Minutes of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 5 June 2024
Present: Stuart Freckingham (Chair), Craig Potter (Vice Chair), Alison Limbert (Secretary), Claudia Duncan, Fiona Shaw, Alasdair Street, Chelsea McKinnon
Apologies: Sue Bell (Treasurer), Stuart Duffy
2) Declarations of Interest
Sue Bell provides accounting services for the supplier that BCC rents storage space from.
Fiona Shaw is employed by the Co-op and BCC (on behalf of the phone box food exchange) is in receipt of Co-op Community funding.
3) Adoption of Minutes from previous AGM
Craig Potter proposed the Minutes and seconded by Alison Limbert
4) Chair’s Report June 2023 - May 2024
This report covers the activities of the Community Council over the last year. An election period for all Community Councils across the Stirling Council area took place.
This year one member of the Community Council stood down, Claudia Duncan. We thank Claudia for the time, energy and commitment she has brought to Balfron Community Council. This coming year will see at least two additional member co-opted into the newly formed Community Council, now constituted with eight members. Details of the membership can be found later in this report.
A number of projects and interactions continued this year including:
Phone Box Food Exchange;
The restored phone box on Dunmore Street continues to act as a Food Exchange which is supported by Luci Rooney and other local volunteers. The phone box is stocked through a variety of means (i) donations by the local community of non-perishable food (ii) funding from the Coop Local Community Fund (iii) donations of unsold bakery, fresh fruit and veg items from Balfron Coop through the Coop Food Share project. The external space adjacent to the phone box is used as a Seedlings Exchange.
Community Orchard;
Volunteers continue to manage and work on the orchard on Weavers Winnel. The Community Council continues to support liaison with Stirling Council. The harvested fruit was put in the phone box food exchange for use by the community. All volunteers are thanked for their efforts.
Eco activities;
There have been meetings with representatives from other villages to discuss ongoing sustainability projects, possible collaborative projects and to share knowledge. This remains a key objective of the Balfron Community Council.
Stirling Council’s Big Conversation;
There was a number of consultation events held at various locations throughout the year to discuss the suggested budget deficit. The intention of these was to engage with residents to help inform how the Council can achieve circa. £16m worth of savings. Many ideas were mooted and it concluded early March with the deficit bridged by savings, use of a one-off reserve and an increase in various fees and charges. Many residents expressed their opposition to the wide ranging cuts in services proposed and the community council will continue to act as focus for any further discussion on council budget.
Donaldson Loan;
This path connecting Buchannan Street with Endrick Gardens was completed within the Active Places project as an addition to the original layouts following engagement with the council and their partners. The Pathways Group have been instrumental in pushing this on and we thank them for their efforts to conclude the path. It is hoped that barrier protection will be added in due course at the top and bottom
Defibrillators;
The battery and pads on the defibrillator outside the Saffron were replaced with funding from Balfron 10k following an appeal for funding by the community council.
Christmas street lights;
A resident suggested that Balfron should have Christmas lights on lampposts as is seen in other villages. A group of local volunteers has taken up this challenge and continue to raise funds. The community council will provide insurance for the installed lighting and retain funds raised for accountability.
War memorial;
Quotes have been obtained for repair and replacement of some of the stone to the memorial. This is a separate exercise to the repointing that was previously carried out.
Local Place Plan;
The community council has started to develop a Local Place Plan for inclusion in Stirling Councils Local Development Plan. This is an important document which helps to inform council decision-making about new developments (e.g. identifying land that could be developed, the creation of new paths). Other villages have been through the process and have already consulted with their communities. This is an ongoing project for this year into next.
Donaldson Park Trust;
The Trust is seeking volunteers to become trustees and suggested that Community Council members take turns to attend their meetings. BCC sought ideas from the community on enhancements to the playpark and are interested to hear more suggestions. A replacement for the vandalised basket swing has been ordered by Stirling Council and we continue to chase its installation.
Repair Café
A repair cafe is an environmental initiative that aims to reduce waste, teach skills and
build community resilience. Trial events have taken place in Drymen, and it is hoped, subject to recruiting volunteers, that there will be a repair café events locally this year.
Other matters:
We continued to pursue Stirling Council for their intended use of the former Strathendrick Care Home with little success. No response was received to the proposal to use the building as a hub for local facilities and we have now been informed that a valuation was undertaken and an approval process is underway for the site to be transferred to Housing Services.
Thank you to Duffs Trees for the village Christmas trees which were erected at the newly refurbished Tontine and outside the Library. The switch-on of the lights was done by Balfron in Bloom and carols were led by the children of Balfron Primary School.
5) Treasurer's Report
The 2023-2024 financial report was shared with the meeting. Special thanks to Stuart McDonagh for examining and certifying the accounts. The accounts were proposed as an accurate record by Craig Potter and seconded by Alison Limbert.
6) Re-election/election of Office Bearers
The roles remain as per May 2023 when the current Community Council was constituted.
7) AOB
None. The meeting was brought to a close and the next AGM is planned for 5th June 2025.