April 2018
ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MINUTE OF MEETING HELD TUESDAY APRIL 3rd in Ardentinny Village Hall.
Present; Marian Norris, Eileen Connell, Val Kennedy, Neil Robinson, Bill Tierney, Malcolm Bartley.
Apologies; David Marshall, Sue Morris, David McKenzie, Yvonne McNeilly.
Representatives; Councillors Alan Reid and Gordon Blair, P.C. Donald Mackay, Janet Holm Kilmun CC, Agnes Harvey Ardentinny Village Hall.
Others; Sandra Tweddle, Brian Tweddle, David McDowall, Vicky Fairley, Victor Sandall, Bill Williamson.
Marian welcomed all to the meeting and asked if there were any of the community councillors had a Declaration of Interest in regard to the agenda items. None
She asked if there were any items from AOCB. None from the community councillors. A member of the public wish to have Uniformed Police added to AOCB. He was given the opportunity to bring this subject up during the police report but denied the offer. It was agreed that his request would be dealt with at AOCB
Police Report
- Donald reported that there had been 2 incidents since last meeting but no crime reports;
- The main issue at the moment is the livestock worrying campaign with some serious issues arising over the area.
- There have been rogue traders in the area but there have been no reports in the Ardentinny area.
- A 2 month initiative has been rolled out to tackle the issue of dog foiling in the Cowal area. There are banners available to try to raise awareness of this problem. Janet asked what the procedure would be if dog owners were witnessed allowing his dogs to defecate in public areas. PC Mackay advised that it would be best to inform the police or the A&B representative if they have evidence.
Marian had contacted the police about the possibility of having speed detection equipment for the village as agreed at the last meeting. As yet there has been no reply. PC will contact the appropriate person and ask for more information.
Minute of Feb meeting.
Proposed Neil Robinson Seconded Bill Tierney
Matters arising from minute.
Roads. This will be dealt with in Councillors Report
Treasurer’ Report.
Expenditure £72 Hall rental.
Income Nil
Balance £,2182.77p
Correspondence
All relevant correspondence has been dealt with and passed to all community councillors.
Forestry Commission Report
Sue Morris sent a report stating there are no major updates at present. It is intended that the pot holes at the beach area will be filled very soon.
National Park Report
National Park Partnership Plan
The NP Partnership Plan 2018 – 2023 was approved by the NP Board on 11 December 2017 and has recently been approved by Scottish Ministers. A launch event with the Minister was held in Callander on 18 March. Ardentinny Community Council comments were welcomed in the preparation of the plan. A copy of the new plan should have been sent to the Community Council and is also available on the NP website.
Your Park
Your Park is the name for the introduction of Camping Management Zones and new bye-laws in the most congested parts of the National Park. The first season of Your Park was completed at the end of September 2017; surveys of individuals who made use of camping facilities within the zones found overwhelming support for the project. There are no camping zones in the Ardentinny area – the nearest are on the East shore of Loch Long. The new season started on 1st March with new camping places being introduced including a new site at Loch Achray.
Cononish Gold Mine near Tyndrum
One of the most complex planning applications to be submitted recently to the NP was considered by the full NP Board on 27th February. The application is for mining and processing of gold and silver ore. Because of the sensitivity and complexity of this application, the decision was taken by the full NP Board instead of the NP Planning & Access Committee. The site is in the mountainous area of Cononish Glen near Tyndrum, where mining has taken place sporadically for two centuries or more. A previous approval given by the NP Board in 2012 had expired and a new application was necessary for work to get under way. After a site visit and a hearing held in Crianlarich Village Hall, the NP Board approved the application with conditions. Further details can be found on the NP website.
National Park Board
The NP Board consists of 17 members – 5 directly elected by local residents, one from each of the 5 wards in the NP. There are also 6 Board members nominated by the 4 local authorities that are covered by the NP; 2 from Argyll and Bute, 2 from Stirling, 1 from Perth and Kinross and 1 from West Dunbartonshire. The remaining 6 NP Board members are appointed by Scottish Ministers after an advertisement and interview process. All directly elected members are automatically members of the NP Planning & Access Committee and have the opportunity to join other Board Committees. Ardentinny is in Ward 1 of the NP and David McKenzie has been the directly elected Board Member for this ward since 2010. The terms of all directly elected members are for 4 years and then fresh elections are held. There are no term limits on directly elected members and existing members are free to stand again as candidates in these elections.
The terms of the current directly elected members expire in July 2018. David McKenzie will not be standing again as a candidate for Ward 1. Any individual interested in the NP should consider putting their name forward as a candidate for the directly elected member position. While the voters in the election have to be NP residents registered on the Voters’ Roll, there is no requirement for the candidates for the directly elected member role to be NP residents.
The schedule for the elections is as follows:
2 April - letter to all households in the NP inviting nominations for the elected member position with information on how to submit nomination
31 May - closure of nominations / formal notice of elections
1 June - publication of candidate statements
8 June - last day for residents to register to vote (if not already on Voters’ Roll)
14 June - postal ballots issued to households
5 July - vote count (at NP HQ, Balloch) and declaration of results
In the second half of 2018, the terms of several of the Board Members appointed by Scottish Ministers will also conclude and therefore advertisements will be appearing inviting individuals to consider applying for these roles.
Councillor’s Report
- The council budget meeting has been held and the financial budget allocation from the Scottish Government turned out to be better than expected so the vast amount of cuts put forward for consultation did not need to be taken although some of them were taken to free up money for other issues. The cut in funding was 1.5% which was lower than expected. This helped to free up money for the Health & Social Care Partnership and for roads.
The roads department have inspected all the roads using the Roads Condition Index and have compiled a list of roads requiring attention. Ardentinny is not part of this list. Alan agreed to write to the Roads Dept to ask why the C9 is not included. Marian will also write to the Roads Dept.
Malcolm highlighted 2 areas where there are deep depressions in the road which are deteriorating.
Shore Collaboration.
Janet gave an update on the Google Calendar which is now up and running and being used by various groups to inform what is going on along the shore. The Shore Directory is almost complete and approaches have been made to A&B for statistics of how many households there are in the area as the Directory is to be distributed to all households from Clachaig to Ardentinny. Once this is has been found the issue of costing will be addressed. It was agreed that Ardentinny CC will contribute to this.
Cuts in the Health Service
The proposed cuts and possible job losses in the health service have concerned many people. Further concerns have been raised in regard to the lack of communication and the lack of transparency in how the way the Health &Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and Integrated Joint Board (IJB) operate.
After discussion it was agreed that a letter would be sent to the HSCP and IJB to raise the concerns and complain to them in regard to lack of transparency, lack of communication, why there appears to be a high level of secrecy and disregard for the residents of the Cowal area. Alan suggested that Shona Robson should be copied into it.
Future of Community Council.
Four of the existing community councillors have not put themselves up for re-election. As Ardentinny has only 2 people up for re-election there is a danger that the CC will fold. There will be a bi-election held and it is hoped that more people will come forward.
Marian also asked if we could get more people to come forward to help with keeping with keeping the toilets clean and tidy. It was suggested that this could become a paid position and may be something that the money from the Renewables Trust could be used for.
Malcolm asked he would continue to send the payment for Data Protection. It was agreed that this will still be paid.
Actual Reality Report No report
Delegates Report
- Caucus There have been no meetings arranged but there will be one in April.
- Website Nothing to report
- Amenities Noticeboard. Eileen updated the position of the funding for the new noticeboard through Participatory Budgeting and encouraged everyone to vote so that we can secure the money for it.
- Planning No planning applications.
- CAP No further report.
Community Updates
- Ardentinny Renewables Trust. Neil reported that that the first tranche of money from both hydro schemes should be in their bank account by May. The next step is to encourage residents to become members of the Trust so they will qualify to apply for the money. An AGM will be held soon. Several suggestions were made in regard to how the village could benefit from using the money positively.
- Ardentinny Village Hall Agnes reported that the hall management had met on 28th February (Not March as stated in February minute). Several issues passed on to The Hall Management are still to be resolved. In regard to the Emergency Kit, it was agreed that Actual Reality would be approached to ask if they would house it. Val suggested that a file is compiled to ensure that equipment is tested, checked etc to ensure that any equipment does not get “lost”. Bill Williamson asked the whereabouts of gardening equipment and the spraying equipment belonging to the Conservation & Heritage Group were being kept. At present the spraying equipment is stored in the container but will be moved to a more appropriate place asap. Neil informed where the other equipment is being stored.
Agnes will take the other 2 outstanding issues to the next Hall Management Group meeting.
- Ardentinny Community Trust, No report was received. Bill Williamson, as a trustee of ACT insisted that there had been a report sent. It transpired after the meeting that the Acting Secretary had been given the wrong email address.
After the meeting the report was re-sent by the Acting Secretary and has been included in this minute.
Report to Ardentinny Community Council meeting 03.04.2018 First of all please accept my sincere apologies for failing to submit an update to the Community Council February meeting. This was an oversight on my part.
- During the winter months the Walled Garden has been ticking over with the regular attendance of a pupil from Dunoon Grammar School for whom the garden provides Work Experience every Monday during term time.
- There were no volunteer days during January or February – these recommenced on the second Sunday and last Saturday of the month from March onwards 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.
- Two volunteers from Dunoon Job Centre will be providing labour in the garden this season.
- As the Trust did not receive funding from The Robertson Trust this year there is currently no paid gardener/supervisor employed in the garden. Consequently the garden is dependent on the work of volunteers for all maintenance and development.
- A permanent outdoor stage has been constructed in the garden for use at the Easter Fun Day and future events.
- The garden will open for the season on Sunday 1st April with the Easter Fun Day, including children’s Easter Egg Hunt, Egg and Spoon Races, Easter Bonnet Parade, games, stalls and craft activities. A range of refreshments will be on offer.
- Opening times for the season are: Saturdays and Sundays 1.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.
- Volunteer Action Days will continue on 2nd Sunday and last Saturday of the month 11.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and Mondays during term time.
- Ardentinny Conservation & Heritage Group. Eileen reported that the group would be again entering the “It’s Your Neighbourhood” which is part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful campaign. A beach clean will be held and it is intended to hold a meeting to discuss what is needed to take forward the campaign.
AOCB. Bill Williamson asked the Secretary or Chair since the last meeting If the police have an issue in this village, do they contact, or have they contacted the Community Council since the last meeting. Eileen replied- only through Rural Watch.
He elaborated with details of his complaint which was about being asked twice about whether he witnessed anything untoward in the nursery field.
He asked that the CC write a letter to the police to ask why he was the only person in the village asked about the livestock worrying. Marian will write a letter to PC Mackay.
Next meeting will be arranged after the inaugural meeting.