May 2021 Minutes

Drymen Community Council

Minutes Of The Ordinary Meeting
Held On Tuesday 04th May 2021
Via Skype Online

Virtual Meeting Platform

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

Present

Fraser Robb (FR), Marie Elder (ME), Andrew Richardson (AR), Jemma Allan (JA),
Walter Hemfrey (WH), Carol Hemfrey (CH) and Carole Kerr (Minutes)

Also Present

Councillor Alistair Berrill (CAB) representing Stirling Council, Mrs Kay Robertson
Education Officer with Stirling Council, and four members of the public: Mrs Adriana
Dent (AD), Mr Michael Kane (MK), Mrs Kate Robb (KR), and Mr Robert Edwards
(RE).

Apologies

None

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 ME, and seconded by AR.
FR thanked Carole Kerr for recording the minutes of the meeting.

ME informed the meeting that she had received a letter from a local resident; Mrs
Brennan, who wants the weekly bin collections changed from a Sunday, and asks
the community council to push for this change.

1. Matters Arising From The Previous Minutes

    

   None

    

   FR thanked local residents; Mr Michael Kane and Mrs Adriana Dent, for volunteering
   to be co-opted onto the community council, and invited them to introduce themselves
   which they duly did.

    

   Buchanan Primary School update from Mrs Kay Robertson, Education Officer,
   Stirling Council

    

   Mrs Kay Robertson (KR), Education Officer with Stirling Council, provided the
   meeting with the following update on Buchanan Primary School:

   • She has responsibility for all of the schools which feed Balfron High School.

   • The school roll for Buchanan Primary School fell to zero, and the catchment
     area for Drymen Primary School was extended to include Buchanan.
     Therefore, Buchanan Primary School was mothballed.

   • Her contact with DCC is part of the informal consultation. If there is a formal
     consultation, which is scheduled to begin during June 2021, there will be a
     public meeting.

   • In preparation for any consultation, she has been in contact will all relevant
     local community groups.

   • If there is a formal consultation, she is happy to speak with DCC again, and
     attend at a future DCC meeting.

      

     FR asked how many primary school children reside within the Buchanan area. KR
     replied 26. ME asked if 26 would result in a 1 teacher school. KR replied that 25
     would result in a 1 teacher school. However, all of the children requested to go to
     Drymen Primary School.

      

     CAB said that he was on the children and young persons’ committee which
     mothballed Buchanan Primary School. He said that it was mothballed as a result of
     the parents wanting to send their children to Drymen.

      

     FR asked if the mothballing of Buchanan School would affect the memorial hall. KR
     replied no, as it was a separate building with its own committee.

      

     KR added that Buchanan School was still being maintained and visited by the janitor
     from Drymen Primary School.

      

     Police Report

      

     AR read out the police report:

   • Antisocial Behaviour - A male was arrested following an incident at a house
     in Old Gartmore Rd, Drymen. There was a report of a male coursing for hares
     between Balmaha and Drymen. Police attended and it turned out that was not
     the case. However, there was 2 males charged with a similar offence recently
     in the Stirling area, near Gargunnock. Please report anything suspicious.

      

      

2. • Road Safety – A road traffic collision occurred on the A811 near the cut off
     for Drymen. A male motor cyclist was slightly injured as a result.

   • Theft - There have been no thefts in the Drymen area since the last meeting.

   • Sheep Worrying - If a dog worries sheep on agricultural land, the person in
     charge of the dog is guilty of an offence. The Act considers sheep worrying to
     include attacking sheep, chasing them in a way that may cause injury
     suffering, abortion or loss of produce, or being at large (not on a lead or
     otherwise under close control) in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep.

   • Fraud - Fraudsters can make contact with you by phone. The caller might
     pretend to be from your bank and ask for personal information such as bank
     details or they might be someone offering you a deal or a prize. Other calls
     have been made by persons purporting to be from HMRC stating that there
     was a warrant out for the receiver of the call, and the call receiver was asked
     to contact the number that was given.

      

     Correspondence

      

     AR informed the meeting of the following correspondence:

   • 28th April 2021 – Email from Pam Campbell of Stirling Council, informing us
     that the next meeting of the Rural Forum will be held at 7.00pm on Monday
     17th May 2021, via Microsoft Teams.

   • 28th April 2021 – Email from Paul Saunders of the DCDT, asking for
     confirmation of the £1000 donation from DCC to the DCDT, for repairs to The
     Square. On the 30th April 2021, after speaking with Fraser, I emailed Paul to
     confirm the donation.

   • 27th April 2021 – DCC copied into an email from a Robert Gibson to Barbara
     Docherty of Stirling Council, enquiring about the lack of maintenance within
     Drymen Cemetery.

   • 24th April 2021 – Email from a local resident, informing DCC that he has been
     in touch with Stirling Council about the traffic island on Main Street. Stirling
     Council informed him that they were in discussions with DCC and DCDT
     about the issue. Bob suggested to Stirling Council that they erect a temporary
     camera at the location, to monitor the situation.

   • 23rd April 2021 – Email from Alistair MacPherson of the National Park
     Authority, informing us that the next meeting of the East Loch Lomond Visitor
     Management Group will be at 1pm on Friday 07th May 2021, via Skype.

   • 22nd April 2021 – Email from a local resident, informing us that there is a
     pothole outside his house. On 23rd April 2021, I emailed Stirling Council who
     have now repaired the pothole.

   • 21st April 2021 – Email from Pam Campbell of Stirling Council, with maps
     detailing Stirling Council owned property within Drymen.

   • 14th April 2021 – Email from Councillor Rob Davies, confirming that the only
     car parking spaces owned by Stirling Council within Drymen, is the Stirling
     Road car park.

   • 12th April 2021 – Email from Councillor Robb Davis, confirming that under the
     current rules for community councils, AGMs can be held at the discretion of
     the individual community council.

   • Throughout April, DCC has received several emails from Stephen Bly of
     Stirling Council, advising us on the co-option process.

      

3. Mr Edwards (RE) informed the meeting that he had sent the email regarding the
   traffic island on Main Street. RE said that he had contacted ROSPA for advice, but
   they could not assist because they were a charity. RE then contacted Stirling Council
   and spoke with a chap called Daniel, who told RE that Stirling Council were in
   discussions with DCC and the Drymen Community Development Trust. RE recapped
   on the timeline of the traffic island. FR replied that there had been a meeting held at
   the Winnock Hotel, during which the island was discussed. However, that was some
   time ago and the council have not came back with anything.

    

   RE said that he would raise a freedom of information request with Stirling Council,
   and ask them to detail the discussions about the island, as funding was previously
   allocated for its removal. ME said that these islands are popping up everywhere.

    

   RE said that he would copy CAB into his freedom of information request. CAB said
   that it would be better to start the process again. RE said that in that case, he will do
   nothing until CAB has acted.

    

   Chairman’s Report

    

   FR informed the meeting of the following:

   • He involved the police in an incident of littering, were 5 bags of rubbish were
     left at the top end of Drymen. These bags were found to have been left by a
     Drymen Resident.

      

     Treasurer’s Report

      

     JA informed the meeting of the following:

   • Total in bank: £5184

   • All Covid group funds that were in our account by Gofundme, have now
     transferred to their new bank account. All future funds from Gofundme will go
     direct to the Covid group’s account.

   • Accounts are being prepared for year end and need to go to accountant for
     signing.

   • The following cheques are required:

     • £400 for Drymen in Bloom (has been collected by MBrennan)

     • £1,000 for the Drymen Community Development Trust for match funding.

     • £40 for AR for Data protection registration fee.

        

       Planning Correspondent’s Report

        

       WH informed the meeting of the following:

   • Planning permission has been submitted for the site above Drymen cemetery
     for 12 units, comprising of 4 houses near Main Street, and 2 blocks of 4
     affordable houses further down the hill. WH will give DCC his
     recommendations at the June meeting.

      

      

4. Roads Correspondent’s Report

    

   There were no new updates on the local roads network. FR suggested that Mike
   Kane may like to take up the position of road correspondent, going forward. Mike
   replied that he would.

    

   Publicity Report

    

   There was no publicity report.

    

   Councillor’s Report

    

   Councillor Berril (CAB) informed the meeting of the following:

   • There was a meeting of Stirling Council, mostly about structural re-
     organisation. A proposed link road was discussed, with no plans to build the
     link road. However, CAB anticipates that this issue will be raised again in the
     future.

   • Anti-drinking by-laws within the National Park will be changed so that the
     police can report anyone with an open bottle or container containing alcohol.

   • A community engagement strategy was produced, which CAB is disappointed
     with. The document is available on the council website.

   • The results of the council by-election will be known on Saturday (08th May).

   • The garden waste permit is in force. Cut flowers are not to be put into the
     brown bin, unless a permit has been purchased.

   • One of the SNP councillors has went to Alba.

    

   Loch Lomond And The Trossachs National Park Authority Update

    

   There was no update from the National Park Authority.

    

   Co-opting Of New Community Councillors

    

   FR thanked Mr Kane and Mrs Dent for volunteering to be co-opted onto the
   community council, and asked for a proposer and seconder to vote both onto the
   community council. Proposer: JA, seconder ME. No objections were raised.

    

   AR said that he has been in touch with Stirling Council who have still to complete
   their checks.

    

   AR informed JA that he has paid the data protection fee of £40, and he will send her
   the confirmation within the next few days.

    

   Post meeting minute

    

    

5. On the 05th May, AR emailed Stirling Council and informed them that Mr Kane and
   Mrs Dent had been co-opted onto Drymen Community Council during the previous
   evening’s meeting.

    

   On the 05th May, Mr Stephen Bly from Stirling Council replied via email. He informed
   AR that since Drymen Community Council had not followed the co-opting process,
   the co-opting vote will have to be repeated during the June meeting of Drymen
   Community Council.

    

   Again on the 05th May, AR replied to Mr Bly’s email with an email of
   acknowledgement. The co-option vote will be repeated during the June meeting of
   Drymen Community Council, with the notification included within the June meeting’s
   agenda, which AR emailed to all Drymen community councillors, before the May
   meeting on the 04th May 2021.

    

   Any Other Competent Business

    

   ME said that a local resident: Mrs Marina Brenna has contacted her about the
   overgrown hedge on Main Street, between Braeside and the village hall. The hedge
   is now encroaching upon the pavement. Mrs Brennan also complained about the
   pavements on Clairinch and Creddon Way. WH replied that he had no knowledge of
   the pavements being is disrepair.

    

   Date Of Next Meeting

    

   7.30 pm on the 01st June 2021, via Skype.

    

   At 8.35pm FR thanked everyone for participating in the meeting, thanked Carole Kerr
   for recording the minutes, and then closed the meeting.