposed development on Main Street. It was agreed that WH should write to
    the National Park Authority and object to the development for the
    aforementioned reasons.

     

    Roads Correspondent’s Report

     

    There were no new updates on the local roads network. MK agreed to take up the
    position of roads correspondent.

     

    Publicity Report

     

    There was no publicity report. AD agreed to take up the position of publicity
    correspondent.

     

    Councillor’s Report

     

    Councillor Berril (CAB) informed the meeting of the following:

    • Jane Hutchinson of Kippen, is the new elected councillor.

    • Some of the Stirling Council committees are starting up again.

    • Stirling Council held a meeting to approve the purchase of a new computer
      system.

    • The Stirling Council area is staying in Covid Tier 2.

    • Stirling Council is offering asymptomatic testing. The details are on the council
      website.

    • Carlyn Fraser, Stirling Council’s leader of operations, informed CAB that in the
      council’s opinion, the traffic island/chicane on Main Street is doing its intended
      purpose i.e. slowing down vehicles. There will be a meeting with Carlyn
      Fraser, Drymen Community Development Trust and the Community Council
      within the primary school, tomorrow (02nd June) evening. FR and MK agreed
      to attend at that meeting. CAB added that Carlyn Fraser confirmed that

      £30,000 has been allocated to Drymen for traffic management purposes,
      including the removal of the traffic island/chicane. CAB suggested a site visit
      on a busy day. RE suggested installing a temporary camera to monitor the
      chicane.

       

      Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority Update

       

      WN informed the meeting of the following:

    • The National Park Board are having virtual meetings, with most of the staff
      still working from home. It is hoped that the September board meeting can
      take place in person.

    • The roadworks are still in place on the A811 at Catter, and appear to be a
      long-term feature. CAB was unsure as to when that repair will be completed.

     

     

    • If Drymen Community Council do lodge an objection to the planning

      application on Main Street, we should use the words, ‘formal objection’ in their
      submission to the National Park Authority.

       

      Co-opting Of New Community Councillors

       

      FR thanked Mr Kane and Mrs Dent for volunteering to be co-opted onto the
      community council, and asked for a proposer and seconder to vote both onto the
      community council. Proposer: AR, seconder JA. No objections were raised.

       

      Any Other Competent Business

       

      WH said that had spoken with Marina Brennan, who informed him that a visitor to
      Drymen required a comfort stop. However, the person was refused the use of the
      facilities unless they purchased something. CAB said that he was unaware of the
      arrangements for comfort stops. FR highlighted the need for public toilets.

       

      WN said that the National Park Authority has deployed portaloos, because their
      visitor centre toilets are not Covid compliant. WN then suggested that Drymen had
      no suitable place in which to site portaloos. FR commented on how unpleasant
      portaloos can be.

       

      There followed a discussion on the closure and availability of public toilets.

       

      AD asked if comprehensive lists were available, detailing the contact numbers for all
      Drymen based community groups. She suggested that it would be good to publish
      such a list on Facebook. CH said that the Drymen Community Development Trust
      was creating a website which would list community groups. FR said that he would
      provide AD with Paul Saunders’ contact details. ME said that the problem was
      people’s contact details changing, and perhaps it would be better to wait until
      September in order to see what was happening then. ME agreed that the list was a
      good idea.

       

      WN suggested that CAB provide the email which he received from Carlyn Fraser, in
      relation to the chicane. He suggested that the email might prove to be useful going
      forward. RE said that if the matter is lost, he will raise a freedom of information
      request with Stirling Council.

       

      MK asked if the capacity of the local primary school is taken into consideration when
      planning applications are considered, and could the capacity of the primary school
      be raised as part of the objection? RE said that that was why he asked if the primary
      school development was being delayed, and that MacTaggart And Mickel would be
      required to pay towards the extra classroom at the school.

       

      FR asked CAB to follow-up the payment due from the Dalnair development.

       

      AD asked about issues faced by the community council e.g. communication between
      community groups, the difficulty in receiving feedback from sections of the
      community etc. JA replied that word usually does filter back, and that people usually
      only turn up to community council meetings if there is something controversial being
      discussed.

       

  3. Date Of Next Meeting

     

    7.30 pm on Tuesday 07th September 2021, location will be the Hub at Fraser C Robb
    (to be confirmed in line with Covid restrictions).

     

    On Friday 30th July at 2pm, the British Army band will play in The Square.

     

    At 8.45pm FR thanked everyone for participating in the meeting, thanked Carole Kerr
    for recording the minutes, thanked AR for joining the East Loch Lomond Visitor
    Management Group, and then closed the meeting.