Minutes of meeting 6th March 2025
Present: Stuart Freckingham (Chair), Craig Potter (Vice Chair), Alison Limbert (Secretary), Alasdair Street (Member), Fiona Shaw (Member), Laura Shaw (Minutes), Sue Bell (Treasurer), Jordan Macleod (Visitor), Klim Mackenzie (Visitor), Joanne Ballantyne (Visitor, Trossachs Search and Rescue), PC McCamman (Visitor, Police Scotland), PC Newlands (Visitor, Police Scotland), Bill Noblett (Visitor, Donaldson Trust)
Apologies: Stuart Duffy (Member), Chelsea McKinnon (Member)
In Attendance: Cllr Rosemary Fraser
2) Adoption of Minutes of Previous Meeting
Proposed by Stuart Freckingham and seconded by Fiona
3) Matters Arising
A resident on Weavers Winnel attended to report that there is an ongoing issue with bin lorries mounting the kerb and are struggling to fit through the street. Stirling Council has advised that a smaller bin lorry will attend the street instead, however the collection days will be different. Residents of Weavers Winnel to be advised by Stirling Council
4) Declarations of Interest
None.
5) Projects
Active Places
Storm Eoynn knocked down and smashed the notice board. It has been quoted £2000-3000 to get it replaced as it has been 12 months since installation and is outwith any warranty. However, there was existing damage to the notice board as mowers had hit it and this was reported to the Council. The notice board outside Doyles is still in use in the meantime.
6) Police Report
The Community Policing Team updated the meeting. There were two offences reported during the reporting period. This included an assault and communications offence; these involved the same victim. No further action was taken.
The group asked if they have received any reports or noticed traffic issues at the High School following the installation of the zebra crossings. They said they had not, and did not see any issues when patrolling. Relatedly, they will be conducting speed checks around the village to reduce speeding.
The full police report is available on the Balfron Community Council website.
7) Elected Councillor's report
Cllr Fraser updated the meeting. The budget was agreed last week; Stirling council tax is increasing by 8.8%. For the next year, library closures, reducing nursery hours, and music tuition will be protected from any budget cuts. A motion will be brought forward to protect these services for the remainder of the council term (2027).
8) Treasurer report
Sue updated the meeting. A Virgin Money account has been set up for BCC banking. There has been a reallocation of funds for the fruit and veg for the phonebox and the invoice for this has been paid. The second amount of funding for the Local Place Plan consultants should be invoiced to Sue by the end of March; Craig to ensure that the consultants are aware of this. Action: CP
9) Planning report
None - there were no new planning applications.
10) Chair’s report
A resident has been in touch to request new sand for the sandpit at Donaldson Park. This will be followed up with Stirling Council who are responsible for maintaining the sand.
11) Donaldson Park Trust
Bill Noblett attended on behalf of the Donaldson Park Trust to present a proposed project to install a path around a section of the playing field. Work to improve this has been quoted for £18,600 and £70,000 to improve the paths around the entire park. At present, there is no funding to take this forward; the Trust has applied to 5-6 funding bodies for small sums of money and the Trust would need to find the difference. The Trust asked the BCC if the funding set aside for improvements to the playpark could be used for the path improvements at the back of the park. This will be considered by BCC.
12) Trossachs Search and Rescue
Joanne Ballantyne attended the meeting on behalf of the Trossachs Search and Rescue. They are currently attending community council meetings to showcase the work that they do and how they can support communities. They encourage all community councils to have a resilience plan - BCC agreed to update ours. Some of their volunteer work includes:
- First aid/CPR training
- Search and rescue for missing people
- First response for Scottish Ambulance Service
- Transport for NHS hospital appointments
- Generators for power outages
- Support during flooding
- Maintenance of defibrillators
You can find out more here: https://trossachs-sar.com/
13) Local Place Plan
The Steering Group for the Local Place Plan advised that they are reaching the end of the place plan process. At the start of March, the consultants working to develop the plan ran a ‘Climate Ready’ workshop, using Adaptation Scotland tools, to ensure the existing draft proposals are ‘climate ready’. This focused on living in Scotland with a changed climate, meaning higher temperatures,more rainfall and more frequent extreme weather events. In the forthcoming weeks, the draft plan will be shared with the community for consultation. Residents, businesses and councillors will be invited to comment on the recommendations. The final draft is due to be submitted to Stirling Council in May.
14) AOB
Strathendrick Singers Concert
The community is invited to the Strathendrick Singers Spring Concert on 23rd March at Killearn Kirk.
Old Noticeboard
This will be donated to Balfron Pathways Group for a village map.
Morrisons
Morrisons have started to donate food to the phonebox.
South-West Stirlingshire Climate Action Network
The network is looking for volunteers to join the board. Organisations/businesses are able to become members, and soon individuals will be able to join as members. BCC agreed to become a member.
They are currently running a survey on building energy for organisations/businesses and households. Respondents can enter a prize draw to win a £20 voucher for the Stirling Reuse Hub. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6_eG6rpS7UXcJvBalxbuL7emoJzm9GnDmxfY1JZidSMAQig/viewform
15) Next meeting 3rd April 2025 at 7:30pm in Balfron High School.
As per Stirling Council Scheme of Establishment, these minutes are classified as draft until they are adopted at the next meeting.