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Riverside Community Council (RCC)
General Meeting Minutes
Date: 28th June 2023
Members Present In Attendance Apologies
Joan Murphy Di Alderdice 5 residents
Fiona Dyet Andrew Fraser Cllr Gibson
Carol Robertson Chara Parraco
Fiona Berrow 3 residents
Parvin Morrissey
Jude Treliving
Bob Dale
Ashleigh Phillip
1. Annual General Meeting (AGM)
An AGM is necessary to confirm proposed changes amongst the Office Bearers.
Minutes from the last AGM are adopted: Fiona Berrow proposed the motion, Fiona Dyet
seconded.
There was no need for an annual report, nor a Secretary’s report. The finances of the RCC
are to be submitted for an external review.
All the Office Bearers resigned from current posts.
The proposed new Office Bearers and their nominations are as below:
Chair: Joan Murphy (Carol Robertson proposed, Bob Dale seconded)
Vice-Chair: Carol Robertson (Joan Murphy proposed, Parvin Morrisey seconded)
Secretary: Fiona Dyet (Ashleigh Phillip proposed, Fiona Berrow seconded)
Treasurer: Fiona Berrow (Parvin Morrisey proposed, Carol Robertson seconded)
Joan Murphy proposed that the next RCC AGM will be between April and June 2024.
2. Welcome
Joan Murphy welcomed everyone at Riverside Primary School. The attendance for the
Public Meeting is as above. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Matters Arising from Previous Minutes
Noticeboards: Joan Murphy reported that Cowane’s Trust have given permission for
shrubs to be added behind the Dean Crescent noticeboard, near Lover’s Walk. Riverside
Naturally have suggested a Rowan tree and some shrubs, to be added in the Autumn. Fiona
Berrow will confirm with Jean Cowie regarding the use of funds for purchasing the
suggested foliage. Stirling Community Enterprise, who installed the noticeboard, had not
billed RCC due to it being a Community Council. However, the funds had been made
available by Cowane’s Trust to be used, and so the bill has been settled.
4. Reports
a. Chair
Joan Murphy referred to a web-site: https://ourworldindata.org/ from which she
found data on the number of women in the world’s Parliaments. This has been
rising since 1900, with one-third of the Parliaments now having at least 30% female
members at 2022. RCC is well represented in this regard, with seven out of the eight
members being women.
b. Secretary
Hogweed: Fiona Dyet has been in contact with Mike at Forth River’s Trust (FRT).
Between FRT and Lantra, training, PPE, equipment and chemicals for treating the
Giant Hogweed within Riverside will be provided. FRT note that the hogweed on
the banks of Riverside have not been sprayed since 2014.
Balfron Primary School (BPS): BPS have asked to borrow the litter-picking
equipment, currently held by Emily McLaughlin. Di Alderdice will reply to the
email confirming that they can borrow anything available. It is noted that as RCC
is the hub of litter-picking in this area, the RCC does not need to approve any
requests and the equipment can be used at any time.
Police Report: There were no detected cases in the reporting period, with three
undetected cases relating to the theft from commercial premises and a theft and
attempted theft of motorbikes.
Shore Road: There has been an HGV parked partially on the pavement on Shore
Road at various points in recent weeks, causing issues for pedestrians and roadusers.
Fiona Dyet has had correspondence with the Police and the company listed
on the HGV. Ashleigh Phillip reiterated the suggestion to extend the double yellow
lines down to the Old Harbour (RCC minutes 31/05/23 7d). RCC to contact council,
using the HGV as a specific example of the danger of parking on Shore Road.
Andrew Fraser will check the legal status of parking an HGV on public streets.
Defibrillators: Fiona Dyet has been given two defibrillators, which both function
but are in need of new pads and new batteries. As Riverside is amply supplied, the
question was raised as to where would benefit from having a defibrillator, or
whether another local Community Council could use them. Suggestions are
welcome.
c. Treasurer
There is £171 available in Unrestricted Funds.
There is £2.50 left in the Admin. Grant, with no outstanding bills. Forms have been
submitted for the new Admin. Grant.
There is £19 left in the Covid Support Funding.
In total, there is £722 in the Bank.
d. Planning
Parvin Morrisey and Andrew Fraser report that there is nothing to mention,
although the future of the Abbey Road Market is still unclear.
5. Sub-Groups
a. Environment
Giant Hogweed: On Friday 30th June, Di Alderdice and Parvin Morrissey will do a
walk around Riverside to log instances of hogweed to submit to Stirling Council.
Pontoon: A resident of Riverside reported a build up of detritus around the Harbour
Pontoon. Fiona Dyet will contact Stephen Bly regarding how often this is cleared by
Stirling Council.
Fly Tipping: As noted in the previous minutes, there had been issues of fly-tipping
around Riverside. Stephen Bly has reported that it is for individual residents to report
issues of fly-tipping/soil dumping.
b. Old Harbour Woods (OHW)
Himalayan Balsam Cutting: There will be more Himalayan Balsam cutting on
Saturday, 8th July from 10:30 to 13:30, with people interested to meet Di Alderdice at
the OHW. Posters will be added to the noticeboards.
Community Pride: Di Alderdice suggested applying for Community Pride Funding
from Stirling Council for tools for working in the OHW. She has looked into what
forms need to be submitted, and it was agreed that any actions from the RCC needed in
the application could be confirmed amongst the RCC members over email, as the next
meeting isn’t until the end of August. Di Alderdice will ask the Riverbank Centre if any
tools could be stored at the secure unit there.
c. Green Space/Zebra Crossing: There are no updates regarding the Green
Space.
Regarding the Zebra Crossings and following the June RRC meeting, Cllr
Thomson inquired into why they had not been delivered during the last financial
year. Carlyn Fraser from Stirling Council emailed the RCC to confirm they had
not been delivered due to a difficulty in securing a contractor and that they are
now due to be delivered this currently financial year.
As noted in the minutes from May, there was a sense of frustration within the
RCC regarding the correspondence with Cllr Gibson concerning the zebra
crossing proposals, particularly that he did not seem aware of the work done by
the previous RCC. Joan Murphy and previous RCC member Emily
McLaughlin, with the approval of the other RCC Office Bearers, send Cllr
Gibson an email voicing this frustrating, copying in the other Stirling
Councillors. The email was sent on 6th June, and no reply has been received.
d. Lover’s Walk: Andrew Fraser noted that the caging around the bridge on
Lover’s Walk is in poor condition, and there is vegetation encroaching upon the
path. The caging is covered in pigeon poo. Fiona Dyet will check with Sue
Dumbleton regarding previous cleanings, as the bridge belongs to Network
Rail, and will contact Stephen Bly.
e. Parking: Joan Murphy reported that there is, in fact, nothing to report regarding
the ongoing parking issues, as the monthly update from Stirling Council was
not received. Andrew Fraser highlighted the Government’s consultation
regarding changes to the enforcement regulations for local authorities, which
can be found here.
f. Imagination Library: Bob Dale has been in contact with the Imagination
Library and is waiting on a return of email.
g. Active Travel: Ashleigh Phillip reported that she now attends the Cycle Stirling
monthly meetings in a different capacity. The Active Travel Newsletter will be
issued on Thursday, 29th June and added to the Riverside WhatsApp Group and
the noticeboards.
h. Planters: Bob Dale has been in contact with the volunteers who tend the various
planters around Riverside, all but one of whom wished to continue with the
upkeep and planting. The sole untended planter has been left with wild
strawberries planted in it and will not need attention until next year.
i. Upcoming Events: Joan Murphy highlighted that the UCI Cycling World
Championships are happening in Scotland this summer, with the Individual
Time Trials happening in Stirling from 9th to 11th August. There will be various
events happening around Stirling at this time. Information will be added to the
noticeboards.
6. AOB
a. Adoption of May’s Minutes: Bob Dale proposed the adoption with no
revisions, and Fiona Dyet seconded.
b. Cllr Gibson: Cllr Gibson emailed to send his apologies for not attending this
evening’s meeting. It was agreed that a brief reply acknowledging the email
would be appropriate, given the discussion above.
c. Next Meeting: Due to the summer holidays, there will be no RCC meeting in
July. Joan Murphy noted that Riverside Primary School has not yet been booked
for the next meeting and questioned whether the Riverbank Centre might be a
better venue. It was agreed that this might be better as it is smaller, but that
Stirling Council will not pay for the venue.
7. Date of Next Meeting: Wednesday, 30th August 2023, 7:15pm. Venue: TBC. Venue
information will be added to the RCC website and the various noticeboards.