April 2021 Minutes

Members Present

In Attendance

Apologies

Fiona Berrow

Di Alderdice

Sue Dumbleton

Bob Dale

Phil Boydell

Sandra Engstrom

Fiona Dyet

Emily McLaughlin

Andrew Fraser

Joan Murphy

David Sherman

Ashleigh Phillip

Cllr Gibson

Alison Swanson

Residents - 6

1)

Declaration of Interest

No Declaration of Interest was recorded.

2)

Approval of Previous Minutes

Minutes for March were adopted

Alison Swanson proposed; Sandra Engstrom seconded

3)

Matters Arising from previous minutes not to be addressed within the meeting

None

4)

Proposal of new Community Councillor

Sandra Engstrom was proposed by Fiona Berrow as a full member of Riverside Community Council.
Seconded Alison Swanson.

Robert Dale was proposed by Ashleigh Phillip as a full member of Riverside Community Council.
Seconded by Emily McLaughlin

5)

Reports

a) Chair

Joan Murphy welcomed everyone to the meeting by sharing some of the positive comments and
messages Riverside Community Council has received over the past few months.

Joan Murphy, following on summarised Riverside Community Council’s Code of Conduct and
highlighted the behaviours to expect from Community Councillors. However one of our members was
stopped on the street by 2 residents who harangued her in an unpleasant manner with
incorrect information about parking issues. Joan emphasised that council members are volunteers
who donate their time to serve Riverside and threatening and aggressive behaviour will not be
tolerated.

It is Riverside Community Council’s aim to be a conduit of information and community
members are strongly encouraged to get in touch with questions, suggestions and comments.

b) Secretary

Police Report – There was one undetected case involving vandalism and one detected case involving
threatening behaviour.

Riverside Maintenance – Giant Hogweed, Pontoon Debris and Seagulls have all been
discussed with Stirling Council and logged for attention.

Consultations – Stirling Council have four consultations running for residents to comment
on.

Climate and Nature Emergency Planning (Emily McLaughlin to comment on behalf of Riverside
Community Council)

Specialist Additional Support Needs: Expansion Consultations (Ashleigh Phillip to comment on
behalf of Riverside Community Council)

Stirling Community Mental Health and Well-Being

The Scottish Government has a consultation running on Local Place Plans. (Andrew Fraser to
comment on behalf of Riverside Community Council)

The comments will be made available on Riverside Community Council’s website.

Spaces For People – As agreed in our discussions with Stirling Council we have been shown
the drafts of the posters and asked to comment on locations for these signs. In April 2020
we requested additional support from Stirling Council for Lovers Walk and the issues with
Social Distancing. We will ensure signage includes this street.

Calendar – Local residents are running a fortnightly “Meditative Moments” zoom gathering
to reflect on varying topics, all are welcome and details can be found on Riverside Community
Council’s website.

c) Treasurer

Fiona Berrow gave the treasurers report.

The second instalment of AT&ST funding (from Paths for All) came into the account: £3,793.99.

£3,700 of this was paid to Forth Environment Link for their work on the Active Travel survey. The

remaining £93.99 was transferred to the unrestricted funds as repayment for printing of leaflets (£90)
and the card reader (£3.99) for the air monitoring device.

Two months of Zoom subscriptions were paid (£14.39 per month).

£19.60 that had been overpaid for Covid support expenses was repaid.

Riverside Community Council currently has £2,059.27 in the bank account. Of this, £487.19 is
unrestricted.

d) Planning

There was nothing to report.

6)

Sub-Groups

a) Active Travel and Sustainable Transport

The Active Travel and Sustainable Travel subgroup has been in touch with Disability Equality Scotland
for advice and support in conducting an accessibility audit in Riverside and recommended Living
Streets for further advice.

Riverside Community Council has been offered free Disability Awareness Training.

The results of the Active Travel survey is in the process of being analysed and the results are due to
be shared shortly.

b) Defibrillators

The Defibrillator Group continues to look into ways to fund the new batteries and pads that are due
for renewal this year.

c) Community Resilience Plan

A meeting will be scheduled between the Community Resilience Sub-Group and Kerri who works with
Ready Scotland to discuss plans for Riverside.

The Community Emergency Plan is out of date and the sub-group will look into updating it

d) Environment

Litter Pick – This event was a huge success with over twelve groups collecting twenty two bags of
litter. The embankment behind the Premier Inn was identified as an area in need of ongoing
additional attention and it was agreed to pursue this further with Whitbread. The neglected Forthside
plot is an area of concern due to a build up of litter and giant hogweed. This will be followed up with
Stirling Council.

A huge thank you was given to all who took part.

Dog Fouling – Riverside Community Council has received many positive comments about the poster
and poo bag campaign. The next step will be to replace the posters with ones that have been made
with help from local children. A selection of designs are on the website.

Wild Flower Meadow – Riverside Naturally will be starting work on their low growing wild flower

meadow at the start of May. An area will be fenced off temporarily, next to the Community Orchard
to give the new plants and seeds a change to grow, protected for rabbit.

The plants bought using the Scotland Loves Local grant will be planted along Riverside Drive
throughout May.

f) Fairy Trail

The Fairy Trail was highly enjoyed by those who saw the doors hidden along the river path,
unfortunately a lot of the doors were taken before they could be fully appreciated.
The subgroup will look into ways of ensuring that the fairy’s can stay for longer on their return.

g) Lovers Walk

The fences have been repaired and painted along Lovers Walk.

h) Parking

On 24th March we received an email from the Council which proposed to 'introduce a 20mph
limit in Riverside and install temporary build outs in Forrest Road and Alexandra Place'. This
was to be part of the Sumatrans Spaces for People proposals linked to the pandemic recovery.

This was discussed at the Community Council meeting on 31st April and a number of concerns
were raised including the short time scale for responding and that local residents had not been
involved. In addition several members of the CC studied the details of the proposals and we
then gave a detailed response to the Council indicating why we did not want to agree to the
structural changes proposed.

It was agreed that the Council would ‘proceed with introducing a 20mph zone in Riverside and
a behaviour change campaign ’Physical Distancing Campaign' but not the structural changes.

Going forward, Stirling Council has agreed to a site visit to discuss the on-the-ground issues
and to further community consultation regarding ongoing issues as well current pandemic
difficulties.

Following comments from Cllr Gibson we agreed that we would send him our detailed response previously sent
to the Council's proposals.

i) Spring Parcels

Over 40 of Riversides residents were visited and given a goody bag in celebration of Spring over
Easter Weekend.

A huge thanks to Mr Mohamed of Riverside News for donating the sweet treats.

7)

Bins

Sue Dumbleton has been in contact with Stirling Council regarding some of the bin issues we have
around Riverside. Stirling Council will send letters to residents remind them of their responsibility to

remove the bins from the pavement following collection. If this continues to be an issue this will be
forwarded to the Enforcement Department.

A Waste Collection Supervisor will visit the area to assess the area for further solutions.

8)

A.O.B

Riverside Bowling Club is hoping to open 19th May with various other events to encourage people
back to the club – new members are very welcome.

David Sherman raised The Queens Green Canopy initiative and hosting a street party in
celebration of the Queens Platinum Jubilee and our community for consideration.

9)

Date of Next Meeting

26th May 2021

7pm Hosted using Zoom