Ardentinny Community Council

AGM 2024

ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING

www.ardentinnycc.co.uk

Minutes of the AGM held on 11 June 2024 at Ardentinny Village Hall at 7.00p.m.

Present: John Brint (Convener) Mark Rowthorn (Secretary), Keith Wood (Treasurer), Bill Tierney, Helen West, Danielle Markey and Brian Hillesdon.

Public: Elsbeth Brint and Dougie Menzies.

Welcome and introductions

JB thanked everyone for attending the meeting.

Apologies
Received from Nik Cox (FLS), Steve Gillen (FLS), Bill Williamson, and Anna Williamson, Susie and Mike Robertson, Jim and Jeannie Urquhart, David McDowall, Anne Wood and Sandra Davidson.

Note: No Apologies received from A&BC, National Parks Authority and Ardentinny Outdoor Centre

Declaration of Interest

No declarations of interest declared.

Minutes of last AGM

The minutes of the last meeting had been made available on the various notice boards, the Ardentinny Community Council (ACC) website and all those on the Community Council email list had received a copy. A few hard copies were made available in the hall for information.

JB asked whether anyone had any comments, issues or matters arising regarding the minutes: None were made.

JB asked for a proposer and seconder that the minutes be accepted.

Proposed: Keith Wood Seconded: Bill Tierney

Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the previous minutes

Treasurers Report

A detailed breakdown of the financial activity (01-04-23 to 31-03-24) was presented by the treasurer, Keith Wood (KW)

Financial Activity From 12th July 23 to 31st March 24

• Lloyds bank opening balance £3314.23

• Money Credited to account.

ART toilet contribution £1242.00

ABC Roads toilet contribution £315.00

A & B Community Council Grant £416.00

Totalling £1973.00

• Money Debited from the account

8 payments to Out Of Your Hands toilet cleaning £1,188

2 payments to village hall hire £40

2 payments to Hostworld web costs £52.80

1 payment travel costs for bike racks £44.80

1 payment for Remembrance Wreath £23.98

1 payment for village hall benches £200.00

1 Payment for Parish Online £60

Totalling £1609.58

• Closing balance on 31st March= £3677.65

Proposed: John Brint Seconded: Brian Hillesdon

Convener’s Report

JB stated that the Community Council (CC) continues to be active on several fronts over the last 12 months. This includes follow up on the points identified in our 2023 Residents Survey. We have had some success on some items but unfortunately many are still lagging due to lack of response from the agency departments we are trying to engage with.

We appreciate the support of our local ward councillors in particular William Sinclair, who is a regular attendee of our meetings and has assisted us in many activities.

Road Safety in the village

This was the key issue from our resident’s survey and in May 2023 we approached the Roads Department of A&BC with a list of requests for improvements via improved signage, road markings etc. This was positively received by the Roads Department and there was hope of a start to some of the requested improvements during the course of the year.

However, nothing has moved forward between then and now, even though we are continually engaging with them to try and get this moving. This is a major source of frustration to the Ardentinny Community Council and the residents. It does appear that Ardentinny is viewed as a low-level project and not even worthy of an email that would advise of a likely timeframe for any improvements to commence.

Last month the Roads Department said they would escalate the matter to senior management and that we should receive a response within a week, but again nothing has happened in almost 4 weeks. We are going to ask our Ward Councillors if they can help move this topic forward.

Ardentinny Community Emergency Plan

JB said that we have updated and issued a revised community emergency plan in May 2024. This has been distributed to residents via our website and made available as a hard copy in the Ardentinny Village Hall. Copies were also provided to the Civil Contingencies Unit at Argyll & Bute Council, Forestry and Land Scotland, Ardentinny Outdoor Centre and the Village Hall Management Team. We have also issued laminated cards with the telephone tree of the Emergency Management Team to all residents.

Local Place Plan

JB said that we have initiated work on a Local Place Plan for Ardentinny, which will involve the local community, Trusts, businesses and clubs.

This Local Place Plan will contain spatial proposals to realise our local community’s vision and action areas for the Ardentinny Community geographic Council area, which are contained in our Ardentinny Community Action Plan 2015-2020. The Local Place Plan is intended to cover a 5-10 year period until approximately 2035. It outlines the challenges, opportunities and aspirations within our community and provides suggested actions, priorities and timeframes that would make our beautiful Ardentinny an even better place to live. This will be a major topic for us in the coming year.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS)

JB said that we have continued to engage with FLS regarding the Beach area and Car Park. One concern we have at present is a lack of repairs to the road to the beach past the village hall, although we have approached FLS on a regular basis there is no progress on this. Most recently a resident’s house was flooded by the River Finart as there are no appropriate drainage system in place to prevent this, we are aware he has taken up this issue directly with FLS.

Public Toilets

The car park toilets again had substantial water damage during a Cold Snap in January 2024. The Amenities team from A&BC were quick to respond and get it reopened in a reasonable time frame, which was appreciated, as they are a well-used facility. We have had to call on the Amenities regularly due to damage to the toilet roll dispensers in both toilets and graffiti. Also, we have noticed that the large toilet rolls have on occasion been taken by someone, again the Amenities team have been quick to respond.

JB said that we have set up a sanitary bin service contract for the ladies toilets with McCuaig Health Services at our cost to ensure that sanitary products can be disposed of appropriately. This is in addition to our regular supplies of such products which come from “MyTribe”.

Going forward, we have requested that the pipes in the loft space are insulated to prevent another flood next winter, the Amenities Team are looking into this request.

Fish Farms in Loch Long

The CC continues to liaise with AFF The Clyde to express our opposition to the Beinn Reithe fish farm in the National Park. If Beinn Reithe goes ahead there, it leaves Ardentinny open to a renewed request by MOWI to try for an installation at the south end of our village.

Litter Bins

JB said that we have been successful in getting another litter bin at the car park thanks to Councillor Sinclair. We await the arrival of new dog waste bins which have been requested via the Amenities Team of A&BC, though after several attempts to contact them we have still received no reply.

Beach Clean

JB said that we have teamed up with the Ardentinny Heritage and Conservation Group and had a successful beach clean on June 2nd 2024.

CPR Course/Defibrillator

JB said that we have also teamed up with the Village Hall Management Team, and have made a request for funding of two defibrillators from the Trustees of the Highgate Hall Sale. We have been apparently successful in this bid, but are awaiting formal confirmation prior to purchasing and installing the defibrillators.

Dunoon Presents - Rally

JB said that we have worked with the Village Hall team to provide packed lunches for the Marshalls on the Ardentinny Whistlefield stage in June of 2023. The Village Hall received a payment to cover the costs of the food.

Collaboration in the Village

JB said that we have continued to develop our collaboration with other groups in the village, namely the Ardentinny Village Hall Management Team and the Ardentinny Community Trust (Walled Garden) and the Ardentinny Heritage and Conservation Group.

Dunoon Gourock Ferry

JB said that we are participating along with several of the local CC’s to assess the enthusiasm for a renewed ferry service from Dunoon town centre to Gourock. This includes an ongoing survey. Ardentinny CC has joined in this initiative based on the views of the residents in Ardentinny which was positive to the idea.

Squirrel Signs

At the request of residents, we have installed three warning signs for motorists asking them to slow down in areas where red squirrels have been killed.

Supporting a University Student Undergraduate Dissertation

The Community Council provided input to a student undergraduate dissertation from the University of Edinburgh Geography Department. The student was exploring the ways in which local communities have a voice in the planning process, taking the Loch Long fish farm proposal as a case study.