Dunblane Community Council

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes of the meeting of the Dunblane Community Council held on
Wednesday, 3 March, 2021, at 7 p.m., held remotely via Zoom.

 

Present: David Prescott (Chairman), Alan Booth (Secretary), Chris Toop (Treasurer),
Fiona Plumtree, Karen Jenkins, Christina Feaks, Rosemary Hunter, Graham Mowat,
Andy Mitchell, James Byrne, Sharon Mylchreest.

 

In attendance: Councillors Graham Houston and Douglas Dodds, Bridget Clark,
Steve Mason, Margaret Bragg (Minutes Secretary).

 

1. Apologies, conflicts of interest, Press and Chairman's Remarks

   Apologies have been received from Councillor Tollemache, Andy Davis
   (Community Link Officer, Stirling Council) and Craig French. There is no Press
   presence and no stated conflicts of interest. The meeting is held via Zoom under
   Stirling Council's Temporary Amendments to the Community Council
   Establishment arrangements.

    

   The community council has been notified of a TV programme to be broadcast on

   11 March to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the school tragedy. The
   Chairman informed the meeting that the Cathedral is not planning anything
   official and he does not know if the Dunblane Centre plans to hold any
   commemoration. Sharon Mylchreest agreed to contact the Centre to find out more
   and will let the community council know. Rosemary Hunter will also contact Steve
   Birnie, a trustee at the Centre. The Chairman said he was willing to represent the
   community council if required. Councillor Houston reported that some of the
   affected families will be participating in the TV programme and reassured the
   meeting that it was not going to sensationalise the tragedy.

    

   The Chairman brought to the attention of councillors the need to think of the
   future of the community council and attract new councillors. In particular, there is the option that up to another three councillors can be co-opted and he asked
   present councillors to think of how a wider range of views could be represented.

    

2. Approval of minutes of 3 February 2021

   These were approved, proposed by Sharon Mylchreest and seconded by Alan
   Booth.

    

3. Standing items and actions from previous meetings: See attached.

Future of the Burgh Chambers Steve Mason reported that the initiative is still very
much alive, looking at the possibility of the community using those parts of the
building not used by the Council. He has been in correspondence with the Council.
The delay caused by Covid was noted but he was sure that progress will pick up
again. The group is planning to carry out a survey of local artists and also of the
community to gauge reaction to the proposals. The Chairman repeated the
community council's support of this initiative.

 

Local Rail Development Fund Project The Chairman reported on the gulf of
understanding he perceives between Transport Scotland’s views and the needs of
the town. He supports the submission by Stirling Council of an application for a
grant claim to enable the consultant to be paid, but proposes that the community
council does not progress this further. He noted that Transport Scotland has no
interest in meeting the parking needs of the local community or commuter parking
for the railway. He did not feel it was worth spending more time on this but
proposed that in future car parking should be managed for the benefit of the town
not as a strategic railway car parking facility. In reply to a question from the
Secretary the Chairman confirmed that the abattoir site is controlled by Network
Rail. The community council agreed with this approach and the Chairman agreed
to communicate this to Transport Scotland and Kevin Argue at Stirling Council to
put in the grant claim. Action: The Chairman. If parking problems increase when
more commuters return after the pandemic subsides, then this issue could be
revisited. The Case for Change document would be available with the wide ranging
data collected to underpin it. Fiona Plumtree proposed a vote of thanks to the
Chairman for his efforts on this project and the community councillors added
their appreciation.

 

Participatory Budgeting Project The Chairman reported that the proposals for the
alterations of the toilets at the Library are now going through the planning
process. The Chairman was minded to drop this item from the agenda and it was
agreed, in light of the lack of information at present about the process for next
year, to drop it from the agenda with the proviso that it might be reintroduced
later in the year.

 

Dunblane High School/Dunblane Young People's Project As the school has been
closed, Rosemary Hunter did not have anything to report.

 

Dunblane twinning proposal The Secretary said that Councillor Tollemache has
reported that there is no progress on this as Council officers have been too busy.

 

Heilanman's Land Councillor Houston reported that Council officers are prepared
to support leasing the land to the Carman Family Foundation (CFF) with certain
conditions, once the CFF submits its application. Consultation with the community
will be necessary. When the Chairman asked about the unofficial garden
extension, Councillor Houston confirmed he has passed this to the relevant
Council officers, and it should be settled in due course.

 

Spaces for People Online community engagement on the proposals has started,
although Rosemary Hunter pointed out that it is possible to submit comments
multiple times. Andy Mitchell criticised the proposed sites for new cycle racks. He
felt putting one in the open space at the station would detract from the original
idea of an open public plaza and having one between the bench and the loading
bay at the bottom of Beech Road would block the pavement for pedestrians.

 

Bridget Clark supported the extension of the 20 mph zone along Springfield
Terrace and Doune Road, but suggested it should also include Wallace Road. She
also pointed out that when repainting the cycle lanes from the Fourways
roundabout to Marks and Spencer it is essential that they avoid the car door
opening zone to keep cyclists safe. She was pleased there is to be a feasibility
study undertaken on the possibility of a Dunblane to Bridge of Allan cycle route.

 

The Chairman questioned where the suggested pedestrian crossing to the
Dunblane Centre could be installed: on which side of the roundabout or even on
both sides. He suggested the possibility of using Surveymonkey to gauge the full
range of opinion in the community and a discussion arose over how this could be
carried out. It was agreed to think about how to take this forward. It was noted
that Spaces for People was a Council-led initiative, and the consultation was
carried out by the Council.

 

Gritting of roads and footways The Chairman noted with disappointment that he
has not had a reply from Bruce Reekie (Senior Manager, Environment and Place,
Stirling Council).

 

1. Police Report: See attached.

   It was noted that there had been some incidents of anti-social behaviour in the
   town. Councillors discussed the increasing problem of dog mess, especially on the
   paths of the Kippendavie Estate, where it was noted that the residents had been in
   dialogue with the Estate. As it is on private land, the Council has no jurisdiction. It
   was understood that the Council were considering whether bins and plastic bags
   be provided at the entrances to the estate.

    

2. Treasurer's Report: See attached.

   While noting that there is little change in the accounts, the Chairman pointed out
   the Scottish and Southern Electricity Network Community Resilience Fund grant in
   the accounts can be used to help people recover from the lockdown and the
   ensuing economic difficulties.

    

3. Correspondence Report: See attached.

    

    

4. Report of other meetings

   The Secretary has been in contact with David Dale of the Dunblane Soccer Club to
   discuss their involvement with the proposed Park of Keir development in the light
   of the material changes to the original plan (see minutes February 2021). David
   Dale confirmed that they no longer supported the Park of Keir project, the reason
   being that what they were promised at the beginning has now been diluted to a
   vastly reduced facility which would have little or no advantage to the club in the
   long term.

    

   Rosemary Hunter has attended four of the Forth Valley LEADER meetings about
   encouraging more sustainability across the area. She will circulate the report when
   it is available.

    

5. Dunblane Development Trust

   Rosemary Hunter reported that a new volunteer support officer has been
   appointed. The Secretary confirmed that money is still coming in from the
   Government Covid support fund.

    

6. Elected Members' Reports

   The Secretary has received a report from Councillor Tollemache informing the
   meeting that one of the small bridges over the Scouring Burn at the bottom of
   Laighhills Loan is to be removed as it is damaged and not needed. A fence has
   been erected around the eroded path in the Laighhills and the Secretary reported
   that the Laighhills Management Group together with Donna Mills (Land Services,
   Stirling Council) is going to discuss rerouting the path.

    

7. AOCB

   Andy Mitchell raised the problem of abandoned old-style waste bins on the streets
   andCouncillor Houston agreed to inform Council officers to arrange for their
   removal. Action: Councillor Houston. He confirmed that the old bins are being
   recycled.

    

   Following a comment on social media, Karen Jenkins raised the issue of the
   number of benches around town, particularly useful for older residents. It was
   thought there were sufficient and noted that the Midweek Group of the DDT has
   been installing benches over the last few years.

    

   The Secretary has been looking into the idea of an Area Forum. In the past, he said
   that there had been a list of organisations whose leaders could be contacted with
   suggested proposals; they would then contact their members for comments; the
   latter would report back to their organisation leader who, in turn, would report
   back to the Forum. This process had taken too long and was too complicated.
   However, he is gathering details of organisations in Dunblane with the idea that
   leaders could use surveymonkey to reach their members and collect their
   comments.

    

   The Chairman also suggested that even once physical meetings are permitted, this
   was not suitable for everyone, and the community council should think of how to
   address this.

    

    

    

8. Date, time and place of next meeting

The next meeting of the Dunblane Community Council will take place by Zoom on
Wednesday, 4 April, 2021, at 7 p.m.

 

4. Planning Report: See attached.

Councillors Houston and Dodds left the meeting.

 

Park of Keir The Chairman reported that a further extension to the negotiation
period has been granted to 31 March. He raised concerns that public money will
be given to fund the development, which would be against the principles of the
enabling housing development. It was noted that there will probably be no
progress until after the upcoming Scottish election.

 

Firs of Kinbuck The Chairman reported that the application is back in the
planning process. He noted that the Government has a target of zero road deaths
by 2050. The local community has concerns that the application will be rerun in
the same flawed manner.

 

Wider development pressures The Chairman noted that development proposals
have to go through the normal planning process, including consultation with the
community. However, he felt that councillors should think of defining any benefits
that could accrue as part of future developments. Graham Mowat raised the idea
of a roof tax on new housing, giving the community a lump sum to use.

 

The meeting ended at 8.30 p.m.

 

This is a true representation of the meeting.

 

David Prescott ........................................................................................ Date .......................

Chairman

 

Alan Booth .............................................................................................. Date .......................

Secretary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

included key and CCTV recording system. Enquiries are ongoing in relation to
this and if you have any information in relation to this please contact 101 ref:
PS-20210220-1071.

 

ROAD SAFETY AND ROAD TRAFFIC RELATED CRIME

 

None to report.

 

OTHER MATTERS

 

Local CPT have been made aware of issues within the area in relation to local
youths. We are aware of the closed Facebook group which members of the
community have joined to share information. This is something which we
cannot monitor or be a part of and we ask member of the community to contact
101 in relation to any incident so that this can be recorded on police systems.
This allows us to see any patterns in relation to incidents and ask for extra
resources within the area, if required.

 

Between 2nd February and 3rd 2021 there was 131 calls to police in the Dunblane
area. A breakdown of the calls are: 22 public nuisance calls, 4 disturbance type
calls, 5 domestic related incidents and 23 road traffic related calls.

 

 

 

Any issues raised at Community Council meeting:

 

 

https://scotland.police.uk/yourviewcounts

 

Dunblane Community Council

Planning Report - Major Issues – to end February 2021

This month has seen an upturn in smaller matter after a long period when it has been generally quiet in
terms of numbers of applications. The big issues also quiet:

 

Glassingall – Proposal of Application Notice – Demolition and fire at Glassingall House.

No further progress.

 

Park of Keir - Section 75 Processes.

The Minister did eventually grant a further extension beyond the end of December, which was eventually
advised to Stirling Council. He advises that these extensions are to allow time to finalise funding
negotiations, which seems like an exceptional reason to delay or otherwise a planning approval.

Communications over that past few months indicate that LTA will put up money, but the risk is that public
money will be put in the match any LTA funding. This negates the justification for the “enabling housing”
and the assurances given by the PoK Partnership that public funding was not required.

More information being sought, with Keith Brown MSP being pressed to resolve, but the likelihood of any
responses, let alone meaningful ones, is low.

Given the approach of the election, it is suggested that no decision will be announced until after the
election, and with unannounced public funding.

 

19/00243/PPP Firs of Kinbuck (North bound services)

The Planning decision was quashed, and costs awarded against the Council.
This means the application becomes live again

However, an ongoing dispute is emerging between the local community and the Planning Manager about
the new process, which risks rerunning the previous flawed (undefended) process.

The legal challenges remains very live!!

A key issue is variation from the local plan – this development was proposed by the developer for inclusion
in the last LDP and rejected by Stirling Council.

The Planning Information which was removed from the Council website after the Planning Panel decision has
been delivered but some files are too big to email. It is available – the size of the file is making publication
difficult.

 

Wider development proposals

Informal dialogue has taken place with a local developer and their ideas, views, and proposals are now
understood. They will need to take forward any proposal through the normal planning process, which will
need to include exhaustive community consultation.

It remains for us to define the benefits that we should be seeking.

 

David Prescott 3 March 2021