LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING AGENDA
WEDNESDAY 12th FEBRUARY 2020
7.30pm in the Langbank Church Hall, Main Road
In Attendance:
Neil Barrington (chair), Caroline Bryce, Maggie Hancock, Julie Arbon, Mark Ellis, John O’Brien, Mercedes Harmes, Gloria Dunn(treasurer), Alec Dunn, James Hunter, Jacqueline Doherty(secretary), Carly Deheer and Janice Buchanan.
Apologies:
Cllr James MacLaren, Cllr Natalie Don and Giselle McGill.
Also Attending:
Alex Dunn, Mark Ellis and PC Fraser Williams of Police Scotland.
Start and welcome:
Chairman welcomed everyone and opened the meeting at 7.30pm.
Police Report from PC Fraser Williams:
4 reported crimes. 2 of which on motorway – 1 dangerous driving and 1 drunk driver. 2 within village - 1 possession of drugs and 1 theft of quad bike.
Erskine and Bishopton have had a wave of thefts. Gang of 4 opportunists trying houses and cars – looking for open houses with access to car keys. Particularly targeting higher end cars but not exclusively. They were driving a 19-plate dark mini, but these plates likely to be changed frequently. Fewer crimes over last week but still need to be very vigilant as likely they may return. Doors should be locked even if you are inside.
These criminals are extremely brazen wandering about the towns and in no rush to get away. Believed to be same group of 4 who have targeted other areas in central belt. If this is the same group,then they are of Eastern European origin.
A resident contacted Mark Ellis last week, to inform him that her car had been “keyed” down near Railway Station. Police were unaware. Question asked as to whether it would it be worth contacting Scotrail to ask if a CCTV camera could be sited here. It was suggested that as this was a public space and Scotrail is a private company so would council be more appropriate?
PC Williams was asked about recent accident at the A8 roundabout, but he not aware of this. Appeared to be a car travelling west, possibly travelling too fast through roundabout and lost control having travelled through roundabout. Although anasty accident no-one appears to have been seriously injured.
It was also noted that the two yellow illuminated signs at either side of roundabout have been flattened.
There are also now loose bricks on top of roundabout therefore these indicate accidents or bumps we are unaware of. Chairman agreed to report these to transport Scotland.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes:
Proposed by Maggie Hancock and seconded by John O Brien.
Smartwater Kits:
4 of the original order are left, so Jacqueline Doherty will distribute to church, school and Bishopton Scout group.
These need to be registered with SmartWater by the end of the month.
Village website:
The LCC February meeting minutes were put on the LCC website, but no other updates. Website renewal due in March and will try to change ownership for then as David MacKenzie is currently still registered owner. Cost will be approximately £200.
Most CCs do run a website and in the community survey this was identified as being important so should it is important that we keep this.
Village Defibrillator implementation status:
Following a discussion with the Village Surgery the landlord and the practice partners have decided that the surgery would not be the most appropriate site. The landlord was not opposed to this plan however the partners felt that there were more central locations, they do not wish responsibility of upkeep as they have one at Kilmacolm practice, which they need to do weekly checks on. If the lease for Langbank Surgery not renewed then that would create a further issue with partners being liable for cost of removal. However, if the CC were willing to take on these responsibilities and communicate directly with landlord re removal then the partners would have no objections.
This discussion had led to questions around the upkeep and maintenance of the defibrillator and this being potentially more involved than first thought. If it needs to be maintained weekly,then this is quite an undertaking, but advice from Scottish Ambulance service is that monthly checks are enough.
Ideally there should be two AEDs sited in the village – one at the village hall and one at the church, and If only 1 allocated, then site it at church.
Discussion around how funds would be raised. There would be match funding for one, therefore £600 would need to be raised, however two would cost £1800.
Suggestions for fundraising included: Leaflet drop the village asking for contributions, grant funding, Fight Path grant, Local Area Partnership grant, and ask “Coast Restaurant” for a donation.
Jacqueline Doherty to enquire as to whether proposed redevelopment of church would have an impact on it as potential site.
Status on Langbank Tennis Court:
Julie Gilmour has now arranged for the water supply to be capped at the Tennis Court Hut, thereby cutting off water supply to the hut, but maintaining that to Bowling Club.
Initial meeting with an equipment provider has been positive and a meeting with funder at Renfrewshire Council was positive. The community survey identified that a Multi-Use Gaming Arena (MUGA) would be desirable and as the current tennis court space is already a flat site it would be ideal for this; however significant funds would need to be sought. Plans could start from a basic plan of replacing existing fencing and making a separate entrance from bowling - to the best-case scenario plan of having a new MUGA with artificial turf suitable for a variety of activities and a storage bunker for equipment. The village survey will help with application for grants, however more information will be required from children as they weren’t represented in survey.
The issue of land ownership may be a problem to getting grants. Perhaps the best way forward would be to declare ownership as village have been maintaining the land since the 19th Century. The chairman to contact Renfrewshire Council Planning Department advising of this.
Consolidation of results from the Langbank Opinion Survey.
The chairman had distributed a quick review of these for further discussion. This identified the key areas in each section of the report.
Transport Access & Parking
1. Address safety concerns around the A8/Main Road junction
2. No bus service in Langbank and additional parking at railway & Coast Restaurant
The LCC regularly tackle to issue of the roundabout and have also raised the issue of parking. The bus service is more problematic as there have been previous services which were withdrawn as these were rarely used.
Communication
1. More up to date and relevant community website
2. Better publicity of Langbank Community Council and other groups
3. E-mail/social media updates of events / services / activities.
These were all acknowledged to be important, however it is important to remember that these rely of volunteers giving their time to manage these and being provided with the correct information. There is also the issue of how some users misuse social media.
Environment
1. Address fly-tipping – e.g. West Ferry Junction
2. Improve access through existing woodland areas?
3. More rubbish bins around the village
Although no further details provided the LCC could only surmise that the improved access through existing woodland was to the south of Langbank and result in improved footpath connection between both sides of the village.
With the change from dog poo bins to rubbish bins, then there are now more bins in village, however there are couple areas identified as potentially requiring larger/more bins.
Infrastructure
1. Quality of broadband
2. Café and shop in the village
Due to the small threshold population Langbank is not an attractive proposition for Virgin media and therefore BT are currently the only real option for the village, but the service remains very poor at times.
There was a discussion around the possibility of a community shop, however a suitable location and committed volunteers would need to be identified.
Activities
1. More activities for older residents
2. More community events throughout the year
3. More activities for teenagers within the village
Unfortunately, people did not indicate what these may be and therefore an appeal for this information is needed.
Leisure @ Sports
1. Establish a wider range of interest groups locally
2. Multi sports artificial pitch
3. Multi – use games arena for a variety of sports / events
Again, more information on this required.
Facilities
1. Multi – use social space ……… Church revamp?
2. (equal) - indoor badminton court and floor space for dance/yoga etc
Don’t take part in sports – reason!
1. Not interested in anything that is available at present
2. Lack of adequate facilities at present
Age range of respondents
1. 60 – 69
2. 50 - 59
3. 40 - 49
It was identified that due to the nature of the survey there was a lack of responses from the young people in the village. CarlyDeheer, Julie Gilmour and Jacqueline Doherty to obtain opinions from school age children within the village.
Activities
1. Want more activities.
These need volunteers to run them! There have been many groups set up in village which have folded through lack of support from people attending or volunteers to run these.
Transport parking
1. Massively concerned about parking – at Coast near exit from A8
Environment
1. Litter & path upkeep / drains
Communications
1. Properly maintained village website / Facebook
Infrastructure
1. Shop – massively missed & want better broadband
Sport & Leisure
1. Indoors facilities needed
2. Upgrade tennis courts
3. Bowling club not village friendly
4. Not enough for older residents
Perhaps the lack of indoor facilities could be addressed with the proposed Church redevelopment plans.
Participation in Sports
1. Many walk around the village
2. Many participate, but out with the village.
In addition, identified that villagers are looking for a ‘hub’, which could be provided by a community shop.
Would be interesting to find out what types of activities villagerswant. It is apparent that there are also many currently activities running in village which people are unaware.
Important to recognise that CC can make progress in tackling some of these issues BUT it is unrealistic to expect they can tackle all of these. More involvement is required from villagers in general and therefore appeal for further information and volunteers required.
A4 leaflet to be compiled and presented to villagers with ‘By TheWay’ in April. Jacqueline Doherty to confirm distribution arrangements.
Feedback from Local Partnership Meeting on 30/01/2020
Breastfeeding Group - gave a presentation outlining their objectives and intention to start of group locally, in support of their grant application. Presentation has been circulated via emails to the LCC.
Karen Anderson of Renfrewshire Council - gave a presentation in recycling.
The chairman has circulated this to CC via email.
This highlighted the improvement Renfrewshire has been making towards becoming a more circular economy rather then linear when it comes to our rubbish.
There has been a 30% increase in food recycling since food is now placed in brown bins rather than food caddy.
11% reduction in grey bin waste, 53.3% increase in recycling and 42.6% increase in food/garden recycling.
Since introduction of new green bin, the council have saved approximately £690,000. By far the disposal of grey bin waste is most expensive.
Future improvement includes the introduction of the deposit return scheme and Renfrewshire Council entering the “Clyde Valley Project” which will see 5 local councils work together.
Although there are currently no plans to charge for brown bin collections this cannot be ruled out in the future.
Although good improvements in domestic recycling there is still a way to go, but engagement is key.
Efforts now being concentrated on businesses and schools as they are still not doing all possible to recycle properly. There will be a new program for schools being rolled out in near future.
Fly tipping @ West Ferry – RC Signage cost of?
Jacqueline Doherty was contacted with regards to the litter along roadside between Langbank And Bishopton. This is becoming a real issue. Villager encouraged to contact Renfrewshire Council (RC) and matter would also be highlighted at tonight’s meeting.
Report from Cllr MacLaren
Roads
Petition: - The issue of no white lines or pedestrian lights at the bridge on Station Road could be resolved if a petition was raised. I have sent information on this to the chairman.
Pothole repairs being checked: - Several pothole repairs were reported to me as unsatisfactory and have been re-repaired. Following on from this, I am told that RC state that it would not be pragmatic to inspect all potholes which have been repaired. A percentage of these will be routinely inspected by the supervisor and if any issues arise these would be dealt with.
Blocked drain at Station Road/Elmbank Road: - this drain is either blocked completely or running very slowly. I have requested that it be repaired/cleaned.
Station Rd Park
Environment & Infrastructures have inspected the footbridge which sits on the boundary of the park and footpath access to the station, and whilst the bridge was not an asset that this department installed, it was installed under an environmental improvement via the Planning department. They have instructed repair through the corporate landlord who will report back shortly as to if this can be repaired/replaced.
“Litter free village” sign
The cost of a small sign on existing poles would cost approximately £100. I am not aware of the Council funding or erecting “No Littering” signs as littering is a criminal offence, but there is always a first time.
Missed Bins.
Once again, the brown bins on Marypark Rd have been missed. This and the other bins being missed is happening far too often.
The blue bins have also been missed.
AOB:
Footpath is beginning to collapse into the burn and lighting is poorbetween Station and steps towards Dennistoun Road.
Community payback have managed to clear quite a lot of the vegetation along the footpath on North side of Main Road between Coast and bowling green.
Janice Buchanan enquired about repairing and painting fence. If the LCC can get fence repaired and provide paint, then the payback team can paint. It is not clear how far along Main Road they will go, ideally all the way along would be great.
Meeting closed at 10pm.