Dec 2021 Minutes

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Drymen Community Council

Minutes Of The Ordinary Meeting
Held On Tuesday 07th December 2021
Within Drymen Village Hall

At 7.30pm Fraser Robb opened the meeting, welcomed all of the attendees and
thanked them all for participating.

Present

Fraser Robb (FR), Andrew Richardson (AR), Adrianna Dent (AD) and Carole Kerr
(Minutes)

Also Present

Councillor Alistair Berrill (CAB) representing Stirling Council, Margaret Steel (MS)
representing Croftamie Community Council, and four members of the community:
Mrs Kate Robb (KR), Mr Robert Edwards (RE), Mr Tom Dent (TD) and Charles from
Loch Lomond Waterfront Lodges.

Apologies

Marie Elder (ME), Jemma Allan (JA), Walter Hemfrey (WH), Carol Hemfrey (CH)

Declarations Of Interest In Any Agenda Item

None

Approval Of The Minutes Of The Last Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were proposed by AR, and seconded by FR.

Matters Arising From The Previous Minutes

None

Police Report

AR read out the police report:

• Antisocial Behaviour

  • No complaints of anti-social behaviour within the Drymen area, since the
    last report.

• Road Safety

  • There was an RTC on the A811 near to Buchanan Castle. The driver
    misjudged the corner and vehicle went down the embankment. No injury
    sustained.

• Theft

  • There have been no thefts in the Drymen area since the last meeting.
    However, there was a theft of cables in Balmaha and a vehicle was stolen
    in Strathblane. There was also lead stolen from church roof in Killearn.

• Fraud

  • The community is reminded not to give out their bank details nor PIN to
    any unsolicited telephone call or emails.

     

    Vote To Elect Ms Dent As Full Community Councillor

     

    Vote proposed by FR and seconded by AR. AD accepted the position as a duly
    appointed community councillor with Drymen Community Council.

     

    Update On Catter Burn Bridge – Margaret Steel, Croftamie Community Council

     

    MS updated the meeting on the following:

• The closure of the Catter Burn Bridge has increased the traffic burden on the
  A81 and the Blane Bridge at Blane Smithy.

• Stirling Council have released funds to repair the bridge, and most of the
  required surveys have been completed with the exception of the bat survey.

• Stirling Council are working with the National Park Authority, and planning
  permission maybe required if the design of the bridge is changed from that of
  the existing bridge.

• No timeframe has been set for the required work.

• Local businesses are feeling the effects of the bridge closure, with some local
  residents incurring an additional 100 miles each week.

• A local engineer is assisting MS with her contact with Stirling Council.

• She will provide updates to Drymen Community Council.

   

  FR thanked MS for the update.

   

  RE said that on the traffic commissioner’s website, it states that the repairs to the
  bridge will take 127 days. RE asked when those 127 days start. MS replied that she
  thought that the repairs would not start until Spring 2022.

   

  Charles said that he was thinking of closing his coffee shop, as custom had fallen
  since the bridge closed.

   

  There followed a general discussion about the bridge and whether or not a
  temporary bridge could be built over the existing bridge.

   

  FR asked CAB as to what the feedback from Stirling Council was in relation to the
  bridge. CAB replied that he had received no feedback.

   

   

  MS asked Charles if he knew whether or not Stirling Council would offer financial
  support to businesses affected by the bridge closure. Charles was unaware of any
  potential help from Stirling council.

   

  Charles then said that a Stuart Dick submitted a Freedom Of Information request to
  Stirling Council, which suggested that there had been no maintenance reports
  completed on the bridge during the past 5 years. MS replied that this was incorrect
  and CAB agreed with MS.

   

  MS said that Croftamie had been fighting for 20 years to get pavement upgrades, but
  had no success.

   

  AD asked if Stirling Council had appointed a project manager to oversee the repair
  work to the bridge. CAB replied that someone would have been appointed, but it was
  unlikely that a team of people have been appointed to manage the repairs to the
  bridge.

   

  There followed a general conversation about the local roads network.

   

  Correspondence

   

  AR informed the meeting of the following correspondence:

• 04th December 2021 – Mike Kane submitted his email of resignation from
  Drymen Community Council.

• 01st December 2021 – Stephen Bly from Stirling Council, sent us the

  following email, “The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) is
  inviting interest from community groups, third sector organisations and public
  bodies to express an interest in working with them to consider a potential
  appeals process for participation requests, which were introduced as part of
  the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, and are a statutory
  means of communities requesting to work with public bodies to improve
  outcomes or services in their area. To find out more about what the work
  involves and express interest in taking part, please visit SCDC’s website. The
  deadline to express interest is the 13th December 2021”.

• 01st December 2021 – Julie McAlpine from Forestry And Land Scotland, sent
  us an email inviting us to participate in their draft visitor strategy consultation,
  which can be accessed via their website.

• 09th November 2021 – Glasgow Airport sent us an email inviting us to
  participate in their airspace consultation. I participated in their consultation
  event which was held on the 25th November 2021. Basically, their thoughts
  are as follows: we will continue to have air traffic restricted to lighter aircraft
  travelling between the islands and Glasgow, and Perth and Glasgow, because
  we are within the National Park boundary. Trans-Atlantic flights will pass over
  Killearn and Balfron at high level.

• Beginning of November 2021 – AR exchanged emails with Stirling Council to
  have domestic refuse which had been fly-tipped within Drymen Car Park,
  removed. Stirling Council’s operatives attended at the car park and removed
  the rubbish.

   

   

  Chairman’s Report

   

  FR informed the meeting of the following:

• The local roads are an increasing problem, with the A811 very busy due to the
  bridge closure.

• The village Christmas tree was put up and carols were sung at The Square.
  FR thanked Ewan Duff for donating the Christmas tree, David Mackie for
  supplying mulled wine and mince pies, and Bob Edwards (RE) for leading the
  carol singing.

   

  Treasurer’s Report

   

  JA sent an email with the following update:

• There is £3632 in the bank account.

   

  Planning Correspondent’s Report

   

  FR informed the meeting of the following:

• There were no major planning issues to be considered.

• 14 houses have been approved to be built within Croftamie behind the But
  and Ben.

• The developer who is building the Dalnair development has put one of his
  companies into liquidation. The first Section 75 payment of £75k should have
  been paid by the developer.

   

  Roads Correspondent’s Report

   

  FR informed the meeting that the community council’s roads correspondent had
  resigned from the community council. However, the roads update had already been
  covered earlier within the meeting.

   

  Publicity Report

   

  AD suggested that photographs of the community councillors could be put onto the
  Facebook, to introduce the community councillors to the community. It was agreed
  that photographs of the community councillors would be taken at some point in the
  future.

   

  Councillor’s Report

   

  CAB updated the meeting on the following:

• Stirling Council were running various consultations including, the City Of
  Culture bid.

• His roads update has already been covered earlier within the meeting.

There followed a general discussion about local roads and bridges, and a recent
power cut caused by storm damage to the network.

Charles asked if there would be assistance for him to claim £6000 for 3 days without
power to his business. CAB replied that he was not aware of any assistance being
made available to businesses.

MS asked if emergency plans had been invoked, to claim under liability cover.
RE said that the power company must have disaster recovery plans.

AD said that she thought a news report said that there will be an independent inquiry
into the storm damage to the power network and the resulting power cuts.

Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority Update

There was no update from the National Park Authority.

Vote To Begin The Community Council Co-opting Process For Drymen
Community Council

AR said that since Mike Kane resigned from the community council, new community
councillors were required. He suggested a vote to begin the co-opting process. The
vote proposed by AD and seconded by AR.

Any Other Competent Business

MS said that there will be carol singing at the But and Ben on the 20th December.
FR thanked CK for recording the minutes.

RE offered a vote of thanks to the chairman.

Date Of Next Meeting

7.30 pm on Tuesday 01st February 2022, within Drymen Village Hall.