Raploch Community Council Meeting
6th March 2024 – 6.30pm
Raploch Community Campus
Present: J Haslam, Chair, (JH), S Currie, Vice Chair & Treasurer (SC), R Robertson (RR), I Lowe (IL), L
Kettrick (LK), M McKinley (MMcK), G Slade (GS), MC Dungavell (MCD), B Hughes (BH), H
Makhatholela (HM), Mike Lowe, War Memorial Committee, John Muirie, War Memorial Committee,
Gill Christie, Ecologist and local resident
Councillor Jim Thomson (JT)
P Roberts – Stirling Council Community Engagement (PR)
C Stewart – Minute taker (CS)
PC Capes & PC Fisher, Community Police Officers.
Apologies: A Connal, Secretary (AC), D Totten (DT),
Welcome, apologies & Conflicts of Interest
JH welcomed everyone to the March meeting of the community council.
1. Approval of Minutes
JH provided paper copies of the minutes and had also emailed them out in advance. PR requested
amendments to the information she had provided at the last meeting. JH will pass the changes to CS.
The minutes were approved by LS and seconded by JH based on the changes being made.
2. Matters arising from the previous minutes.
● Ochil centre will keep update as an agenda item.
● The Big Conversation – JH sent a link to watch last week’s budget online.
● Community newsletter this will be produced quarterly and will be discussed later.
3. St Marks update
BH provided the St Marks update:
● The building work has been completed on the roof with new beams being installed.
A new floor will also be installed in the side aisle, The church is hoping this will be
hard wearing which will mean they can use the space for youth groups etc. The
work is being paid for by the Church of Scotland
● As the church now have MCD and the probationary minister Bethany there is more
opportunity to do new things. Once the building work has been complete, they
hope to start running a Sunday youth group for P7 pupils upwards.
● There is a youth group now running for care experience young people on a
Wednesday after school. This is open to P4 and 5 pupils only due to the level of
interest.
● The holiday club will run week beginning 15th July in conjunction with the big Noise
activities There will also be a day out for the children and their families to Briar lands
farm.
● BH is running the London Marathon and is fundraising to cover the cost of the
children’s activities that will be run by the church.
● The Scouts recently attended a session with the community police officers. The
session went well and was a good opportunity to build relationships.
4. Chairs Report
● JH met with Michaela Jackson from Stirling Council to discuss the Walk, Cycle, Live
project. There have been concerns raised about the possible installation of a
pedestrian crossing near the fire station as it may pose a safety issue. The work near
the college on Raploch Road is due to be completed by August 2024. JH also raised
concerns about the volume of traffic using Raploch Road and Drip Road. Michaela or
one of her team will come to the next CC meeting and the volume of traffic using the
roads will also be monitored.
● Recykabike are keen to put on an event in partnership with the CC offering safety
training on the cycle lanes and routes. The CC are looking to promote this via the
community newsletter and on social media.
● Green Action Trust are keen to carry out a consultation on the greenspace along
Glendevon Drive to make it more robust and welcoming for the local community.
This is part of the wider climate forth project. JH advised that there is a box available
at the reception in the community campus for people to submit comments. This can
also be done online. The deadline for this is midnight on 24th March 2024.
● After both the CC and local councillors raised concerns about the litter around
Sainsburys, Community Safety Enforcement Officers attended the locations, and a
request has been made to land services to remove the litter. It was noted that the
area was untidy but was secured behind a gate. They are waiting on the keyholder
being identified. There has also been a request to assess whether the area requires
additional lighting as the area is very dark. Stephen Blyth is involved, and CC have an
enquiry number from SC which means things must be dealt with within a certain
timescale.
● EV car chargers on Drip Road, awaiting delivery of SIM cards and charge point ID
numbers. These should be delivered in 2/3 weeks. This was the update provided on
13th February 2024.
● The Billy Bremner memorial committee have received short videos from 3 sculptors
with an overview of possible design concepts. There should be an update available
soon. The SFA have arranged to circulate 2 replica white Scotland shirts for former
Leeds & Scotland players to sign. One will be auctioned to start the fundraising
campaign and the other one will be donated to the RLC to display. JH and BH are
representatives on the group.
● JH read out an email that she had received from Castle Meadows regarding ongoing
issues with the new housing developments in Raploch. The response was regarding
the development at Site 8, Robertsons are outlining a hybrid approach of 3 different
resolutions depending on investigation findings. These are varied solutions and are
dependent on the level of issues found. The findings also cover multiple properties
across the development that are a mix of SC and 2 other registered social landlords
and private properties. The three options are: options A – Localised remedial to
identified blocks either with concrete infill and or widen existing foundations to
re-establish contact with Controlled Modulus Columns, Option B – Unbuilt blocks to
expose non-compliant CMC heads. Thereafter adopt infilling with concrete to
appropriate formation level before casting new foundations, Options C- Localised
remedial to identified blocks with polymer injection below foundations of fully or
partially built properties at locations of non-compliant CNCs. Council properties
predominantly have Option C as the remedial solution Housing Service have
responded to Robertson proposal for Council properties and follow up meetings are
ongoing with decisions expected to be taken shortly. Site 22 the flats behind
Sainsburys, housing services are awaiting Robertsons external engineers final report
on what if any remedial work may be required to this site. Robertson external
engineer carried out their final external and internal inspection of both blocks of
flats on Tuesday 20th February. The council expect final follow report from Robertson
shortly.
5. Treasurers Report
SC advised that the balance on the bank account is £3056.40 as nothing has come in or out due to
issues with the account. More forms have been completed and returned to the bank but still not
getting anywhere. A complaint has been submitted to the bank, but things are now being held up as
the CC can’t arrange event etc as they can’t access funds. It was agreed that a new account would be
opened with another bank, but they would continue with the complaint with the current bank.
6. Communications
AC wasn’t present so JH went through communications:
● Advice, Direct Scotland have emailed information in about their services. They offer free,
practical advice on a range of issues including employment, energy, relationship, and money
advice.
● McFarlane’s Pharmacy there has been a great response via social media. As everyone isn’t on
social media the next step is to flyer the community. There has been a delay in the pharmacy
opening due to the discovery of some asbestos panelling, however they are back on track to
open in April.
● The new owner of the Back of the Hill bar has contacted the CC asking if anyone has any
issues or concerns about the bar. If there are any issues that people would like to raise email
simonaitken@aol.com
● Raploch nursery has been praised by the care inspectorate in several service areas. The
national regulator highlighted several strengths at Doune and Raploch nurseries including
knowledgeable, compassionate staff, partnership working with families and creative learning
opportunities for children. Each nursery was evaluated on a scale of 1-6 across four areas of
service delivery: staff team and care, setting, leadership, play and learning. Doune nursery
received a 5 (very good), across all four areas of service. Raploch nursery earned three 5s
and a 4 (Good).
● There has been an invite to discuss the responses to the recent survey titled “Have your say
in the future of the place”. This is being done to inform the evidence that will then be
publicly consulted on at later events in the year inn preparation for the local development
plan. PR then gave a summary of what the development plan is and what will be included in
it. She highlighted that the development plan focuses on how land is used now and, in the
future, it gives the community an opportunity to have their save about future land use. The
local place plan feeds into the development plan.
● An email had been received offering the CC a free portrait of the King. This can be displayed
anywhere in the community. It was agreed it would be put to a wider vote on whether to
accept the portrait. The closing date for applications if 28th March 2023.
7. Police report
● Both local Community police officers responsible for Raploch, PC Capes & PC Fisher
attended the meeting. They went through the main points of the police reports that
had been submitted and spoke about the ongoing issues with vandalism in Weir
Street. They advised that the police are aware of this and have been doing patrols
including plain clothed patrols to try and gain further information. This hasn’t
resulted in a lot of success, so they are now going door to door. A member of the
public asked about the trail bikes that are being used locally with no licence plates.
They confirmed that under the law they should only be used on private land and if
anyone has issue with them, they should phone the police.
8. Events Sub-group
The group meet prior to the CC meeting today. JH highlighted that anyone could join the
group and they are keen to get more people involved. She remined everyone that a poll had
taken carried out last year to find out what events people would like to see taking place in
Raploch and the most popular were a gala/funday. The group are currently trying to plan this
and have the support of SC around licences etc that will be needed. The plan is to have a
community event in the campus to encourage more people to get involved and to get
community support. It is hoped that the event will take place at the end of July 2024, and
they are looking at having this on Drip Road or at the Ochil centre however there would need
to be access to toilet facilities.
9. Councillors Report
Councillor Jim Thomson gave an update:
● The budget has been the focus and was agreed last week. This will include £8m of
cuts with £4m being taken from reserves. The next stage is the Chief Executive of
Stirling Council will set up a working group to look at the budget in detail.
● Issues with housing on Raploch Road and Drip Road, it has been challenging trying to
find solutions and nothing has yet been decided as none of the proposals have been
accepted. The 4 local councillors have asked for a meeting.
● The zebra crossing on Drip Road there are issues with the speed bumps and the
zebra crossing. There are 6000 more cars using the road than it was built to be able
to accommodate. There has been a safety audit carried out on the zebra crossing and
there are safety issues with the position of the 2 EV points and the zebra crossing.
10. AOCB
● War memorial, things have slowed down, drawings are expected any day now and
once they are received, they will be presented to building control at SC. The next
meeting is on 28th March at 6pm at St Marks and is open to everyone. PR advised
that the group should contact her if they need any support with fundraising.
● John Muirie is putting together a book of remembrance. He has 52 soldiers he is
struggling to find information on and has asked if anyone can help with information.
● There was a discussion as the next CC is due to take place on 6th April which is during
the school holidays. It was agreed that the next meeting will go ahead on the agreed
date.
● Gillian Christie came along; she is a local resident and Ecologist. She wanted to
highlight a report she has written about the biodiversity on the site behind the fire
station. Gillian has concerns that in the future this site will be used for a housing
development. She handed out paper copies of her report and will also email a copy
to JH.
Date, time, and place of next meeting: Wednesday 1st May at 6.30pm in Raploch Community
Campus