Ardentinny Community Council

Oct 2017

ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minute of meeting held 3^rd October 2017 in Ardentinny Village Hall

Present; Neil Robinson, Eileen Connell. Malcolm Bartley, Val Kennedy, Bill Tierney, David Marshall.

Representatives; Councillor Alan Reid, Sue Morris. (FC), Lynn Kerr ACT, Aidan Docherty (Actual Reality), Janet Holm (KCC), Agnes Harvey, Ardentinny Hall.

Others; David Edwards, Victor Sandall, Vicky Fairley, David McDowall.

Apologies; Marian Norris, PC. Donald McKay, David McKenzie, Councillors Gordon Blair & Yvonne McNeilly

Neil welcomed everyone to the meeting and informed that he, as Vice Chair would be taking the meeting.

Declaration of Interest None

AOCB One received by email and would be outlined later in the meeting. Vicky Fairley asked if the Emergency Plan could be added. It was agreed that this would be dealt with at the next meeting.

Police Report

Donald McKay was unable to attend the meeting but sent a retrospective report which the CC agreed could be included.

0 incidents and 0 crime reports since last meeting.

Rural Watch continues to be the emphasis for rural policing so please spread the word and sign up. I have forwarded Eileen the electronic poster which can be put any website or social media related to Ardentinny CC as well as being printed off for any of the village halls or notice boards elsewhere.

Forestry Commission Report.

Ardgartan Visitor Centre, which has been closed for some time but the FC are now in the process of inviting tenders from interested parties to take on the lease for a suitable use for the building, e.g. café, tourist facility.
A volunteer day to be organised for clearing and spraying of some of the vegetation along the riverside path. Hopefully this will be this year or beginning of next year.
The measuring of the tree at Laird’s Grave has taken place but unfortunately it is the second tallest in Scotland.
In relation to tree felling at Barnacabber and Knapp. The trees have been felled and the majority have been removed. Concerns were raised that the log lorries are going through the village and shore road through the night. Sue will enquire about this.

As Cowalfest is about to begin, Agnes asked if the walk from Carrick to Ardentinny was open. There is a slight diversion on this but it is open.

Minute. Proposed Malcolm Bartley Seconded Val Kennedy

Matters Arising

Councillor Blair had been asked at the last meeting if there was any indication when the Ardentinny road would be resurfaced. Councillor Reid indicated that the resurfacing was not in the current programme for 2017/18 and future programmes have not been made up. Malcolm asked why other single track roads such as Kilberry have well surfaced roads in comparison to ours. Councillor Reid suggested that we again send a letter to the roads. He would like a copy of previous letters and photos already sent by Ardentinny CC to A&B council.
Defib update. The pads and battery have been purchased and Actual Reality has fitted them. It was agreed that the code would be displayed on the cabinet. The defib is registered with the ambulance service so anyone who phones 999 they will be provided with the code. Training on how to use the defib is being organised in conjunction with Actual Reality and Kilmun CC.
TV reception. Marian has been in contact with BBC who advised that Malcolm should contact them which he did. It appears that there may be other areas that are having difficulties. Neil suggested that other CC’s are contacted to ask if there have been any reports of bad reception. This was agreed.

Treasurers Report

Expenditure £20.00 Scottish Rights of Way

Income £415.30 Administration Grant

Bank Balance 17/09/2017 £2120.33

Correspondence

All correspondence passed to members.
Several emails received from A&B regarding changes to enable the period of time for co-opted members to stay on the CC. This change has been agreed.
Alison McKerracher has asked to come to our meeting to talk about the forthcoming consultation re Out of Hours changes. It was suggested that perhaps a village meeting would be more useful.

National Park Report. David was unable to attend but sent the following report;

The NP Partnership Plan consultation, which closed in July, received many useful comments, including the ones from Ardentinny CC. These responses are being analysed and a revised draft Partnership Plan will be on the website during November. The final plan is expected to be adopted by the NP Board in December.

As a result of the May elections, all 6 of the NP Board members representing local authorities stepped down at the end of September, The two new members representing Argyll & Bute Council on the NP Board are Cllr Barbara Morgan and Cllr Ellen Morton.
The first season of the Your Park project (camping management zones / bye-laws) concluded on 30^th September. Survey figures from wild campers using the designated sites are very positive as has been interaction with NP Rangers. Some teething issues have been identified and these are being addressed. CCs covering areas outside the camping management zones, and this includes Ardentinny, are asked to report if they notice any displacement activity i.e. increase in camping activity due to people not finding spaces in the controlled zones.
Litter – following complaints from some areas of the NP about overfull litter bins in car parks, the NP clarified that the responsibility for managing litter in a car park lies with the owner e.g. Council, Forestry private, NPA, etc. A list of the car parks for which the NP is responsible is being put together and will be published.
National Park Grant Scheme: 47 eligible Expressions of Interest (EOI) were received and 18 of these are being invited to submit a full application. Applications need to be submitted by the 20^th October. These include projects at the locations listed below. I am delighted that Ardentinny is one of those invited to submit an application. Blairmore Village Green is also on the list.

Councillor’s Report.

Councillor Reid had nothing to report but invited questions.
An update was given by the committee regarding the situation of the dead whale on the shore near Stronchullin Farm. A&B Amenities department are of the opinion that the boxes of whale parts left should have been removed by the company and that the removal of the carcass may be an expensive project. Aidan reported that he had been in touch with SMASS who intend coming back for the boxes. More information should be gained in the coming days.
An additional problem is that the initial access was at the area which Ardentinny CC has reported numerous times as dangerous. Val suggested that we should consider asking the authorities that, when any plans are in place to remove the carcass that there is adequate traffic management in place to ensure that traffic can negotiate the area safely.
Val asked what the general arrangement for council questions to be asked was and how communication is passed to each of the councillors. As there may be different councillors attending the meetings some may not be aware of the threads of issues that have been previously raised. We will ensure that all minutes are distributed to the 3 councillors as well as our own website.

Actual Reality

The centre has kindly offered to work together in providing training on the use of the defibrillator. Neil asked if there was the possibility to use their trained personel to have a session on CPR.
They have carried out several beach watch/cleans over the last while. At the August they came across several needles at Shepherds Point which were appropriately disposed off.
They received the note of thanks for their work on strimming round the car park and Coronation Wood area. There are several hung up trees to the rear of the centre which they wish to make people aware of. These will be dealt with s soon as practicable.
Aidan provided the CC with a map of the area where moorings should not be set down as it is designated for the use of the Centre (No marine zone). It is intended that all necessary information will be posted on the old ferry building. Common sense should prevail and the activities carried out by the centre should be considered.
They have had a busy year and will be continuing activities right up until December.

Shore Collaboration.

A meeting was held at the end of August with the 19 groups along the shore from Ardentinny to Clachaig to establish whether this is acceptable as the way forward. All were in agreement. It was identified that there should be better communication along the shore. A Google calendar has been established and information on how to access and set it up has been sent to the 19 groups. So far only Kilmun and Ardentinny CC’s have responded and are willing to help others to set it up.

There is also a Shore Directory being set up which will give information on all clubs, organisations etc all along the shore. This is not to replace Lochs & Glens which come out several times a year whereas the directory will be a one off with annual updates. It was proposed that each group contributed to the cost of printing etc. Ardentinny CC has agreed in principal to contribute dependent on the amount. Each of the 19 groups has already given a description of their group but will have the opportunity to change this prior to it being distributed.

CAUCUS.

The caucus was poorly organised with only one representative (Ardentinny) attending. The caucus is important to collate concerns from all CC’s which will be passed on to the CPG and other relevant organisations.

Website

Nothing to report.

Amenities

There has been agreement from A&B that an additional collection would be put in place to empty the rubbish bin at the church car park. A post has been put up which will house notice that flytipping may incur a £200 fine. We have the notice to try to combat dog fouling which is a problem along the shore and at the beach. Suggestion that the dog fouling sign is moved to the beach.

CH&CF

The emphasis of the forum at present is on the upcoming Out of Hours consultation which will be rolled out very soon. There needs to be a saving of several million in the Health Service as well as Council cuts. A Quality & Finance consultation will also be held in the near future.

Planning None

Community Action Plan.

As Marian reported at the last meeting, there will be a meeting arranged before the end of the year to look at how the action plan is progressing or not, whatever the case may be.

Coulport.

No report and no requests for a report. It was suggested that Coulport could perhaps let us know when there would be exercises at the base. Val will do this.

Community Updates

Ardentinny Renewables Trust.

No further information on Ross’s hydro scheme. The other scheme up the glen is up and running. There have been a couple of difficulties with the satellite link that sends data from the hydro to Wales. Neil deals with this to ensure that all is working properly. Hopefully there should be revenue coming from that hydro by December.

Ardentinny Village Hall.

The management have put a bid into National Park for funding for the fabric of the hall. Applications are to be in by 20^th October.
There is an open meeting to be held on 10^th October which will give the opportunity for the community to bring ideas etc. Neil offered his experience of providing an EPC for the building.

Ardentinny Conservation & Heritage Nothing to report.

Ardentinny Community Trust

Lynn reported that they did not have the funding for the gardener but have a contingency plan. They have delegated an area of the garden to each volunteer to manage rather than dealing with the whole garden. There is an advert out for a volunteer gardener.
They have been involved in fundraising events to raise money for the garden.
Corrie McDonald from Dunoon Grammar School has returned with his carer to complete his work experience.
Anthea Gage (Cowal Open Studios) attracted a lot of visitors. The garden will close on Sunday 15^th October.

AOCB. Agnes Harvey had previously sent an email outlining a proposal for Ardentinny Village which she wished raised at the meeting.

She reported that, from all the documents she has been provided with e.g Community Action Plan, Village Hall documentation, Trust consultancy report etc it is apparent that there needs to be much more integration for future sustainability and for funders etc. From a community perspective it is important that, to move forward, there needs to be a bringing together of the community owned assets. She suggested that perhaps the Community Council could be the vehicle to facilitate.

After discussion with several opinions being voiced it was suggested that a letter is compiled to be sent to each of the groups outlining the proposal and ask would they like to be part of the future.

Date of next meeting. December 5^th 2017