Plean Community Council
Minute of Meeting
East Plean Primary School 20th January 2025 - 6pm.
Present: Scott Richards (Chair), Robert McWilliam (Treasurer), Zoe Nolan (Secretary), William Silvestro, Leah Easton, Fiona McNIcol (6.30 onwards), Wendy McAlpine (Minutes).
Other Attendees – Alasdair MacPherson, Brian Hambly, Sharon McGrouther
Welcome, Apologies and Conflict of Interest - Scott welcomed all to the meeting. Apologies form Cathrine Anne Robertson and Stuart McCluckie.
Approval of Minutes – Minutes of meeting 18th Nov 2024 proposed by Zoe Nolan and seconded by Robert McWiliam. Wendy will send a copy to S Bly.
Durieshill Development Infrastructure - Planned visit by Stirling Council officers has been delayed till the Feb/Mar 2025 meeting, Zoe advised that the Council did not advise that they were not going to attend tonight’s meeting highlighting a lack of communication and respect for the Community Council yet again. Concerns raised as to why the developer is not involved with road infrastructure planning raised by both Elected Members (See EM reports for detail). Community Council have put in an enquiry as to what can be done to make the crossroad at Bore Row safer and are keen to work with all involved moving forward.
Plean in Bloom – Community Pride grant has been applied for to work in partnership with Plean’s Voice to introduce more manageable hanging baskets, and this was successful. Bob and Fiona will now start work with Plean in Bloom subgroup of Plean’s Voice.
Bruce Street Playpark – Community Council and Elected Members have been pushing for redevelopment and safety improvements of this park and unfortunately work has still not begun and no date when it will start. Section 75 Ogilvie funds still available and should be used for this purpose. Community Council will continue to chase this issue with support from Elected Members. Pauline Roberts obtained a timeline and brief indication of work to be done after the last Community Council meeting. Concerns raised that Stirling Council cuts mean less people to do the work, and implementation may be delayed as a result.
Main Street Planters and Crossings – Work at school crossing has begun, albeit in a very stop/start fashion due to planning and safety implications of the work not being fully understood or investigated. Community Council have not been advised when work will restart with again and this is very disappointing as this is such an important village safety concern. Brian Hambly has asked for a further meeting with the Head of Road Services and will update once available.
Main Street shop crossing there still no date advised when this will be live and work will be completed, despite several on site meetings and reassurances from Officers.
Planters there is still no update on the way forward and resolution of this issue. Elected Members and Community Council will continue to chase both issues.
Carron Valley Wind – Euro Wind plan to erect 4 new turbines in Carron Valley which could mean potential benefits become available via relevant Community Benefit funds as Plean comes within the radius of same and is a stakeholder.
Police Report – no report received. Community Policing don’t attend any meetings recently due to staffing cuts.
Planning Report – 2 planning amendments for Durieshill and 1 for Ogilvie at Orchid Park. Ogilvie building an additional 3 houses and this has been passed.
Chair’s Report - Very disappointed by lack of interaction between Stirling Council and the Community Council. Poof quality of responses and non-action of agreed plans is becoming increasingly common, and this shows a lack of respect for both the Community Council and the village.
Treasurers Report – Process started to change the banking from Bank of Scotland to Virgin Money to allow free banking moving forward. Account has been opened, and fund will be transferred in due course. £464.52 balance after Community grant has been received. £800 should arrive for Community Pride Grant.
Elected Members Report - Alasdair MacPherson Report
Bannockburn Ward By Election will take place on Thursday 23/1/25 after the sad death of Cllr Margaret Brisley.
Housing revenue and Account and Budget Setting - The meeting will take place on 6th Feb 2025 which will set the level of rents and capital work to the Council housing stock. The decision will be taken by the Labour and Tory coalition as they have the numbers to outvote the rest of the Council combined. A 7% increase in rents is being mooted, which if approved, will be a hammer blow to family budgets who are already stretched. Council Tax Setting Meetings takes place on 27th Feb 2025 and could be looking at budget cuts at the scale of £13 million which will decimate front line services.
Durieshill Development and road safety at West Plean Crossroad - I contacted the police and roads safety offices after the first recent death at the crossroad to see what emergency work could be done to make the Bore Road safer, especially at the crossroad. Officers have reduced the speed of roads and added signage; I am sure the Community Council is aware of the 3 options that are being looked at by the Traffic Mgt Team. I have spoken to the Head of Roads and the have made a bin in the Council capital programme for funding which will be set on 27/2. If this is approved the work will be done in the next financial year.
Durieshill Planning Applications - Barret Homes (24/07772/FUL - 543 houses) and Springfield
(24/07771/FUL – 201 Houses) both submitted in the last week. I have contacted the Head of
Planning and told her that I want both applications determined using the Hearing process. The Hearing process allows me and any objectors 5 minutes each application to discuss concerns and ask the Planning Panel to impose planning conditions to address any concerns. If there is more than one object the 5 minutes allocated time is split. More information can be found about Hearings on Pg 19 https://www.stirling.gov.uk/media/0p4bnn2x/toolbox-easy-read.pdf
Brian Hambly Report - Junction of Cadgers Loan/Bore Row section of Roman Road - C64/C9 Below is an extract from my e-mail sent to officers Dec. 2024.
“This junction has been a matter of concern for some time, brought to my attention during my 2022 campaign and raised then via a member of the SNP group at my request. Having been the site of three deaths and several serious accidents I have, since being elected, highlighted community concerns and raised the matter with senior Infrastructure and Roads Services Officers as early as 13/07/22 where assurance was given that this junction was a priority and restructuring was the likely way forward with the junction layout being changed from a simple crossroads. A final layout still to be agreed upon however the expectation was that to accommodate the topography, traffic flow and alleviate influences that most likely contribute to RTAs a staggered layout was the most probable result. Over the following two years I have from Roads Service Officers been given numerous assurances, changed dates and notification of reduced funding for the now ‘feasibility study’ to be undertaken within this financial year 24/25. I have updated Plean Community Council, Plean Voice, Friends of Plean Country Park, residents and others on numerous occasions regarding this matter and habitually have had to correct every statement made while assuring I would continue to encourage officers to fulfil their commitment to upgrade this dangerous junction.
Will this commitment be fulfilled - The most recent assurance given by Roads Services Officers was that the long awaited feasibility would be carried out within the current financial cycle, however, at the recent consultation where infrastructure in and around the proposed developments of Durieshill and South Gateway, including Roman Road, again no consideration appears to be given to this junction, its horrendous history of deaths and injury, proximity to Plean Country Park and the concerns of those living nearby. Traffic flow on this road through this junction both during and after development will presumably increase. The potential for further incidents at this junction will mostly likely also increase – I have shared with Roads Services Officers signs in the form of multiple axle heavy goods vehicle skid marks, the results of recent near misses at this junction.
I would therefore request that at the next meeting of Plean Community Council (20th Jan. 2025) Officers from Roads Services, Infrastructure and Planning attend to provide further information to the community. This will be several years since initial assurance was given to the community that the Cadgers Loan/Bore Row junction would be made safe but I’m sure it will none-the- less be welcomed by those most affected by the tragedies that have unfolded on their doorsteps.” Once again, I had asked for officers from the likes of Roads Services, Infrastructure and Planning to attend this evenings PCC meeting – it appears no one is available on this occasion. Unfortunately, and even though this junction has been a serious issue for some time and the focus of many a conversation officers appear never to have considered including this junction it in the plan involving the Durieshill development (which will eventually reach as far as this junction). Section 75 funding will not influence any actions taken regarding the much-required improvements to negate the dangerous aspects of this road junction. Therefore, and although after many years of pushing for such it would now appear the long-awaited feasibility study has been carried out. However, it has been made very
clear in the e-mail I received that funding has still to be allocated for the various stages of preparation to be initiated before we get to the “implementation of a road safety scheme for this junction”. PCC have now received a copy of the most recent correspondence where the results of the ‘feasibility study’ have been shared.
I have visited the junction several times recently and noted that there have been further accidents in and around this junction (4 recent). I have attempted to contact the owners of the property damaged recently however they appear to have now vacated the property. Also, signage and road markings put in place to improve the junction are in a poor state of repair. I have recently met with the Convenor of ETNZ to raise my serious concerns about the lack of progress, poor maintenance, and bring to their attention the recent incidents. I requested that they and the Head of Road services meet with me at the earliest and this has now been arranged. I will share the outcome. School Crossing - Work started at long last but only after I called the head of road services to account at the December meeting of Full Council over this and 2 other school crossings within the Ward! As with the above this has been pursued for some time, time and again assurances had been given, during this last year we were assured that work would commence but with every school holiday coming and going there was no sign of any progress and every time this would be chased up and further assurances would be given. Work commenced and promptly stopped on the 6thJan 2025 – the day the schools went back! promptly stopped as having been more than a year in the planning there was no traffic control, no temporary pedestrian crossing arranged which meant school children using the Zebra crossing had to walk through the cordoned off work area where the pavement was being dug up. The workers rightly downed tools. I raised this immediately - the job was made safe, and work recommenced. Once this new Puffin crossing has been in action myself and other members of my group who sit on CYP Committee intend visiting East Plean Primary School to find out just how well the crossing has been received by staff and pupil, and how effective it is in providing safe crossings for those using the school.
Cutting down Trees on Roman Road - It was brought to my attention that one of the Durieshill developers have instructed a contractor to remove trees from along Roman Road. These trees are the roost of Bats and are protected by law. The contractors must have known the bats were there and prior to the cutting down they had visited the site and block some of the holes in the trees with plastic bags. When confronted by residents they denied all knowledge but left the site shortly thereafter. (Images have been collected). Council Officers, along with SSPCA officers and appropriate officers within Police Scotland have been informed – I am continuing to pursue this matter.
The Budget - My group are currently analysing the proposals and the responses gathered from the ‘Big Conversation’ We will be considering putting forward an alternative budget to the that of the administration with the intention of protecting services wherever possible. As you can imagine there are many concerns being raised by constituents.
Residents View – Concerns raised re new bus stop area which has been painted at the church and will this become active or is it an error, as there are already several bus stops in this area of the village. The pavement that leads to the country park from Old Plean at Glen Road badly needs cleared of debris and vegetation to make it safe to use. Scott advised to use the Report It site to highlight any issues and problems as responses are provided. Loanfoot Gardens vegetation at the rear of the residents’ gardens is not being maintained by the Council and residents end up having to do the work themselves. It’s a longstanding problem which seems to be largely ignored by Stirling Council. Scott advised again to use the Report It tool to highlight any issues and problems and offered to support anyone wishing to make a complaint. The land at the old bowling green/welfare raised again and the Community Council are still working on this issue in conjunction with other interested parties to find a way forward. No information has been provided regarding a timeline or funding of any development but will be shared once agreed or known. This will also be addressed under the Local Place Plan moving forward. Willow Brae playpark and lack of maintenance brought up again and A MacPherson advised that Ogilvie offered to take on maintenance but so many barriers were put up by the Council that they walked away. The Council will not take on maintenance of private land so householders need to form a resident’s association/factor to address the issue moving forward otherwise it will remain as is.
AOCB – Community Council sent an enquiry regarding the installation of a new bus stop at the beginning of the village at the motorway bridge/Ogilvie estate. HGV/Lorries from Cowie coming through village raised as a concern. Signage advises that they should go via motorway, but nothing further can be done to improve the issue as its all been addressed in previous years.
Next meeting – 17th Feb 2025 6pm East Plean Primary School