PORT OF MENTEITH COMMUNITY COUNCIL
The meeting of the Port of Menteith Community Council in the Port of Menteith Hall scheduled for
Monday, 8th February, 2021 did not take place due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Instead, an E-
meeting involving all members was held and a document summarising the current situation with
regard to regular Agenda items, together with the draft minutes of the December meeting, a list of
correspondence received, a Police Report and a statement of the accounts to the end of January
were circulated to members for information, discussion and comment in the usual way
Minutes of the meeting of the Port of Menteith Community Council of Monday, 8th February, 2021.
Members : Peter Stewart, Chair
Sheena Makgill-Crichton, Vice-Chair & Secretary
Penny McCoull, Treasurer
Alison Forrester
Quint Glen
Jim Riach
Valerie Graham, Minutes Secretary
AGENDA
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Members Present and Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies for absence.
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Declarations of Interest in Items of Business
There were no declarations of interest.
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Adoption of the Draft Minutes of the E-Meeting of 7th December, 2020
The adoption of the minutes as a true record was proposed by Sheena Makgill-Crichton, and
seconded by Alison Forrester. -
Matters Arising from the Minutes:
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Port of Menteith Church
Sheena Makgill-Crichton reported that the Church had been open from September
until the second week in January when Government restrictions once again meant it
had to close. There had been good attendances and on average, probably higher
than before the start of the pandemic. People came from other local churches that
were closed showing that there is actually a requirement for a physical service rather
than just an online one.There had been a really wonderful Carol Service for the 23 people who regularly come
to church every Sunday and this included Seonagh Glen and a musician friend playing
the most beautiful music. The acoustics of the church are really good and in complete
darkness, other than for fairy lights and candles. The playing was incredibly atmospheric
and moving and the Church was very grateful to them for giving their time and skill.The Church will re-open for services as soon as it is allowed to do so.
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Refuse Collections
Members were advised that it would appear that the uplift of old refuse bins and the
delivery of the replacements had not gone totally according to plan and although for
some residents there had been no problems, there had also been a number of
complaints that not only had the old bins not been replaced but also that they had not
been emptied on time. -
Strathard CC Co-op Buy Out Project
Valerie Graham reported that although she had made a request for an update on the
project following the survey, this had not been received. -
Trossachs Area Network
Members were advised that the previous proposal to reinstate meetings of the
Trossachs Area Network had been dropped due to a lack of interest from communities.
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Road Issues
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Work Schedule
Members were advised that there had been no work on local roads scheduled for the
period 25th January – 21st March.The Chairman said that he was of the opinion that the Community Council should keep
on at the Council about the state of the road surfaces as they are deteriorating to a
dangerous level again. -
Cardross Bridge
Members were advised that there had still been no response from Stirling Council’s
Bridge Officer to a request for information following the dive survey on the Cardross
Bridge in March, 2020. However, information had been acquired by the Chair of
Arnprior Community Council from one of the Community Link officers that the company
had only provided part of the video of the survey and so Stirling Council’s Bridge Officer
was chasing this up. -
Hammersmith Junction
There had been no response from Angela McGibbon following the Community
Council’s comments regarding the red road markings at the bottom of Cock Hill. -
Road Sign & School Lights
Valerie Graham reported that the damaged directional road-sign at the junction of the
B8034 & A81 had still not been repaired and the 20mph school warning lights continue
to either malfunction or not work at all despite the Council having been advised of this
by both the School and the Community Council. -
Petition against the Viewforth Link Road
Members were advised that following the information received from Martin Earl
regarding the launch of a petition asking Stirling Council to reconsider the Viewforth
Link Road, this had been circulated to residents via the Community Council’s ’s email
contact list. However, it had just been announced that as a result of the large number
of signatures to the petition, the status of the Viewforth Link Road was now “On Hold”.
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Financial
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Accounts to the end of December
Members noted the accounts which had been circulated prior to the meeting but
there were no comments. -
Community Council Asset Insurance Cover
Valerie Graham reported that notification had been received that Insurance Cover for
any assets owned by the Community Council could be arranged through Stirling
Council. However, currently the Community Council does not have any assets.
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Correspondence
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List of General Correspondence
This had been circulated prior to the meeting. There were no questions.
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Offer of Supplies of Rock Salt from Stirling Voluntary Enterprise (SVE)
Members had previously considered the offer of supplies of rock salt from SVE for the
purpose of de-icing the paths of vulnerable and elderly members of the community
and while agreeing that it was an excellent idea, it had been decided that it would be
difficult to organise for the local area as the houses are so widespread.
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Planning & Licensing Issues
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New Planning Applications
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Shellock Windfarm Development Proposal for the Fintry Hills
Scottish Government advice encourages Community Councils to focus on
proposals that raise issues of genuine community interest and members were
advised that as agreed, a very detailed document regarding the proposed
development had been circulated locally when the planningapplication was published. As a result of this, a number of notifications had
been received from local residents indicating that they would be objecting to
the application, some of which also asked for the Community Council to take
these into account when considering the application.It was known that Thornhill & Blair Drummond Community Council had also
consulted its local residents, a number of whom had responded with
objections to the windfarmBecause the site of the proposed development is not within the Port of Menteith
Community Council’s area, it is not permitted to lodge a support or objection
response to the application. However, Community Councils are invited by
Stirling Council to make comments on any application that they consider raises
issues of genuine interest for the wider community.After consideration, it was agreed to advise Stirling Council’s Planning
Department of the action the Community Council had taken to make local
residents aware of the application and to report the comments it hadreceived. Action : VG
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Planning Application : 2020/0299/DET – Path in Malling Forest/Menteith Hills, Rob
Roy WayIt was explained that this is a project by the NPA to restore a section of the Robbetween Aberfoyle and Callander which goes through the
Community Council’s area. The work will seek to address braiding, soil erosion,
localised flooding, poor water quality and a low-quality visitor experience on
972m of the path. However, it was agreed that a comment from the Community
Council was not necessary.
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Planning Update
Members were advised that:
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Formation of Forest Road, SW of Bigram
This had now been approved.
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Port Hall Car-Park
This application was still awaiting a decision by the NPA.
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Erection of dwelling house at land NW of Bonnie Braes, Port of Menteith
This application had been withdrawn.
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Housing & Commercial Development Proposal at Thornhill
No Planning Application had yet been submitted.
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Visitor Management Plan Project
Jim Riach’s reports about this project had been circulated prior to the meeting. There was no
further discussion. -
Community Partnership AGM
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Penny McCoull had previously circulated a report from this meeting.
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Members were advised that one of the recommendations from the Community
Partnership’s AGM was that all Community Councils should join the Countryside Trust.
In view of the Trust’s involvement with the Visitor Management Plan as reported by Jim
Riach, members were asked if they were in agreement with this proposal? This was
agreed.
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Reports:
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Port Hall Report
Quint Glen said that there was nothing to report regarding the Hall but that he had
been told that the planning decision about the proposed extension to the car-park
would be made sometime in the following week. -
Port School Report
Peter Stewart advised that there was to be a meeting of the Parent Council shortly and
undertook to forward a report following this. Action : PS -
Police Report
This had been circulated prior to the meeting.
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Any Other Competent Business
There being no further business, the meeting closed.
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Date of Next Scheduled Meeting : Monday, 19th April, 2021