Apr 2023 Minutes

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Strathard Community Council Draft Minutes of meeting: Thursday 5th April. Hybrid
meeting via Zoom at Forest Hills.


Community Councillors Present: Paul Mackintosh (PM) Chair , Joyce Kelly (JK) Planning, Lynda McColl (LM) Secretary, Nick Lester-Davis (NLD) Vice-Chair, Stuart Stephen (SS) treasurer Gillian MacEwan (GM) SCC Councillor

Attending: Marin Earl (ME) Ward Councillor, David Fettes (DF) LLTNP Board Member, Clare Graham (CG) SCC Associate Member.

Online: Natashya Shepherd (NS( SCC Councillor, Andre Goulincourt (AG) SCC Councillor, Trevor Geraghty (TG) SCC Associate Member, Andy Manders (AM) and Sheila Gordon (SG) Members of the Public.

Apologies: None

 

Topic Discussion Action
1. Opening Paul Mackintosh (PM) opened the meeting
welcoming all councillors & members of public. He confirmed that all had seen the Minutes and asked for a Proposer and
Seconder. He also confirmed that he had
received no Apologies.
 
3. Minutes Minutes from last meeting proposed by
Stuart Stephenson (SS) Seconded Joyce
Kelly (JK)
 
4. Larch Disease PM then moved to the first Agenda item and asked if anyone had information of the progress with felling for trees affected by Larch Disease. NLD who is the SCC rep on the FLS Community Engagement
Group (CEG) said he had no specific update on Larch disease but that there were helicopter surveys scheduled to
happen during the summer and it was
expected that many more affected sites would be identified at that time. NLD went on to say that at the last meeting John Hair had confirmed that a trip to the Leaky Dam was to take place on 13 June.
JK asked if the trip was only open to members of the CEG and ND said that
while it was primarily for the CEG group if any member of the public particularly wished to go there would most likely be welcome but as John Hair was hiring a mini
bus spaces could be limited. ND confirmed that was all the information he had on Larch disease.
 
5. Aberfoyle Surgery
Update
PM then asked if anyone had any
information on when the Aberfoyle
surgery would open. LM said she had
emailed requesting an update but none
had been forthcoming. NLD said he
believed they were awaiting builders
needed to repair damage done from burst
pipes and LM said that as she had had no
response to her email seeking an update
she could not confirm this.
 
6. Flooding and
Resilience
PM asked NLD who had attended the last meeting on this if he had an update. He said that there were 2 parts to the
discussion. The first part covered a presentation by a company called Hydro who spoke about their Hydro Break
product. They claimed that their solution could slow water flow at peak times by roughly one third. LM asked if there had been liaison with the NP re the Beavers.
NLD said that they were nowhere near that stage yet although the company had installed their product in several places which seemed to be working very well. He
went on to say that he believed the second
part of the discussion was the most important area. ME had also attended the meeting said that the target should be to persuade SC to reconsult for their flood alleviation proposals for Aberfoyle. He said current proposals to eliminate flooding
would not work. Concentrating on the
Bund solution was not what people wanted and in any event was unaffordable therefore nothing would happen with it.
He said that the focus should be on managing flooding, working with the environment to reduce the impact as far as possible. He said to do this SC had to be persuaded to open up talks aimed at resetting
the discussions and that the SC was already doing this in Callander. ME
informed the meeting that the SC officers
were going to brief the three Councillors with responsibility for Strathard on the status of flood solutions for Strathard on 28 April. At this meeting he said he would be asking them to re-set the discussions to
look at other solutions. In support of this NLD then said that he would write a letter to SC on behalf of the SCC asking them to do this also
Action NLD to write
to SC asking them
to engage in a re-set
of the conversation
around flooding in
Aberfoyle
7. Roads Update PM said he was aware that pot hole repairs
were being undertaken along the B829 to the junction with Inversnaid and Stronichlachar. NLD said that pot holes had also been repaired on the offshoot Lochard Cottages road. ME went onto say that he had distributed the 23/24 roads programme and that half a million pounds
had been set aside for repairs along the length of the B829 and added to this SC were making a bid for the fLS Strategic
Timber Transport Scheme (STTS) for additional funds to ensure resurfacing could take place from just beyond the Teapot Cottage out to the T Junction between Inversnaid and Stronichalar.
They had not had confirmation that FLS
were prepared to fund the work in one year as normally they would allocate funds across a 2/3 year period but that SC was keen, if possible, to complete the work in
23/24. However ME said that in parallel with road repairs FLS would have to be held to account to ensure that increased
water run off due to felling and blocked
culverts had to be addressed. Robert
Fleming from Stirling Roads is believed to have had a meeting with FLS to discuss this but no feedback was available. ME said that Robert was working this in conjunction with the SC bid for STTE funding. PM reminded ME that the
request for temporary safety measures outside Aberfoyle until the new speed bumps could be installed was outstanding. Although he had asked for an update for this meeting none had been forthcoming.
PM went on to say that JK had taken an action to approach the Church to ask if they could make their car park available to
parents for parking at pick up and drop off
times. The Church Conveners had agreed
to this. Subsequently PM had written to the Head teacher to ask if this was
something the School would support but to date, despite a follow up email request, did not have an answer. It was agreed that the SCC could not move forward
unilaterally with this initiative without specific support from the School. There was consensus in the meeting that safety
was not only the responsibility of the SCC
and SC roads but that parents and the School had a part to play in ensuring safe egress and access to the School.
 
8. Public Transport PM said that in regard to public transport or the lack thereof very little of any consequence had happened. Despite
commencing formal engagement in June
of last year no solutions in regard to provision of DRT had been proposed by SC. Although provision of a pilot scheme had been discussed nothing to date had happened. He went on to say that the SCC had spend considerable time looking at options which could be considered but none had been taken up. PM said the perception is that we are taking part in a box ticking exercise. ME said that the new SC budget had funding for a pilot scheme but the decision on the area for undertaking this pilot was undecided. JK said that SCC councillors had spent hours engaging with the SC transport dept with very little return. PM said that the
difference in DRT journeys pre and post
COVID was staggering and that as a result SC must have saved a considerable amount of money. JK went onto say that it was extremely important that SC roads
did not devise a pilot scheme without engaging with the SCC as there was no point trialling something that the
community knew would not solve the issues. PM said that this was an issue which would have to be picked up
immediately a new SCC committee was in
place.
 
9. Planning JK opened by saying that there was very little to report on planning applications. We have 3 new applications but 2 refer to the same application. The Coop had applied for installation of a recycling
centre, presumably for returned bottles. There were 2 application for
Kirkton Cottage but they refer to the same requirements. One is for a Listed Building and the other for Householder
Planning permissions. GM said she had been approached by a concerned resident on the proposal for changes to a listed building. JK took an action to contact him to ascertain what his
concerns were.
One refusal had been issue. The application for creation of a Bellmouth
entrance to Loch Ard cottage was refused. She reminded everyone that
the SCC had raised an objection on grounds of safety. She went onto say
that there was one outstanding application. The application for a
camp site at Ledard has been opposed by Stirling Flood dept but the LLTNP
have still to make their decision.
GM said that she had been approached
Action JK to contact
concerned resident.
Post Meeting Note:
Concerned resident
contacted and
provided with
information on how
to determine what
was in the planning
application.
10. Community Life
Plans
JK confirmed that new Term of Reference for the Steering Groups across all three Community Life Plans are out for approval and acceptance. Next steps was to produce a Local Place Plan encompassing all three Community Life Plans. JK explained this was
necessary to ensure that the detail contained within our individual
Community Life Plans can be translated into language which will
ensure that the detail in the local plans is not lost when Loch Lomond &
Trossachs National Park planning department develop their new Local
Development Plan (LDP). She advised that this work was currently underway and that time was of the essence in
regard to moving forward with developing the overarching Local Place
Plan. She confirmed that the Community Life Plans of Kinlochard, Aberfoyle and Inversnaid/Stronichlachar would constitute the base documents of the overarching Local Place Plan. JK said that funding would be required to
publish the LPP and that it was likely that the SCT and NP would be
approached in the near future. SS said that perhaps we could get support from the SC admin grant and took an
action to approach Stephen Bly to see if this was something which could be supported via the admin grant.
LM asked what progress there was on the proposed Mast above Kinlochard.
JK confirmed she had responded to say that since it was a pre planning note the SCC had no comment at this time but had found out via her enquiries that one of the main providers EE
would not be covered by the mast.
This was a concern as many residents used EE. The Mast provider had cited the other Mast at Ledard as a possibility for provision of EE but JK
said that the planning permission for this Mast must have lapsed and that the Scottish Govt had removed it from
their approved list due to lack of interest from providers. She took an
action to go back and seek confirmation that EE could not be included within providers for the
proposed Mast above Kinlochard.
Action SS to
approach Stephen
Bly to see if funding
support could be
provided via the SC
admin grant.
Action JK to revert
to the proposed
Kinlochard Mast to
confirm that EE
could not be
included.
11. National Park
Update
DF said that consultation on the NP Partnership Plan about to start. There
had been 2 meetings prior to issue for
consultation. One with the communities and one with the NP planners. He had attended the
communities meeting which he said was well attended. The attendees
appeared to speak with one voice on the main issues which were lack of
housing, transport and uncertainty around the regulations for short term
lets. He said that according to notes he
had received on the meeting the NP appeared to have taken the concerns on board and that hopefully this theme
would continue throughout the wider
consultation exercise. He said that there was to be a meeting on 18 April
to finalise how the wider consultation would be taken forward. He went on to say that the National Planning
Framework document NP4 had now been adopted. ME said that the SCC should pay particular attention to Policy 17 of the framework addressing rural housing which will introduce a
Material Consideration in how planning applications are considered.
If there is a difference between the current NP LDP and NP4, NP4 will take precedence until the new NP LDP is in place. DF went on to say people
should be aware that the first case of Tick born Encephalitis had been
recorded in the NP.
 
12. SCT Update SS said that Christopher Roads had suggested a community event in the
field behind the Forth. CR had also asked if the SC would contribute a small amount of money circa £200.
There was general agreement if the event was to go ahead the SC could contribute. The SCT asked Christopher to come back with a plan before agreeing to funding it.
SS asked if the SC wanted to continue with membership for the hub. PM asked for clarification on what the SC would get for their money. SS said he would seek clarification from Mike
Bishop. Agreement was to continue with the membership which would be claimed back via the SC admin grant.
He said that the SCT was trying to increase Board membership and was
considering approaching the Kinlochard Village Hall and
Action SS to
confirm provision to
members of the
Hub.
13. Stirling Council
Upadate
ME said that most of the SC business had already been covered. He said
that a key feature in regard to Strathard was the special meeting of
SC Councillors to discuss the proposed reduction in Nursery provision for
Aberfoyle and Fintry Nurseries. The meeting resulted in overturning of the proposal. ME said that encouragement
should be given to residents maximise use of the additional hours to avoid the proposal coming back in the future.
 
14. Safer Routes to
School
GM said that not a lot had been decided at the last meeting because
Carolyn Frazer was not at the meeting.
A question was raised on the possibility of a return of the School Patrol Officers but the SC reps said the chances of this
happening were nil as no budget was now in place to pay for them. The
question on when the new speed bumps would be put in place could not
be answered as the task was out for contract and dates had not been
provided.
 
15. Communications CG said that not much had changed since last month.She said that progress had been made with the web-site and
that work was ongoing to upload the SC minutes which hopefully would
complete before the next SCC meeting. JK said that for some reason she wasn’t being forward emails from Stephen Bly which were addressed to
the hello address. It then became apparent that only Paul and Lynda
were receiving emails directly from him. The problem was identified that the forwarding from the hello was not set for BCC. CG took and action to correct this.CG went on to say that there was going to be 3 relatively small new events happening this year that if successful would be bigger next year.
These were the Grand Old Dukes event, Taiko Drumming and Japanese
Festival. The would be using the Memorial Hall and the Forth Inn to host
the events. She also said she wanted to bring to attention the Book Festival scheduled in August in the iCentre
(visitor centre). They hoped to have at least 2 local authors in attendance.
 
16. Treasurers Update SS reported that balance was £6780 and £870 of community events. Pretty
stable and £6000 is a good reserve.
However once it is spent it will be gone so consideration needs to be given to all spend. LM asked if the request to
purchase a laptop for CG to use in her communication work. The consensus was to hold fire as the One Drive which the SC now subscribed enabled all
Councillors to access the documents they needed. LM said
 
17. Police Report There was no police report for this meeting as it was an unscheduled
meeting.
 
18. Matters Arising PM asked if everyone was considering reapplying
for the new Community Council.
The majority of Councillors agreed they
would re-apply and CG said she would consider applying. PM said that he also had another interested resident.
 
19. Any other Business LM said she had been approached by
Gartmore regarding a heat seeking drone.
Particularly in relation to the recent tragic event of the death of James Cowderary. It was agreed that the SCC was not the
correct forum for discussing procurement
of drones as they would require specialist knowledge on how to operate and that the
correct organisation should be the Search
and Rescue tied into the Resilience group.
SS took and action to raise it in the next
Resilience Group meeting.
PM took the opportunity to thank all Councillors for their support over the
lifetime of this SCC.
 

 

Next Public meeting
venue tbc

 

Appendix 1
Treasurers Report


Appendix 2
Weekly Planning Lists for March 2023


Police Service of Scotland
Community Council Report


Theft
You are concerned about homes being broken into and travelling criminals.

Sometime between 27/01/23 and 30/01/23 a theft occurred from machinery in the area of Braeval Forest.


Overnight between 13/02/23 and 14/02/23 a theft occurred on Cock Hill where forestry work is being carried out.


Please report any suspicious vehicles to police.

Community Engagement and Reassurance
It is important to you to have community officers who you know, who are
accessible and who address local problems.

If anyone has any policing issues that they wish to discuss, please contact us at Callander Police Office on 101 or email
TrossachsTeithCPT@scotland.police.uk

The Community Officers for your area are: PC Donald King and
PC Lorna Deans, based at Callander Police Office.

The Community Sergeant for the area is PS Sarah Stephenson,
based at Dunblane Office

Community Council Report


They can be contacted via the email address
TrossachsTeithCPT@scotland.police.uk or by phoning 101
We regularly publish information on the ‘Forth Valley Police’
Facebook page and tweet using @StirlingPol


Appendix 4
QEFP Trail Update
Balmaha –

  • Conic Hill is closed due to path improvement works being carried out by Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. It will remain closed until March 31st. The path is closed from Visitor Centre Car Park in Balmaha to the Burn of Mar bridge meaning there is no access from either side. The West Highland Way is still open but walkers must use the low-level route down Creityhall Road to Milton of Buchanan.
  • The Millenium Forest Trail has a partial closure from the Visitor Centre Car Park to the main road B837, due to felling of trees infected with Phytophthora Ramorum. Felling has begun and will continue over the coming weeks.

Strathyre –

  • Harvesting is taking place place at Strathyre, near the Tighanes Burn Trail (blue). The trail remains open - please obey all operational and diversion signage and advice from onsite operators during this time.

Loch Chon –

  • Harvesting work began on the West side of Loch Chon in September. Due to the complex nature of the works including challenging terrain and constraints, the work requires the use of a winch to extract the timber. The forest road will have to be closed during this time and will require members of the public to use the Stirling Council road running along the East side of the Loch as a diversion.
  • The forest road is closed 7 days a week and the Statue Labour Road will be diverted along the road to reach the North end of Loch Chon. This closure will be in place until the Spring 2023, when it will revert to being closed Mon-Fri, open at weekends.
  • There will be harvesting of diseased larch trees by Loch Chon campsite in March. This will be complete before camping begins on 1st April.

Bochastle –

  • Ben Ledi Hill path and Car Park are open as normal (apart from the exception below), however there is no access to Ben Ledi hill path via the Bochastle Car Park. Felling is complete in this area, with haulage ongoing. Find out more about how to protect our forest from tree disease here.

Ben Ledi -

  • Ben Ledi car park will be closed for the morning of Tue 7 March for felling
    operations. It will reopen in the afternoon.

Aberfoyle –

  • We are carrying out path improvement works on the blue waymarked Easter Park Trail, beginning at Lemahamish Car Park and the green waymarked Doon Hill Trail beginning in Aberfoyle. These works will be carried out to improve drainage and surfacing. The trails will remain open during this time.

The Lodge Forest Visitor Centre –

  • We will shortly be carrying out path improvement works on the white
    waymarked, accessible Waterfall Trail (white) at The Lodge. The trail will remain open during this time but please be aware there may be some sections of the path that will not be passable in a wheelchair or mobility scooter. The FLS Team at The Lodge will advise on access regularly while the path works are taking place.

Loch Ard –

  • Felling has begun on an area of Larch trees on the promoted path network in Loch Ard which are infected with Phytophthora Ramorum. This operational felling has closed the Rob Roy's cave and loch shore section of the 8 mile loop (black trail) and the Sculpture Trail (red trail) – diversions are in place and the trails remain open. Haulage will continue through March 2023.
    Please obey all operational and diversion signage and advice from onsite operators during this time.
  • All FLS promoted trails from Milton remain open but there will be timber haulage wagons on the forest road network. Please follow all on site signage and advice from operators.

Braeval –

  • We have begun felling an area of Larch trees on a small section of the Rob Roy Way linking the Lodge and Braeval which are infected with Phytophthora Ramorum. The Stonefields Trail and Braeval Trail remain open. The Rob Roy Way is currently open, but will be closing in the future for harvesting operations.
  • Please be aware of timber haulage on the forest road network at here and obey any on site signage and advice from operators.

Three Lochs Forest Drive –

  • The Three Lochs Drive is closed to public vehicles until Spring 2023. The drive will be opening in March, with toilet facilities and camping byelaws in operation. Campers and motorhomes can purchase a permit through the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

Sallochy Campsite –

  • Sallochy campsite will open from 3rd March. You can book a pitch on the website.
  • The Car Park will be closed to the public and will be for the use of campers only.

Ben Ledi -

  • Ben Ledi car park will be closed for the morning of Tue 7 March for felling operations. It will reopen in the afternoon.


We ask that visitors follow all on site signage when out on the trails and choose an alternative
route if the one you had planned to use is closed. For updated information of our trails please
keep an eye on the destination pages linked via the main QEFP webpage.

All the best
Gavin


Gavin Crosby | Visitor Services Supervisor (Maternity Cover)


Additional information/Correspondence (NB - personal email
addresses and phone numbers have been removed)
1.
The link below takes you to a map that Scottish Forestry maintain, showing
all SPHNs and updated as new ones appear (current map attached) – this
map won’t change until new infections are confirmed, probably starting in
June this year.
https://forestry.gov.scot/sustainable-forestry/tree-health/tree-pests-anddiseases/
phytophthora-ramorum – look for “outbreak update map”

2.
Name:
Stuart McArtney
Email:

Dear Community Council,

Bell Ingram are working on behalf of Scottish Water at Loch Arklet Dam clearing Larch trees as part of a Statutory Plant Health Notice Issued by Scottish Forestry. As part of these works we are also proposing to remove non-native conifer species from the area within the vicinity of the Dam.

We have submitted a Felling Approval Application to Scottish Forestry for the felling of the non-native conifers.

Do you have any comments regarding the felling of these trees?

Please let me know if you have any further queries or comments by email.

Kind regards,
Stuart McArtney
Senior Forest Manager
Bell Ingram


3.
Afternoon to you all,

I refer to the above and enclose a further e mail from my colleague below:-

Hi All,

I hope this finds you well.

I was just sending a reminder email in relation to the Area Forum Development Meetings this week. We have a meeting in for Tuesday 31st Jan 7-8pm and Wednesday 1st February 7-8pm. If you are planning on attending one of the meetings this week, please respond to myself on milnef@stirling.gov.uk . If you would like to learn more about the Area Forum Development but are not available on either of those meetings, please email me and I can look to arrange a time that suits.

Kindest Regards
Fern Milne,

4.
Hi Stephen, hope all is well with you.
Now we have entered a new year and month it brings new problems .
Concerns and e mails from very worried parents have been forwarded to the SCC. As you are well aware the Aberfoyle Primary has massive issues with speeding vehicles. Several parents have voiced concerns about the failure of the speed bumps being reinstated to help elevate the speeding issues.
Also according to the parents, children spill out of the school gates onto the road . The request from parents is, would it be possible to put a metal framework along both sides of the school gates to contain the children exiting the school preventing the possibility of a child or children being involved in a terrible accident. As part of the 'Safe Routes to School' for SCC I feel I should help forward these important issues as representation for the community.
Sorry Stephen , but if you could forward these complaints to the relative departments, myself and the worried parents would be very grateful .
Thanks again for your help.
Gillian Mcewan SCC

5.
Thank you for copying the school into your correspondence re road safety outside of the school. I am very keen to see any safety improvements made including the reinstatement of the speed bumps and any barrier that would prevent a child accidentally running straight on to the road.


Can I just clarify, however, that the school has procedures in place to prevent the children spilling onto the road. Staff dismiss the children from the playground ensuring they exit the gate to a waiting parent or exit one at a time if walking/scooting home themselves. Parents are also welcome to come into the playground to collect their child to avoid waiting on the pavement at all.


Regards,

Claire Gilchrist

6.
Hello,

When I took my radar key to the Changing Places facility in Aberfoyle today (20/01/23) I noticed that the door is locked at the bottom and no one was using the facility. It also appears to not have been opened in the morning.

Can we confirm that there are no maintenance issues and that the door should be opened alongside the other toilet facilities please.
Thank you
With best regards,
Paul Mackintosh

From: Stephen Bly <blys@stirling.gov.uk>
Sent: 03 February 2023 16:49
To: Strathard Community Council <hello@ccstrathard.org>
Subject: Community Council Enquiry Ref 2301265

Dear Community Council,

I refer to your enquiry above and advise I have received a response from the Service as detailed below:-

“We can confirm that that there is no maintenance issue with the door.

The Aberfoyle Changing Places will be operated in the same way as the wider toilet block, with the Facilities Management Team opening and closing the facility daily. Once open the radar will control the access.


We are currently waiting for an official opening date.

Happy to answer any additional questions you might have”

I hope this is satisfactory for your purposes and advise this enquiry has now been closed.

If, however, the Community Council feels the response is not satisfactory or you would like further information, please do submit an e mail to the ccenquiries e mail account quoting the original enquiries’ reference number.

Regards

SB

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator

7. Roads pdf attached
Hello,
We are aware that Stirling Council have instigated and completed a survey by an external company in respect to the conditions of all roads in the Stirling Council Area.
As this has now been completed, we were promised a copy of this report during a meeting with the roads team last year.

Can we please have this forwarded to us asap.
Thank you
With best regards,
Paul Mackintosh

8.
Dear inquiries

could we have an update from the flooding team regarding the flood monitors in the Strathard area and any Flood prevention initiatives within Strathard Area .

kind regards

Lynda

Dear Community Council

CC Enquiry Reference: 2302302

Thank you for your email.

Your enquiry will be referred to the relevant Service and you will receive a reply within 10 working days which will be 27 February 2023.

Kind regards

Stephen

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator

9. Housing
Dear Community Council

CC Enquiry Reference: 2302300

Thank you for your email.

Your enquiry will be referred to the relevant Service and you will receive a reply within 10 working days which will be 27 February 2023.

Kind regards

Stephen

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator

Dear Community Council,
I refer to your enquiry above and advise I have received a response from the Service as detailed
below:-

“ At the moment, Stirling Council have two void properties in the Strathard area. One should be let to a household on our housing list within the next fortnight, the other is a property used for providing temporary accommodation to homeless households which has required significant repair works and should be re-let within the next 8 – 10 weeks.


In terms of numbers on our housing list we currently have

  Waiting, Transfer and
Strategic Groups
Homeless group
Aberfoyle 176 48
Kinlochard 105 48
Stronachlachar 91 48


We unfortunately wouldn’t be able to provide such figures and updates with regularity. While the above information does give a snapshot of housing demand across the area, it does take time to collate this which means officers aren’t able to focus on our ongoing work to meet the housing demand across the Stirling area, as well as ensuring that we are working to reduce the
number of homeless households in the area. The initial email provided to me does allude to issues within the Strathard area regarding housing without specifically stating what these are. If the community council can share these issues with me, I’d be happy to provide some additional information about housing across the area that may be more beneficial than providing a
snapshot of demand and void properties if that would be of use.”


I hope this is satisfactory for your purposes and advise this enquiry has now been closed.

If, however, the Community Council feels the response is not satisfactory or you would like further information, please do submit an e mail to the ccenquiries e mail account quoting the original enquiries’ reference number.

Regards

SB

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator

10. Broadband
Dear cc inquiries

we are now well out of covid restrictions and back into working possibly as
near normal but not the same as pre covid

with this in mind would Stirling council be able to update the community
council on progress and issues relating to broadband within the Strathard area
namely we have a named office Shaun Marley, Stirling Council Broadband
Officer

but we have not had any updates on what we can anticipate on future
broadband connection within a rural area.

Broadband is a big issue and not everyone has access to broadband or
good broadband

thank you

kind regards

Lynda
secretary
Strathard Community Council

Dear Community Council,

I refer to your enquiry above and advise I have received a response from the Service as detailed below:-


Strathard Broadband
It is difficult to determine the plans and timescales of the commercial providers as they do not have to inform Local Authorities of their plans.
From the information that I have available, I have tried to construct an updated picture of the broadband provision in the area.

Inversaid & Stronachlachar


Blue dots represent premises that are due to receive a fibre service via the R100 programme, current timescales for the delivery of this service is summer 2023.
Red dots represents premises that will not be covered.
Also Broadway Partners who offer a broadband service in the area have stated that they are upgrading their service this summer, I have not seen any plans to back this up.

Kinlochard & Aberfoyle

There is very little scheduled R100 activity for Aberfoyle or Kinlochard, as Scottish Government data indicates that most premises can get a service of over 20 Mbps, however there has been some fibre installed by Openreach in Braeval. I have not yet been able to discover if Openreach intend to extend this into the village itself.


Again Broadway Partners have indicated that they intend to install fibre into the village but I have not seen sight of any outline plans or timescales.


Also in this area Briskona have connected a number of the outlying premises with a fixed wireless solution, feedback is that this service is working well.

As you will see there is a group of properties around Milton that are not scheduled to benefit from the main R100/Openreach contract and I suggest that there is the possibility at looking at a community led solution that I would be delighted to support.
Please be aware that each premise which is not in the main R100 programme, indicated by a red dot is eligible for a Scottish Broadband Voucher worth up to £5000.


I hope you find this useful and if please get in touch if you require further information or you want to discuss potential projects.” Please do so via ccenquiries@.

I hope this is satisfactory for your purposes and advise this enquiry has now been closed.

If, however, the Community Council feels the response is not satisfactory or you would like further information, please do submit an e mail to the ccenquiries e mail account quoting the original enquiries’ reference number.

Regards

SB

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator

11. Kinlochard Play Park

From: Natashya Sheppard
Date: 24 November 2022 at 13:04:39 -00:00
Subject: Kinlochard playpark
To: hello@ccstrathard.org
Hi

The fence around the new moved gate at Kinlochard is still yet to be
finished. Can we please chase Stirling Council on this to get a date of when the job will be completed. As the old gate is still in situ and therefore the safety issue has not been resolved.


Kind regards

Natashya

GetOutlook for Android

From: Strathard Community Council <hello@ccstrathard.org>
Sent: 24 November 2022 13:18
To: ccenquiries <ccenquiries@stirling.gov.uk>
Cc: Strathard Community Council <hello@ccstrathard.org>
Subject: [External] Fwd: Kinlochard playpark

Hello,

Can we please follow this up with the relevant officer in concerns to
safety at the Kinlochard Childrens Playpark?

Many thanks

Paul
Chair
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Sent: 24 November 2022 17:08

To: Stephen Bly
Cc: hello@ccstrathard.org
Subject: Re: Kinlochard playpark

2244918

Hi Stephen and Paul

The enquiry referred to is in relation to the above noted enquiry.

The Park’s team started on the solution by replacing the fence and relocating the gate but unfortunately failed to complete.

We now have a situation whereby the new gate is in place but the old gates are also still in situ. Not only is it unsightly but the original safety issue has not been resolved. This has been the case now for circa 6 months.

We are looking for a definitive date for when the old gate will be removed, the
fencing completed and the new gate becomes functional. At the moment the
original gate which is compromised by hedging of neighbouring properties is still in use.

Kind Regards

Joyce Kelly

Sent from my iPhone

On 24 Nov 2022, at 16:04, Stephen Bly wrote:

Afternoon Paul and Strathard Community Council.

Do you have an enquiry reference number for this at all?

SB

Stephen Bly, Community Council Enquiry Co-ordinator
Community Development Team | Stirling Council | Old Viewforth | Stirling
FK8 2ET

From:
Sent: 28 February 2023 12:58
To: 'Stephen Bly' <blys@stirling.gov.uk>
Cc: Strathard Community Council <hello@ccstrathard.org>
Subject: RE: Kinlochard playpark

Hi Stephen

Despite receiving a positive response from Stirling Parks dept on the completion of the gate and remaining fence meant to be before Christmas nothing has happened. We are still in the position of having a new gate which is not operational with the old gate which is the root cause of the risk to child safety still being in play.


Can you please revert to the Parks Dept and get a definitive date for when the work will be completed. We are now nearing Spring and the lighter evening and long weekends when once again the play park will be busy, many of the children will be tourists and unfamiliar with the hazard emerging from the current operational park gate causes.

I have an SCC meeting on Thursday 02 March so would appreciate an answer I can share with the SCC committee before then.

Kind Regards

Joyce