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Drymen Community Council
Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting
Tuesday 5th September 2023
Drymen Village Hall
Present: Fraser Robb (FR), Rebekah Stewart (RS), David Mackie (DM), Simon
Reid (SR), Maja McTavish (MM), Louise McFarlane (LM), Jacqueline Sendall (JS), Rhona Carmichael (RC)
Apologies: none
At 7pm, Community Council Chair David Mackie opened the meeting by
introducing the members and noted that Rowan would be minuting the
discussion and making an audio recording. David asked if anyone present had
an issue with the meeting being recorded – there were no objections. David
then began by thanking Fraser Robb for everything he has previously done, and continues to do, for the community.
Code of Conduct
Drymen Community Council Code of Conduct is briefly displayed and
discussed, with attendees in agreement to adhere to this.
The Drymen For All Facebook page has recently had posts that have reached
over 40,000 people however some of the debate had been heated, DM was
concerned that as these comments are public they may not represent the best
image of Drymen. DM asked for a show of hands to delete the record of posts
and comments regarding the Road Safety Trial. The room was divided,
therefore the posts and comments are to remain on the page.
Register of Interests
Members of DCC are keeping a register of interests, in order to remain
transparent and avoid any conflicts of interest.
SR begins by listing his involvement in groups and organisations in the village.
DM then lists his. DM noted his involvement with the Loch Lomond and
Trossachs National Park planning committee. DM is hopeful that Dawn Connor
will join them soon, and therefore should any potential conflicts of interest
occur with David and planning issues in the village then he would recuse
himself from the proceedings and rely on the other DCC members Rebekah and Dawn.
The register of interests will be continually monitored and updated as needed.
Previous Minutes:
SR noted there were draft minutes of the June 2022 meeting obtained from
Stirling Council but there was no subsequent meeting to approve these. DM
noted that they wouldn’t be approving those minutes and this meeting would
be a fresh start.
A question was raised about minutes of the DCC inaugural meeting. SR and DM clarified that this meeting was purely a Stirling council meeting whereby
members where allocated positions. No minutes were required by Stirling
Council and none were approved.
➢ Councillor Paul Henke (CPH) entered ten minutes into the meeting.
Stirling Councils “Big Conversation” (/Council Services):
RS noted that Stirling Council are seeing a £13m shortfall in budget this year.
Stirling council visited Drymen Library to engage with the community to discuss where cuts could be made to council services. This can be done by contacting the Community Council or contacting the Stirling Council directly. If anyone feels strongly about services they want to keep, please contact Rebekah as she will be the point of contact on this matter.
David raised concerns he had received regarding the large recycling bins on
Stirling Road. Generally, the feeling is that they are overflowing and not
regularly emptied – the visual impact for visitors and regular car park users is
unpleasant.
Police matters:
DCC have not got an update from the police. DCC will speak to police officers
between now and the next meeting.
DM said he would love to see the police attend each meeting so will be
working on it.
Planning:
There have been no planning applications, but there has been a change of
house numbers on the Mctaggart and Mickel development to 88-85. This
planning permission runs out in November, so this means they have to make a
meaningful start in the next couple of months
Roads and General Maintenance:
There were a few emails received regarding the lack of road markings near the village. DM has contacted Stirling Council about this.
There were also concerns about hedges encroaching on pavements. Several
residents had examples of hedges that need taken care of. A list will be made of what hedges need cut, however it was addressed that a lot of these are
privately owned. If those homeowners are unable to look after their hedges
the Community Council will look into this.
It was noted that one hedge DCC are aware of that is council owned and needs cut is by the football field.
The condition of Old Balmaha Road was also mentioned as something to be
looked into, particularly due to a number of elderly residents.
Councillors report:
CPH told the meeting that the only correspondence he had received was
regarding buses and the DRT. Particularly residents who are unable to be
picked up by the DRT as they are outwith the boundary.
CPH wrote to Stirling Council regarding the boundary that runs through
Drymen, and asked if the boundary could be extended to cover all of Drymen.
Stirling Council replied that people outwith the designated area would be
expected to make their own way to within the boundary, but they are looking
to review this.
CPH addressed concerns from residents about the lack of DRT service for
children at the weekend and will pass this on to Stirling Council.
CPH reiterated to contact him with queries that he can pass on to the council.
It was then discussed that DCC could approach the Development Trust to raise
funds for a community bus – this would possibly run from Drymen to Balfron,
and would be run by volunteers. It was noted that this might also be something to look at collaborating with other villages. However, DCC will first contact McGills to see if they are able to provide a service.
There were concerns raised for those who have to travel regularly or Larbert
for hospital appointments which is impossible by public transport. DCC will
contact Forth Valley Royal Hospital who will be able to give contact details for
the Patient Transport Service. This will allow DCC to arrange for them to come
along to one of the Community Council meetings.
Treasurers report.
DM noted that MM has just started as treasurer, but so far there have been no
transactions.
As of 28th July 2023 there was £2306.60 in the Community Council account.
DCC noted they would like to have a Gala Day next year.
Matters arising:
Concerns were raised over the chicane opposite the Buchanan Arms Hotel. DCC contacted the person in charge of the chicane whose response was that the chicane is doing its job and there are currently no funds to remove it.
Residents disagreed with this statement as cars do not seem to be slowing
down or observing the speed limit and a show of hands was in favour of
removal of the chicane.
DCC will write again to discuss this further.
The lack of public toilets in the village was raised. The comfort break
partnership with the Winnock came to an end 5 years ago, however in the
meantime the Winnock have been considerately allowing people to continue to
use their facilities without being customers.
The DCDT have had some success on the progress towards new public toilets in the village; Richard Boddington representing the DCDT updated the meeting, noting that it is top priority in terms of visitor management in the National Park. However, DCDT confirmed that Drymen (DCDT) will need to build the toilets and maintain them.
A feasibility study for the public toilets will begin in the next couple of months
with the Stirling Road car park looking the most likely place. The National Park
will be a sponsor and supporter of the toilets. In the meantime, DCDT are
speaking to Stirling Council to provide temporary toilets for next summer.
DCDT’s request to DCC to facilitate Road Safety Trial Questionnaire:
DM noted that the DCDT have asked if DCC will carry out a Road Safety Trial
Questionnaire. A show of hands showed the room was happy for DCC to carry
out the survey.
DM suggested the questionnaire will be handed out door to door – DM
suggested that the DCC will be looking for volunteers to help with this. There
will be a mix of open and closed questions in the questionnaire as promised.
DCC will prepare questions and consult the community on the writing of the
questions with a mix of online engagement and in-person drop-in sessions.
It is likely that it will be 2 surveys that will be given out per property or going by the electoral role. This is still to be confirmed.
It was requested by an attending resident that the planters be moved back to
make the road wider for HGVs, DCC will take this to DCDT.
It was asked if it was achievable to carry out the survey by the November DCC
meeting – DM said that could be possible.
DCC will take suggestions for questions to be included in the survey from the
community.
Some residents raised concerns over the design of the road trial and also how
parking tickets had been given out, however DM noted that the purpose of this
meeting was not to debate these issues, rather it was just to say that the DCC
will be facilitating the questionnaire. DM did say that he had already and would continue to communicate these concerns to the DCDT.
Correspondence:
DCC received a letter asking if DCDT would be more transparent with their
applications for funding.
In response, DM lists what has been granted to/spent by DCDT in the past few
years.
Connecting communities path study - £9,000 (Forth Valley and Lomond
Community Local Development)
Owning/operating Drymen.org - £4,800 (National Lottery)
E-bike Pilot Scheme - £9,400 (Cycling Scotland)
Bus shelter- £29,000 (National Park)
Installation of bike racks - £1,500
Repairs to parking area at butchers – £16,931 (Nature Scotland)
Toilet feasibility - £10,000
People should be aware that DCDT applies for a large number of grants, most
of which come to nothing.
There was a discussion regarding the picnic bench, with some residents
opposing the placement of the new bench. DCC will take these concerns to
DCDT. The majority were in favour of where the bench currently is.
DM noted and agreed that there was a lack of dog waste bins and where some
had broken they hadn’t been replaced. This will be looked into.
DCC will also go to Stirling Council to request a grit bin for Charles Crescent.
Concerns were raised about the crossing – is it a zebra crossing or not? It was
suggested that a zebra crossing be painted on the road, however DCC clarified
that you can’t have the black and white crossing without the belisha beacons,
and Stirling Council has no funds for the these. Concerns regarding the crossing can be communicated by residents in the Road Safety Trial Questionnaire.
Any other business:
None
DM thanks those in attendance and closes the meeting.