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MINUTES
Meeting Monday 2nd October 2023 in the Village Club
Final
Members Present: - Julie Hutchison; Andrew Thompson; Grace Edmonds;
Rob Davies; Pamela Lee.
In attendance: Councillor Gerry McGarvey M Vass SCDT+ 3 residents
Apologies: Graeme Kemsley, John Gray: Kate Ramsden
(SC = Stirling Council. CC = Community Council. CDT= Community Development Trust * Denotes an action)
1. Welcome from the Chair and declarations of Interest
JH welcomed everybody to the meeting.
There were no declarations of interest.
2. Minutes of September meeting and matters arising.
The minutes had been circulated to all CC members and were accepted. Proposed JH, Seconded RD
Matters arising: JH noted that when thanking Greens for installing the defibrillator we neglected to mention the major role played by TSAR in organising the
purchase and West Group Technical Services who installed it free of charge.
JH contacted Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust about the treatment of Himalayan
Balsam in the village. She will meet Fergus McFarlane to check on the treated
patch beside the river.
The street furniture at the top of Station Road has finally been removed. JH
said that we owe thanks to Stephen Bly at SC for his efforts on our behalf.
GE contacted the Police regarding speeding on the A81. They are aware and
are monitoring the situation.
3. Minutes of April meeting
SC has requested that we formally accept the minutes of the April meeting
although we are a new CC.
The minutes were circulated and duly accepted.
Proposed AT, Seconded JH
4. Co-option of new members
Eleanor Balfour and Ian Boardley had been accepted as eligible to be CC
members by SC
Eleanor was proposed by GE, Seconded by PL
Ian was proposed by JH, Seconded by AT
They were elected unanimously by the CC members present and welcomed
by JH. They then joined the CC.
5. Police Report
We did not receive a Police report this month.
A resident in the Dunglass area of the village contacted us regarding an intruder in gardens. GE will pass this on to PC McNulty.
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6. Local Place Plans
JG was not present at the meeting so the discussion on Place Plans has been
postponed until next month. JH encouraged CC members to read the slides
JG has circulated. We will set a date to discuss the questionnaire when JG
returns.
7. Big Conversation
GE attended a public meeting at the library to allow residents to highlight issues to SC. She reported our ongoing issues with non-emergency ambulances taking patients to Forth Valley Hospital and highlighted the agreement between Forth valley and Greater Glasgow Health Boards.
8. Elected Member’s Report
GMcG prefers to deal with issues as they arise rather than giving a report on
general issues.
He noted that there are no EV charging points in the village. There were supposed to be some at the new library, but it was not ready in time. GMcG will
look into this issue.
RD asked about the huge savings that SC needs to make this year. Drymen
and Balfron libraries feel that they are under threat of closure but GMcG said
that no decisions on closures have been taken.
He said that residents should be aware that there will be no bail out for councils this year. RD mentioned that the council has assets that could be sold.
Finding companies willing to develop these is problematic.
GMcG said that the council policy of compulsory redundancies might not be
sustainable in the long term.
He asked us to let it be known to the community that there will be cuts to services this year.
9. Planning and Licensing
There was no planning report as JG was not present. He had indicated to CC
members that there were no problematic applications this month apart from
an enquiry about Troughstone Cottage. We have already commented on this.
Several residents in Milndavie Road have voiced concerns about the field opposite the new builds at Blue Risk. Despite the flats being largely complete
the field has not been cleared of building debris. Residents are concerned that
the field will become a brownfield site and therefore be eligible for building rather than part of the Green Belt which it currently is. JH will forward residents’
emails to JG who will look into the issue.
10. Finance
PL reported the problems she has been having trying to transfer the bank accounts to on-line banking. These are ongoing, but she hopes to resolve the
problem before too long.
Current Account - £2822.76
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Saver - £1376.44
We have received our Admin Grant of £497.87
11. Correspondence
There was no correspondence this month.
12. AOCB
JH has heard from a resident who runs a breast-feeding clinic in the Kirk
Rooms. She asked if we know of any way, she can raise funds to pay the
rent. JH asked the meeting for ideas. RD suggested that the elected members
might be able to help.MV suggested that she could speak to the library where
one room is free for residents to use. JH will suggest this to her.
JH responded to a request from SC about the standard of our Polling Station,
saying that we have all the necessary amenities.
JH spoke to Steven Robertson from Land Services about overgrown hedges
in the village. They will meet to do a walk round. GE mentioned that the trees
on Danny’s Brae are so overgrown that the path is dangerous during hours of
darkness.
JH said that we have notification of a further closure of the B821, Cuilt Road,
for a week.
TSAR has reported that the defibrillator at the Edmonstone Hall is now obsolete and could not be repaired if it breaks down.
MV said that the Paths Group want to raise the issue of Milndavie Glen which
is in a dreadful condition. It is owned by SC. The Paths Group is concerned
that if they make too much fuss about it SC will decide to close the path and
they asked if the CC could enquire about any plans to improve it. We will do
this. GMcG suggested that we also contact Tracy McFall at Stirling Area Enterprise who might be able to help.
MV asked us to encourage residents to join the SCDT.
JH said that we plan to continue producing the BVB every two months at present.
13. Date of next meeting
November 6th, 2023
Contact us at contact@strathblanecc.org.uk Also on our website
www.strathblanecc.org.uk. Telephone numbers for Community Councillors are on the notice boards, in the library and in the Blane Valley Bulletin