March 2024 Minutes

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Riverside Community Council Public Meeting Minutes Riverside Primary School

Date: 27th March 2024

 

Members Present

In Attendance

Apologies

Joan Murphy

Di Alderdice

Fiona Berrow

Fiona Dyet

Andrew Fraser

Chara Parraco

Jude Treliving

Cllr Gibson

Lorna Smith

Parvin Morrissey

Pat Morrissey

 

Bob Dale

Michaela Jackson

 

Ashleigh Philips

7 residents

 

Carol Robertson

 

 

 

Minutes

Actions

1.  Welcome

Joan Murphy welcomed everyone to Riverside Primary School (RPS).

 

2.  Declarations of Interest

No Declaration of Interest was recorded.

 

3.  Approval of Previous Minutes

Minutes for February adopted. Fiona Dyet proposed; Carol Robertson seconded.

 

4.     Matters Arising from previous minutes not to be addressed within the meeting

a.     Signage at Lovers Walk: Advanced warning signs have been approved regarding the height restriction of the railway bridge. They will be added on both the Dean Crescent and Forth Street approaches of Lovers Walk.

 

b.     Re-surfacing Work: From the roundabout at Millar Place to the junction at Lovers Walk is to be re-surfaced. Alexandra Place will be re-surfaced during the school holidays. Work will commence on 18th April and local residents will be informed regarding parking restrictions by letter.

c.     Shore Road Crossing: A number of issues with the crossing of Shore Road and Goosecroft Road were raised at the February Riverside Community Council (RCC) meeting. Cllr Nunn has replied to the issues raised and the road safety audit raised similar concerns.

 

5.  Reports

 

a.  Chair

Stirling Summer Sessions: Taking place between Thursday 27th June and Tuesday 2nd July 2024. More information to be found at: https://www.smmrsessions.com/locations/stirling

 

 

Wallace High: Wallace High’s Under-18s Girls Football Team are competing in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden on Thursday 9th May 2024.

Flooding: SEPA have opened a consultation regarding flooding, running from 25th March 2024 to 24th June 2024. It can be accessed here: https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/evidence-and- flooding/potentially-vulnerable- areas/?utm_source=mailing&utm_medium=mail&utm_campaign=cc

 

Criminal Waste: SEPA have also issued new advice for avoiding criminal fly tippers posing as legitimate businesses. Advice includes being sceptical of:

-  offers of cheap or same day waste collection

-  claims of ‘SEPA insured’ collections, as this does not exist

-  only being contacted through Direct Messaging

Full information can be found at www.sepa.org.uk/flytipping

 

b.     Secretary:

Police Report: There was no Police report available.

Dean Crescent: There will be two 20mph signs installed on Dean Crescent. Fiona Dyet has reported the broken wooden bollards on the grass verge to Stirling Council.

 

Bowling Alley: The leak on Forth Street mentioned in previous meetings has not yet been addressed and is still leaking.

 

c.     Treasurer Income:

There was no income this month.

 

Expenditure:

Magnets for the noticeboards totalling £9.99.

 

6.  Active Travel

Michaela Jackson from Stirling Council gave a short presentation regarding the North East Stirling Active Travel Plans, particularly regarding connecting Ladysneuk Road to Forthside via Riverside.

Michaela Jackson noted that nothing is yet finalised regarding plans for Active Travel and the Forthside Development, but as the project is expected to move quickly Stirling Council want to create a Community Advisory Group (CAG) to make sure the residents of Riverside are happy with the connections once proposed. Any resident from Riverside or Cambuskenneth can join the CAG; contact Michaela Jackson (jacksonmi@stirling.gov.uk).

Michaela Jackson highlighted that one area for considerable attention is the limited size of the Shore Road bridge. Integrating a dedicated Active Travel space will likely prove to be tricky and

 

 

many different solutions are currently being considered.

 

Q: How will the Active Travel lane into Forthside from Riverside be monitored?

MJ: Likely by ANPR cameras.

 

Q: Are there any developments in the plan for the Green Space (the space over the bridge, opposite the student flats)?

MJ: The work that RCC has put into a potential plan for this area will be taken into account, as a clear cycle route and clear pedestrian route through this space is needed.

 

Q: Is there an educative element to the work that is being done? MJ: This consultation is about infrastructure, but SUSTRANS is looking at behaviour-change and Stirling Council works with schools to teach safe and respectful cycling.

Q; Is there any provision for maintaining the new cycle paths? MJ: The funding for this project is for creation, not maintenance.

Ideally the cycle paths would be swept, but funding is not secure yet, but there is potential for funding from Transport for Scotland.

 

Q: Is there any news about the School Streets project? For children using Active Travel on their way to school, the streets around the RPS are often the most dangerous.

MJ: There seems to be hesitancy within Stirling Council to make the School Streets project go forward. With RPS being the hub for the Gaelic medium and for Autism provision, there will always be a need for some cars.

 

7.     Sub-Groups

a.     Planning: A new programme, called RAMPS, created to track specific planning applications on specific dates in order to follow their progress more transparently.

b.     Active Travel: SUSTRANS Walking and Cycling Index for Stirling has been published. It reports that 18 million trips by cycling, wheeling or on foot were made in Stirling in 2023, with an economic benefit of £27.2 million. Visualised data broken down by various demographics can be found at www.sustrans.org.uk/walking- cycling-index

 

c.     Environment:

Gritting: The gritting equipment is now being stored at the Riverbank Centre; thanks to Pamela and Iain for their accommodation and help. The grit bins are yet to be delivered and installed; Cllr Gibson said he would follow this up.

Planters: RCC has been award a £600 seed grant, which will be used to fill the planters. Bob Dale proposed the money be spent on a watering backpack, compost, maintenance tools and bulbs. Anything

 

 

left over will be spent on wildflower seeds.

 

Copper Beech: A resident brought to attention a copper beech tree in the neighbouring Stirling Council owned property’s garden which is growing too large and too close to their own private property.

 

d. Old Harbour Woods (OHW): The last event, clearing snowberries, went well. CSET have (not actually sure if the funding has been approved or if it has just been submitted?) £10,000 funding, supporting the work already started in the OHW. The plan includes promoting woodland health, opening up the ground layer and coppicing trees as well as installing interpretation boards and adding picnic benches. It is unclear how the Forthside Master Plan will impact the OHW, but work is being planned under the assumption that the more work is completed, the more likely the woodland will be protected.

- Fiona Dyet to contact Stephen Bly to see what can be done.

8.  Local Groups:

Riverside Bowling Club: RBC has obtained a Bowlsmark Bronze Award from Bowls Scotland, recognising good standards in safe development and good governance. Their opening day will be Saturday 13th April from 2pm, with a Try Bowls Event on 27th April from noon.

Treelink: Treelink are having a Spring Gathering on 27th April (09:45-12.15) at Stirling Guild Hall.

 

Riverside Naturally: RN have recently given out 21 apple trees to Riverside residents to be planted this Spring. There will be a Blossom Afternoon Tear at the Orchard on 28th April, with more information on the RCC noticeboards.

 

9.  OAB

Litter Pick: The last pick yielded 9 bags of rubbish and various household goods. The next meeting will be on 6th April, with information notices displayed around Riverside.

Forthside: It was proposed to add the Forthside Development as a regular point of discussion in RCC meetings going forward. The masterplan for the work at Forthside can be found here: https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/forthsidemasterplan

 

Next meeting: Wednesday, 24th April 2024. Venue: RPS.