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Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 14th of December 2022 7.30pm in the Kippen Village Hall
Present: Derek Shanks, Robert Clubb, Barbara Ross, Scott Crawford, Margaret Beaton, Sarah Hill.
Attending: Councillor Rosemary Fraser & 6 members of the public.
Apologies: Christine Stewart.
Condolences: Derek passed on the condolences re KCC Vice Chair Hugh Aitchison. Although only with us for a short time, he did a lot for the KCC especially in terms of the Kippen Green. He was involved in the Heritage Committee and played a good part in the village.
Flowers to be arranged for the family.
Minutes of the last meeting: (08/11/2022) were approved (proposer – Margaret Beaton, seconder – Derek Shanks).
Police Report: (1.) On 26 November 2022, Police Sergeant Sarah Stephenson commenced her new role as Community Sergeant for the Forth and Endrick ward as well as supervisor for the Community Policing Teams at Callander and Dunblane. Sarah arrives new in post with eighteen years Policing service, having previously Policed in the Callander area and also has links to the rural Stirlingshire area having previously resided in Lochearnhead and Callander. Prior to this post she was a Response Police Sergeant based at Callander and has previous community Policing experience from her days working in Stirling. (2.) We received a call in relation to a male suspected to be driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.
Officers did attend the area however unfortunately there was no trace of said vehicle. Please report any suspicions of drunk driving and we will always attend when free to do so. Correspondence: Some dates have been suggested re the Air Quality Monitoring – RC and BR are working on this together. Cllr McGarvey sent over a Place Plan from Killin who seem to be quite organised. RC pointed out that Cllr McGarvey has done more to help with information than previous councillors. KCC would maybe require funding to help with our plan.
Planning: Planning Application for Motorhome Park is going to planning panel as Planning Department have decided not to approve. Three houses have been approved at the Fallen Brewery at Kippen Station.
Graham’s AD: John Coyle discussed AD plant application on the Carse. There were 93 complaints put in and the application went to a planning panel. JC and some members of KCC attended. A member of Gargunnock Community Council appeared at the meeting. The application was passed 3:1. When JC and BR were leaving the meeting, a representative on behalf of Graham’s suggested he kept in touch with those present. JC attended a meeting at the Digester. It seemed that they wanted more open dialogue. JC read out his e-mail sent to the KCC –
“I had the initial meeting with Mark Richardson of Ristol Consultants this morning and can now supply a set of notes discussed during the site meeting.
Kippen Community Council
c/o Reading Rooms, Castle Hill, Kippen FK8 3DN kippencommunitycouncil@gmail.com
The new dairy unit is progressing well and will be in operation in early 2023. I had a full tour around this facility and I now understand how it will function.
The Anaerobic Digester (AD) construction will now not commence until very late 2023, but more likely early 2024. This project should take about 12 months to complete.
We looked around the site and I was shown where each of the components for the AD will be sited. My main three concerns about the AD were odour, noise and light pollution. I suspect that all local residents and also both CCs have similar concerns. We discussed how all three of these concerns will be monitored and how we (local residents) can also monitor and measure these potential pollutants.
Mark Richardson will take my concerns and those listed by the CCs back to the GFD board and get their input and hopefully start to communicate more with the local community. He suggested that we continue to have site meetings and air any concerns with regard to the new dairy and also the AD. I agreed that further meeting would be beneficial to all concerned.
I also spoke about the increase in traffic at the roundabout at Kippen A811, and also the site access and how that is policed and we will continue to discuss these valid points when we meet again.
I would ask you all to e-mail any further concerns you have directly to me, and these will then be discussed at meetings to be held in the future.
I will then report back as these meeting take place.”
The plan in Cowdenbeath was pulled out – Graham’s would’ve preferred it to have been there. This is where the offer of a monitoring system would be a great idea to help. There needs to be some form or recourse if there are issues with odour pollution. There are issues with vehicles turning right into the site despite a No Right Turn sign and a No Entry sign.
Risk and Resilience: A detailed log was kept by the R&R team. The new Police Community Sgt was contacted. They asked the R&R team to hold back. The Police have issues with insurance of any non-Police in Search and Rescue Operations. The KCC would have insurance but most likely wouldn’t cover such activities either. RC will have a look through the documentation for clarity. Possible Defibrillator training in the Reading Room once it’s opened back? Four children died recently due to falling through ice in England. As such the R&R team have put up warning signs at the Kippen Curling/Frog Pond to reduce the risk to Kippen residents. If there are risks that people perceive – they should highlight to the R&R team or to the KCC. There is also giant hogweed at the riverside.
Treasurer’s Report: Nothing to add.
Councillor’s Report: Cllr Fraser – from Council Meetings – The Scottish Legislation has gone through re Air BnB type premises and a license will be required. Air BnB type homes are having a massive impact in Built-Up areas and Park Areas. Stirling Council’s aim is to help cover costs and not make profits. The Local Place Plan – it’s important that all communities should make a start on their plans and get them started. RF is trying to push for support to the communities. Would be good to get some representatives from each Community Council in the Ward together at meetings throughout the year. Resilience is really up to each individual community. A question was asked re-equipment for the resilience teams such as shovels and Hi-Viz Vests – there wasn’t much uptake but this may change due to the change in the weather. Work is still continuing on damage bridges in the area and should be open up soon.
Round Table Discussion: We will need to vote in a new Vice Chair. Moving forward with the website. A Kippen Ways meeting has been postponed until further conversations have gone ahead with Graham’s Dairy. An invitation back to the Reading Room for the next meeting. Minutes not yet updated on KCC website. The Council will start charging for the EV points. Min Charge £1.50 with 25p per KWh. They are working on how to set up policing the spaces. Vehicle activated sign has been put up at the top of Scott Brae – however the one down the Fore Road is still set at 30mph. Kippen Cuppa – there is funding available – RC will speak with JG about it outside of the meeting.
Any Other Competent Business: Next stage of the green to get trees planted – perhaps a plaque for Hugh. May need someone to cut the grass once a month. RC has suggested an application to go into the Wind Farm for funding.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm.
Next meeting: Monday 13th of February 2023 at 7.30pm in the Reading Rooms.