Dunblane Community Council
Calum Thomson Anna Jarchow-MacDonald
Secretary Chair
cc@dunblane.info cc@dunblane.info
Minutes of the Dunblane Community Council held on Wednesday, 7 August, 2024, at 7 p.m. in the Library, Dunblane. This is a “blended” meeting, with some attendees joining by Zoom.
Present: Alan Booth, Calum Thomson, Jonathan Failes, Karen Jenkins, Terence O’Byrne, Anna Jarchow-MacDonald, Graham Mowat, Stewart Corbett and Fiona Plumtree. Annelise Bakri joined later by Zoom.
In attendance: Councillor Alasdair Tollemache, Steve Mason, Mairi Santolini (Parent Council, High School), Mick Symon (Allan Water Angling Improvement Association), Peter Swindon, Anthony Delleur, Rachel Nelson, Rachael Muir, Margaret Bragg (Minutes Secretary).
1.Apologies
Apologies have been received from Ailsa Gray and Councillors Thomas Heald and Robin Kleinman.
2. Conflicts of interest
There were no stated conflict of interest, although Councillor Tollemache confirmed he would not take part in any planning discussions, as he is a member of the Council’s Planning and Regulation Panel.
- Approval of minutes of 5 June 2024
These were approved, proposed by Karen Jenkins and seconded by the Chair.
4. Adoption of three co-opted members
Four candidates have applied for three vacancies; all are eligible to stand and it was agreed that all were acceptable to the community councillors. Their supporting statements were circulated. After attending three meetings, coopted members have the opportunity to become full members. One of the candidates, Rachael Muir indicated that she would not be able to attend the first meeting and was willing to delay her application until later when vacancies will arise as the co-optees become full members. The remaining three candidates, Rachel Nelson, Peter Swindon and Anthony Delleur, were accepted as co-opted members of the community council.
Each of the new co-opted members introduced themselves:
Rachel Nelson is Chair of the Parent Council of St Mary’s school which has been instrumental in raising funds to upgrade the Millrow playpark. She stressed the importance of engagement with the community and encouraging more people to get involved.
Peter Swindon emphasised his interest in improving Dunblane for children and was shocked at the suggestion earlier this year by the Council that the library could be closed. He is on the fund-raising committee of the primary school and is aware of lack of resources.
Anthony Delleur wants to draw on his experience as an architect to enhance the High Street and improving links to make it more accessible.
Mairi Santolini suggested that there should be more opportunities for High School pupils to get involved and the community council has had representatives attending in the past. She will encourage them to come to the next meeting. Alan Booth thought it would be a good idea if representatives from different year groups, who are on the pupil forum attended.
5. Police Report
As this has just been received, Alan Booth will circulate it after this meeting. Action: Alan Booth. In the meantime, the Chair read it out. The police are holding a fraud awareness session in the Library on 16 August from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Karen Jenkins complained that this will not be suitable for those at work, and the Chair asked the Secretary to contact the police requesting a second meeting at a more suitable time. Action: The Secretary. She also asked that it be publicised on the Dunblane website.
Graham Mowat asked about the rise in the number of shoplifting incidents and Councillor Tollemache agreed to ask the police for more information and will copy in the community council. Action: Councillor Tollemache.
Alan Booth reported that other community orchards have reported that fruit trees have been stripped by people arriving in vans, and although this has not yet happened in the Laighhills, he is liaising with James Aikman (Projects Officer, Environment and Place, Stirling Council) on reinstating the bollard to prevent vehicular access to the park. Stirling Council is changing the rules to make it illegal to take vehicles into parks unless they have permission. The Chair, in reply to a question from Fiona Plumtree, agreed that anybody seeing vehicles in the park should report them.
- Operational Report: See attached.
Terence O’Byrne has circulated a 14-point report, with many issues still being resolved.
Terence O’Byrne met with Gary Neill (Roads Department, Stirling Council) at the beginning of July and received an update earlier today.
Kinbuck Road gullies The repair works should be done next month.
Gullies and road surface issues on the Perth Road Any repairs have been delayed because of works undertaken at present by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and Virgin Media.
Clearing of gullies on main routes into Dunblane The Council intends to take this work in-house and Councillor Tollemache will discuss this when he meets the new Chief Executive of the Council, Caroline Sinclair.
Kinbuck Road 40 mph speed limit This might be implemented by November.
Ramoyle traffic proposals Councillor Tollemache is going to discuss these with the new Roads Officer at the Council, Greig Barker. (See minutes, June 2024.). There is a commitment for the work to be done in this financial year.
Pedestrian crossings at Springfield Terrace and at M&S There is to be a feasibility study in September but at present there is no commitment to installing them.
Lift towers at the railway station Although the refurbishment work is complete, the presence of scaffolding poles and the site compound in the car park, is resulting in fewer parking spaces. Work on replacing glass covers has still to be done and this is causing the delay in completion. Councillor Tollemache is going to follow this up. Action: Councillor Tollemache.
Water ponding and rust on the railway bridge Network Rail have failed to address this despite the problem existing for a decade. Councillor Tollemache is persisting in complaining to Network Rail.
Virgin Media fibre-optic cabling installation Although residents affected by this work should have been leafleted with information in advance, many did not receive them. Jonathan Failes agreed to send photos to Terence O’Byrne of the work in George Street which had not been finished properly. Action: Jonathan Failes.
Community noticeboard in High Street It was noted that rubbish is accumulating in front of it and Councillor Tollemache is taking this up with the Council. Action: Councillor Tollemache.
Auchinlay Road Fiona Plumtree reported that Amey has nearly completed repairs to address drainage issues on the A9 which had resulted in water running off the fields and down the Auchinlay Road.
Glen Road closure Glen Road is due to be closed from 12 to 26 August to allow for the upgrade work by SSEN. As this seemed to be an unnecessarily long closure, Councillor Tollemache will contact the contractor and ask for more information. Action: Councillor Tollemache.
- Planning Report: See attached.
Randolph Hill nursing home Although supporting the proposal in principle, the community council agreed to object on the same basis as previously submitted in response to an application withdrawn last year, with the addition of objecting to the loss of an expanse of lawn and trees.
8. Local Place Plan (LPP)
Jonathan Failes reported that the LPP offers the community an opportunity to feed into the upcoming Local Development Plan (LDP) drawn up by the Council. He has been working on creating reports for this. As a first step, he, Stewart Corbett and Terence O’Byrne are going to draw together the results of the survey; 1,090 replies were received of which about 800 were fully completed. He invited anyone interested to attend an interim meeting, to be held on 21 August at 7 p.m. in the Library, to design the final report.
Mairi Santolini suggested that a different format might have been more successful in getting a better response from High School pupils. A different method, such as using workshops to explain the issues, or a differently worded survey, might have made it easier for young people to understand. The best way to engage with the High School pupils, including potentially revisiting the survey, will be discussed at the meeting on 21 August.
- Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer will circulate this. Action: The Treasurer.
10. Communications Report
The Secretary reported that he has updated the community council’s initiative tracker on the Dunblane website, with the aim of touching on the community council’s main themes. He will add the need for improvement at Braemar playpark. Councillor Tollemache indicated the difficulty in keeping abreast with updates and he agreed to inform the Secretary of any updates he is involved with.
11. AOCB
Rubbish left in the river Mick Symon, from the Allan Water Angling Improvement Association, reported on the dangers to users of the river of items being dumped in the water. These included shopping trollies and poles from the fence on the river walk which is damaged and taped off at present. Councillor Tollemache will bring this to the attention of the Council’s Access Officer as this is a core path. Action: Councillor Tollemache. Mick Symon also reported that many metal spring clips have been left in the river, likely from railway work undertaken north of Dunblane. Alan Booth asked him for details which he will pass on to David Prescott. Action: Alan Booth. It was agreed that the Chair will formally ask Councillor Tollemache to raise these issues with Council officers. Action: The Chair.
Path between George Street and Springfield Terrace Mick Symon had reported to the Council that this path should be gritted in winter as it is dangerous in icy weather but was notified that it was not included on the Council’s gritting plans. It was also noted that better lighting was required, and together with the need for a pedestrian crossing, Councillor Tollemache will progress these issues. Action: Councillor Tollemache.
Giant hogweed The need for greater publicity and information was noted and that Nature Scotland’s website has a good identification guide. Terence O’Byrne and the Treasurer have been undertaking a programme of spraying over many years and are duly licensed to do so.
Support for reading Mairi Santolini reported that there is a joint initiative to improve literacy of children and adults, involving the English Department of the High School, the Library and the Dunblane Centre. It was suggested that links were made with book groups in the town.
Speeding traffic David Whelan raised the issue of speeding traffic around the primary school (see Minutes April 2023). He was told that the Council were monitoring the situation and has asked Councillors Tollemache and Kleinman for help in getting updates. He reported that the police have only carried out checks once in the past year. Councillor Tollemache agreed to request that this be added to the agenda of the next meeting of the Safety Committee of the Council. A meeting between the police and elected members is due and he will raise this issue then. In response to a comment by David Whelan about the unusually low speed restriction platforms installed on the Doune Road, Councillor Tollemache agreed to ask that these be reconsidered. Action: Councillor Tollemache. David Whelan asked that the community council formally ask Councillor Tollemache to take this issue to the Safety Committee and this was agreed.
Windfarm grant committee It was noted that Graham Mowat is considering standing down as a community council representative on this committee after this year’s round of grant applications.
Common Good Fund The Council has suggested a meeting with community council representatives to discuss this on 26 August. Ailsa Gray, Alan Booth and Rachel Nelson are interested in attending and the Chair asked Alan Booth to send information about this to Rachel Nelson. Action: Alan Booth.
Community engagement Jonathan Failes started a discussion on how the community council can improve, by becoming more proactive, engaging better with the community and creating links with the Council. The skills of people in the community could be harnessed to work on individual projects if more people were aware of what is needed. Meetings should become more effective with time used more efficiently. He asked people to contact him with ideas. The Chair noted that the Scottish Government is encouraging local forums and she suggested focussed meetings, perhaps three times a year, when specific topics would be discussed and information fed back to the wider community council meetings.
Local festivals The Chair noted that Dunblane already has the Fling and the Christmas Extravaganza. With reference to the community orchards, she commented on the success of the Blossom Day in Spring and suggested that there is an Apple Day in the autumn. Alan Booth said that the primary school is interested in apple crushing for juice.
Hielanman’s Land Alan Booth reported on a garden encroaching on
Hielanman’s Land and said that Stirling Council should look at this to see if it is part of the Common Good Fund. He agreed to send details to Councillor Tollemache. (See Minutes, February 2021.) Action: Alan Booth.
12. Date, time and place of next meeting
The next meeting of the Dunblane community council will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 September, 2024, in the Library, Dunblane. The Chair also reminded the councillors of the meeting on 21 August to discuss the Local Place Plan.
The meeting ended at 9.35 p.m.
This is a true representation of the meeting.
Anna Jarchow-MacDonald ……………………………………..Date ………………….
Chair
Calum Thomson …………………………………………………Date …………………
Secretary