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KILMADOCK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MINUTE OF MEETING HELD ON 8 JANUARY 2024 AT 7PM
IN DOUNE LIBRARY
Present : Tony Farrant (Chair), Alison McAlpine, Rowena Drowley, Ken Russell, Sue Sedgwick, David Harding
Apologies for absence : Elizabeth Wallace, Alistair Sutherland, Neil Fergusson, Gene Maxwell (SC councillor)
Approval of Minute
The minute of the meeting of 11 December 2023 was approved, proposed by Sue Sedgwick,
seconded by Rowena Drowley.
Chair's Report
Tony Farrant reported as follows :
Bench seats at Doune Castle
Some bench seats will be temporarily removed during January and part of February, while location filming takes place.
Park and Stride Car park
Tony has emailed Stirling Council (7 Jan 2024) with specific requests for information about
the disappeared Doune gateway sign, the absence of signage in village or onsite about the
car park, when we can expect EV Chargers, gaps in boundary fencing, lack of planting and
waste bins and incomplete white-lining, what was the cost of additional wooden fencing and
a date for a site meeting with community representatives prior to completion. Apart from
acknowledgement, there was no response to questions posed in an email dated 3 October
and no prior information about the works carried out between then and end-December.
Broken-down vehicle in Ponds car park
Several residents have complained verbally to our Chair about the vehicle which is
occupied by an individual and several dogs and has been reported on in The Stirling
Observer. The car park belongs to residents of the local housing so is primarily their
responsibility, but since some residents have asked KCC for assistance we will speak to
Stirling Council on their behalf, to see what official actions are open.
Police Report
6 Dec 2023-8 Jan 2024, compiled by Lorna Deans, received by email and not submitted in person
8 Dec 2023. Police were contacted by several people about an incident on Main Street
Doune. The individual responsible was traced and arrested for a number of offences.
22 Dec 2023. Police received a report of someone having been assaulted. One person
was later arrested and will appear at court.
7 Jan 2024. Police attended at B8032 after a vehicle collision due to weather conditions.
3 Jan 2024. An attempt was made to break into a vehicle parked in Deanston. Enquiries
are ongoing.
Further to the incident at Doune Co-op at Halloween, where young people were offered
money/sweets from a parked car, police established no offence was committed and no
further follow-up was required.
Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, we have been receiving police reports by email
but we have been told it is considered good practice for a representative to attend at least
one meeting in person during a quarter year. We will request this as a follow-up.
Councillor’s Report
Since Gene Maxwell was unable to attend, we discussed an upcoming meeting of representatives
from various community councils in Stirling District, to take place in Aberfoyle on 18 January. This
is to look at our collective response to Stirling Council’s proposals for budget and service cuts in
the face of the current £13m deficit. KCC will send three representatives (Alistair Sutherland, Tony
Farrant and Rowena Drowley).
Treasurer’s Report
Elizabeth Wallace submitted a report by email. The KCC balance stands at £17,502.03, of which
£15,601.21 is restricted for specific tasks and projects. We have applied for and received a further
£9,000 grant from the Windfarm Trust for the operation of the Moray Park toilets.
Secretary’s Report
Toilets
David Harding said that we had used our allowance more rapidly than anticipated for
operation of the toilets last year. The further grant from WFT allows operation to continue
during 2024. There was slight encouragement in that we have seen a reduction (year on
year) of around 240 units of energy.
Dementia Cafe
Our steering group has asked for another meeting with the Dunblane group, to discuss
operational matters. Dave Bertin will follow up on behalf of the KDT.
Christmas
David Harding will send thanks to Muir Estate for their generous donation of Christmas
trees and also thank Moray Estates for storage of our village Christmas lights.
Development Officer
In Neil Fergusson’s absence, no report was made.
Roads
Rowena Drowley reported no response from Stirling Council in relation to emails about the Argaty
road. Stirling Council did respond about our request to upgrade the zebra crossing at Castle Hill to
a Puffin crossing, after loss of the crossing patrol: the results of a traffic survey (cables across the
road) have now been received and are being assessed. Once that is done (no deadline indicated)
they will inform us of their decision.
Villages
Street cleaning
Sue Sedgwick had emailed Stephen Bly to ask if street cleaning had been stopped - he
replied it had not but Sue told him none of us has seen any cleaning work actually taking
place. He replied he would monitor this and we also replied that we too would be watching.
Village Car Park
Following our request to review markings and signage in the car park, we received a vague
reply that signage would be reviewed but that signs have to follow regulations. Sue had
repeated her suggestions about motorhomes and parking lines but Stephen Bly replied that
she hadn’t asked for a response and he had just forwarded the requests to a department in
Stirling Council. This vagueness and lack of direct response to questions is causing
increasing frustration with Stirling Council’s recent decision to avoid direct communication
between community councils and the departments which serve them.
Planning
Wallis Scott was not present.
CAfD
Alistair Sutherland submitted the following report in his absence.
Bus shelter
In relation to the siting of the Deanston bus shelter, the only proposed site acceptable to
Stirling Council is currently being objected to by one household. At the suggestion of
Councillor Martin Earl, someone from CAfD will meet with the resident and explain the
importance of the shelter to the community as a whole, in an attempt to resolve the matter.
Deanston property maintenance
Alistair had emailed Councillor Watterson who had volunteered to see if there was an easy
way to identify which properties are owned/managed by Stirling Council and also to check
about processes for approval of location filming. He has not received a response from
Councillor Watterson to date and has had to send a further email.
Kilmadock Development Trust
Ken Russell said that one of the counter staff would be leaving the Post Office at the end of
January and that part-time contract staff may be used to cover occasional gaps, as at the end of
last year. The AGM of the Development Trust will be conducted via Zoom on 29 January at 7pm,
members will be able to join using details supplied in the circular which has been distributed to the
membership by post.
Woodland Group
Tony Farrant reported that the Fairy Trail event had been successful in spite of poor weather
conditions and had attracted many positive comments. The Woodland Group will shortly be
starting work on improving the educational facility at the Dipping Pond and also at the Biodiversity
Area.
Bridge
No updates
Forestry
No updates
Any Other Business
Doune Castle will be closed for 6-8 weeks due to location filming. Rowena asked whether any of
the revenue will come to the village as visitors to the castle also improve the footfall at local cafes
and shops; Tony undertook to speak to a contact at Historic Environment Scotland to clarify on
this.
Next meeting
The next meeting will take place on Monday 12 February in Doune Library at 7pm.