May 2022 Minutes

Drymen Community Council

Minutes Of The Ordinary Meeting Held On Tuesday 03^rd May 2022 Within Drymen Village Hall

At 7.30pm 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), Adrianna Dent (AD) via video call, Walter Hemfrey (WH) and Carole Kerr (CK) (Minutes)

Also Present

Councillor Rob Davis (CRD) representing Stirling Council, Willie Nisbet (WN) representing Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority, Mrs Marina Brennan representing Drymen In Bloom and seven members of the community.

Apologies

Carol Hemfrey (CH), Jemma Allan (JA) and Police Scotland.

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 ME, and seconded by AR.

Matters Arising From The Previous Minutes

None

Police Report

AR read out the police report:

Antisocial Behaviour

· Report of people singing outside a licenced premises in Drymen. Police attended however on their arrival there was no trace of any persons.

· A male was found in possession of cannabis at Drymen Bridge.

· There was a report of a male acting suspiciously in the forest tracks area near to Hoish Farm which frightened a female walking her dog. Female shouted at male who made off. Nothing was said to the female by the male. It is being considered that this could be linked to similar reports which occurred previously in the Aberfoyle area.

Road Safety

· There was a 2 vehicle RTC on A811 at Ballat Crossroads. No injury and details were exchanged.

Theft

· Police observed a van from a local business driving in the early hours of the morning which they found suspicious and therefore decided to stop it and check it out. The vehicle failed to stop and it was followed until it eventually stopped in the Aberfoyle area where the driver was arrested and charged with various offences including theft of motor vehicle. FR informed the meeting that the van in question was actually his pick-up vehicle, which had been stolen by a drunk individual from his premises on Stirling Road, late one night.

· There was a theft of oil from a tank at a house in Milton of Buchanan.

· There have been thefts from an insecure house and an insecure garage in Blanefield so please heed the advice given on protecting your property.

Correspondence

AR informed the meeting of the following correspondence:

· 30th April 2022 – He posted information about the public toilet situation, Balfunning Road and the work of Drymen Community Council onto Facebook. Community feedback focused on the need for public toilets within Drymen. Croftamie Community Council urged their community to support us in addressing the toilet issue.

· 28th April 2022 – We received an email from Phil Jones of Recyke-A-Bike, who are an organisation recycling bikes and promoting cycling within Central Scotland. I suggested that he contact the Trust, as they promote cycling within Drymen.

· 27th April 2022 – We received an email from Kenny Auld of the National Park Authority, inviting us to participate in the bye-laws consultation on the 26th May, via Teams.

· 22nd April 2022 – We received an email from Kay Robertson of Stirling Council, informing us that Buchanan Primary School will be officially closed from the end of this term. Drymen Primary School’s catchment area will now include the former catchment area of Buchanan Primary School.

Chairman’s Report

FR informed the meeting of the following:

· MacTaggart And Mickel will not allow a jubilee bonfire on their land. FR also asked the people in charge of the Drymen football field, if the jubilee bonfire could be held in a corner of their land. They refused. A member of the community suggested holding the jubilee bonfire at the viewpoint. However, it

was agreed that there would not be enough time to contact the owners of the viewpoint and arrange the bonfire.

• A gala day meeting was arranged for the 12^th of April. Only one member of the community turned up. Consequently, there will be no gala day this year. It appears that every organisation is struggling for volunteers and people to help them.

Treasurer’s Report

FR informed the meeting that no update had been received from JA. However, the accounts were still healthy.

Planning Correspondent’s Report

WH informed the meeting of the following:

· Construction of the new nursery school within the grounds of Drymen Primary School, has started.

· The construction of the Hanover houses is well ahead of schedule, with their completion expected to be Autumn 2022.

FR said that MacTaggart And Mickel had given a start date of the end of May for their development. However, it will likely be after May before the development starts.

Roads Correspondent’s Report

No roads update was available.

A general discussion about local roads and bridges commenced, during which the widening of the pavement at The Square was mentioned. AR informed the meeting that Stirling Council would look at the existing road markings and redo and/or adjust their position in the road, in light of the pavement being extended. However, Stirling Council provided no timeline for this work.

CRD informed the meeting that Stirling Council are looking at extending the 20 minute parking time outside the shops on Main Street, to 40 minutes because feedback suggests that 20 minutes is not long enough to visit the shops.

AR said that feedback from the East Loch Lomond Management Group, suggested that the same diversion from Balmaha Road and northeast along Stirling Road, will be used again during busy times this year.

Questions were raised as to whether or not the taxi rank at The Square was required.

Publicity Report

AD updated the meeting on the following:

· In order to raise the profile of the community council and engage more with the local community, a leaflet drop could be undertaken, similar to that undertaken by the National Park Authority. Vistaprint have quoted £34.68 for 1000 leaflets, and the Royal Mail charge £2000 to post leaflets through 8000 doors. It was agreed that the leaflet drop was a good idea. FR said that each community councillor would post leaflets through the doors in their own individual area. AD said that she would bring a draft version of the proposed leaflet to the next community council meeting.

· The Drymen Community Council Instagram account has 66 followers.

Councillor’s Report

CRD updated the meeting on the following:

· At the last meeting of Stirling Council, the war in Ukraine and associated visa delays were discussed.

· The ‘Comfort Partner’ payments have now stopped. The Winnock received a ‘Comfort Partner’ payment of £1000. CRD said that it was vital that public toilets were available on the West Highland Way. FR agreed and added that the owner of the building which was previously the public toilets, is not keen on reinstating the building as public toilets. CRD said that Stirling Council has closed 10 public toilets to save £300k. WN questioned the feasibility of public toilets during the current pandemic. Mr Mackie (member of the community) said that he would fund the toilets for 6 months, if a place could be found to site them.

· A £817k tender for Catter Burn bridge has now been issued by Stirling Council.

· The Branshogle bridge is experiencing further delays due to unexpected issues being found. CRD said that the leader of Stirling Council; Carol Beatie, should visit the area and see how the closure of the bridges are affecting businesses and communities.

Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority Update

WN provided the following update to the meeting:

· No major planning applications being considered by the planners. Covid is still affecting the planning committee’s ability to undertake site visits.

· It’s concerning that the Catter Burn bridge will be closed over this summer, as it forms one of the main routes into the national park.

· The national park elections will be held on the 07^th July. There followed a general discussion about the national park elections and who might stand in those elections.

Any Other Competent Business

Ms Doherty from the Buchanan community, informed the meeting that she was organising a community event for the Buchanan community to celebrate the jubilee. The event will include a hog roast, bonfire and beer, a street party and a meal within the village hall. Ms Doherty extended an invitation to the Drymen community to join