Oct 2021 Minutes

Public Meeting Minutes
Date – 27th October 2021

Sederunt

Members Present In Attendance Apologies

Fiona Berrow Di Alderdice Sue Dumbleton

Bob Dale Phil Boydell Sandra Engstrom

Emily McLaughlin Andrew Fraser Joan Murphy

Ashleigh Phillip David Sherman
Alison Swanson

Residents: 8

1. Declaration of Interest

   No Declaration of Interest was recorded.

    

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

    

   None arose

    

3. Approval of Previous Minutes

Minutes for September were adopted
Fiona Berrow proposed; Bob Dale seconded

1. Reports

    

   1. Chair

       

      Alison Swanson chaired the meeting and welcomed everyone to the first ‘in person’ meeting since before
      COVID. Thanks were given to the Bowling Club for their hospitality.

      James the Postie – Riverside’s postman James will be retiring at the end on November after 18 years of
      delivering the mail in Riverside. The community is hosting a small event to present James with a card and
      gift – date and time to be confirmed.

       

      Newspaper – Gillian Armstrong has offered to support Riverside Community Council with liaising with the
      Stirling Observer to increase non-digital communication and community outreach.

       

   2. Secretary

       

      Drink Spiking - Following recent reports of drink spiking in Stirling, the members of the District of Stirling
      Licensing Board have issued the following statement.

      Cllr Danny Gibson, Chair of the Board, said: “The Board would strongly encourage people to report any
      concerns over drink spiking or injection to Police Scotland and they will be thoroughly investigated with all
      necessary action taken in response.”

       

      A new Good Food For All Fund has been launched by Stirling Council. Grants of up to £10,000 are
      available to third sector/community groups across Stirling to tackle food inequalities and insecurities and
      ensure that everyone has access to nutritious healthy food in line with Stirling’s Food Framework. Also
      open to internal Stirling Council Services and community planning partner public agencies.

      The deadline for applications is 11 am on Monday 8 November 2021

       

      SEPA – Forth District Local Plan (FLOODING) Consultation – Thanks were offered to the group who
      worked on this consultation. This will be submitted to SEPA and a copy of the comments are available on
      the website.

       

      This is a public consultation, and any member of the community can contribute, ending on the 31st

      October 2021.

       

      Lovers Walk – Flooding – This has been reported to Stirling Council who are sending an inspector out to
      see what can be done about the blockages.

       

      Lovers Walk –Riverside Community Council has approached Stirling Council to continue to raise
      awareness and ask for consideration about Lovers Walk. It continues to be an unsafe and unpleasant
      place to traverse and Riverside Community Council would like assurances that this will be an area that is
      taken into account when the plans for the city centre and travel plans are made.

       

      Graffiti – Bob Dale is going to investigate the possibility of a mural under the bridges. It is acknowledged
      that land ownership may be an issue. Other options for making Lovers Walk more hospitable are being
      looked into.

       

      Bin Issues – Cllr Thomson has requested an update on this issue as Riverside Community Council has had
      no further correspondence on this matter.

       

      Riverside Scavenger Hunt – Forth Valley Welcome are hoping to host a scavenger hunt around Riverside
      to welcome and introduce some of the New Scots to Stirling. It is proposed for the 12th December.

       

      Community Council Meeting Venue - there was discussion regarding our next venue. This remains
      unresolved at this point.

      The Riverbank Centre is unavailable.

      Cambuskenneth Hall was unable to be booked at this point.

      The Admin Grant will not cover the cost of Zoom or Venue hire for the remainder of the year.
      Fiona Berrow will further investigate the issue with the admin grant and payment dates.

       

   3. Treasurer

      We have received the admin grant and AGM minute funding for 2021-22 from Stirling Council. We will be
      paying to hire a venue (Riverside Bowling Club) for this month’s meeting at a cost of £15 per hour, so this
      will be an expenditure of £30.

      There was £5.22 remaining from the Scotland Loves Local fund – Fiona Berrow proposed Riverside
      Community Council donate it to Riverside Naturally. This was agreed. (Emily McLaughlin abstained from
      this decision)

       

      It was noted that there is a minute grant that is available, should a non-member of Riverside Community
      Council be appointed to produce the minutes of our meetings.

       

   4. Planning

       

      There were no planning issues this month.

       

2. Sub-Groups

    

   1. Active Travel and Sustainable Transport

       

      Ashleigh Phillip will be the Community Council lead on the Active Travel and Sustainable Transport Group,
      which plans to meet shortly to begin work on the Riverside Active Travel Plan.

       

      Stirling Council have released their Winter Policy and we are continue to work towards a gritting solution
      for Riverside.

       

      The True Gritters group were out a couple of times last year to clear paths of neighbours – if there are any
      homes that may need assistance during the winter months residents were urged to contact Riverside
      Community Council.

       

   2. Community Resilience Plan

       

      Sandra Engstrom is investigating the possibility of arranging an event about the effects of flooding and
      how to protect homes against damage.

       

   3. Defibrillators

       

      The annual Living Advent Windows are being organised for December as a fundraiser for the defibrillators.

      Money raised will be used to replace the batteries for the units.

       

   4. Environment

       

      Riverside Naturally is working with Stirling Council to ensure the replacement of any missing trees and
      future replacement of trees that may need to be felled*. It was confirmed that Riverside Community
      Council continue to support these endeavours.

       

      *Some of the ancient cherry trees along the river are nearing the end of their lives and may need to be
      felled.

       

      f) Parking

      Stirling Council has secured £34K funding for consultation and experimental solutions around the school.
      This will be in partnership with specialist Living Street which is a charity with walking at it’s heart.

      • Living Streets will form a steering group including representatives from local businesses, school,
        residents and members of the Community Council.

      • The project will be spilt to represent the issues with commuter parking and school parking.

      • The research will include further travel survey and will include our Active travel survey and include
        the 20 minute neighbourhood idea.

         

        There will be some further questions that will be asked:

         

      • When will practical aspects take place?

      • Will the March plan be based on the findings of the experimental solutions?

      • Will the March plan be used for community consultation that will lead to more permanent
        solutions?

      • Are the results from the previous parking survey available?

      • How will the results of the research be fed into the councils decision making/committee
        structure?

         

        g) Summer Jubilee Party

         

        Riverside Community Council is proposing a Jubilee Celebration on the 2nd - 5th June 2022.

         

        Thursday: Older People’s afternoon tea – potential school engagement
        Friday – Rowing Club Event

        Saturday – 12pm-4pm Family Fun Day, including Bake Off, Crafts, Visiting Services
        Saturday – 6pm – 10pm Music Event

        Sunday – 10am – Litter Pick – Tea and Cake

         

        It was agreed that funding could be applied for this event.

         

        Residents that would like to be involved can contact David Sherman: riversidejubilee@gmail.com

         

        1. Riverside Gateway

            

           Joan Murphy and Eve Keepax met with the architect October 15th. The following was discussed:

           • A successful application by the community council to the Mushroom Trust has raised £3500

             against the projected budget costs of £3900.

           • Receipt of the public utilities records by the community council from Stirling Council means that
             the cost item for this in the budget, allowed sum of £325 +VAT, no longer applies.

           • Confirmation has been received from Derek Leitch that the design and planting must be in
             agreement with Stirling Council and that Stirling Council will supply labour for the removal of old
             shrubs, preparation of beds and replanting. There was a discrepancy in the areas described.
             Stirling Council will be contacted to clarify about the inclusion of the area across from Forth
             Street.

           • RFB will arrange a topographical survey of the site to inform their initial plans/drawings for
             discussion at a next meeting 1pm, 23 rd November 2021, Abbey Road Market, to include Stirling
             Council.

           • Abbey Road Market was suggested as a venue for the public consultation of the plans. Time: 3pm

             – 7pm on a Wednesday evening in mid-January Venue owner is agreeable. This removes the cost
             item in the allowed budget of hiring the RFB marquee for half a day.

           • Further discussion is needed to expand the opportunity for consultation.

           • The two identified cost savings bring the projected expenditure within the £3500 grant.

              

        2. Neighbourhood Walks

        Neighbourhood Walks will be on the first Sunday of every month at 10am, meeting outside the Abbey
        Road Market.

        These are suitable for everyone and an opportunity to meet new people, meet old friends and chat about
        what is going on in Riverside.

         

3. Local Groups

    

   Thanks was given to the Lawn Bowling for use of their premises – it was warm, bright and inviting.

    

   Riverside Naturally has their monthly maintenance session on the last Saturday of the month, 30th
   October, 9.30am at the Community Orchard.

    

4. A.O.B

    

   Curry and Quiz Night – Bob Dale is looking into a social evening over the next few months involving curry
   and a quiz. It was agreed that the unrestricted funds could pay for any initial costs which would then be
   reimbursed from the ticket sales. Fundraising details to be decided.

    

5. Date of Next Meeting

24th November 2021 – TBD

All previous minutes, policies and consultation comments can be found on our website
and are available on request from the secretary.