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Recording
MM advised that the meeting was being recorded solely for the purposes of minutetaking.
She also made everyone aware if there wasn’t enough time to answer all
questions, they can be emailed to callandercc556@gmail.com. Also, if there were likely to be any questions raised that may involve a conflict of interest, please make it known. MM indicated that Item 2 would be dealt with after the Guest Speaker
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3: Guest Speaker – Dr R Johnson –
Update on Ukraine
Richard Johnson and his wife Mary came along to give a presentation on the fundraising efforts that have taken place in Callander over the past 18 months to support the victims of the war in Ukraine. The main points of the presentation were:
Due to the difficult images that were coming out of Ukraine in February 2022 Richard and Mary decided to organise a collection from their business premises on Stirling Road.
Decided to send the aid via Slovakia having received a list of the items that
were required to support the refugees.
Staggered by the generosity of donations over the first 6 days of collection.
Cost of transporting the goods was an issue so arranged own courier. Cost of transporting the first load was £2,361.00. The money to cover the cost of transportation was raised through a crowd fund, collection boxes in shops, as well as various fundraising events.
There have been a further 4 collections organised including one for the teenage refugees based in Stirling and a Santa Run last Christmas.
In total over 3.5 tonnes of goods have been sent and £8,338.09 raised for transport and other items.
The future plan is to help with the reconstruction of the infrastructure when the war is over, and they hope to raise funds to build a new community
playpark.
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2: MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
RJ advised that the NP report hadn’t been included in the previous minutes. DM/CS to update.
DM proposed and DS seconded once amendments have been made as follows:
Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Report
RJ reported that the new bridge at Bracklinn Falls had now been formally opened to widespread approval, he was lobbying for new information boards to be completed and installed as soon as possible.
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DM
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4: MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING
Update on Presentation by Lee Turnock (Scottish, Fire and Rescue)
MM advised that following the presentation by Lee at the last meeting the local resilience group will meet with Sean Partington and Scottish Fire and Rescue have
agreed to provide training including videos and useful information to locals.
Callander Flood Group
LG provided an update and advised that he is the newly elected CCC officer attending the Flood group. The group meet every Monday (error from Councillor, this should be
‘every month’) and most of the members have been affected by flooding, therefore have a vested interest in the matter. The group plan to work closely with SC to gain
information on what needs to be done to deal with local flooding issues. They are also keen to get more members involved.
MM made everyone aware that the Stirling Council has been developing a surface water management plan with their consultant engineers, WSP. This initially started pre-Covid, and publication of the report has been slow due to issues with internal resources. Iain Diamond, Drainage Engineer will be asked to validate the model proposed and will look around the affected area to ensure the information is accurate. MM advised that the CCC would continue to chase for the report.
Local Place Plan
MM advised that there is a joint meeting on 11th August of Callander Community Development Trust and CCC at CYP. (NB: Chair’s error, meeting date is 7th August). The
aim of the meeting is a discussion on the Local Place Plan and how to communicate to Callander residents. The key to this is to find a Community Hub which can be a central information point with both physical and digital resources. MM advised CCC that a property had become available on Main Street at a reasonable cost which could be
used for a range of activities. At this early stage she was unable to provide specific details on where the property is located. There was a discussion around this, and it was felt as there was no information on cost, no business plan, or details of specific location the CCC would like to put any decision on this on hold until the next meeting. This led on to a discussion about the city deal money and the plans for a digital hub as well as the NP looking for a new base and the ongoing situation with St. K. It was felt there should be a survey carried out to find out if a digital hub is still required and what it would be used for by local residents, could be carried out when and if the Community Hub is opened.
Callander South Master Plan
DM attended the meeting about the Callander South Master Plan that was held in CYP. In the same week, the second pre-planning meeting was held about the new Primary school. DM advised that the meeting wasn’t well attended only 10 to 12 people present out of a population of 3,500. DM feels it is important that CCC communicate any information out to the public about future meetings to encourage more community engagement. RJ suggested that the CCC should send a letter strongly supporting that the NP have a premises on the East side of the National Park in Callander.
Local Bus Service
RB gave an update on the local bus service. She advised that McGill’s are keen to keep double decker buses on the Callander route. There have been 3 breakdowns recently and there are issues with repairing buses due to lack of resources and skilled manpower.
ME recently attended a meeting with Colin Napier, Senior Director of McGill’s and Paul Clark, Operations Manager. At the meeting they confirmed that the main issue
was around Engineering, and McGill’s have introduced a new Engineering training-programme to upskills the workforce. They hope this will increase reliability of the current fleet. There is also a plan to introduce new Mercedes buses on the X10 and 59 routes.
ME encouraged members of the public to report any negative experiences they have with customer service to McGill’s. They can do this through the McGill’s website and details are provided on a notice board on every bus. There is also a user group who has a representative on it for the 59 routes.
ME also advised that there will be changes to the timetable to improve reliability. This will start in Mid-August. The 2 runs per day that go to Lubnaig Drive will stop and all routes will terminate at Station Road car park. There was a discussion about how residents would travel to the medical centre however they can access the free local DRT service.
Larch Felling on the Crags
MM hasn’t received any update from Forestry and Land Scotland on when the larch feeling will occur. There will be a further request for a timetable.
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LG will
provide more info on flood
group to any interested
parties.
MM
MM to
progress
DM to send letter to NP on behalf of
CCC
supporting
retention of NP premises
in Callander.
RB/ME
MM
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5: SPECIAL ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/INFORMATION
Best Kept Garden 2023 Competition
OW confirmed that the best kept garden organised by the Callander and District Horticultural society will go ahead. DK has volunteered to judge the competition and will take Sheila Winstone round Callander to judge the gardens who have applied to take part. Applications close on 28th July, applicants can apply online or contact OW for more information. There are also application forms available in the Willow House Plant shop on the corner of Main Street and Cross Street.
Public Toilets
There was a discussion about lack of public toilet facilities around Callander and how this issue could be overcome, including by reopening the toilets at St. K. ME advised that there are issues with this as SC facilities management would need to maintain them and they don’t have the resource to commit to doing so. It was felt that CCC should send a letter to SC to endorse returning the toilets back to use.
CCTV / Motor Bikes
These issues discussed at the previous meeting were covered in the Chair’s report.
Annual Calendar of CCC Meetings
MM will circulate the Calendar to all members to check if all the dates are acceptable.
She confirmed the dates of upcoming meetings are: 2023
21 August,
18 September,
16 October (AGM), (NB Confirmation post-meeting that the AGM will be in April, May or June 2024, so this meeting dropped from calendar)
20 November,
18 December. 2024
19 February,
18 March,
15 April (possible AGM or two following months),
20 May,
17 June.
The meetings will all be held on the 3rd Monday of the month.
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OW to
arrange for a
poster to be displayed in the library.
JW to ask for an update.
CCC to write letter to SC
supporting reopening
of the St K. toilets.
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6: REPORTS
Vice Chair’s report
JK will be taking over responsibility for planning from DM.
Treasurer’s report
JW provided information on payments made since the last meeting. There was a payment made for the hire of CYP. There was also an annual payment of £35.00 made to the Information Commissioner’s Office. This is required for GDPR purposes as CCC
are registered as a public body.
Secretary’s report
DM advised that there had been some updates to the planning reports since the last meeting. An application has been made for a new front porch to one property, however no plans have been provided. There was also a discussion about Balhousie Care Group being taken over by AcalisCare, a Belgian company.
There has also been a request for a memorial bench that will be covered in AOB.
ME also provided an update on 2 applications. The first being the Moray Estate at Loch Venachar and plans to renovate the house there at the Coilantogle. There has
also been an application for a replacement septic tank at Keltie Bridge
Chair’s report
MM has met with Community Police Officer Donald King who has advised that the CCTV is not within the remit of Police Scotland/ All public CC is managed and monitored by SC. If there is a specific issue, Police can bid for a temporary camera to be installed for a short period of time. Police do not monitor CCTV.
The Police can use private CCTV as evidence only in criminal cases.
There is currently no legislation preventing vehicle parking in Ancaster Square
MM also proposed that she contact SC to request that speed detectors be installed on the A84. ME will take forward with SC.
There was also a discussion about tourist coaches arriving in Callander early morning when only a few businesses are open. MM advised that Gordon Addison will carry out
a survey to find out if other businesses would be happy to open earlier to provide a service for these coaches as up to 450 people are arriving in Callander between 8.30 and 10am every day during the tourist season.
Gordon will become an Associate Member of CCC while he carries out the survey.
Roads’ report
DS advised that there are currently 124 issues ongoing. Resurfacing of Main Street through Callander is the only part of the road that has been dealt with to date. The
remaining work will start after October to avoid the holiday season.
DS has written to BEAR about the path at Kilmahog and they have advised that there will be no budget available until April.
Police Scotland
No comments on the report provided.
National Park
RJ advised that the NP are in the process of putting together a 5-year partnership plan. The consultation closes on 19 July, and he reminded CCC to submit any feedback. Members of CCC can also feedback on an individual basis.
OW also advised CCC that the Bracklinn Bridge had received a Scottish design gold award as an example of a low-cost bridge.
Stirling Council
ME advised that SC are in recess until early August. He opened a discussion about the former Eagle Hotel and advised that the scaffolding has been removed from the building. There had been health and safety issues which were raised with both the NP and SC and DM has been copied into the correspondence. There is now fencing around the building and no access. ME feels there needs to be a meeting between NP, SC and CCC to look at feasible options for the building. CCC would support this
meeting.
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MM to
contact GA
All
DM to write
letter of support to SC and NP for a
meeting
about The
Eagle
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7: ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Citizen of the Year/Lifetime Achievement Award
MM advised the meeting that there have been a number of nominations for Citizen of the Year. However, discussions on a suitable selection process are ongoing, so more time needs to be spent on this before a winner is chosen.
Memorial Bench
An email has been sent via SC to CCC by 2 sisters who are keen to purchase a memorial bench at Bracklinn Road. There have been concerns raised by local residents that the bench may lead to anti-social behaviour as there have been issues in the past. The application was only received by DM today. He will distribute it to CCC and ask for further information about the request. At the meeting, no-one was aware of any recent incidents to preclude the siting of the bench.
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MM/FK
DM
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