Strachur Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 19:30 on Wednesday 13th October 2021
Strachur Memorial Hall
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), Drew Stewart (Vice-Convener), Isabel McGladdery (Treasurer), Iain Wilkie (Secretary), Kirstie Reid.
Also in attendance: Cllr Alan Reid, Bill Dickson (Strachur & District Community Development Company), Bob Darracott (representative for Ward 1 on the Board of the National Park) and one member of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks:
Archie welcomed everyone to the ordinary meeting.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest:
Ceci Alderton, PS Donald MacIver and Cllr Gordon Blair apologised for non-attendance. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 18th August 2021 were agreed as accurate.
4. Matters arising.
a. Parking area, pavement and A815 opposite 'Rockbank' and 'Ashbank', Creggans.
i/ Occupation of parking area by non-residents.
Cllr Reid reported that this area is not owned by Argyll & Bute Council (ABC) nor is it an adopted road. The residents would need to find out who owns it and approach them. The Land Register records no owner. This means it has not been sold since before 2000. Pieces of land like this are often owned by the local estate. Failing that, the residents could pay Registers of Scotland for a search of the old sasine register, see https://www.ros.gov.uk/services/search- property-information/property-help-service.
ii/ Blocked drains adjacent to parking area.
Cllr Reid had received a response from Roads & Infrastructure on 3rd September: “We can confirm a works instruction has been raised to clear the drain in the Car Park north of the Creggans Inn. We will look to provide an update within 4 weeks.” Having received no update, Cllr Reid had sent a reminder.
ACTION: Cllrs Blair/McNeilly/Reid
iii/ Vegetation spreading over pavement.
'Roads' had informed Cllr Reid that “This is on the rural village cut, which takes place 6 times per year, and it will be due a final cut in late September.”
[An update from Roads & Infrastructure Services forwarded by Cllr Blair on 14th October stated that they were aware of the issue of the vegetation on the pavement and that this would be attended to.] Iain will check if this is done
. ACTION: Iain
iv/ Hole in road at water hydrant cover.
On 24th September Roads & Infrastructure had told Cllr Reid that the necessary work had been completed.
b. Flooding in Forest View
Cllr Reid had received a reply from Roads & Infrastructure: “We can confirm that we will inspect the area in question and carry out any works where necessary. We will look to have this area completed by early winter.”
c. Disabled parking bay at Strachur Medical Practice.
Iain had been informed by the Medical Practice that the OOH vehicle had been temporarily moved to the disabled parking bay to improve patient access to the OOH door when the surgery was closed.
d. CCTV at Recycling Site.
Iain had submitted an online enquiry to ABC on this issue and had been phoned by Jim Ferguson (ABC). The Council was aware of the problem at Strachur and had been looking for an alternative, less secluded location. Since June 2021 ABC had employed a 'Staycation Warden' to check that waste is being disposed of properly at recycling sites and at other places used by camper vans; he also tidies up sites. He knows about incidents at the Strachur Recycling Site. Mr Ferguson gave the impression that ABC would not be interested in installing CCTV, partly due to the data protection laws. In the light of suggestions from residents that the Community Council should consider installing CCTV, Mr Ferguson advised us to seek guidance on the legal implications from Sheena McLean (ABC). Iain had e-mailed her but had still to receive a reply.
ACTION: Iain
e. Friendship bench.
The Medical Practice had given the go-ahead for replacement of the old bench. The Friendship Bench had still to be installed.
ACTION: Kirstie
5. Police Report (received from PS MacIver by e-mail).
There were 24 calls relating to the Strachur Community Council area during the dates of 12/09/21 and 11/10/21. Excluding un-actioned incidents such as a planned shoot notification, there were 5 incidents of note: three Road Traffic Incidents, one Domestic Incident and one
Fraud Incident.
No crime reports were recorded.
Safe Summer 2022.
Early engagement with a number of agencies including Argyll and Bute Council, Forestry Land Scotland and National Parks is under way regarding the 2022 summer holiday to see what can be learnt from the vast number of visitors experienced this year.
Herbert Protocol.
Work is continuing in implementing the ‘Herbert Protocol’, with Argyll and Bute in line to be the first council area to adopt these procedures. This protocol concerns Property Exit Sensors which will increase the wellbeing of the vulnerable in the area. [For more information, see https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/missing-persons/the-herbert-protocol/]
6. Health Report.
Cowal Local Planning Group.
Kirstie reported that this was disbanded in February 2019. She has been invited to join a new group to represent the Cowal Caucus of Community Councils and it is anticipated meetings will start in November or December 2021.
New phone numbers.
Kirstie had received an e-mail with new phone numbers for some of the of the hospitals in the GGC area:
Dumbarton Health Centre 01389 821 899
Dykebar Hospital 0141 201 1099
Inverclyde Royal Hospital 0141 314 9504
Port Glasgow Health Centre 0141 314 7298
Royal Alexandra Hospital 0141 314 7294
Vale of Leven Hospital 01389 828 599
West Glasgow ACH 0141 414 6713.
New restrictions on visits to the Royal Alexandra Hospital.
[On 22nd October Kirstie received the following information from NHSGGC :
Due to the presence of COVID, ongoing prevalence of community cases, and in order to follow our Infection Prevention and Control procedures, we have temporarily reverted to essential visiting in all acute wards at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, with the exception of maternity, gynaecology and mental health.
These changes will come into effect from 8pm, Wednesday, 13 October and will be in operation for three weeks, up to and including Tuesday, 2 November. This situation will be kept under review during this period.
We recognise the impact this will have on patients and their families, and for that, we apologise.
These actions are part of a risk-assessed approach to infection prevention and control in all hospitals across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
NHSGGC Director – Clyde Sector, Melanie McColgan said: “This difficult, but critical decision has been taken to help protect our patients, visitors and staff. We recognise this will be difficult for our patients and their loved ones, and for that we apologise. We are committed to keeping the situation under review so that we can reintroduce visiting to acute wards at the RAH as soon as it is safe to do so.
“For those who plan to visit a patient at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and are unsure of what visiting guidelines apply, please either call the ward or go to our website where you will find more information.
“If you do plan to visit any of our hospitals, we strongly recommend that you have a voluntary Lateral Flow Test prior beforehand and then undertake these twice per week for as long as you are a visitor.”]
7. Secretary’s Report.
Articles for Newsletter and Facebook.
Since the last meeting four articles had been submitted. These were on: Community Council AGM; Grants for Home Insulation; Consultation on Local Housing Strategy; Community Council Change of Name.
Correspondence.
The main correspondence (in addition to any mentioned elsewhere) had been with:
a. Argyll & Bute Council regarding:
i/ Flashing lights at school crossing permanently on (incident reported online).
ii/ Blocked drains, A815 north of Filling Station (incident reported online).
iv/ Vegetation growing over pavement, A815 Filling Station to 'Creggans' (incident reported online).
v/ Dead seal, shore opposite Medical Practice (incident reported online).
b. Residents regarding:
i/ Installation of CCTV at Strachur Recycling Site
ii/ Timber lorries on A886.
c. 'Statkraft' regarding Car Duibh wind farm proposal.
Surveys and consultations.
Responses were submitted to the following surveys and consultations:
On-street Disabled Person's Parking Bays.
TRO Various Streets, Dunoon.
Review of Electoral Arrangements, Argyll & Bute Council Area.
Car Duibh Wind farm.
Other activities.
a. Submitted comments on Jean MacKechnie's award to 'Dunoon Observer'.
b. Attended meeting of Community Fund Committee, 7.10.21.
c. Booked venues for 2022-23 CC meetings.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,154.02.
9. Transport update.
Archie had missed the last meeting of the Cowal Transport Forum because of the fire in Argyll Street, Dunoon. At the next meeting he will complain about the lack of notice given regarding changes in the bus timetable.
10. National Park Update.
Bob Darracott informed the meeting that the National Park Authority's Planning and Access Committee had objected to the Creag Dhubh wind farm proposal.
There had been no progress on Dawnfresh's proposed fish farm at Ardentinny. An application had been submitted for another fish farm on Loch Long at Ardgartan.
There would be a second round of meetings on Local Place Plans, sponsored by the National Park.
Discussions were ongoing between the National Park and other interested parties on visitor pressure and how it should be managed (see item 5 above).
In response to a question from Archie about park rangers in Cowal, Bob said that rangers operate in Cowal, e.g. at Ardentinny, but they are not dedicated to local areas.
Archie also commented that during the summer excessive numbers of vehicles had been parked at Jubilee Point, Dornoch Bay and the layby near Whistlefield. Bob offered to follow this up.
ACTION: Bob Darracott
11. Remote and hybrid meetings.
Iain reported that ABC had opened a consultation (closing 26th November) on giving Community Councils the option to hold remote meetings (all participants online) and hybrid meetings (some participants attending in person and others online). The general view of the meeting was that this proposal was worth exploring on the understanding that there would be no obligation on Community Councils to offer online participation. Though wholly remote meetings would disenfranchise those without the necessary technology, hybrid meetings might improve 'attendance' as long as broad band connections were reliable. It was also felt that information was needed on funding for the equipment needed to support online participation. Iain would request residents' views via the Newsletter and would forward any responses and the Community Council's thoughts to ABC.
ACTION: Iain
12. AOB
a. Electric vehicle charging point.
Cllr Reid informed the meeting that ABC was considering locations for charging points and that Strachur had a good chance of getting one because it was on a main road. The locations for charging points would have to be on land owned by ABC or a community group. There would be a consultation soon. Iain reminded members that the Community Council had asked residents (via the November 2019 Newsletter) for their views on the best place for a charging point and the most popular site had been the Heron Park car park. Cllr Reid would forward this information to ABC.
ACTION: Cllrs Blair/McNeilly/Reid
b. Argyll Rally 2022.
The Community Council had been informed that Mull Car Club intended to organise another rally in Cowal on 24th and 25th June 2022. There would soon be a meeting of the Community Council Working Group.
c. A886 speed limit.
Iain had received an anonymous letter asking the Community Council to make a case for reducing the speed limit on the Strachur section of the A886 to 30 mph. Iain would follow this up.
ACTION: Iain
d. Request from Kilmun Community Council.
Kilmun Community Council had asked all Cowal Community Councils to express support for a project aimed at improving the condition of the Holy Loch, the first stage being to commission a survey of the loch. Members unanimously agreed that this initiative should be supported.
ACTION: Iain
e. Queen's Platinum Jubilee (2.6.22).
The Lord Lieutenant of Argyll & Bute had asked Community Councils how they intended to mark this occasion during the Jubilee Weekend (2nd - 5th June). It was agreed that the first step should be to liaise with the Hall Committee and all hall users.
ACTION: Iain
f. Hall Committee.
Drew informed members that, so far, there were 16 candidates for the vacant executive positions on the Hall Committee. He would attend a meeting on Sunday 17th October at which it was hoped a new committee would be assembled.
12. Date and location of next meeting.
The next meeting would be at 19:30, Wednesday 15th December 2021 in Strachur Memorial Hall.
Iain Wilkie
Secretary, Strachur Community Council