17-07-13 East Kintyre Community Council Minutes

Minutes of AGM 6th June,meeting 6th June,meeting 4th July 2013

EAST KINTYRE COMMUNITY COUNCIL AGM

Meeting held in Carradale Village Hall 6 June 2013

Minutes
Present:
Stuart Irvine (chair), Elisabeth McMillan (treasurer), Ronnie Brownie, Cathy Forbes, Robert Strang, Tom Adams, Eleanor Sloan.

Councillors: John MacAlpine, Rory Colville

10 members of the public
Apologies:
Shelagh Cameron, Dominic Ryan, Anne Horn, Robin Currie

Stuart Irvine welcomed attendees and started the meeting .
Convenors report
Stuart thanked everyone for their support during the last year. He said in his opinion the biggest achievement of the year had been the extensive road work that was done in April last year, however the road was starting to break up again in places.
He said he was concerned over the bickering within the council in the last month, these issues are to be dealt with in the main meeting.
Financial report
Elisabeth reported that as of 06/06/13 the balance was Ł4643
Audited Annual Accounts were handed out to members of the Council. After a long discussion the Accounts were proposed by Ronnie Brownie and seconded by Robert Strang.
A question was raised from the floor concerning the EKWFT and why it was not part of the audit. The EKWFT is a totally separate body and its connection with the Community Council is because it was decided that members of the CC along with 3 others not on the CC would form the managing Committee of the Trust. The EKWFT has its own Bank Account and this is audited totally separately from the CC. The function of the EKWFT is totally different to that of the CC.

Stuart brought to the attention of the Council, a note from Bob Owen, who qualified the accounts, saying that he has disquiet over money that is coming in and out of the council bank account, and he likened it to “laundering” .

This led to a discussion that ended with the reflection that perhaps the C3 and the SLIP project would be better placed with the Network Carradale community business.

Cathy refused to accept the accounts and asked for a second opinion from another accountant.

Stuart suggested that C3 could use Abbeyfield , a Registered Company and a Charity, to process C3 forward. The existing Committee would be urged to carry on with the project as its aims were very similar to that of Abbeyfield.
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The Community Council agreed to ask Bob Owen to reconsider his comments after our discussion, before the accounts are given up to Kilmory.
A.O.C.B

•A member of the public asked about the community council bank details, that are easily viewed on the villageweb.org.uk site. This seems to be a concern for some, so Eric Dudley agreed to remove the account details.

EKCC meeting held in Carradale Village Hall 6 June 2013

Minutes
Present:
Stuart Irvine (chair), Elisabeth McMillan (treasurer), Ronnie Brownie, Cathy Forbes, Robert Strang, Tom Adams, Eleanor Sloan.

Councillors: John MacAlpine, Rory Colville

10 members of the public
1. Apologies:
Shelagh Cameron, Dominic Ryan, Anne Horn, Robin Currie

Stuart Irvine welcomed attendees and started the meeting .
2. Minutes – 2/5/13
Minutes proposed by Ronnie Brownie and seconded by Robert Strang.
3. Matters arising
Cathy addressed the comment (point 5) re the discussion about C3 becoming independent of the Community Council at some point in the future – she wanted to clarify that it was a discussion and not a decision.
4. Treasurers report
Elisabeth McMillan reported that as of 06/06/13 the balance was Ł4643
5. Consultation on establishment for Community Councils
At the meeting on the 23/5/13, we discussed Peninver and Skipness and came to the conclusion that without knowing thei r thoughts we couldn’t really go any further. However the notes from the meeting on 23/6/13 were given to Kilmory before the 2nd June deadline.
Stuart said that the distribution of the minutes would resume going to the Antler and the Goat , we discussed printing the proposed minutes out and putting them in the shop and garage for the convenience of the community. It was agreed to approach the business owners and ask if they would hold the paper copies of the minutes in their premises.

By prior arrangement with Stuart, owing to a previous engagement, Cathy Forbes left the meeting at eight o'clock.

6. Carradale Care in the Community
This was discussed at the AGM
7. Slipway
Unfortunately there was no-one on the council at this point to update us on the SLIP project. In light of the discussion at the AGM re: money coming in and out of the bank account we discussed , the possibility of the SLIP funding and the project moving to the umbrella of the harbour group. The majority of the councillors agreed to this move.
8. Scrub-cutting
John MacAlpine said that was to be one cutting a year. Marcus Adams from Kintyre Way said that the parts of the Kintyre Way that are on the main road are cut twice a year. John MacAlpine suggested asking Stuart Clark or Calum Robertson to attend a meeting to discuss the road situation. Stuart will ring and invite them.
9. Emergency Plan
Shelagh will arrange a public meeting to discuss this and to invite the village hall committee. John MacAlpine said that other areas are issuing a questionnaire to all residents asking their thoughts on the emergency plan.
10. AOCB
• Bay bridge – Tom Adams said that the bridge is wonky and has talked to Colin Burgess who is happy to have bridge replaced. Marcus said that there may be a bridge available from the Kintyre way , they agreed to liaise about this.
• Robert Strang said that the grass at Brackley cemetery is very long and needs to be cut – John MacAl;pine agreed to raise the issue and advised contacting Dougie Lang or Angus Ward in the mean time.
• Broomfield Garden, Joy asked if they could dismantle the cairn to weed around it and rebuild it. All agreed.
• Tom Adams asked (again) for bollards to be put at entrances to the village hall path, John MacAlpine agreed to look into it.
• Tom suggested that all new members of the Community Council be given full disclosure of all Community Council business at time of joining. All agreed.
• The toilet sign has broken off at the pier, John MacAlpine said he will arrange for it to be replaced. It was mentioned that the “No overnight parking” sign was missing. Rory Colville said that these have all been removed as they are non-enforceable.
• Network update - The Buggy hires are picking up and there was a very positive feature on “Reporting Scotland”.
The harbour group are arranging a Harbour Day on the 6th July.
• Eleanor handed out leaflets for the Kintyre Health and Wellbeing Network Fund, this has about Ł7000 a year. The fund supports projects that encourage health and wellbeing within the community. The closing date for bids to be in is 24th June 2013
email eleanor at kphn@homestartmajik.eclipse.co.uk for more info.
• Tom is pursuing the Forestry Commission re the Chuckie bay path .
• Tom told us that a dog had eaten rat poison at Waterfoot, it is thought to have been put on the verges. He urged all dog walkers to be aware.
11. Stuart thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at 8.45pm

Minutes of Meeting On Thursday 4July 2013

1. Present: JS Irvine (Convenor), T Adams, R Brownie, S Cameron, C Forbes, E McMillan (Treasurer), D Ryan, JR Strang.

2. In attendance: R Currie A&B Council, 12 members of the public, 2 police officers, 1 reporter from The Courier, representatives from SSE.

3. Apologies: E Sloan, A Horn

4. Minutes of last meeting: As the Minutes had been circulated to the Councillors shortly after the last meeting, and reports had appeared in the Antler and Carradale Goat, the Minutes were taken as read. Proposed by R Brownie and Seconded by JR Strang.

5. Matters arising:

i) The Convenor wished to correct the minute in regard to the EKCC Annual Accounts. The previous minute stated that the Accounts had been qualified by the auditor. This was not the case and the Minutes had been sent to Kilmory with no additional comment.
ii) Shelagh raised a question on the wording of item 7 in the last minutes in regard to the wording “The majority of the Councillors agreed to this move.” The Convenor pointed out that it was accurate since he had not voted, 2 Councillors were absent and 6 voted in favour. It was therefore not unanimous as it was 6 out of 9.
iii) Shelagh also mentioned that the Convenor had written to Charles Reppke (A&B Council governance) suggesting a meeting between Charles, Shelagh, Alan Milstead (Chairman-Carradale Harbour Group) and Stuart. While Alan welcomed the opportunity Shelagh thought the meeting was inappropriate. It was then agreed that Charles will attend the September meeting to clarify a number of issues in regard to EKCC and EKWFT.

6. Emergency Plan: SSE made a presentation in regard to the proposed Emergency Plan and was helpful in a number of areas. The main point emerging was in relation to need for better communication. They also stressed the need for protecting vulnerable people especially in a loss of electricity. R Brownie raised a point in regard to the compensation which some residents had received. It appears that the amount should be greater than what was voluntarily paid out. SSE undertook to remedy this from their records.

It was reconfirmed that Shelagh Cameron was the EKCC co-ordinator for the village plan. A “refuge” site is yet to be agreed but thoughts were running over Village Hall of Carradale School... Alan Walker asked for Shelagh to attend a meeting of the village hall committee to start the process which will lead to a public meeting. Marcus Adams, in questioning why we were not going straight to a public meeting, offered the Carradale Hotel as an option.

7. Treasurer’s report: The Treasurer reported that the current balance in the Account was Ł4119.12. Two expense items had occurred, namely, Ł100 to E Sloan as Minute Secretary being Ł25 per meeting and to JS Irvine in regard to the purchase of a Quaich and Notelets for Geoff and Mary Page respectively for services rendered in the past.

8. Consultation on Establishment for Community Councils: The Convenor pointed out that the A&B meeting to discuss the changes had been reported as 27 June but was corrected to 27 July. Robin Currie was asked if he knew when the voting might take place for a new group of Councillors. All he could add was “sometime in the autumn”. It was therefore agreed that there will be no EKCC meeting in August but that the present group would continue in September and for as long as it needs until the new Council I formed.

9. Scrub Cutting: On an enquiry from JR Strang to Robin Currie, it was learned that the whole operation was out to tender. The Convenor will write to Jim Smith, Roads Dept. stating the urgency of getting the single track road between Carradale and Cloanaig cleared.

10. Carradale Bay Bridge: Tom Adams reported that he had spoken to Andy Holtby of the Kintyre Way. There is a metal bridge available which could replace the present wooden one which has become dangerous. McFadyens have offered to transport it to Carradale.

11. Network Report: While there was no further update to make, everyone was reminded of the Harbour Day which has been arranged for Saturday, 6 July.

12. A.O.C.B.

i) Cathy Forbes raised the matter of the inter-relationship between EKCC and EKWFT. She requested a copy of the document regarding EKWFT and the Convenor agreed to supply this. Cathy had written to Charles Reppke and had circulated his reply to all EKCC Councillors. The Convenor will write to Cathy, copy to all concerned, with his understanding of the position. Cathy raised the issue of money being transferred from EKWFT to EKCC. Up until recently the only income of the EKCC was the grant from Kilmory totaling Ł400 which was meant to cover administration costs. The use of EKCC to handle other monies only occurred in 2012/3 in regard to Port Righ Steps, C3 and the intended interim funding from A&B re the Slip project.
ii) Robert Strang raised an issue regarding an older, very disabled resident in regard to a ramp for her house. At present it is difficult to get a wheel chair in and out. Rob Currie agreed to investigate this matter with ACHA.
iii) Neil Anderson of SSE has offered to visit Carradale to update on the proposed transmission of power from Crossaig to Hunterston. It has also been suggested that a joint meeting with Tarbert CC take place. A date will be set. It was agreed that failing that Neil will be invited to attend the September meeting.
iv) Broadband/Mobile Phone coverage- a paper has been agreed that efforts are now going to be made to improve the Broadband and mobile signals in this area. Further information can be got from Robert Strang
v) Scottish Land Fund-It was confirmed that funding would be made available in regard to the purchase of land. The aim is to increase sustainable, economic, social and environmental development.
vi) Wheel Chair for Village Hall: An enquiry for an electric wheel chair has been received and more information on cost, etc has been invited, Possible funding from EKWFT may be available.
vii) Village Hall roof repairs: It was pointed out that some major repairs to the Hall roof are needed and funding for this will have to be explored.
viii) Information from ALIENERGY was read out in regard to Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland (HEEPS) 2013/4 programme. This programme is the successor to the Scottish Government’s Universal Home Insulation Scheme For further information about HEEPS:ABS in Argyll contact Dr Mandie Currie, Manager, ALIenergy on 01631 565183 or mandie@alienergy.org.uk.
ix) The Tangy iii wind farm proposal can be viewed at www.sse.com/tangyiii. Hopefully, when completed, it may generate more money for EKWFT

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.50pm

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