Strachur Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 20:00 on Wednesday 11th April 2018
Strachur Memorial Hall
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), Ceci Alderton, Les Earle, John Fleming, Isabel McGladdery, Kirstie Reid, Iain Wilkie (Secretary).
Also in attendance: Cllr Alan Reid, Jeff Wilson (Strachur & District Community Development Company) and two members of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks:
Archie welcomed everyone to the Ordinary Meeting.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest:
PC Donald Mackay, Cllr Gordon Blair and Cllr Yvonne McNeilly apologised for non- attendance. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the meeting held on 12th March 2018 were agreed as accurate.
4. Matters arising.
a. Traffic monitoring at school crossing.
Cllr Reid had received a response from Paul Farrell (ABC) which provided no new information and expressed the view that “The section of road does not meet the criteria for a 30mph speed limit.” Cllr Reid had e-mailed back pointing out that the important times are around the school opening and closing times and also asking for the speed of the fastest vehicles and the numbers exceeding the speed limit. He had also asked for a breakdown of the speeding statistics, including dates and times.
ACTION: Cllrs Blair/McNeilly/Reid
b. Road sign issues.
‘Roads’ had informed Cllr Reid that "The revenue maintenance sign budget is limited and, as such, the budget is focused first on replacement of safety signs and direction signs. However if, in the new financial year, funding is available we will consider ordering replacement signs." It therefore looked promising for the replacement road signs at the A815/A886 junction and at Leanach, but unclear if the "No overnight parking signs" would be replaced.
ACTION: Cllrs Blair/McNeilly/Reid
c. VMS sign at A815/A886 junction.
Cllr Reid was still awaiting a response from ‘Roads’.
ACTION: Cllrs Blair/McNeilly/Reid
d. Flooding at Strathlachlan graveyard.
Drainage work had been done. Debris had been cleared from the field drain where it disappeared under the new part of the graveyard. However, there was still no outflow from one of the plastic drainage pipes. It was agreed to keep a watching brief on this issue and take it up again with ABC as necessary. It was suggested, however, that much of the problem was due to the rise in the water table.
e. Signage to discourage antisocial camping.
Cllr Blair had reported by e-mail that he had discussed this with Sandbank CC and they no longer wanted signs, despite having previously agreed they did. Other community councils were positive and he intended to circulate the final anticipated costs per CC and get figures from Paul Farrell re the cost of installation.
Strachur CC had not realised that CCs were to be charged and it was agreed that we should enquire if the Forestry Commission or National Park Rangers Service would put up signs gratis.
ACTION: Iain
f. Drainage problems on A886 between Post Office and Letters Way.
‘Roads’ had informed Cllr Reid that "An instruction will be issued to check and clean all gullies at the location given and [future works will be] programmed around our other commitments. Also most of the roadside gully outfalls were installed as soakaways when the road was re- aligned in the mid-1990s and are naturally slow to drain."
g. Questionnaire for young people of Strachur.
Iain intended to launch this at the beginning of May, when it would be publicised via the Newsletter and Facebook.
ACTION: Iain
h. Letter to Jim Smith (ABC) re speed limit on A815 through Strachur.
A letter was sent by e-mail on 27.3.18. Iain was informed on 29.3.18 that Stuart Watson, Traffic and Development Manager, had been asked to review this matter and respond directly. As there had been no further communication, Iain would send a reminder to Stuart Watson.
ACTION: Iain
i. Strachur Police House: funding for control of Japanese Knotweed.
There had been no progress on this issue.
ACTION: PC Mackay
5. Police Report.
PC Mackay had submitted the following report by e-mail:
“Since the last meeting there have been:
8 incidents - 1 of note being the serious road traffic collision at St Catherine's. Information appeal circulated by the Road Policing Unit.
1 crime report - theft of fuel from Strachur filling station.
The Livestock Worrying campaign continues through to end of May.
The Dog Fouling campaign commenced on Monday 2nd April which will run until the end of May. Strachurmore playing field has been highlighted as a location for patrols to cover.”
6. Health Report.
Kirstie submitted the following report:
a. Did not attend letters.
I had a meeting with the Admin Services Manager about the DNA letters we have been receiving in Strachur. They find it hard to believe that we don't get our appointment letters, as they say their computer system tells them when a letter is printed. I asked: Does this mean it's put in an envelope and put in the post box, as this is a multi-patient, multi-practice problem? Their answer was: Why print and not post? (I gave an example of a patient who told the consultant he would be on holiday until the 20th of the month; an appointment came out for the 19th; their next appointment and DNA letter went to an address he had lived in 26 years before and a DNA letter was sent to not even his previous GP practice but to the one before that.) Again they said it was up to the patient to make sure medical records have their correct details. Re-referrals are given to the consultant and they decide if you get another appointment or not and if that is immediately or you’re put to the bottom of the list (which can depend on how good your re-referral letter is).
If you phone to say you can't make your appointment minutes prior to your appointment time, it's regarded as a cancellation and another appointment will be sent out to you. If you phone after the appointment time, you are classed as a DNA.
I was informed that, if you give medical records department your mobile phone number, they will text a reminder the day before your appointment.
b. Emergency transfers to IRH or other hospitals.
Cllr Reid and myself have been asked to look into why, if you are picked up by ambulance unwell or attend A&E in Dunoon and it is decided after assessment that you need to go to IRH (which presumably involves doctors in Dunoon speaking to doctors in IRH), you may then have to wait 4 hours and more in IRH A&E rather than be admitted directly to the right specialist ward where doctors are expecting you.
7. Secretary’s Report.
There had been correspondence with Argyll & Bute Council concerning the speed limit on the A815 through Strachur and with Dr Coull concerning the recording of information on unpaid carers.
Iain had attended a meeting of the Strachur & District Community Fund.
The March meeting of the Cowal Out of Hours Review Group had been postponed until 13.4.18.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,323.40.
9. Transport update.
There was nothing to report.
10. Public Engagement.
See item 4g above.
11. Any Other Business.
a. Minutes of the Special Meeting held on 21st March 2018.
The minutes were agreed as accurate.
b. Consultations.
Three consultations were currently active: ‘Shaping the future of water and waste water services’; ‘Update of the Licensing Regulations 2007’; and ‘A Connected Scotland’ (which referred to reducing social isolation). It was agreed that only the last needed a Community Council Response. Iain would circulate suggested responses to the three ‘Key questions’ and submit a final version on behalf of the CC.
c. “New” Community Council.
The current CC would be disbanded from 26th April and the inaugural meeting of the “new” CC would take place on 16th May.
d. Heron Park.
Jeff Wilson reported that Heron Park was in a bad state, partly due to dog-fouling and unauthorised chain-saw activity. There would be a site meeting with Ross Petro, Argyll Forestry Services, and improvement work would be starting shortly, including tree thinning and ditch clearing.
In the interests of those using the Memorial Hall for Hub activities, a handrail would be installed at the short sloping path between the car park and the pavement.
e. Strachur and District Community Fund.
Jeff Wilson reported that awards had been made to the Youth & Drama Club, Piping Association and School Parent Partnership Group.
f. B8000 issues.
Strathlachlan residents sought information on two issues:
i/ Sections of the B8000 had recently been resurfaced and, although there had been no white edge lines before, these had been painted onto (only) the resurfaced sections. Residents would like to know if the intention was to resurface the rest of the B8000, why white lines had been painted on the resurfaced sections, and if the rest of the B8000 was to be white-lined (whether resurfaced or not).
ii/ Timber lorries would be using the B8000 in association with the harvesting of Lephinmore Forest. Residents would like information on the start date and finishing dates and on the number of lorries that will be using the B8000 on a daily basis.
It was agreed that the Community Council should contact Jim Smith (ABC) to get clarification on these issues.
ACTION: Iain
12. Dates of subsequent meetings.
The inaugural meeting of the “new” Community Council will take place at 19:00, Wednesday 16th May 2018 in the Committee Room, Strachur Memorial Hall. This will be a private meeting.
The next Ordinary meeting will be at 19:30, Wednesday 13th June 2018 in Strachur Memorial Hall.
Iain Wilkie
Secretary, Strachur Community Council