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Torbrex Community Council
Minute of Meeting
09/05/23
Stirling High School
1. Welcome and Introductions
The Chair welcomed those present to the May Meeting.
a. Community Council Members Present: Julie Myles, John Buchan, Ruth Paterson,
Matt McGrandles [Chair], Annette Van Schalkwyk [Secretary]
b. Apologies: Fiona and Chris Rayfield
c. In attendance: Isla Shortt (minute taker)
2. Recording of Declarations of Interest
a. None made.
3. Adoption of previous meeting(s) minutes
a. Minutes of the meeting held on 7th March 2023 were approved as an accurate
record.
i. AVS proposed.
ii. RP seconded.
4. Matters Arising
a. 20mph Zones
i. Following the query brought up by MMcG, the Secretary contacted Stirling
Council about when the new 20mph zones around Torbrex were
confirmed. A response was received stating that an initial consultation
went out in 2020 and a follow up in January 2023 when community
councils had the opportunity to reply or debate. The zones were confirmed
in March 2023. Other community councils were consulted as to whether
they had heard about these zone changes. MMcG emailed Cambusbarron
CC asking them to confirm if they had received notice from Stirling Council
but no reply has come back yet.
ii. MMcG - there is an issue in the area with cyclists waving cars on in these
zones, creating a dangerous situation where speeding could occur and
worryingly there doesn’t seem to be any education planned for cyclists to
stop doing it.
b. Protecting the current greenspaces
i. This issue was raised by MMcG at the last meeting. AVS had emailed a
statement to Stirling Council who has acknowledged the CC aim to protect
green space in the Torbrex area. It has been acknowledged by the
Council.
c. CC Notice Board
i. MMcG - there has been discussion at last meeting around getting a
noticeboard for the community council. MMcG asked the community
council members if they would be in favour of this idea, which all were. He
also asked for someone to research cost and a possible location for the
board. AVM volunteered to do this.
ii. Stirling Council has stated that it is the CC’s responsibility to pay for a
notice board.
iii. JM enquired as to what the current noticeboard in Beechwood Park is
used for. AVS replied that it is owned by Stirling Council and most of the
space on it is currently taken up, so it is not always suitable for CC use.
iv. AVS has contacted Stirling Council to ask for the current Beechwood
noticeboard to be cleaned but there is confusion around who owns it.
v. JM asked what the new CC board would be used for. MMcG answered -
minutes, meeting agendas and a poster with details of the next residents
meeting would go up as well as community events and general
information.
vi. MMcG advised that there is money sitting in the CC account and that the
purchase of a noticeboard for the community would be a good spend. All
agreed.
d. CC Action Plan for the current term
i. MMcG - the CC hasn’t had an action plan for several years. He believes it
is necessary to be more proactive about the area and proposed creating
an action plan to outline objectives rather than pitching ideas with no
following action.
ii. MMcG asked members to think about what they would like to see
happening in the area and how the CC can go about taking action with
regards to this.
iii. On Stirling Council’s CC pages, they offer support with creating an action
plan for CCs and this could be made use of.
iv. RP noted that official documentation for actions would be important and
not something that Stirling Council could ignore. It would make things
easier to have something that the Stirling Council can refer to.
5. Reports | External
a. Police report
i. AVS sent an email to invite the police to the meeting, but no response was
received. Members agreed that police attendance is sporadic and ideally
action should be taken to ensure the CC has some involvement with the
police.
ii. JM proposed emailing to ask the police for an alternative day to meet and
discuss their report if they are unable to attend the meeting.
b. Elected Member report
i. Elected Member did not attend nor provide apologies to the Secretary.
6. Reports | Internal
a. Chair - nothing noted.
b. Secretary (including correspondence)
i. The police did not come back on the inquiry about detected and
undetected crimes which was sent after the previous meeting.
ii. A Forum 5 meeting was held since the last CC meeting however none of
the CC members present attended. AVS contacted members to inform
them about this.
iii. MMcG again advised the Torbrex CC should be interested in getting
involved in Forum 5 in the future. Area Forums are open to all residents as
well as CCs.
c. Treasurer
i. No report.
d. Planning
i. FR not present.
e. Subgroups
i. A Beechwood subgroup was proposed for JM and RP. This would be a
group within the CC focusing specifically on issues within Beechwood. A
similar group did exist previously but fell through so it would be ideal to get
this going again.
7. Community Council Business
a. MMcG stated that the minimal number of members on the council is not ideal. If
possible, two other members should be found to make the number the full 9. This
would make it easier for meetings to go ahead if some members are unable to
attend.
8. AOB
a. Local Development Survey
i. JM noted that a Stirling Local Development Plan Participation survey has
been released. It was proposed that members should look into this and
read the document to determine if they have any problems with it.
1. MMcG - once members have looked at the document, if they have
an issue they think should be responded as the CC then to contact
AVS. eg if a specific piece of land is not mentioned.
2. The survey deadline is the 18th of May.
3. It was noted that development could affect Torbrex even if it is in
other areas.
9. Residents Forum from 20:05
a. Welcome and Introductions -
i. Community Council Members Present: Julie Myles, John Buchan, Ruth
Paterson, Matt McGrandles [Chair], Annette Van Schalkwyk [Secretary]
ii. Apologies: Fiona and Chris Rayfield
iii. In attendance: Isla Shortt (minute taker)
iv. Residents Present: Margaret Pitcaithley, Graham Renfrew, Diane McNally,
Una MacFadyen
b. Issues Received in Advance
i. N / A
c. Issues In Person
i. Diane McNally
1. At the previous meeting there was a police report and a question
was raised about whether the crimes mentioned in the report were
related to Stirling High. AVS contacted the police regarding this but
no response was received. DM told the council that she will contact
police regarding this as there is often activity in the SHS car park
during the night which she would like to raise issue with.
2. MMcG mentioned that there has recently been low police
attendance because very few officers cover this area, but the issue
should be brought up. Normally a report is sent to the council if
officers cannot attend a meeting but this time there was none
received.
3. DM noted that there is an issue in her neighbourhood with a man
who often invades the privacy of residents. Before Covid he was
caught trying cars outside blocks of flats and has since been caught
on cameras looking in windows late at night. The police have been
called to these incidents before and have spoken to MP but the
individual has not been charged with anything as he has not
committed an offence.
4. MMcG noted that as this is a police matter, the CC is not able to
take any action but if a group of individuals from the neighbourhood
could contact the police about this issue this could draw more
attention to it.
5. MMcG noted that a councillor was meant to be present but had not
attended this meeting. He proposed contacting Steven Bly to note
that this issue was raised but there was no councillor or police
member present to hear it. The police should be contacted to ask
an officer to be present in relation to this issue so it can be
addressed.
6. DM stated that there had been confusion around the timing of the
meeting and when residents were permitted to attend. MMcG
answered that the 18:45 meeting is for the committee members
only and residents should attend at 20:05 for the residents forum.
7. DM enquired as to how the minutes can be found. AVS noted that
they are located on the Beechwood noticeboard and on Stirling
Council’s website.
ii. Una MacFadyen
1. UM enquired as to how people who do not have access to the
Internet can find information about the CC. MMcG answered that
information can also be found in the Stirling Observer and AVS has
been putting notices up on the Beechwood noticeboard.
2. MMcG - flyers have been handed out about the CC elections but
the response was minimal. Only 7 people stepped forward for the
CC elections in Torbrex.
3. UMF mentioned that the hedge has overgrown along the Glebe
making it single file on the road. It was noted that the council needs
to look into this.
iii. Graham Renfrew
1. This issue has been raised at previous meetings. GR has had a
reply from Stirling Council (Neil Pirie - Senior Development Control
Officer) regarding street lighting. The adoption file will be revised to
adopt the roads and lighting within the flatted development in
Rollock Street, however parking bays will remain residents’
responsibility.
2. 15-19 Rollock Street was adopted previously due to the public
entrance into the old ice rink, however 21-31 was not. DM - the
pavements were previously privately owned but the council will now
pay for all of this.
3. It was noted that the title deeds state that the residents own the
street, however Stirling Council now own the area and so this will
need to be revised.
10. Date, time and venue of next meeting
a. 13th June, Stirling High School Room 1.
b. Committee Meeting - 18:45 (community council members only).
c. Residents Forum - 20:05.
The Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 21:00.