Minutes of the meeting held on 14th May 2025
- Present/apologies for absence:
Present: Michele Bennett (Chair), Hendy Spence (Secretary), Jackie Garvie, Ronnie
Garvie, Moira Mackay (Treasurer), Ian Rodger (Vice Chair)
Apologies: Rosemary Fraser (Stirling Councillor)
4 members of the public
- Declaration of interest in any items of business
There were no declarations of interest.
III. Approval of Minutes of last meeting
The previous minutes were approved.
- Stir lin g C ounc il lo r’s R eport
No report provided.
- Police Re port
Forth and Endrick, Community Council Police Report April 2025 – compiled by PC Matt
McCammon.
Community Engagement and Reassurance
It is important to you to have community officers who you know, who are accessible and
who address local problems. PC Matt McCammon PC Laura Newlands are the Ward
Officers for the Forth and Endrick area. They are based at Balfron Police Office and can
be contacted at the office, on 101, or at ForthEndrickCPT@scotland.police.uk. It is
recommended that this email address is used by the local community for email contact
however this should not be used to report crimes.
Please remember that we regularly publish useful information and updates on social
media, including appeals for information, updates about road closures and crime
prevention advice. Our Facebook and Twitter pages can be found at;
https://www.facebook.com/PoliceScotlandForthValley
https://www.facebook.com/PoliceScotland
X - @PSOSForthValley
X - @PoliceScotland
Arnprior
No crimes recorded.
No incidents of note.
Balfron
Anti-social behaviour - A resident received a threatening phone call by a person known to
them. Enquiries are ongoing to trace the person responsible.
Vandalism - A resident had an unknown item thrown at their kitchen window causing it to
crack. No further lines of enquiry exist and this remains undetected.
Road Traffic - The driver of a lorry was issued with a fix penalty notice for careless
driving after they emerged from a junction into the path of another vehicle narrowly
avoiding a collision.
Theft - A theft has been recorded after a parcel left on the doorstep of the victim’s home
address was taken. No further lines of enquiry and this remains undetected.
A theft has been recorded after a quantity of drystone wall stones were taken from a wall
of a property in the village. No further lines of enquiry exist and this remains undetected.
Assault - A minor assault has been recorded after a youth football match at the high
school. Following the match a volunteer referee was struck with a bag that was thrown at
him by a member of the opposing team. Enquiries are ongoing to trace the person
responsible.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
Buchlyvie
Theft - A theft has been recorded after a resident reported her diamond earrings have
went missing from a table within her home address. No signs of forced entry and no
further lines of inquiry.
Croftamie
Road Traffic - A driver has been reported to the procurator Fiscal in relation to Careless
Driving after overtaking to close to a cyclist on the B834. Fortunately, no collision
occurred as a result.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
Drymen
Theft - A theft has been recorded after two vehicles have been broken into and a number
of power tools taken from within. This occurred within the carpark off Stirling Road.
Unfortunately, there are no further lines of enquiry and this remains undetected.
A theft of motor vehicle has been recorded following the theft of a quad bike from a farm
by unknown persons. Enquires are ongoing.
A theft has been recorded after a lamb feeder has been taken from a farm near to
Gartmore. There are no further lines of enquiry.
Road Traffic - Enquiries are ongoing to trace a driver of a motor vehicle that failed to stop
after having an accident within the village. The offending vehicle veered on to the
opposing carriageway and damaged the wingmirror of an oncoming vehicle.
Enquiries are ongoing to trace a driver of a motor vehicle that failed to stop and report
after colliding with a fence damaging same.
A driver has been arrested, charged and reported to the Procurator Fiscal for causing
serious injury by dangerous driving (and having defective tyres after they fell asleep
while driving and collided with a cyclist, near to the Ballat Crossroads on the A81.
A person was issued a fixed penalty ticket for parking their vehicle in a dangerous
position on the C3 Road to Rowardennan.
A driver remains untraced after they clipped the wing mirror of an oncoming vehicle on
the A81 near to Ballat and failed to stop at the scene and report the matter.
Unfortunately, there are no further lines of enquiry.
Incidents of note - A climber came into difficulty on Conic Hill after suffering a medical
episode. Lomond Mountain Resue assisted in recovering the casualty off the hill to the
Ambulance service.
Fintry
Anti-social Behaviour - A number of people in the village have received recorded Police
warnings for behaving in a threatening and abusive manner regarding their conduct
against each other, and towards other members of the community.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
Gargunnock
Anti-social Behaviour - A member of the community was issued with a recorded Police
Warning after they made threats to their neighbour.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
Killearn
Vandalism - A vandalism has been recorded after a coping stone was dislodged from a
stone wall. Enquiries are ongoing.
Theft - A theft has been recorded after a trailer was stolen from Oakwood Garden Centre.
Unfortunately, there are no further lines of enquiry and this remains undetected.
A theft has been recorded after a fruit machine was stolen from a campsite.
Road Traffic - A driver has been reported for Dangerous Driving after they performed a
dangerous overtake at speed at the Junction of A809 Finnich Glen.
Two drivers were issued with Fixed Penalty notices for exceeding the 30 MPH speed limit
on the B834 Station Road.
A driver was arrested and charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath for a
roadside breath test, no driving licence, and no insurance. They were later released on
undertaking to attend Court at a later date.
A driver remains untraced after they collided with a BT Openreach power cabinet and
failed to stop at the scene and report the matter. Enquiries are ongoing.
Incidents of note - Calls have been received of suspicious vehicles in the area. Please
remain vigilant and continue to report these.
Kippen
Theft - A theft of motor vehicle has been recorded following the theft of a quad bike from
a farm by unknown persons. Enquires are ongoing.
Assault - Efforts are being made to trace a suspect after they attempted to punch and
then push another resident. The victim was not injured as a result.
Fraud - A resident has been defrauded of a large sum of money after they were
contacted by an unknown person by telephone purporting to be from the victim’s bank.
The suspect then advised that there had been suspicious transactions and convinced the
victim to transfer money to another bank account. Enquiries are still ongoing.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
Strathblane
Assault - A suspect remains outstanding after they assaulted their partner, then took and
drove away the victim’s motor vehicle in a careless manner. Efforts are ongoing to trace
the suspect.
Three staff members were arrested from a campsite following a physical altercation. Two
of the people were charged with assault and theft and held in Police custody. They were
then released from Court with bail conditions not to return to the campsite. They
thereafter returned to the campsite and were arrested again for breaching their bail
conditions.
Vandalism - A vandalism has been recorded after a padlock was cut from a gate of
Aucheden estate.
Theft / Fraud - Enquiries are ongoing after numerous unauthorised cash withdrawals
have been made from various ATMs from the bank account of an elderly member of the
community. The victim’s debit card has now been cancelled and efforts are being made
to trace those responsible.
Incidents of note - There were no incidents of note.
- Planning
An application for a single storey side extension to a dwellinghouse to provide
ancillary accommodation, at 10 Menzies Terrace.
An application has been received for a slurry lagoon at a farm SE of Hill of Balgair.
An affordable housing meeting scheduled on 11th May 2025.
A License Forum Meeting will be held on 15th May 2025. MM will attend.
VII. Finance
An annual report was submitted to Foundation Scotland. They were very happy with
the report.
The acquisition of two benches at the cross was approved as a special project.
It was voted on and agreed that a trial bus service to Stirling and back would be
trialled on Saturdays in June.
VIII. Resilience update
The resilience plan was activated on the 8th May due to problems with the water
supply in certain areas of the village and the resilience team distributed bottled
water to families with babies and/or young children.
The removal of Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed is underway. Volunteers
will be sought in July to assist with the removal of Himalayan Balsam on the
Endrick embankment.
Phase 2 of the Leaky Dams project is complete. Applications for Phase 3 are
ongoing.
SSEN Resilience Grant is open for applications and FCC will be applying for
funding for willow spilling to the rear of the Sports Centre.
The Leaky Dams Open Day event will be held on the 5th September.
- Roads/paths
No road closures at present.
Bridge repairs to the Endrick bridge and the Gonachan bridge are planned in the near
future. FCC will confirm dates nearer the time.
A cycling event created by Sir Chris Hoy, Tour de 4, will be passing through Fintry on
Sunday 7th September.
- Correspondence
An email has been received from Stirling Council asking about Gala Events being held by
FCC. HS will respond advising about the picnic in the garden event.
An email has been received from Balfron Community Council sharing information about their
Local Place Plan. This will be taken forward by AD-D.
An email has been received from Stirling Council regarding a major digital upgrade
completed for MECS. This has been posted on Facebook by FCC.
An email has been received from a member of the public regarding fly-tipping. FCC advised
them to contact Stirling Council.
An email has been received from Buchlyvie Community Council regarding the upgrade of the
multi-court at the school requesting information about which company to use. HS to respond
advising them to contact Fintry Primary School.
- Any other business
FCC was reported by a member of the public along with other residents in the village for flytipping.
After investigation, Stirling Council advised that there was nothing to report.
Balfron High School received a new mini-bus which members of the public can use by
contacting BHS directly.
FCC is in the process of compiling an information booklet containing local information. This
will be useful for new and existing residents alike.
A community bus to Stirling and back on Saturdays will be trialled in June (see Finance).
Complaints were received from residents living on Culcreuch Avenue regarding parking
issues during a rugby event at the Sports Centre. This is an ongoing issue and the local
police officers were involved at the last event. IR to take this forward.
Carron Valley Forest Land Management Plan is currently being reviewed. A drop-in session
will be held at Carron Valley Main Park on Saturday 31st May. IR to attend.
There was discussion about road sweeping in Fintry. MB to check with Stirling Council.
A grant application to provide benches as part of a resilience grant will be submitted by MB.
The plan is to provide two benches on the sports field (JG to seek permission from the
sports club as the location is outwith the area of the community garden), two picnic tables
for the sports centre, two picnic tables for the rugby club and a bench in the orchard.
It was agreed that a special project would fund benches for the area near the cross. JG will
deal with this.
A question was raised about the ongoing prescription collection and delivery service. The
population of Fintry is served by three local pharmacies. It was agreed by FCC after the
Covid pandemic that this service would continue.
Roof repairs to the bus shelter will be carried out in the next couple of months.
Full time Nursery provision – JG is continuing to look into the possibility of full-time Nursery
provision alongside Rosemary Fraser and the parent council.
The FCC A.G.M. will be held on 10th September 2025.
The picnic in the garden will be held on 21st June.
XII. Date of next meeting
The next FCC meeting will be held on Wednesday 11th June at 7.30 p.m.