Agenda Item :

Acon:

1. Welcome and Apologies :

PM welcomed everyone and introducons were made for the benefit of HS (new minute taker). Apologies given.  

2. Approval of Previous Minutes:

Minutes of 05/09/24,  proposed by NS and seconded by CC. 

3. Minute Taker: 

HS welcomed by all as new minute taker

4. Quesons form Public:

A member of the public has asked about acvity going on in Manse Rd, just beyond the old kirk. There has been a large fence erected and ditches dug. A mini digger and large posts going in. JK confirmed there was nothing in ‘Planning’ regarding change of use or anything similar. Menon made it could be for animal fencing or it may be to do with flood defences. JK said she would make further enquiries.

JK

5. Summary of on-going business:

PM confirmed he raised the issue of poor white linage outside the COOP, car parking area, but has had no response. The double yellow lines on main street have also

virtually disappeared. SC have previously blamed sub-contractors for poor scheduling. This should be followed up. 

PM also menoned that it was unfortunate that the Changing Places Toilets were being closed by Srling Council very early in the evening and not opened again unl the next morning. The whole point of these facilies (constructed at high cost) are for accessibility. Also, the fact they are accessed by Radar Key should be sufficient security. SC have apparently agreed to leave those facilies open on a trial period (to monitor if they are vandalised or not). 

The issue of winter gring was raised. At one point SC said the car park wasn’t going to be done and that the B829 to Kinlochard only during daylight hours. However, this has now been reversed and both the car park and the B829 will now be grited as in previous years. The B829 from Kinlochard to Inversnaid will only be treated in daylight hours (as in previous years).

PM

6. Councillors

GM discussed how the Council are currently focussed on meeng the current £12-16 million gap in the £300 million budget (4-5%). The recent UK budget suggests some extra funds may be raised from the increase in NI revenue. GM pointed out however that since the NI increase would impact the SC employee bill costs any increase in revenue funding may be offset by increased NI contribuons due to be paid by SC.  The Scosh Government Budget is also due on 4^th December with allocaons being announced on 12^th December. 

There are two by-elecons going on (Braehead and Bannockburn) aer Chris Kane stepped down to take up his posion as Labour MP and the death of Margaret Brisley following a short illness.  

The ‘Big Conversaon` connues. In-person workshops will go on though they seem to be concentrang on schools more now.  

GM is aware of a rolling programme of flashing lights in small villages e.g. Brig o`Turk and Port of Menteith, with road circles and red road surfaces. GM is looking for details of where and when. 

Comment was made that SC should priorise remedial work before new work is carried out. Parcular atenon should be made to poor Cats Eyes and White Lines, meaning country lanes are increasingly unsafe for night driving.  

GM

7. Treasurers Report

Opening Balance 14/06/24; £5,772.89 with monies spent largely for Mailchimp, Microso subscripons and minute secretary. Closing Balance 09/10/24; £5,309.03.

Monies due in of £749.87. Conngencies of £818.97 (Community Events Fund & The Field Pledge). This leaves available funds of £5,214.93. See Appendix 1 for full breakdown. 

It was menoned that the Community Events Fund of £318.97 is being held over from previous years. It could be used for this year’s Christmas celebraons for the elderly or for Christmas lights or similar. It may be beter placed in Strathard Community

Development Trust’s funds for focussed allocaon. CC and CR to get together to discuss and possibly transfer funds. 

CC/CR

8. Police Report / Speeding

DK & LD atended for a short me but were called away to an nearby incident. Apologies later received.  

PM read out summaries which included:

04/09 – Disturbance on Lochard Rd

06/09 – A drugs possession warning given on Dukes Pass 12/10 – Suspected Drunk Driver near the Rob Roy – arrested. 

29/10 – Individual refusing to leave licensed premises aer closing me

Various reports of speeding on B829 – speed checks will be introduced

16-17/09 – atempted access to coin machine at 3 lochs car park 01-03/10 – shopliing in Aberfoyle

17/09 – head injury on WHW near Inversnaid. Trossachs Seach & Rescue atended.  

12/10 – traffic incident on Manse Rd, Aberfoyle

13/10 – injury to walker near Ledard Farm

DK will confirm atendance (or otherwise) for December’s meeng.  

The Police Report can be found at Annex 2.

9. Flooding

TW picked up from the discussion about finances to say that if there are any funds available then a good place to invest would be the flooding early warning equipment. Two sensors installed by River Track which SEPA commissioned for a study are sll in place.  TW said they are a reliable way to monitor risk. However, SEPA are no longer funding the kit and it is not being maintained. TW esmates that for £350 p.a. a maintenance contract could be put in place. Gary Marn, the River Track engineer who works largely on his own and relies on public transport to get around, has been maintaining the equipment with support from TW. TW went on to say that while there are things he can do in support of the maintenance the more technical electronic maintenance requires the experse of Gary Marn. TW suggested that perhaps the SCC or SC could fund the maintenance contract.  This was discussed in some detail however both Organisaons were reluctant to take on responsibility and felt that SEPA or SC should fund the equipment going forward.  An acon was taken by CR of SCT to establish which agency was responsible for flood warnings to try and establish the way forward, parcularly as at the moment the SC early warning system is not funconal.   

PM confirms he has access to the Srling Council flood warning alert system and puts noces on Facebook etc.   

DC also confirms he gets warnings from SEPA but struggles to differenate which are relevant to his property (or not)  DC went on to volunteer his help with anything aer a very stressful year pung his property back together aer the last flood.  

TW/CR

All Agencies seem to be pushing back responsibility for service delivery for this (and other areas) into the local communies without any compensang funding the general consensus was that communies may have to push back.  

Further discussion about where Aberfoyle stands in the overall Flood Management Plan. Explanaon of 6 year cycles i.e. 2022-8, 2028-34,2034-2040 and the failure of adequate  cost/benefit rao (BCR) analysis from the Engineers responsible was quesoned by the Flood Group members. 

Observaons include

•       Strathard has already missed the first two cycles and more likely kicked down the road unl 2034-40. 

•       Strathard Framework Group met 17/08/23 when Gail Donald (SEPA) was ‘aconed’ to pursue a Stage 3 funding applicaon to Srling Council. Nothing has happened since then. 

WS has draed a leter from SCC for review. PM asked for it to be circulated to all for comments prior to sending.    

•       Ryan Campbell (Senior Flood Officer, Srling Council) held a meeng 10/11/23 to discuss problems and said they would decide Terms of Reference. Again, DC heard nothing unl 22/10/24 – almost 12 months later!  

An Engineers Report was received aer no consultaon whatsoever. The report suggests work cosng £1.6M, yet it had already been made clear that only £750,000 had been allocated for any works.  WS said that much of the modelling was  incorrect. WS said in his opinion the report was not fit for purpose. WS said that in line with an agreement reached at the Strathard Framework meeng in May 2024 terms of reference should have been writen, assumpons made clear and shared with the Flood Group members and any work proposed only be considered within the stated budget before modelling work commenced. 

More discussion ensued relang to various soluons e.g. building walls, raising the height of the road, widening the gap between the Forth Inn and COOP, alternate barrier soluons.  

WS and RD talked about a soluon in Ironbridge in Somerset involving the installaon of de-mountable plasc barriers. There would be a need for 550 of these to cover the area and would need a squad of people to install them. A rough esmate is circa £165,000 to purchase the kit. They are manufactured in Livingstone and a request was made for support of the SCC to go on a site visit with a view to developing a proposal and assessing viability.   

JK requested a ‘summary of consultaon findings and suggested way forward’, so that a decision can be made, in this regard.  

DC talked about Natural Flood Management methods being developed by Jonathon Lewis of Forth Rivers Trust. The methods focus on sustainability and ecology, so could be atracve to LLTNPA and others. However, any such project would rely heavily on the full engagement of private landowners. 

WS

WS/RD

Further discussion menoned that Ryan Campbell had an allocated £150,000 capital for Aberfoyle Flooding but is waing for ideas on how to spend it. At one point, they were studying `uphill storage’ but nothing has happened since. The BCR issue is raised me and me again, yet there hasn’t been any focussed work on calculang it. For example, the damage to Forth Inn was £500,000 in 2015 and then £800,000 in 2023. The Forth Inn is now closed with the loss of £600,000+ p.a. in revenue and 25 jobs. As far as the Flood Group can ascertain this informaon was not included in any BCR calculaons which seriously underesmated the costs of flooding for Strathard.

JK asked WS to provide an update which could be added to the Strathard Framework

Acon Plan for the next meeng scheduled for Nov 21 2024.

10. Strathard Community Trust and Visitor Centre Update

CR confirms he is now acng Chair following the AGM held in September. The Trust is now well represented with 14 Directors and a broad range of skill sets. It employs one person as a Development Officer. It connues to receive circa £8,500 p.a. from the Loch Ard Hydro Scheme as well as Grant Funding for various projects.  

CR provided an update on Aberfoyle iCentre. With Visit Scotland withdrawing, the centre is scheduled to close in the next few weeks. SC are looking for a new tenant but confirm that The Business Hub on the mezzanine is unaffected. The Community Trust have registered an expression of interest but this has not prevented SC Estates from pung the lease on the open market. This happened in early October with Rent of £19,000 pa and Rates of £14,600. The Trust has no way of meeng this overhead so are up against it when compeng with commercial interests.  

An Accountant has been employed to present a Community Benefit Study and Business Plan which is almost ready. There are some in the village that prefer a commercial ouit as they are more likely to offer employment. The Trust’s focus will be on supporng the Tourist Industry and to display flora and fauna of the area, as well as the history of village. Anything the Trust suggests will be in line with The Aberfoyle Life Plan.  

However, it remains to be seen whether the Trust’s bid will be successful, in light of the commercial interest (apparently) already  received.  The Trust also has the challenge of raising £20,000 start-up capital and £15,000 working capital. Crowd Funding was menoned and The Lotery Infrastructure Fund. Community Land Scotland was also menoned as a possible source of funding.  

CR is looking for a leter of support from SCC. JK requested a short brief on iCentre with ‘Community Benefit’ bullet points so that SCC can make a more informed decision.  

CR

11. Planning

PLANNING REPORT FOR SEPT & OCT 2024

There have been 5 new applications, 5 approvals, 1 refusal during Sept and Oct and we have 2 overdue applications still extant.

Applications

There doesn’t appear to be anything controversial with any of the applications as no comments have been received. Application 2024/0213/HAE is for a 2- story rear extension for No 13 Queens Crescent.  Application 2024/0274/DET is of interest as it is an application to introduce an Axe throwing range and Electrical vehicles for children to drive over different types of terrain. The remaining applications are for various ATV tracks which in some instances do not require prior approval. 

Application 2024/0273/TRE was seeking permission to cut down 4 in no Cedar trees in a conservation area.  Approval has been requested and granted within this period.

Approvals

Included in approvals during this period are the 2 applications for telecoms masts to improve online communications over Kinlochard and surrounding areas.  Application2024/0111/DET  for provision of a mast at Faery Knoll Kinlochard FK8 3TT is still outstanding and overdue.  JK confirmed she is not sure what this means in relation to the other 2 masts which have been approved as she thought that all 3 were required to provide the triangulation required for full coverage.  Application 2024/0011/HAE for a 2 storey extension to The Olde Post cottage on Lochard Road has also been approved in this period.

Refusals

There has only been one refusal during this period for application no

2024/0061/LAW for a certificate of lawfulness for Forest Hills. This was to keep extant planning permission for staff accommodation which had been granted previously but work not started in the prescribed timescales.

Overdue Applications 

As discussed above application 2024/0111/DET for provision of a telecom mast at Faery Knoll is still outstanding and the decision for application 2024/0239/HAE for an extension to Blairuskin Beg is now overdue.

Further details can be found at Annex 3.

12. Life Plans

There is nothing to report since the Local Place Plan was accepted by LLTNP. 

Wendy Faulkner (Chair of the Aberfoyle Community Life Plan Working Group)  has requested the Chairs of the Inversnaid/Stronachlachar and the Kinlochard Community Life Plan Working Groups to use their email lists to increase awareness of an Aberfoyle

Community Life Plan iniave currently underway to collaborate with neighbouring Community Councils to mount a joint applicaon to the Naonal Lotery Climate Acon fund.  Aberfoyle priories in the collaborave effort is to seek funding for:

•       Energy efficiency and retrofitting (insulation, etc) - got the most 'votes' as having the potential to make the biggest impact on emissions and energy use

•       Transport  - also a high priority: discussion around active travel routes, finding rural transport solutions, reducing local and visitor car use

•       Biodiversity - restoration and protection, including removal of Invasive Non Native Species (INNS)

•       Re-use/waste reduction locally - could be part of a community hub that might include a tool library (or run virtually), reducing reasons to travel

•     Flooding - ongoing efforts around alleviation (needs to be promoted), adaptation and resilience.

13. Housing

There is no specific housing update but LM expressed concern of the void houses that SC don’t seem to recognise. There are 2 or 3 that have been empty longer than 6 months. GM says he is happy to take the mater up with SC but will need specific addresses in order to act. LM to provide to GM.

LM/GM

14. AOCB

CC Menoned she has received leter from the bank saying the bank account will migrated to a more modern Community Bank Account with online banking. Although this is good news there was menon of it incurring bank charges. CC will update SCC as soon as more informaon is received.  

PM Confirmed that ‘Roads’, another agenda item will be carried forward to the December meeng. Other November agenda items to be considered next me include LLTNPA and FLS maters.  

15. Date of Next Meeng

The next meeng is to take place at Abefoyle Business Hub on 5^th December 2024 at 19.00.  

                                                                                                                £              

£

General Fund opening Bank balance 14^th June 2024                                  

Monies out 

5772.89

Claire Graham – Microsoft (April 2023 - Aug 2023, Jan 2024)  

(125.64)

                Claire Graham – Microsoft (May 2024)                   

(21.24)

Claire Graham – Microsoft (March 2023 – reissued)  

(19.44)

                Mailchimp and Microsoft                              

(101.18)

                Mailchimp and Microsoft                              

(36.74)

                Mailchimp and Microsoft                              

(39.62)

                Minute secretary August                               

(50.00)

Minute secretary September (remote) 

(40.00)

                Scotways Subscription                                    

(30.00)                   

Monies in                                                                             

0.00

General Fund closing Bank balance 9^th Oct 2024

Subsequent expected expenditure / income

5309.03             

                Aberfoyle Memorial Hall (May)                  

(25.00) 

Admin and minute taker grant 2024/25 

+749.87

Total subsequent spend / income                              

 +724.87                                 

Balance minus subsequent spend / income since 9^th Oct 2024

Less Commitments 

 6033.90

                Community Events Fund                                                   

318.97                    

                SCC commitment to field buy out                              

500.00                    

Available Funds                                                                                 

5214.93

Trossachs and Teith Ward, 

Strathard Community Council hello@ccstrathard.org

03/09/24 to 03/11/24 Compiled by PC Lorna Deans

Ward Plan Priories

Ansocial Behaviour 

You are concerned about ansocial behaviour including drunken behaviour. 

On 04/09/24 a disturbance occurred on Lochard Road, Aberfoyle.  As a result, one person has been reported to the procurator fiscal.

On 06/09/24 whilst officers were on mobile patrol on A821 Dukes Pass, they had reason to stop a vehicle.  A small quanty of controlled drugs was recovered and one person was issued with a recorded police warning.  

On 26/10/24 police were called to a licence premise in Aberfoyle aer a person refused to leave. On police arrival, the person le and no offences were reported.