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Guest Speaker on Planning application 2023/0254/DET: Alasdair Rae
Susan and Alasdair Rae gave a presentation on their application for a change of use at Leny Feus on the Western approach to Callander. They hoped to build a 4-pod caravan park there. They were keen to provide further information and answer any questions as there has been a notice of objection from members of the public.
JK gave an update prior to the presentation and stated that a letter had been sent to the planning department advising that CCC had no objections to the application, provided that neighbours’ objections had been adequately addressed. This letter had been circulated to CCC members.
Alasdair and Susan gave a presentation on the plans for the site. There had been objections from neighbours to the project and these were discussed. There were
several questions following the presentation, including how bookings would be managed to ensure that only walkers/cyclists used the site, how noise issues would be addressed, how it would be ensured that large parties would not be able to book the whole site and what materials would be used in the construction of the BBQ hut.
Minutes of last meeting
OW stated that “plus several members of the public” in the list of attendees should be added. There were also some spelling and grammatical errors, which OW/DM will correct.
FK stated that she was in favour of the new community hub but not the premises chosen and she didn’t feel this was recorded accurately in the minutes. She also asked that the comment on the objection to the trial of the community hub be removed. OW asked for clarification on the 7/2 vote and what the proposal had been for the vote, as her recollection of this differed from FK. DM will check the recording of the previous meeting.
DM accepted the minutes based on these changes being made and DS proposed.
There followed a discussion on the Community Hub, including:
why the specific premises was chosen, rather the premises previously used by the NP.
what other organisations would use the Hub
whether CCC who were also members of CCDT had a conflict of interest in the project – a query on this had been sent to SC, who stated that if members were involved in a joint project, there was not a conflict of interest. Due to continuing dissatisfaction on this point from some CCs, MM will ask Marnie Foster or Stephen Bly to come along to a meeting and explain this.
After a lengthy discussion around conflict of interest, LG stated that CCC were there to work together to get things done for the local community, but that this was being made difficult due to large parts of the meetings being taken up with discussing irrelevant matters.
A member of the public stated that he felt the public should see the minutes to check that issues were being recorded correctly. MM and OW advised that the minutes were posted both on SC and CCC websites and that copies were also posted in Callander Library.
OW stated that, according to the Scheme of Establishment, minutes should not identify members of the public who comment at meetings, but instead refer to them as “members of the public”. A member of the public commented that he felt it was important for the residents of Callander to see what both CCC members and members of the public said at each meeting.
FK requested that minutes were circulated as early as possible to CCC, so that they had time to read over them, prior to the meeting.
4. Matters arising from the minutes
Communication – JK
JK gave an update on communications. Following the previous ‘brainstorming’’ session, he had collated the main action points which were:
To develop a mission statement for the community. JK / LG / FK will collaborate and circulate a draft over the next few weeks with the aim of
finalising this at the next meeting.
To create bulletin boards to be displayed in prominent places to provide information on members of CCC – Chiara Fingland (CF) will co-coordinate the publicity and display materials.
DK and RB will support with the gathering of photos and prepare briefs. DS asked about. MM had made enquiries about the empty boards in the Square and was awaiting a response from SC. The information would also be published in the Ben Ledi View (BLV) once it had been completed. MM would co-ordinate this as she already sent information to the BLV for every edition.
To have CCCs available in the business hub, offering mini surgeries, twice/month for community engagement. A rota of CC to be organised once it was in place. CC to consider how this was to be organised, before the next meeting. MM asked for clarification on what was the business hub - JK advised that this would be what was available now, rather than waiting for the Community Hub to be set up.
QR code on the website for CC, CCDT and CE – CF would manage this.
There was a discussion about communication with SC and also about their budget shortfall. It was suggested asking a representative from SC to attend a meeting to
explain the budget and how they put it together.
DM/JK attended the consultation dealing with the building of the new Primary School prior to the evening’s meeting, but felt the meeting wasn’t useful as only representatives from education were present. JK proposed that CCC requested a consultation with estate or whoever was taking responsibility for the project, as there had been no formal engagement.
Callander Flood Group
MM stated that she had received an updated from Callander Flood Group , saying that it was uncertain whether or not funding would still be available in this cycle for a Flood Protection Scheme. If Callander didn’t agree a project to go forward, funding would be taken away for this cycle but may be eligible for other cycles.
A member of the public highlighted the dates when all the consultations and feedback were due to happen and advised that the public had until 22nd September to provide feedback on the comments. The chronology was to be sent to ME.
MM discussed an update from SC, which stated that it very much wished to work with the community to deliver an optimum solution and would endeavour to achieve the date set out by Scottish Government, but this relied on the community coming
together to reach a consensus. If that didn’t happen, there was the risk that the set timescales would not be achieved. SC were a long way behind in analysing the options.
There was a long discussion on what other options were being considered. It was suggested that LG contact Strathyre CC as they were dealing with similar issues. There was a discussion about lack of money from both SC and Scottish Government.
LG advised that the Flood Group were already working on collating all suggested options to present to SC and planned to get other CCs involved.
Public Toilets
There had been no update from SC on St. Kessogs (St.K). ME was still trying to get SC to take the proposal to committee. CCC had agreed it would like to look round St. K.
MM will send a letter to Stephen Bly to ask if there was an option to do this and if there was no response, to contact ME. At the last CCC meeting, EW stated that the building had been deemed unsafe and if so, this was a concern for the local community. A member of the public asked about the clock on St. K - the Rotary Club
Local Bus Service
RB provided an update. Recent road works had had a huge impact on the local bus service, as well as services in Stirling as buses weren’t getting back in time. There were still driver shortages and McGill’s were looking at transferring services from Bannockburn to other depots, but this was time consuming. RB also spoke about driver training. It took 8 weeks to train a new driver however the company were having issues retaining drivers.
ME stated that the C60 bus service was likely to cease at the end of October. The current operator Kings House had given notice and there were discussions taking place to try and extend this. The service would go out to tender and it would be for McGill’s or another company to bid for it, but this was a lengthy process. Legislation meant that local authorities could be bus operators. ME asked for a letter of support from CCC to SC regarding the importance of retaining the service. RB advised that any bus company taking on this service had to meet their existing contractual arrangements such as school bus runs etc, as these would take precedence.
MM advised that the most common question asked in the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) was about transport to the NP and to Killin.
Larch Felling
Larch felling had started in Coilhallan Woods.
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OW/DM to amend
minutes.
DM to check
recording of August
meeting
MM to ask Marnie
Foster or Stephen
Blyth to come along to a meeting.
JK / LG / FK to
collaborate
Chiara Fingland (CF) to co-ordinate
display materials
DK/RB/ collect
photos and prepare
briefs.
All
CF to develop QR code for website
MM to ask
someone from SC
to come and
explain budget.
MM to contact SC
(Tracey Mills)
LG to contact
Strathyre CC
MM to contact SC
to see if CC can look
round St.K
MM to write to
SC re: C60 bus
service
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6. Local Place Plan: Chiara Fingland
Chaira provided an update on the Local Place Plan (LPP). She was keen to focus on 3 main points:
Firstly, how to build on communication and how the project could be used in the Local Place Plan (LPP). She was trying to reconvene the original Steering Group which included members of CCC, CCDT and other organisations. Chiara suggested it would be useful to have at least 2 representatives from each organisation to ensure consistency and transparency as well as continuity.
Once this group has met, a joint report would be produced that would be distributed to all organisations involved. They planned to convene the group at the end of October and start some of the projects by the end of November.
They also hoped to have a discussion on more LPP projects at the start of December. LG and RB expressed an interest in getting involved.
Chiara was planning an event for the end of October – it would consist of a mixture of information stalls and interactive events for families such as arts and crafts. There would be information on who was on CCC and what they do, as well as help to align communication between CCC and CCDT and send this information out into the community.
Chiara had put together an outline proposal on the event and hoped people could offer 2 hours on the day so that members of the community could see the faces behind the organisations. There would be an online doodle pool so people can sign up to slots but can also speak to Chiara by phone or email about availability. Chiara had sent out a 2-page document outlining the key
areas that she needs people to come back to her on.
The community space had received pre application feedback from NP.
Planning permission was not needed, currently reviewing lease arrangement so hopeful this will be up and running soon. This would be a space where people could come and speak about CC, will work with CC and CCDT on how best to operate the space. People would also be able to come along and discuss projects they were hoping to start up and how they could get funding for them.
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MM to circulate
outline proposal
CC to sign up online
or contact Chiara
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Roads
Report submitted by DS. He highlighted:
A84 Main Road dealing with BEAR.
Other roads off the A84 were the responsibility of SC. He was in touch with them and wanted the same system with SC, that he had with BEAR as it worked well.
A81 Aberfoyle to Kilmahog road in process of being done at the moment.
BEAR Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland was planning to carry out carriageway resurfacing and footpath improvement work on the A84 through Callander between Lagrannoch Crescent and Leny Feus. Works planned to take place between Monday 2nd October and Thursday 23rd November 2023. Footways mainly done between 8am and 5pm, roads being done overnight.
DS highlighted problems with road repairs that had occurred previously in Callander, causing major traffic disruption. There was a discussion on what CCC could do to prevent this in future. ME suggested that CCC writes to Transport Scotland/BEAR about it.
Treasurer
JW advised that the only transaction was the hall hire at CYP for the previous CC meeting. £3436.71 closing balance
Secretary
DM discussed the large number of emails he had to deal with every month, including junk mail and emails not relevant to CCC. MM will contact SC to get feedback on how to make the process easier, as well as speak to other CCs to find out how they managed communication. ME to provide contact details for other community councils within the Trossachs and Teith ward. There was a discussion about having more direct contact with the officer from SC to establish a relationship that works better.
Planning
JK advised it has been a ‘lean month’. There had been 3 applications approved and 2 new applications, 1 for a 2 side extension and 1 for a front extension. JK has looked at
the drawing for both. The first one may have problems with planning but JK stated it was for planning people to make the decision. There had been no objections lodged at the time and JK will leave that one open.
Chair
No application from BoD either for full or micro grants. There had been an update on the Retained Fire Service Two new recruits were now quite advanced in their training.
It was hoped other trained firefighters would return to the Callander station. One of the Stirling tenders was now at Callander Station to reduce the time spent travelling to emergencies to the north and west of the town.
Request to SC about money earmarked for Callander. The response was that ‘£680k had been ringfenced for a rural business hub. The spent profile was currently
scheduled for 24/25, we are working with the community and local businesses to look at an options analysis for the hub with the aim that this would be complete by the end of 2023.’
Asked for information to put out to community to find out if there was still a requirement for a business hub not had anything back.
There had been a pollution incident on the River Teith reported to MM. Scottish Water stated that it was not a sewage issue from their pipework and MM was currently awaiting a reply from SC. ME advised if there was a pollution incident, it was best to go straight to SEPA so they could determine the source. MM was unable to upload photos to SEPA website regarding this incident but would try again.
Stirling Council
SC will be introducing an electronic booking system from Feb 2024 at recycling plants.
There was a discussion on the changes. Some of the CC felt that there could be problems with it and asked if CCC could objection to the decision. ME suggested CCC waits until there was official notification of the changes, although someone then stated that there had already been an article in the Stirling Observer. ME was asked who was the chief officer or manager involved in the decision. ME stated that the relevant Chief Operating Officer was Brian Roberts.
National Park
The partnership plan would be agreed at the December board meeting. This had been brought forward after the consultation and should be put in place next year.
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MM to speak to SC about how to make
communication
easier.
ME to provide
contact details of other CCs
MM to upload
photos to SEPA website
MM to write to
Brian Roberts
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Dental Services
There had been delays in the development of the new NHS Dental Service in Callander. RW had sent in a report and although there had been delays, development of the surgery was still on plan. RW expressed his concerns that people in Callander
were not seeking dental care, whilst they were waiting for the new surgery to open.
He reminded everyone that the new surgery would not be able to accommodate 4,000 patients straight away, so in the short-term patients should seek alternative dental care or attend the Emergency Dental Service available in Forth Valley. There
was no timetable yet for the new dental surgery, as things had slowed due to project planning issues.
Details of how to access emergency dental care will be posted on CCC website and on the Facebook page. If individuals phone the emergency dental service, they will either
be given advice or will be told how to access emergency dental treatment.
Community winter volunteers
A member of the public drew attention to the SC appeal for the Community Winter Volunteer programme. The programme was being co-ordinated by the Callander
Resilience Group. Volunteers were needed to help over the winter months. MM stated that volunteers would be covered by insurance, training, and PPE. CCC should help spread the word by putting information on Facebook page and website.
Speed limits
RB followed up on the 20-mph speed limit that had been discussed at the previous meeting and stated that that speed limits are not mandatory unless there is a Temporary Traffic Order (TTO) in place. There is a temp order in place for 2 years until 2025. ME stated that the 20 mph on the Main Street is a Temporary Traffic Order and it will be renewed at the end of the current period. Unless a TTO is in place, people can legally drive up to 30mph. ME advised the trunk roads are not 20mphs and will
not be moving to this.
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MM to post details of how to access
emergency dental care
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