MINUTES

Virtual meeting Monday 1st February 2021

Final

Members Present: - Grace Edmonds; Julie Hutchison; Kate Ramsden; Evelyn Mac-
dougall; Philip Graves; Andy Thompson, John Gray, Eleanor Balfour

Apologies: There were no apologies

In attendance: Cllr Graham Lambie; Cllr Rob Davies; Cllr Alistair Berrill; M Vass,

SCDT. + 5 residents

(SC = Stirling Council. CC = Community Council. CDT= Community Development
Trust * Denotes an action)

1. Welcome from the Chair and declarations of Interest

    

   JH welcomed everybody to the meeting. There were no declarations of interest.

    

2. Minutes of December meeting and matters arising

   The minutes were adopted, proposed by AT, seconded by PG

   Matters arising: JH reported that we had asked the elected members to find out
   about insurance requirements for a local farmer who has offered to help with snow
   clearing if necessary. GL said that the farmer needs to contact SC to join the ring of
   volunteers. He will then be covered by insurance. GL pointed out that this group is
   only called out in very severe weather. We had also asked GL and RD if they could
   find out who should replace the broken sign at the traffic calming on the A81.

    

3. Police Report

    

   PC Steven Graham sent the police report for January.
   Anti-social behaviour

   There was a report of loud music from a residential property. Police attended and the
   matter was resolved.

   There was a report of drunk males causing a disturbance on Campsie Road. The
   males were traced and issued with fixed penalty tickets for breaking Covid re-
   strictions.

   A further two males were issued with similar tickets in different circumstances.
   Reports of people breaking the restrictions in private houses were also investigated
   but no breaches were apparent.

   Road Traffic

   There were three road traffic accidents on the A81. There were no injuries.

   There were reports of inconsiderate parking on the A81 at the Distillery. This has
   been monitored and Police have been moving people who reside more than five
   miles from the Council boundary due to Covid restrictions. They will continue to do
   this.

   It was agreed that future Police Reports can be uploaded to SCC website for public
   information.

    

4. Co-option of New member

    

   Eleanor Balfour had completed the necessary paperwork to become a co-opted
   member of the Community Council. JH proposed that she should join us and asked
   for a vote from the other members present. EB was accepted unanimously and
   joined the rest of the Community Council for the remainder of the meeting.

   Another resident has expressed interest in joining us and GE will send him the rele-
   vant paperwork.

    

5. Volunteer Group – Kate Ramsden

    

   A resident who is interested in volunteering in the village approached JH. She men-
   tioned that Killearn has an individual on every street who is a point of contact for an-
   ybody who needs help. KR thinks that the volunteer facebook page in Strathblane is
   a closed group, which makes it more difficult to volunteer. They plan to replace the
   page and ask for more volunteers. We will advertise this in the next edition of the
   BVB. AT said that Killearn Community Futures Group acts as an umbrella body to
   connect various volunteer activities in the village. He suggested that we might have
   something similar here. A resident set up her volunteer group via Whatsapp. This is a
   way of passing on information but JH pointed out that not everybody has access to
   Whatsapp. AT suggested making a few banners to put up round the village giving
   residents information about joining the volunteer group.

    

6. Elected Member’s Report – Councillors Rob Davies, Graham Lambie and
   Alistair Berrill

    

   RD drew the attention of the meeting to the new bench on the bike path to Lennox-
   town, which has finally been installed. JH thanked RD for his work in getting this
   done. RD mentioned a near miss at the traffic chicane, which he has reported to
   Caroline Fraser at SC. JH, had contacted Angela McGibbon who had promised to
   monitor the traffic calming. She has being doing this and thinks it is working well, alt-
   hough there has been less traffic then usual due to Covid restrictions. She thinks
   have also dropped. She will continue to monitor the area and will report her findings.
   AT asked to see the data she has sent to JH, as his own observations do not support
   Angela’s conclusions. JH will forward Angela’s email to the members.

   RD and GL are trying to elicit action on the water on the Cuilt Brae, which has frozen
   during the current cold weather and caused dangerous ice. RD has raised an action
   on this with SC. JH and a resident dug out some of the ditch to see if that would help.
   EM raised concern about the speed of cars on the A809 at the St Mocha café. There
   is an electronic speed sign, but this is not effective. The road surface at the junction
   of the A809 and the B821 is very poor. RD will chase this up with Roads. A resident
   reported that the stop sign at the junction has been obscured by vegetation. She cut
   this back herself as the Council did not respond to reports about the issue.

   EB said that she had reported cars obstructing the road at Loch Ardinning to the Po-
   lice.

   GL reported that he looked at the Cuilt Brae last week and suggested a site visit with
   a council officer to discuss what needs to be done. He reported that Covid numbers
   in the SC area are not good, but are low in our area. G

   A resident asked GL about speeds on Station Road. The bollard at the bridge has
   been knocked down and the wall also appears to be damaged and this has been re-
   ported to SC. GL will also report this incident to council officers. PG asked to what
   extent maintenance is being carried out at the moment due to Covid. GL said that
   staff numbers are being affected by the need to isolate.

   AB directed the meeting to the Engage Stirling portal on the SC website, where con-
   sultation documents can be found. He drew attention to the Community Engagement
   consultation, which has 6 days remaining for comments. There is a discretionary
   business support fund for small businesses. JG asked AB if he could send a link to
   these and he will do so. AB also alerted the meeting to a scam email regarding busi-
   ness grants that is currently circulating.

   RD reported that the recent meeting of Killearn CC was told that Strathendrick Care
   Home is closing.

   JH thanked all three councillors for their contribution

    

7. Planning and Licensing

    

   20/00745/FUL: Auchenloch Lodge Blanefield. This is a new application for a re-
   placement house at Carbeth. The existing house is old and in poor repair. JG said he
   has not seen any objections from neighbours. We will neither support nor oppose.

   20/00590/FUL: Land South East of Aros House Strathblane. JG said that this ap-
   pears to be a reincarnation of a previous application. JG recommended that we op-
   pose the application on the grounds that Old Mugdock Road is not suitable for in-
   creased traffic. JG reported that there are large number of objections and GL be-
   lieves that this application will go to the Planning Panel as a result. The members
   agreed to oppose this application.

   Gladman appeal (PPA-390-2060-1): The Government has issued a new policy re-
   garding housing land supply and “tilted balance” considerations. Gladman and SC
   are currently putting in their submissions reflecting this. Under the new policy SC
   says that it currently has 6 years of housing allocation, which we hope will close the
   door on the Gladman application. JG proposed to send a submission in support of
   SC and this was agreed.

   20/00850/FUL and 20/00849/LBC: Restoration of C-listed Craigend Folly and erec-
   tion of dwelling house at Tower Near South Lodge, Mugdock. This application has
   been withdrawn. The site is in the green belt area so there is no justification for a
   building. JG noticed that the pre-planning discussion with a planning officer did not
   mention the green belt. He wanted to draw the councillors’ attention to the fact that
   planning officers do not seem to be aware of the boundaries of the green belt. PG
   agreed that the planners appear to be misleading applicants during the pre-planning
   process.

   20/00719/FUL: Erection of detached dwelling house on the site of The Wildings,
   Moor Road, Strathblane. The neighbours have some concerns about this, but the CC
   agreed to make no comment.

   20/00564/FUL: Erection of 11 dwelling houses on land to the rear of 2,4, Eaglesfield
   and Firleary Milndavie Road Strathblane. This has been approved without the foot-
   path. AT expressed concern about the safety of residents having to access the vil-
   lage by the main road. JG will write to the planners saying that we believe that a
   footpath is necessary for safety. A resident asked if the speed limit on the A81 adja-
   cent to the entrance to the new site would be amended when the houses are built.
   JG said that the roads officers had some concerns, but these were addressed in the
   procedure. He does not know if the speed limit will be changed. The Roads Dept
   comment that actual speeds are low for vehicles exiting the hairpin bend, regardless
   of the speed limlt.

   RD asked if a proposal to build four houses on the Stockiemuir Road fell into our ar-
   ea. JG confirmed that this is covered by Killearn Community Council, although SCC
   can take a view in relevant cases.

    

8. Finance

    

   Current Account - £2950.68 (this includes £500 Covid relief grant)
   Instant Saver account - £1342.98

    

9. Correspondence

    

   JH said that we have received an email from Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust regarding
   a project application that they are making to carry out work on the Blane Water. They
   plan to do some restoration of the water course and to continue tackling invasive
   species in the area. They would like volunteers to join them and are offering training
   in a variety of aspects. We will publicise this in the BVB if their application is success-
   ful. GE will send a letter of support for this application.

   JH also mentioned an email regarding supply of rock salt for the 3rd sector. Rent-a –
   bike and Trossachs SAR will store this and can be contacted if we need it. The
   Health and Social care consultation phase two is now available on-line. We will put

    

   links to this in the BVB and GE will put posters in the notice boards. JH suggested
   that we should form a sub-committee to respond to the consultation.

   JH said that a resident had been in contact regarding dog fouling near Dunglass
   View. JH will use fluorescent spray on these to draw attention to the problem.

    

10. AOCB

     

    MV thanked local residents for donating to the new library. £64,384 has been raised
    from the community campaign, with a further £50,000 from other community activi-
    ties, making a total of £114,784. This becomes £133,175 with Gift Aid. This is an
    amazing effort from the community. She reported that they hope to submit the plan-
    ning application in the next few weeks. MV and AT will make sure that the elected
    members are well briefed regarding the input of money from SC. AT said that the li-
    brary cannot go ahead without revenue agreement from SC.

    JH said that she and GE had been discussing whether we should produce an edition
    of the BVB this month. We are concerned that we will not have enough material for
    our usual format and also about delivering during Covid restrictions. JH will email the
    delivery group to gauge their opinion. A resident said that she intends to write an arti-
    cle about the Wee Spuds group at the allotments. MV said that she will also send an
    article about the library if we decide to produce the BVB and JG said that we should
    draw attention to the work being done in the village to support the Drumchapel Food
    Bank.

    A resident who organises a volunteer group to clean up the village reported that she
    now has about 22 volunteers who litter pick around the village. We are now part of
    Keep Scotland Beautiful. RD said that the issue of litter was raised at the annual
    meeting of the National Park board. RD suggested to them that a couple of prosecu-
    tions at the beginning of the season might make it clear to the public that dropping
    litter is not acceptable.

    A resident asked about access to the hills to the north of the village. In the past there
    was access but this has disappeared overt the years. JH asked MV if the Paths
    group could help with this. MV said that Alan Hutton would like to do something about
    access but all access in that direction is currently through private land. The SCDT
    would be interested in this and JH suggested that the resident should contact the
    Paths group. AT said that there should be a right of way somewhere. JG said that
    the CC considered this access years ago but that attitudes might have changed and
    it could be explored again. A resident said that the Planning Department have old
    maps, which show rights of way.

    PG commented on the large numbers of people visiting Mugdock and asked if there
    had been a meeting of the Country Park Management team recently. GL said that
    they have not met during the pandemic and that it is difficult to police access to the
    park as the Covid rules are vague.

    A resident said that she was unable to send a message via the CC website. JG and
    KR will look into this.

    JH thanked everybody for attending.

     

11. Date of next meeting March 1st 2021, 7.30 on Zoom.

Copy date for BVB 19th March 2021

.

Contact us at contact@strathblanecc.org.uk Also on our website
www.strathblanecc.org.uk. Telephone numbers for Community Councillors are
on the notice boards, in the library and in the Blane Valley Bulletin