MINUTES

Virtual meeting Monday 4th October2021

Final

Members Present: - Grace Edmonds; Julie Hutchison; Kate Ramsden; Evelyn Mac-
dougall; Philip Graves; John Gray; Andrew Thompson; Pamela Lee; Craig Melville
Apologies: Ellie Balfour

In attendance: Cllr J Hutcheson; M Vass, SCDT; + 1 resident

(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 and said that she hopes we might be able to
   move to in person meetings next month after the SC meeting on October 7th.

   AT declared an interest re. a planning application.

    

2. Minutes of September meeting and matters arising

    

   The minutes were accepted, proposed by JG seconded by EM

   Matters arising: Following our discussion last month about purchasing a wreath, JH
   had had an email from the church to say that they plan to hold a smaller service at
   the war memorial this year and asked if a councillor would be in attendance. Council-
   lor Hutchison said that Rob Davies will represent SC at our service and will lay the
   council wreath.

   JH looked at the derelict sites in the village but we have none that qualify.

   JH went to look at the fly tipping on the A81. A Water board employee who was there
   at the time offered to put some of the rubbish into their skips and said that he will tell
   his boss about our suggestion of a barrier to prevent cars from accessing the site.

   GE emailed the police regarding people driving along the pavement at the Co-op.
   They will watch for this.

    

3. Police Report

    

   PC Graham sent the report for October.
   Anti-social behaviour

   The police attended a report of two drunk females in Blanefield. One was arrested for
   Breach of the Peace. Neither were residents of the village.

   A couple of calls were received regarding youths at the quarry, but on both occasions
   they had left by the time the police attended.

   There was a report of youths on the roof of the primary school. Extra attention has
   been given to the school.

   There was a hut fire at Carbeth. Enquiries are continuing.
   Road traffic

   There was a significant RTC involving two motorcycles and two cars on the A809
   near Queens View. The road was closed for some time. The motorcyclists sustained
   broken bones and both have been reported for Road Traffic Act offences.

   A hit and run RTC occurred in the car park at the Co-op. Enquiries are continuing
   with a view to identifying the driver of the offending vehicle.

   Theft

   There was a report of theft of diesel fuel from Auchengillan. Enquiries are continuing.
   There were a couple of reports of suspicious vehicles in the area, but no registration
   details were taken.

   A potential fraud was reported regarding concert tickets. Enquiries are continuing to
   establish if a fraud had occurred and the public should be aware that frauds are very common

    

   Police Scotland had a recent campaign regarding fuel theft. Advice on this, bike theft
   and fraud can be found in the whole Police report on the CC website.

    

4. Elected Member’s report – Councillor Jane Hutchison

    

   Today there was a council briefing on the new Community Engagement Strategy.
   Concerns were raised about additional workload on council officers.

   The Catter Burn bridge at Croftamie has partially collapsed leading to the A809 being
   closed. Councillor Hutcheson has been seeking assurances that council officers will
   communicate with residents in the area.

   There will be a full council meeting on Thursday. It is likely that CCs will be allowed to
   meet in person from November.

   The conservative group tried to get a motion passed in the council to allow parents to
   have an extra year at nursery for children who are not ready for school, but they did
   not succeed.

   The new SC website should go online before Christmas.

   JG asked if the Branshogle bridge on the B818 has been repaired. Councillor Hut-
   cheson said that repairs should start soon.

   PG noted that SC has opened a conversation on the budget. He asked if we should
   all respond to this and Councillor Hutcheson said that we should.

   JH thanked Councillor Hutcheson for her report.

    

5. Planning and Licensing.

    

   21/000645/PPP : 7 glamping pods at Edenmill
   21/000644/PPP: 4 glamping pods at Edenmill

    

   JG thinks that the 7 pods might have been part of the original plans for Edenmill. The
   other 4 are much more visible to neighbouring properties and further from the main
   complex.

   JG will comment that the CC thinks it is important to see these applications alongside
   previous ones. We are concerned about noise and light pollution for the neighbours,
   particularly if there is no 24 hour supervision on site. MV commented that she at-
   tended a function at Edenmill recently and was impressed by how well managed it
   was.AT raised the issue of increased traffic on the access road. The neighbours have
   opposed the plans due to this. Councillor Hutcheson said that SC is interested in vol-
   ume of traffic on narrow roads so might consider this.

   JG said that we should say that we have no objection in principal with the condition
   that there should be 24 hour supervision on site. This was agreed by the CC mem-
   bers present. JG will circulate draft comments.

   21/000743/FUL and 21/000677/FUL - JG proposed sending identical comments on
   these applications to build infill properties at these locations. This was agreed by the
   CC members present.

   21/000762/FUL – erection of dwelling house on land adjacent to An Larach, Milnda-
   vie Road, Strathblane. A neighbour pointed out that this land is designed to flood as it
   was originally the mill lade. The sluice gates are no longer there. There were two cul-
   verts, one to drain the Punchbowl dam and the other to drain the mill lade, but these
   have combined. The flood risk assessment that supports the application says that the
   ground is suitable for building. The CC agreed that we will oppose this application
   due to the flood risk downstream and JG will send comments to this effect.

   21/000857/FUL – Extension to dwelling house on Milngavie Road. JG said that we
   will not comment on this but should take the opportunity to remind the residents that
   they should have planted a hedge at this property. This was agreed.

   JH thanked JG for all his work on planning.

    

6. Finance

    

   Current Account - £2372.50
   Instant Saver - £1343.07

7. Correspondence

There was no correspondence this month

1. AOCB

    

   MV hopes to update on the library at the next meeting, but is clear that it will be hap-
   pening. They are still negotiating with SC who want discussions to be complete by
   the end of October.

   KR asked about a resilience plan. This was being revised but was never completed.
   KR asked for any volunteers to join her in a sub-group to create a new plan which
   could incorporate flood issues.AT agreed to join her. JH suggested that they could
   look at plans from other local CCs.

   PG warned us that Mugdock Road is likely to be closed again near the reservoir for
   Openreach work.

   JG mentioned that our website was upgraded to a new package which does not in-
   clude a security certificate. At present we are bombarded with security warnings. The
   new package is more expensive and we will have to pay for an additional security
   certificate. JG plans to look around for an alternative host. AT suggested that JG
   should speak to the SCDT as they are also considering a change of host.

   JG reminded the meeting that the Strathblanefield Facebook page is no longer public
   so we should share information on the CC Facebook page.

   JH said that there will be no BVB this month as there is still too little activity in the vil-
   lage to justify an issue every month.

    

2. Date of next meeting November 1st 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