Plean Community Council
Minute of Meeting 16th September 2024
6pm East Plean Primary School
Present: Scott Richards (Chair), Robert McWilliam (Treasurer), Zoe Nolan (Secretary),
Catherine Ann Robertson, Paul Robertson, Leah Easton, Wendy McAlpine (Minutes)
Apologies: William Silvestro, Neil McCambridge.
Other attendees: Sharon Marklow (Stirling Council Planning and Building Standards), Dave Jewell (Springfield), Matther Abbott (Barrat Homes), Sharon McGrouther (Stirling Council), Ruth McClemments (EPPS Headteacher).
Welcome, Apologies and Conflict of Interest: Scott welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies from William Silvestro and Neil McCambridge. No Conflict of Interest declared.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of meeting 17/6/24 proposed by Zoe Nolan and seconded by Robert McWilliam. Wendy will send to S Bly.
Durieshill Development Presentation: Sharon Marklow advised how the development is progressing regarding planning and development from a Stirling Council perspective. Sharon meets with Springfield and Barrett on a 6 weekly basis to update all aspects of the development moving forward. David Jewell/Springfield have been involved in the project since 2016 dealing with planning and land purchase etc. Approx 3000 homes to built over lifespan of the development. Working on a basis of approx. 100 homes annually it could be up to 30 years till completion. Springfield are in a joint venture with Barrat to build the new community. Mathew Abbott/Barrat have been involved for 2 ½ years to help support Springfield and move things forward with the whole development. Next few months will see further planning applications submitted regarding changes to house types etc. Scott asked how the road/transport network will be affected by all the new homes and commuters as a result. Improvements will be made by the developers to take this into account and has been considered when planning. Scott asked regarding School and Health provisions and when this will be implemented. Sharon advised this is all part of the programming being done by Stirling Council Infrastructure. Bannockburn Primary School will be the designated school until the new Durieshill school is completed. Capacity of schools will be monitored as the homes are built. All 3 attendees then left the meeting.
Main Street Planting: Bob, Catherine Anne and Scott met with Gary Neill and Lynsey McNair, Stirling Council, and discussion had regarding what would happen to the planters moving forward. They were all cleared out by a group of village volunteers and then approx. 1 week later the planters were then reinstalled back to original state with no notice or information beforehand to anyone. 4 Options offered to fix this (unfunded currently).
1 - maintain current state with Stirling Council maintain the planters
2- replace flora with salt resistant perennials and Stirling Council to assume upkeep of same. 3- remove plants, pave over and install large planters/tubs. In conjunction with community group who would then take over maintenance.
4- clear plants, fill bed with tar or stones and provide no planters.
Plean’s Voice unable to take on maintenance of Main Street planters currently. Robert Jack suggested playpark carpeting installed as an alternative.
Voted that option 4 would be the best option – unanimous vote. Scott liaising with Lynsey regarding this issue. No funding at present and don’t know when there will be, but he will keep chasing with Lynsey and advise further.
Road Crossings: Wendy and Zoe attended ETNZ committee on 12/9/2024. All works in Old Plean are completed but the buffer zone at end of the village still has 50mph into a 20mph limit. Roads don’t see an issue with this. 20mph limit is now live throughout the whole village and the petition has been closed off. The crossing at the shop area (raised table) should be provided by October, as advised by Garry Neill and this will be chased and updates provided moving forward. Much miscommunication regarding this crossing but it has now been confirmed that this will happen in October sometime, funding is in place and waiting on design and power supply. School Crossing Lights are still delayed and looking like they will not be installed until the new year (2025). Previous dates of Oct 2024 will not be met. Dot Reid advised that a School Crossing person will not be provided as Stirling Council have not been able to fill the role, but it has been advertised with no success. Procurement for equipment should be completed this week and then 10 weeks for design and further 12 weeks for power supply. Next ETNZ in November and Wendy will chase Brian Hambly regarding updates on all road safety issues.
Community Grant/Pride Fund: Money can be applied for by the 1st week of October. Scott asked what equipment would be appropriate to increase the appeal of the village. Agreed by Community Council that Bob will make an application for self-watering baskets and for a grant for a towards the Xmas fun day, he will research which fund is most appropriate.
Succession Planning/ Co-opted Vacancies: Welcomed Paul to the Community Council. Other people have expressed interest in vacancies. Voted to open co-option (unanimous) opening date 18th October 2024 with a closing date of 8th November 2024.
Police Report: 9 detected crimes 15/8-16/24 in the village. 2 speeding, 3 threating and abusive behaviour, 1 careless driving, 1 knife possession, 1 attempted robbery, 1 theft. 5 undetected cases, careless driving, threatening and abusive behaviour, 2 vandalism, attempted theft. 67 calls made to Police anti-social behaviour, road traffic and domestic incidents. Scott spoke to Pc Woodhouse regarding the knife incident, and he advised this is not a common occurrence in Plean, and the final 3 detected cases were linked. Bruce Street playpark will be examined by Police regarding discovery of drug paraphernalia. Pc Spike and Pc Woodhouse cover a very large geographic area. Scott asked for them to do more regarding Community Police engagement within the community and what their objectives are. Ruth advised that she is working with the Police regarding engagement within the school.
Planning Report: nothing to add to Durieshill discussed earlier in meeting.
Chairs Report: Welcomed Paul as a new councillor. Nothing further added.
Secretary’s Report: Enquiry from someone from Falkirk asking how we got speedbumps in the Main Street, but we were unable to help further. Enquiry submitted re walkway between Bruce Street and Balfour crescent which has been treated with weedkiller, but the tree still needs attention. The plan is to cut the tree down to 7ft height. Enquiry from
Gillian Rutherford re street naming to see if the Community Council would agree to Glenbervie Street being used and this was agreed. Noticeboard outside Balfour centre is to be cleaned up after polling day as it was left in a mess by the mp’s teams. S Bly clarified that if Community Council emails after an enquiry is closed it is not subject to the 10-day SLA. Community Council then raised a complaint about the quality/speed of responses received to complaints made and awaiting outcome.
Playpark – Scott advised that it was suggested that 2 new pieces of equipment planned, safety pits topped up and paths sprayed to kill weeds. Members met James Aikman re the playpark and all issues regarding same. Funding is available from Ogilvie approx. £90k (section 75 money) over 3-5 years (further to come after last house sold). Scott doesn’t think 2 new pieces of equipment is a good idea when the rest of the park is unusable. A further meeting was held when James Aikman, Paul Allan met with member of PCC. PCC suggested funds are spent making the park more usable and tidy it up rather than new equipment as pointless to have new equipment in an unsafe environment. Fence facing Bruce Street with double gates all needs attention and is to be replaced. Side Fences to be pained to match new fence, once manpower available to do work. Swings for older children is safe, but area underneath is to be replaced with matting. Baby swings area- matting to be provided, and frame needs painting, suggested that community help with painting. Other equipment to be moved closed to where spinning disc is, and spinning disc is being removed and hopefully replaced with an accessible roundabout. Access at that end of the park is wider and this will be improved. Cattle grid will be removed. Woodchip around climbing frame to be filled up and remove the wooden uprights to make safer. Flying fox is condemned due to rotting supports, costs have been provided to make safe and this is being considered along with the wider plan costings. Future fundraising would then facilitate the installation of new equipment. Big concern is that non statutory services are still subject to future cuts, PCC trying to get information so that the money to do work is actioned and agreed this financial year but it proving to be very difficult. Playpark is a very important issue for the community.
Treasurers Report – Spent £40 since last meeting for minutes leaving £57.34 in account. This will pay minute take for this meeting. Admin grant application has been submitted and hope funds to be received by mid-October.
Elected Members Report – A McPherson did not attend due to illness and sent apologies. The following information was sent by him via email.
Labour/Tory Administration Changes. Labour and Tory councillors shuffled the deckchairs last week, all around the financial special responsibility allowances that they can claim. Cllr Brisley was appointed leader after gaining enough support from the votes of her Labour and Tory coalition colleagues.
Chris Kane MP - In a couple of the first meaningful votes Kane has had to make, he voted on two matters with will have a profound impact Plean families.
Firstly, he and his Labour colleagues voted to retain the two-child benefit policy. The twochild limit is a policy that limits the amount of universal credit and tax credits that families can receive for their children. This draconian policy impacts dozens of families in Plean - keeping them in poverty. Last week, Kane also shamefully voted to remove the Winter Fuel Allowance for our most vulnerable pensioners. It was announced earlier today by Charity Age UK has calculated that Labour’s move will impact 800,000 older people on very low incomes. I have been contacted by a widow of a former miner from Fallin who says she will not be able to heat her house, which is scandalous. It is even more scandalous as until last week Kane has been paid three salaries:
- Councillor’s salary
- National Park · MP’s salary
Since he was elected as MP in July, his combined salaries equate to £5800 per month, plus expenses and plus pension contributions. Looking at social media, I know that people are very angry that he put party before the people he is supposed to represent.
West Fraser Factory, Cowie
For the last few years, I have been communicating with Stirling University professor Andrew Watterson regarding the emissions from the factory.
I was asked to give a quote to award winning investigative journalism co-operative The Ferret on an article they featured on the factory regarding the burning of the dangerous byproduct called WESP crumb.
Here is a link to the article: https://theferret.scot/lead-pollution-company-court-battle/ According to the Scottish Government, small amounts of lead can be harmful, particularly to children. Exposure has been linked to brain damage, including impaired mental function, memory loss and motor performance.
I have asked West Fraser and SEPA for clarification on whether they had re-started burning it as SEPA gave them permission for a “trial burn” in 2019 but as it exceeded permissible limits the trial was halted.
So far West Fraser have ignored by emails and SEPA have treated them as a Freedom of Information request.
I am going to wait for further information before I decide what to do but one option available is to replicate what has happened at Mossmorron, where Fife Council gave support in establishing an independent air quality monitoring group to scrutinise the emissions from that plant. West Fraser previously transported WESP crumb to Southampton for incineration - but they want to do it on site to save money despite the group making millions in profit in the last year.
Bruce Street Park - I have asked officials for an urgent inspection on the condition of this park after receiving complaints from local people.
Anti-social working hours - I received complaints from residents in Wallace Crescent about Bear Scotland cutting trees on the motorway embankment close to bedroom windows at midnight. I worked with Environmental Health officials who put a stop to it.
Residents View - Street lighting in Old Plean has been on and off intermittently over the last few weeks. This has been reported by residents and is being addressed. Leylandi trees are proving to be an issue both with debris and obstruction of signs, Zoe will report issue on Report It site.
AOCB – Zoe will attend the Informed Communities meeting on 26th Sept 2024 in Viewforth. Sharon advised that deadline for the Place Plan is April 2025, and this may be extended. Community Development team are visiting groups to advise their plans and will work with groups moving forward, Scott asked if objectives and plans could be provided to PCC for the next meeting. Libraries have a survey out at present. Community Shop is being developed and Sharon will try and find out more about who is doing the work.
Next meeting – Monday 18th November 2024 East Plean Primary School.