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Riverside Community Council Public Meeting Minutes
Riverside Primary School
Date: 26th June 2024
Members Present In Attendance Apologies
Joan Murphy Di Alderdice Lorna Smith
Fiona Dyet Andrew Fraser Parvin Morrissey
Jude Treliving Cllr Nunn Pat Morrissey
Bob Dale PCs Hunter and Spike
Fiona Berrow Chara Parraco
Ashleigh Philips 10 residents
Carol Robertson
Minutes Actions
1. Welcome
Joan Murphy welcomed everyone to Riverside Primary School (RPS) and
introduced Judi Legg as a new Associate RCC member for the Old Harbour
Woods (OHW).
Good news of the month: according to a University of Exeter study of over
1000 people over the age of 40, playing a musical instrument or singing in
a choir can lead to improved memory and thinking skills in old age.
2. Declarations of Interest
No Declaration of Interest was recorded.
3. Approval of Previous Minutes
Minutes for May adopted. Fiona Dyet proposed; Joan Murphy seconded.
4. Matters Arising from previous minutes not to be addressed within
the meeting
None.
5. Reports
a. Chair
Cornton CC: Joan Murphy and Fiona Dyet recently met with Stuart
Meldrum, the new head of the Cornton Community Council, and is
hopeful to collaborate on projects in the future.
Forthside Master Plan: A meeting with residents of Riverside and
Sharon Marklow from Stirling Council took place on Friday 21st June.
Joan Murphy thought that the meeting went well and that Sharon
Marklow was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the project.
There is no final plan yet and the design guide is still very fluid. The
full minutes of the meeting can be found here attached at the end of
these minutes.
Joan Murphy gave a short summary of those minutes at the meeting:
MOD Site: There has been lots of interest in Stirling Studios and hope
is that it will be used ASAP. There will be work done to create
additional access to the site via the road by the Skoda garage. Stirling
Council are aware of concerns regarding parking, noise, pollution and
carbon creation. Cllr Nunn mentioned the carbon saving of using the
existing buildings.
Housing: There is an ongoing discussion with planners about the mix of
houses and flats in the development, with no plans currently out to
architects.
Sustainability: There will be a separate meeting organised by Judi Legg
with Stirling Council, Treelink and Riverside Naturally regarding
sustainability and the Old Harbour Woods.
Road Safety: The road currently most commonly used which passes by
Toast and the Vue Cinema will be accessible only for bikes, taxis and
buses. Andrew Fraser again raised concerns about the junction where
the proposed road for cars meets Shore Road, which Sharon Marklow
said is part of the traffic survey currently happening.
The next meeting with Sharon Marklow will be Wednesday, 21st
August at 6pm at Teith House. Any further questions, contact
riversidecommunitycouncil@gmail.com and the RCC will pass on to
Sharon Marklow via Stephen Bly. This system means that all questions
and issues are kept track of and replied to.
b. Secretary:
Yellow Lines: Proposal to add further double yellow lines on Forth
Street and down Shore Road have been turned down by Stirling
Council.
Forth Street: The ongoing leak is to be sorted within 28 days of the 7th
of June.
Grit Bins: The long-awaited grit bins have been promised by next
winter.
Waverley Park: The long grass which was hindering access for
buggies and wheelchairs has now been cut lower.
School Streets: There is no funding for pursuing the project further.
Giant Hogweed: The problem is ongoing throughout Riverside and
there is a particularly bad patch on Dean Crescent. Cllr Nunn assured
RCC that any hogweed found on Stirling Council land has been dealt
with but will contact Cowane’s Trust regarding their land.
Potholes: The resurfacing work on the underpass between Riverside
and Tesco seems unsatisfactory as it has left an uneven, blotchy
surface. Cllr Nunn explained the new risk-based approach to road
defects, where a hole in the middle of the road is deemed to be less
risky and is less prioritised compared to one at the edge of a road which
is more likely to endanger cyclists and damage cars.
Payphone: RCC was given the opportunity to purchase the payphone
on Millar Place for £1 to be used to house a defibrillator. There is
currently a defibrillator just around the corner from the phone on
Abbey Road and it cannot be used for a book swap or community
pantry.
Pavement Parking: From 15th July 2024, Stirling Council will ban
pavement parking.
Plant Swap: At Cambuskenneth Village Hall, Sunday 7th July at 2pm.
Remembering Together: Giving space to reflect on the impact of
COVID, there will be an event as part of the national Remembering
Together campaign at the Riverbank Centre on Friday 5th July, 11
13:30. Complimentary refreshments provided.
First Aid Training: Fiona Dyet has been in touch with the Bowls Club
for a First Aid course. Date and price unclear as yet, but will be
advertised on the Riverside WhatsApp group when known.
Police Report: 2 reports: 1 detected and 1 undetected, relating to minor
vandalism and assault on a minor. There were 11 calls, mostly related
to seeking assistance for members of the public.
c. Treasurer
There was no income or expenditure this month. The annual accounts
are being checked and Fiona Berrow will meet in July to get them
signed off.
.
Joan
Murphy
to follow
this up.
6. Sub-Groups
a. Planning: No news.
b. Active Travel: Reminder than both Recyke-a-bike and Forth
Environment Link offer free loans of various ebikes. More information
can be found at https://www.recyke-a-bike.co.uk/hire-a-bike and
https://felscotland.org/bike-library/
c. Environment:
Planters: Most of the replanted planters are doing well and have lilies
emerging, with two needing a top up.
Litter Pick: The litter picking equipment is being used regularly. The
recent litter pick with McDonalds employees went well, yielding 24
bags of litter. They have offered to join in on future community events.
d. OHW: Joan Murphy mentioned that the giant nettles at this time of
year can create an unpleasant environment in the OHW, which is
something which will hopefully be addressed when a management plan
is developed with Stirling Council. Cllr Nunn asked DA for further
information about a suggested management plan for the woods.
e. Roads and Parking: Andrew Fraser raised concerns about the
proposed plan to remove the mini roundabout on Abbey Road as part of
the new cycle path. Ashleigh Philip has used the fixmystreet app (also
available at fixmystreet.com) to report issues on Shiphaugh Place and
has found it particularly useful to highlight when it is a danger to bikes.
7. OAB
Forthside: The plan for the Forthside Development can be found here:
https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/forthsidemasterplan
Jo Miller led everyone in a song to finish, promising to lead a round at
the next meeting.
Next meeting: Wednesday, 28th August 2024. Venue: RPS.
Minutes of Riverside community meeting with Sharon Marklow, SC planner and lead on
Forthside masterplan and development. 21.06.24 12.00 noon
Present: Judi Legg (JL), Joan Murphy (JM), Ashleigh Phillips (AP), Andrew Fraser (AF), Tor
Mackay (TM), Imogen Scott (IS), Andy Cloquet (AC), Danny Murphy (DM), Paul Dumbleton
(PD), Gillian Armstrong (GA), Sharon Marklow (SM).
1. Welcome & intro
SM thanked the group for their attendance. She reported that the situation with the
plans and Design Guide is still very fluid with lots of separate moving parts and lots of
‘asks’ from/for particular features. SM also stated that the “final” masterplan is not final
and there will still be chance to comment on the next version.
Brian Roberts, interim Chief Executive is leading on this project.
2.
MOD site/ Stirling Studios
There is a lot of interest from the film industry to lease the buildings (Ti
meline -see photos attached). The proposed housing in front of the existing MOD
site is currently being reconsidered due to the development of the new film
studio but nothing will encroach on the existing greenspace, along the riverfront,
as at that point, there is lots of existing infrastructure services, including the
district heating pipes. There is currently consideration of raising the height of
the large MOD building to accommodate a range of filming needs, although
there is still great interest in the site from the film industry if the adaption is not
made to the height. There is currently a consideration of the amount of homes
that can be built on the site. The site is in the current Local Development Plan for
250 units. There is also consideration of the number of homes on this brownfield
site as well as the return on selling the land for new homes. Access to the film
studio will likely incur a large number of additional vehicles requiring access to
the new film studio site. Concerns were expressed by a number of attendees re
possible parking, helicopters, noise pollution etc. An early piece of work will be
to open up the road between the Skoda garage and the MOD site to allow
development.
Most of the buildings within the MoD site will be retained.
JL asked how certain impacts including the dirty water runoff from hard surfacing
would be offset. SM acknowledged this needed further consideration.
TM asked about potential bottleneck of traffic within Riverside and SM is aware
of the issue.
TM also said that park & ride could be an option to dissipate increased traffic.
SM reported that there is much interest in the new Stirling Studios from the
hospitality and technical studies etc. departments at Stirling College.
AC raised the issue of exclusion zones out with the Studios site for filming and
SM reassured that there are a large number of agencies including H&SE, SEPA as
well as the Council who will give the permissions or otherwise for this.
SM reported some thinking about making the existing park & ride smaller to
increase space for other usages, citing limited current usage. The roundabout
providing access into the car park is also likely to change.
JL asked whether film companies applying to lease the new studios would be
asked by the Council to interrogate their sustainability plans. SM answered in the
affirmative.
3.
4.
Housing
There is on-going consideration of the proposed new housing along the
riverfront and the space requirements for servicing, parking, green space,
residential amenity, ensuring the success of the film studios and ensuring that
there is good connectivity around and through the site.
There was talk of any new child residents of the scheme going to both Braehead
and Riverside Primary School.
SM stated that flats are, in general, not suitable for social housing and that her
preference was for a mixed community with different types of housing that also
blend into the commercial buildings.
TM commented that the Riverside Quay building was too tall and met with
unanimous agreement.
JM asked if any contracts had yet gone to architects and SM confirmed that they
had not.
SM agreed that many of the drawings in the Design Guide are contradictory and
this was caused by things moving very quickly with no time to update all
drawings This is something that the Council will pick up on through finalising the
documents.
SM stated there is no money as yet for the development of the Town Square.
JL requested more/grouped trees in the Square.
The Engine Shed want to extend their property towards the town. JM asked if
the Engine Shed would re-open to the public but there are no plans at present
but SM would raise the issue with them again.
Old Harbour Woods, Woodland & Natural Environment
As there are number of issues to be discussed relating to this, JM requested a
separate meeting for interested parties to discuss plans for the woodland and
greenspace areas. SM agreed and JL will co-ordinate getting a date for the
meeting with Riverside Naturally, OHW group, TreeLink and SM.
PD asked about the site currently fenced with broken heras fencing and JL stated
the dangers to children and problem with unmanaged invasive species. SM said
she did not know if the Council could get the fencing removed as the ownership
is not known.
JL asked if SM knew who in the Council was being asked about the deferred
funding application which the RCC OHW group had made to the CSET grant fund.
SM said to give the funders her email address and she would find out.
5.
Other issues
TM asked about the potential for existing buildings across to be utilized including
The Prudential building.
IS pointed out the importance of creating a ‘sense pf place’ with references to the
cultural history of the area perhaps being shown through art or sculpture trails.
There was general agreement.
AF queried the apparently continuing use of the T-junction nearest the railway
bridge. It appears to be sub- standard to an extent which is potentially
dangerous, and should have been closed before the first of the Forthside
developments went ahead. SM said this was part of a current traffic survey and
assessment and still awaiting the results.
AF asked why, on p103 of the plan, the Hydrogen Strategy has been dismissed in the
document. SM replied she would revisit this.
AF noted that there was no mention of the needs of elderly or disabled people
in the Masterplan, although there was reference to “accessibility”. He was
concerned about the standards to which the proposed housing might be built -
thinking, for instance of door widths, room dimensions, etc. SM indicated that
a proportion of Stirling Council’s housing might take that into account, but
could give no assurance concerning private developers’ intentions. And that
she would take this into consideration.
AF said that more parking was needed and AP stated 40% of Stirling’s population
have no access to a car and that the emphasis on active travel within this
development was proportionate. Several people agreed and that multiple car
ownership per family is not helpful.
AF stated that the bi-directional cycle tracks proposed on pages 126,127 of the Plan
are dangerous, that people don’t know what to do on these and that they are not
now used across Europe. SM said this was under review.
SM stated that she can be contacted direct rather than via Stephen Bly but RCC will keep
channeling all comments also through Stephen Bly as some comments should potentially
be fielded to other officers.
It was agreed that regular meetings with SM would take place every 2 months with the
next meeting taking place on Wednesday, August 21st, at 6pm at Teith House
JM thanked SM for her time and energy and SM said that receiving regular comments was
very helpful and would lead to a better design.