Strachur Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 19:30 on Wednesday 15th June 2022
Strachur Memorial Hall
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), Isabel McGladdery, Drew Stewart (Vice-Convener), Iain Wilkie (Secretary) and Kirstie Reid.
Also in attendance: Councillor William Sinclair and four members of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks:
Archie welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly Cllr Sinclair who was attending for the first time.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest:
Bob Darracott, Bill Dickson and Laura Walker apologised for non-attendance. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 27th April 2022 were agreed as accurate.
4. Matters arising.
a. Blocked drains: parking area in front of ‘Ashbank’ etc., Creggans.
There had been a target completion date of 29/04/22, but the job had still to be done.
b. Blocked drains: A886 from building site to start of raised pavement.
Roads had informed Cllr Alan Reid that “These works are not likely to start before early May.”
Nothing appeared to have been done.
c. Recycling site issues.
An attending member of the public reported that stickers warning against illegal dumping had appeared on the old sign pole on 15th June. These were hard to read and unlikely to deter fly-tippers.
Iain had submitted an online enquiry to Argyll & Bute Council on 20th May to ask if dog-poo bins could be installed at the main entrances to Heron Park. A response was awaited.
d. Faded white-lining on A815 near Filling Station.
This had still to be actioned by Argyll & Bute Council.
e. Complaint to Argyll & Bute Council regarding unsightly clearance of roadside vegetation, A815.
This issue had been pursued by Cllr McNeilly. Having received no response from Jim Smith (Head of Roads and Amenity Services) to the letter of complaint e-mailed on 2.5.22, Iain had asked Mr Smith for an update on 8.6.22, which had also been ignored. It was acknowledged at the meeting that there had been an attempt to tidy up some of the butchered roadside vegetation.
f. Friendship bench at Medical Practice.
Kirstie reported that the bench had still to be installed.
g. Bus timetable issues.
There had not been a meeting of the Cowal Transport Forum.
5. Police Report (received from PS Donald MacIver by e-mail).
Between 13/04/22 and 14/06/22 there have been 9 incidents actioned to the police in the Strachur Community Council area: 1 x concern for person, 1 x sudden death, 1 x vandalism, 1 x erratic driving, 3 x neighbour dispute, 1 x road traffic collision, 1 x assist member of the public.
No crime reports were generated.
Current initiative: ‘Staycation’ will be implemented this month. This is a joint patrol at weekends between the police and Council warden where the Cowal area will be patrolled. It is a new initiative and should have a flexible approach to issues within all areas of Cowal.
6. Health Report.
a. A&E.
Due to demand on A&E services, patients needing to go to A&E for non-urgent treatment were now expected to call 111 to make an appointment.
b. Various issues raised by recent road traffic collision on A815.
Kirstie contacted the Health & Social Care Partnership (HSCP) to make a number of enquiries:
i/ What is the procedure re clients who rely on carers bringing meals or helping them to bed?
Reply: On this occasion all patients were seen, albeit a bit later than normal, with one of the care companies sending in staff from Helensburgh.
ii/ Is the local surgery responsible for patients who have carers coming in: will they do what the carers do?
Reply: No. GP surgeries are not responsible, as this is a social work service
iii/ What about patients who were stuck on the Dunoon side of the road closure without their medication? (This was a concern for people who could not get home due to the buses being cancelled and the next bus being at 6 a.m. the next morning.)
Reply: Anybody with essential medication would be expected to carry their meds with them.
iv/ Is there an Emergency Plan that would be activated in the event of road closures for any reason: accidents, emergency road works etc.?
Reply: The Police assess the scene and decide if an Emergency Plan needs to be activated. On this occasion it was decided not to activate any Emergency Plan.
7. Secretary’s Report.
Articles for Newsletter and/or Facebook.
Since the last meeting six articles had been submitted. These were on: Community Council AGM; Consultation on Re-designed Blarghour Wind Farm; Big Lottery Funding Success; Argyll Rally 2022 Reminder; Investing in Communities Fund; and Electric Vehicle Chargers.
Correspondence.
The main correspondence (in addition to any mentioned elsewhere) had been with:
a. Residents re Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
b. Residents re conditions on A886.
c. Jenni Minto MSP re her visit to Strachur on 13.5.22.
Surveys and consultations.
Responses had been submitted to the following consultations:
a. Re-designed Blarghour Wind Farm.
b. Strachur Primary School - Vision, Value and Aims.
Other activities.
a. Attended Argyll Rally 2022 Zoom meeting on 23.5.22.
b. Delivered Argyll Rally 2022 Residents’ Information Packs to properties and businesses beside Loch Fyne stage (Barnacarry to Corra) on 25.5.22.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,255.34.
9. Transport update.
Nothing to report.
10. National Park Update.
Bob Darracott informed us by e-mail (not seen by Iain until after the meeting) that he had decided not to stand for re-election to the National Park Board and, as a consequence, a new rep would be elected in the next couple of weeks. Iain subsequently thanked Bob for his contribution to our proceedings over the past four years.
11. ‘Joint Efforts’ Update.
Laura had submitted the following update by e-mail:
Chef in place, a Strachur local.
Dates booked with the hall for training and Sunday sessions; first meal served will be on 28th August.
I currently have 14 young people registered - with more looking to engage.
Due to an anticipated influx of young people, I've applied to both Tesco and Asda for additional funding to add another training day and cover additional costs.
There will be two team-building days over the months of July and August for young people to become acquainted with one another.
Suppliers are locked in and we have a potential sponsor for the project (TBC).
Environmental Health have assessed the project and have approved it as a food business.
Four volunteers have been registered.
Flyers are currently being printed for door to door distribution by young people who are participating in the project.
12. Stage 2 - Review of Local Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils.
Iain explained that there were a few more proposed amendments to the Local Scheme documentation (see attached document). All those additional proposed amendments that were relevant to Strachur Community Council were supported by attending members. The motion to accept these amendments was proposed by Iain and seconded by Kirsty.
13. AOB.
a. Councillor Sinclair.
Councillor Sinclair summarised his own background and stressed he was keen to get involved particularly in National Park and speed limit matters. He also advised Community Councillors to report any urgent or potentially dangerous issues directly to himself rather than via Argyll & Bute Council’s online system.
b. Queen’s Platinum Jubilee events.
Archie gave a vote of thanks to Fiona Campbell (who was in attendance) for her contribution to the planning and organisation of the highly successful QPJ events.
Archie also expressed the Community Council’s gratitude to ‘The Tree Shop Garden Centre’, Cairndow for their donation of a memorial tree.
c. Memorial Garden.
It was the unanimous view of the meeting that there was a need to establish who is responsible for the maintenance of the Memorial Garden and grass at the Memorial Hall. It was agreed that Iain should approach the Hall Committee in the first instance.
ACTION: Iain
d. Curtain in front of the War Memorial in the Memorial Hall.
It was observed that there had been a number of recent instances of the curtains being left closed in front of the War Memorial (as was the case on the evening of the meeting). It was felt that this could be seen as disrespectful and insensitive, for example to visitors wishing to view the memorial. It was agreed that Iain should ask the Hall Committee to alert Hall user groups to this issue.
ACTION: Iain
e. A886.
i/ It was noted that Jenni Minto MSP had visited the A886 in Strachur on 13.5.22. Drew had represented the Community Council and a number of residents also attended. Iain had subsequently thanked Ms Minto and received the following response from her:
“There was a very good turn out of residents and it was extremely helpful to hear all their concerns with regard to the section of A886. While there I also witnessed a couple of worrying driving manoeuvres.
I will be raising the concerns of the village with Pippa Milne when I next meet with her. I know that the Council have agreed to set up a monitor of speeds which is positive, but having visited I can provide some additional comment.
I have also agreed to write to Transport Scotland more generally about speed limits on roads like the A886 passing through Strachur. I will be in touch with you once I have received a response.”
ii/ Iain had asked Paul Farrell (Argyll & Bute Council Traffic & Development Officer) for an update on the speed survey that was supposed to have been conducted in May and received the following reply:
“The equipment was set up in May but unfortunately the battery failed after one day. This was only discovered after trying the recharge the battery to enable download the data at the end of the survey.
This was the first time in five years that the battery had failed.
A replacement battery has been ordered from the supplier. Once this has been received a return visit will be carried out.”
f. Review of the telephony universal service obligation.
Iain informed the meeting that Ofcom had strengthened the rules that protect public pay phones. These may be removed only if all the following criteria are met:
i/ All UK-wide mobile network operators have coverage at the site.
ii/ The site is not a high frequency accident or suicide location.
iii/ Fewer than 52 calls were made from the last at a site public call box in the 12 months prior to the start of the relevant representation period.
iv/ There is no other evidence for a user need for that public call box [i.e. phone].
In the light of the first criterion alone, there would appear to be a case for retaining the Strachur and Strathlachlan pay phones until such time as there was full mobile coverage.
14. Date and location of next meeting.
The next meeting would be at 19:30, Wednesday 17th August 2022 in Strathlachlan Community Centre.
Iain Wilkie
Secretary, Strachur Community Council
