Dec 2021 Minutes

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Fintry Community Council Minutes of the meeting held on 8th December 2021

Menzies Hall

· Present/apologies for absence:

• Declaration of interest in any items of business

None

· Approval of Minutes of last meeting:

Approved

· Stirling Councillor’s Report

There is a school survey being distributed to P7-S6 pupils in the Stirling Council Area. This survey is thought to have some very sexually graphic questions. The councillors

felt that they should have been consulted prior to it being agreed. They have therefore requested a meeting to find out more i.e.; what is the information being used for?

Where will the information go? Etc

It was noted that some councils have chosen not to send the survey out, however Stirling Council have decided to go ahead with the option to opt out. Any feedback from Fintry Residents regarding the survey should go to the council.

Branshogle Bridge: Work has now started on the repairs.

Catterburn Bridge: Lessons seem to have been learnt regarding lack of communication.

Hybrid Meetings: Stirling Council are going ahead to get all the necessary equipment necessary for this to proceed.

Planning Meeting: Did not have quorum for the meeting to proceed. Next meeting will be on the 21^st December. If quorate cannot be met then no planning permission will be granted until the next election.

MB raised a couple of questions:

1. Safer Routes to School – who is the primary contact? The council used to have an officer who then left and it went to a private company. Clarification is needed as there have been some concerns raised by parents regarding the Cross and three other roads needed to cross for the children to get to school, this is being highlighted by the fact that we now have a number of large lorries using this route. MB would like to raise that they should ensure at least one rural school safer route to school’s plan gets carried out.

2. Would like to highlight how difficult it is to get through on the switchboard at the council. MB waited over an hour to get through and when you do finally get through nobody is available on the phone. MB is aware that they are only allowed 30% of staff in offices but would like to know why they don’t have a bare minimum of staff in each department. MB raised the question on why the control room is not back in house as this is a priority service.

Councillor Davis has agreed to take these issues forward.

• Police Report - report submitted

Ward Plan Priorities

 Antisocial Behaviour –

There have been no reports of anti-social behaviour in Fintry since the last meeting.

Road Safety

There were no reportable RTCs in the Fintry area since the last meeting.

Advice for Drivers

Prepare for the winter by keeping your vehicle well maintained before you take to the road. Take special care that brakes, tyres, lights, batteries, windscreens and wiper blades are in good condition. In addition, washer bottles need to contain an additive to stop the water from freezing.

Tyres should also be checked weekly to ensure they are legal and at the correct pressure (consult your vehicle handbook). The minimum legal tread depth for cars is 1.6mm across the centre 3/4 of the breadth of the tread around the entire circumference. They should also be checked for bulges, cuts or tears which weaken the tyre. Failure to maintain your tyres could lead to a maximum of

£2,500 fine and 3 penalty points per tyre.

Make sure your windows are clean, properly demisted and clear of snow and ice before you drive. Also make sure that your roof is clear of snow as this affects drivers behind you and can also cause obstructions on your windscreen when braking. Be careful with low sun as it can make it difficult to see and a dirty, greasy or damaged windscreen can make this worse.

All lights must be kept clean and clear and be in good working order, including registration plate lights. Use the help of someone to check that all of your lights are working.

Theft

There have been no thefts in the Fintry area since the last meeting however there was a theft of cables in Balmaha and a vehicle was stolen in Strathblane. There was also lead stolen from church roof in Killearn.

 What basic steps can I take to protect my home?

The evenings are dark earlier now and it is a time where traditionally housebreakings can occur. Having your home broken into is not common. There are however many ways that you can help secure your home. They don’t all cost money – some are common sense and good housekeeping.

First, think about basic good housekeeping routines that aren’t expensive:

• Keep your home locked at all times

• Many thieves do not need to break in at all because a door or window has been left open or unlocked

• Don’t leave keys on the inside of door locks, under mats or anywhere else they can be easily found

• If you have a ‘thumb turn’ lock on the inside of a door, ensure that it cannot be accessed from outside

• Don’t keep house keys and car keys on the same key ring

• Don't keep a lot of cash in the house

• Mark your property with a UV marker pen or Security DNA marking Kit - these can be bought online or in some stores

• Look for the Secured by Design accreditation on the product and register - you can place an invisible imprint of your postcode and house number on your possessions

• You can record and register details of your valuables, serial numbers and features or marks, on devices on the national mobile property register on the immobilise website - this includes mobile phones, cameras, laptops and tablets

Treasurer’s Report December 2021

1. General Fund Account

The current balance in this account is £5,722

We have received £24 from the Fintry Sports Club this for ground rent from 2019 to 2024.

The website domain name has been renewed for the next two years for a cost of

£25.18

2. Foundation Fund

The foundation fund balance to date is £41,584

Kingsburn Fund Spending Summary

We have awarded a £250 micro-grant for the Children’s Christmas event. The prescription service continues to run with travel cost averaging £300 per month.

Invoice from Sports Centre for the resilience food will be taken out of resilience but should be compensated by the power company.

Agreed that a note would be put on Fintry Buddies advertising the Micro/Macro Grants available.

Resilience Update

Storm Arwen

• Power outage - 207 homes affected.

· Kippen Road including the Caravan Park and Culcreuch Castle was off from Friday 3^rd 15.30 – 18.00 on Sunday 5^th December.

· Clachan End including the Crow Road, Craigton, Old Fintry and up to Spittal Hill Farm were off from Friday 3^rd 21:30 – 15:30 Sunday 5^th December.

· Carron Valley were off from Friday 3^rd 21:30 – 1.30am Wednesday 8^th December.

• Resilience plan activated on Friday night.

· Hot meals and Water were provided to the Community.

· Generator service has been arranged for Knockraich.

· Generator for Menzies Hall will be installed before the end of March 2022.

· Defibrillators – Trossachs Search and Rescue have contacted us regarding the need for new batteries. They have been advised to replace what is needed as we have the funding set aside for this.

· Flood signs – meeting was held on site with the flooding officer and traffic management office. It was agreed that the second sign would be erected just after the grave yard. They will be installed in the next few weeks.

Planning

· An application for a new vehicular access and erection of timber shed and poly tunnel (retrospective) at Old Police House, Main Street, Fintry has been approved with conditions.

· An application has been received for alterations to the roof to create new living accommodation with the attic space, formation of decking and formation of garden room within the curtilage of dwelling Greenview, Main Street, Fintry.

· An application for the formation of a dormer window at Knockraich Farm has been approved with conditions.

Roads/paths (MB)

· Branshogle Bridge – Work has started on the Branshogle Bridge along with intense engagement with SEPA and Loch Lomond Fisher’s Trust.

· Catterburn Bridge – Surveys are being carried out at the moment. An outline planning permission has been applied for.

· Denny Road – MB has written to Stirling Council regarding upgrading the road to a priority one route. This was raised earlier in the year and the FCC were told that it would be being reviewing the policy at the start of this winter.

• C21 Balfron road is now a priority one route.

· Lade Path – have spoken to TCV regarding a walk around with MB, NR and Mim. We will arrange this for January.

· Cicely’s Way – Still working on the extension to this path. The Community Council will approach the owner of the fields adjacent with a view to see if we can use his field in some parts. A meeting will be arranged in the new year.

Provision of Soft Plastics Recycling Bin

· It was noted that a number of residents have highlighted the need for a soft plastics recycling bin. These bins can be found in some supermarkets at present however being a rural location Fintry does not have the benefit of these. NR to contact Stirling Council regarding this.

Community Council Hybrid Meetings

· Sam Canning now has a breakdown of costs needed for the equipment and will forward this to the FCC.

Playpark Update

· Provisional plans were shown at the meeting. These will go out to the public.

Fintry Tourism and Community Action Plan Update

· There will be a meeting in January with the core group with the aim to have questionnaires out in the new year.

Correspondence

· An enquiry was made by a member of the public regarding the area of land adjacent to the Menzies Hall. They were advised that someone in the village was trying to purchase the land to develop into housing. The member of the public wanted to know why if the land was for sale was it not advertised and not offered to the community. After making some enquiries with Stirling Council who own the land MB was advised that the parish council purchased the land in 1925 and it was handed back to the County Council in 1962 when the parish council dissolved. Stirling Council have the title deeds and insist the land is not for sale.

· MB invited to a meeting with other Community Councils to discuss the lack of dedicated officer for the rural Community Councils. It was asked that the Local Councillors take this forward and perhaps arrange a meeting to action.

· Thank you, letter, received form a member of the public regarding the resilience efforts of supplying food during power outage.

· Correspondence received regarding glass on path up Castle drive. The glass was removed promptly once the owner was made aware.

A.O.B.

· It was noted that there is a meeting being scheduled to discuss the possibility of woodland area at the school becoming a community space. Further information will be available once the meeting has taken place though general consensus in the Community Council was that due fact there doesn’t seem to be anything in writing re ownership of the land this could be problematic.

· MD advised that the Strathendrick Welfare Fund would be providing families with Christmas Hampers. There are 8 families in total.

· A special thanks to Carbon Lighting for the additional cabling they donated for the Christmas light installation.

Date of next meeting

• 12^th January 2022