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Trossachs Community Council
Approved Minutes of the Meeting held in Brig O’ Turk Village Hall
At 7:30pm on Thursday 11th April 2024
Present:
In Attendance:
Apologies:
Residents:
Richard Morris (Chair), James Hill (Vice-Chair), Sue Morris
(Secretary/Planning), Liz Maxwell, Roger Drapper, Christine Blue.
David Fettes (National Park Representative), Councillor Martin Earl
(Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party), Esther Lim (Minute Taker)
None
One member of the public was present.
1. Welcome and Apologies
The Chair welcomed attendees to the meeting and gave the apologies.
2. Approval of Minutes and Action Tracker
2.1
2.2
Approval of Minutes
The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting held on 8th February 2023 were approved
having been proposed by Roger Drapper (RD) and seconded by Christine Blue
(CB).
Action Tracker
Action 6.1
Action 6.2
Action 6.3
Action 6.4
Action 6.5
Action 6.6
Action 6.7
Completed
On-going
Completed
Sue Morris (SM) didn’t speak to Callander CDT regarding this as
the information is available on their website. Councillor Martin Earl
(ME) suggested looking at the criteria used by Kilmadock Windfarm
Trust.
The community funding process and selection criteria will be an
agenda item at the next TCC meeting. [Action: Richard Morris]
Completed
Completed
James Hill (JH) has drafted an application for additional funding
and will submit this tomorrow.
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Action 6.8 No update. SM will chase again.
Action 6.9 Onsite Meeting, Ben Venue Car Park
SM, CB, Liz Maxwell (LM) attended an onsite meeting. They
questioned the need for 3 disabled spaces as this is a hill path and
suggested a mixed ability space instead. This was overruled.
Members feel the turning space for the shuttle bus is too small and
suggested the big space next to the car park might be a better
option. Overall, members found the meeting frustrating as the
National Park (NP) did not appear to appreciate their input despite
inviting them to attend.
The NP is trying to encourage visitors to travel to the Park on public
transport from areas such as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Members
expressed their scepticism at the feasibility of this due to the time it
would take to get to the park, the limitations of the scheduled buses
and the time it takes to climb the Ben. They could see the potential
benefit of a shuttle bus for local residents and workers and felt
marketing the route to areas such as Callander, Aberfoyle and Brig
o’ Turk would be more effective. They also expressed the view that
3 buses a day was inadequate.
Members applauded the efforts of the National Park to get the
shuttle-bus service off the ground and felt progress is being made.
RM asked ME and David Fettes (DF) to provide TCC with concrete
information such as timings, pricing, projected user numbers and
the number of drivers. They requested that any data collected be
shared with TCC. [Action: Councillor Earl and David Fettes]
Action 6.10 Completed
Action 6.11 Completed
Action 6.12 Completed
Action 6.13 Completed
Action 6.14 Completed
Action 6.15 SM and JH to action.
Action 6.16 Completed.
Action 6.17 On the agenda.
Action 6.18 Completed. To be monitored going forward.
Action 6.19 RD noted he had recently been informed by email that security
cameras have to be removed from holiday properties. RD will
forward the email to SM. [Action: Roger Drapper]
Action 6.20 On the agenda.
3.
Police Report
No police officers were in attendance. A police report was forwarded to TCC prior to the
meeting but there were no reported incidents for this period.
SM queried whether the ‘areas of concern’ included in the report were still relevant to Brig
O’ Turk. She proposed asking the police where these priorities come from and to find out
when the next consultation on the Local Policing Plan will take place.
[Action: Sue Morris]
4.
5.
Finance Report
The Treasurer provided the Finance Report.
As of 19th January the balance of TCC funds was £15,829.13. This includes a payment of
£1,905 from the Hydro Fund. There are a number of outstanding bills to pay, which RD will
undertake.
RD has received the new card reader, card and pin numbers. These need to be taken to a
cash machine for activation. [Action: Roger Drapper]
Stirling Council (SC) Report
5.1
5.2
Councillor Martin Earl (ME) gave the SC Report and highlighted the following:
Committee Activity: A new cultural strategy was endorsed today. The Children
and Young Person’s committee is meeting next week.
New Chief Executive: Carol Beattie, the current Chief Executive is leaving the
council at the end of May and the process of selecting her replacement is
underway.
Loch Katrine Road: Large, permanent LED signs are to be installed on either
end of the road warning users of bad weather conditions. Scottish Water are not
required to consult on this as no planning permission is needed. Some local
businesses have expressed concern that this will deter visitors. ME suggested
they contact the CCs if they are concerned. SM will keep on eye on this.
SM asked ME to explain in simple terms how local residents will be impacted by the
recent cuts to local services. ME highlighted the following:
Increases to garden waste charges.
Increases to parking charges.
The cancellation of the P5 swimming programme.
A 5% decrease in leisure centre funding.
A doubling of council tax for second homes. ME clarified that this does not
affect business properties such as Airbnb and holiday rentals. Members queried
the situation when a property is used both as a second home and a rental
property. RM asked ME to find out what percentage of time a property must be
rented out commercially for it not to be classed as a second home. [Action:
Councillor Earl]
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ME confirmed that there have not been staff cuts at Aberfoyle nursery and the staff
to child ratio will be maintained.
5.3
6.
Liz Maxwell queried why the surfacing on Milton straight had not been carried out.
SM agreed to submit an enquiry. [Action: Sue Morris]
National Park (NP) Report
David Fettes (DF) provided the following update:
Work on the Gartmore House Core Paths has been completed and the paths are open.
A new paths guide has been produced for the Killearn trails / Acharn forest.
The NP are in process of creating a parkwide interactive map. There is currently no
funding for this. Members discussed whether work on the map could be financed by
company sponsorship.
Tay Forest is one of 5 places currently being considered as a new national park. If it is
granted NP status, it would join up geographically with the Loch Lomond and
Trossachs NP, potentially creating a huge national park.
The new Visitor Management Plan is out.
Visit Scotland is closing all its visitor centres including Aberfoyle. Members discussed
whether Aberfoyle could have a community-run visitor centre similar to the one in
Callander.
ME confirmed that the public toilets in Aberfoyle will stay open
An options paper will be presented at the next SC meeting on 2nd May regarding the
future of the C60 bus route. One option is for SC to run the route itself. DF will be
writing to the National Park asking them to make a statement about the impact of the
loss of the C60 route on sustainable transport within the park. He asked TCC to do the
same. SM agreed to write to the NP asking for their point of view. SM will cc local
councillors so they can add their support to maintaining this route. [Action: Sue
Morris]
7.
Discussion
7.1
Local Place Plan (LPP) Discussion and Decisions
Following the community engagement session on 2nd March, Kelly Clapperton (KC)
has summarised residents’ responses and produced interactive maps. James Hill
(JH) will send the spreadsheet and map links to TCC and TCT members for their
comments. Members should be able to use the Google account and password to
access the maps. If he has time, JH will download the maps onto Word and send
round. [Action: James Hill].
KC will hold a consultation with the children in the village and another group and
will combine all feedback to create a draft LPP which will be circulated for
comment. The plan is to submit the LPP to the National Park in June. The final
deadline is July 2024.
James will submit an application shortly for funding for milestones 3 and 4 of the
LPP process. If this is unsuccessful, TCC will pay the shortfall.
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7.2
Roads
TCC has been notified of planned roadworks in Aberfoyle and Stronachlachar.
7.3
7.4
7.5
Funding
7.3.1
7.3.2
Community Funding Process
This item has moved to the agenda of the next TCC meeting in June.
Garden Funding
Jennifer spoke to LM regarding potential funding for gardens. Members
suggested she contact Kelly at Forth Environment Link and attend the
meeting on 20th April (see item 7.6.3 below).
Planning
7.4.1
7.4.2
7.4.3
Fencing, Dundarroch House
The retrospective planning application for fencing at Dundarrach has been
approved.
Caravan/Hut, Achray Farm
Members discussed this application and agreed to ask for the following
conditions to be applied without which they would object to the application:
the plot cannot be sold off as a separate lot
the hut can only be used for worker accommodation, not as a holiday
rental
no additional alterations should be made once the application is
approved
[Action: Sue Morris]
Mast
SM has asked for details of coverage. SM will chase the application for the
other mast. [Action: Sue Morris]
Roads Working Group (RWG) Report
CB provided an update on the RWG. The RWG met with Angela McGibbon (AM)
of the roads department to discuss signage and traffic issues. AM confirmed that
reducing the speed limit on the main road is not an option as it goes against
government policy. AM suggested the introduction of calming measures and more
relevant signage. She currently has no staff but will send out the first new person
to survey the site and provide recommendation to the TCC. These will be put out to
the village for consultation. The recommendations will be ranked in order of what is
most important to community members in case there is not the budget for all the
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recommendations. Any work is likely to take place in the 2025/6 financial year. An
update to be put in The Bicycle Tree.
7.6
7.7
7.8
Report from Trossachs Community Trust (TCT) / Welfare Association
No further update. The broadband contract still hasn’t been found.
RM is still keen to have a meeting between TCT and TCC to discuss of how the
TCC and CT can best work together. LM will let RM know when the next TCT
meeting is. [Action: Liz Maxwell]
Communication
7.7.1
7.7.2
7.7.3
7.7.4
7.7.5
SM has been informed of cycle event going through the village with c. 200
cyclists planning to use the tearoom.
SEPA are conducting an online Potentially Vulnerable Areas (PVA) Survey
and are requesting Community Council members to participate. SM will
send the information to LM. [Action: Sue Morris]
FEL Scotland are holding a Climate Action Hub Launch on 20th April in
Callander.
Stirling Community Enterprise are hosting a Conversation Café with
Stirling Palliative and End of Life Care on Thursday 25th April from 2-4pm.
Stirling Council has become the first council in Scotland to be awarded
White Ribbon Status by White Ribbon Scotland. It has produced a quantity
of beer mats promoting their message which are available for pubs free of
charge on request.
Village Litter Pick
This will take place on Saturday 20th April, starting at 10 am at the Village Hall.
Members agreed the following roles:
RM will organise the litter pick. [Action: Richard Morris].
LM will publicise the event via facebook, the Whatsapp group, Kate’s mailing
group and by circulating flyers. Members agreed to spread the word. [Action:
Liz Maxwell and members]
SM will contact SC to organise the background stuff. [Action: Sue Morris]
JH will follow behind with a trailer [Action: James Hill]
Kay will provide free tea and biscuits at the end. [Action: Kate Hill]
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8.
Any Other Business
8.1
8.2
8.3
9.
Community Website
JH has received quotations from various companies ranging from £300 to £1,700.
He now needs agreement from TCT on how to proceed. JH will send the
information to RM to take forward. [Action: James Hill and Richard Morris]
Royal Mail and Parcel Force
RD brought to members attention the logistical barriers which mean area residents
cannot get a next-day delivery service and the impact of this on perishable
deliveries. CC members discussed the issue but concluded there was nothing TCC
could do to influence this.
The Bicycle Tree Update
Liz Maxwell agreed to write an update for The Bicycle Tree. The deadline is 16th
April.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of Trossachs Community Council will take place at 7:30pm on 13th
June 2024 in Brig O’ Turk Village Hall.
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