Langbank Community Council MINUTES Wednesday 8th September 2021 7.30pm via Zoom
Present: Neil Barrington (Chair), Carly Deheer, Gloria Dunn (Treasurer), Maggie Hancock, Julie Gilmour, Jacqueline Doherty (secretary, James Hunter, Caroline Bryce, John O’Brien and Cllr James MacLaren. Also in attendance: Gordon MacPherson, Iain Miller and Susan Barrett. Apologies: PC Graham Muir and PC Bryan Cochran, both of Police Scotland.
Minutes of last meeting: Ian Miller noted that his wife - Norah Miller - had been omitted from the list of attendees. Following the meeting, Cllr James MacLaren had been helpful in resolving issues at Marypark Road. These minutes were proposed by Carly Deheer and seconded by Maggie Hancock.
Website update: Last month’s minutes added to it, and a couple of emails received re-pavements and drains which need repair on Middlepenny Road. Parking on Main Road: The chairman spoke to Mark Higginbotham on Tuesday (Roads Engineer from Renfrewshire Council) re the road markings, which are to be painted on Main Road next week. The plan is one long parking bay from Coast, westwards and from Coast eastwards back towards Houston Road, then further along Houston Road. The central line of the road will also be moved to the north, and the outcome is hoped to stop parking on the north side of Main Road and this work will act as a trial. If this doesn’t work, then consultation would be carried out - with possible implementation of the process to lay down double yellow lines outside Coast. The chairman also met with Alan Cawley (owner of the Coast Restaurant) who is supportive of the initial work. His lawyers had also been told that Transport Scotland would not allow the land opposite Coast Restaurant to be rented or sold. Mr Cawley will try once again to buy land towards the east side of the Coast car park in order to extend the existing car park. Question asked as to whether this landowner would consider leasing land to him, if he were unwilling to sell. Both Renfrewshire Council and Mr Cawley were asked to consider reversing the “in and out” to the current car park, which would reduce some of the risk of cars leaving the car park and emerging onto Main Road before checking if the road was clear. Mr Cawley suggested removing some of the pavement on the north side to widen the carriageway. Parking of staff. Mr Cawley was informed of a situation whereby some staff weren’t parking considerately and had caused considerable distress to neighbours to the restaurant. He agreed to issue a memorandum to all staff asking them to be considerate re parking. Marypark Path Update: Money is now in the bank for further works to make improvements to existing Right of Way, although due to ongoing treatment of Japanese Knotweed this work cannot yet be completed. Issues with regards to road surfacing at Marypark Road are being resolved with initial improvements being made on the hill section to the east. Further work is still required around the embankment of the railway. It is hoped that the remaining part of the road will also be resurfaced once agreement is made between all parties. Cllr James MacLaren – Network Rail are completing independent assessment re-subsidence. If residents are informed about any site visiting in advance, then someone could meet with them to explain issues. Light out of order on Mary Park Road – no power supply: Renfrewshire Council did come to dig a trench to connect the power supply to lamp post (R1) but this had to be stopped as tarmac had recently been laid and no permission could be given by resident to dig on Mr Jim Ure’s land. There also used to be a lamp post (R2) which needs to be resituated. The residents have suggested a suitable spot – Cllr James MacLaren will pursue. MUGA: A steel fence is now in place. Tarmac being laid today with surface carpet being installed later in a week. The chairman and Julie Gilmour met with the Bowling Club members last week to agree to the removal of the fence adjacent to the pavement, which is now surplus to requirement. The Muga will hopefully be ready for use by the end of month. CCP/LCC Group: First meeting of this linked group (Clyde Coastal Path / Langbank Community Council) was held via Zoom to decide aims and assess feasibility of the continuity of the route from Newark Castle to West Ferry. One aim would be to provide a foot bridge over the M8 at the west end of the village, which would be accessible to pedestrians, those in wheelchairs and cyclists and then to extend the existing walkway, which stops at Parklea, to Langbank. An initial route has been proposed but this would not be without significant difficulties and considerable cost. Inverclyde Council, Renfrewshire Council, Sustran and elected members would all be involved in this process. A follow on meeting to be held shortly. Renfrewshire Council (RC) Site visit to Langbank: RC have been allocated a budget of 2.3 million being allocated to improving parks. The first phase of spend has been agreed with those areas most in need of improvements being targeted. As Langbank already has a good Swingpark facility, then they would not see any funding until phase 2 (in 2022). There would be further consultation prior to this, however based on last village consultation, outdoor exercise equipment and a “zip slide” would be high on the list of priorities. It was noted that the existing play equipment on Station Road needed care/removal, with the slide no longer being safe and the surface at the swings not being suitable. The existing Swingpark on Middlepenny Road would not be a priority, however RC were asked to consider a safety barrier and suggested refresh of some equipment. Roads and Lighting defect: Middlepenny Road - Pavement outside number 20, and the drain outside number 8 is sinking. Network rail were contacted re overgrown bushes on the corner at traffic lights on Middlepenny Road and these have been cut back. Streetlights at A8 roundabout are permanently switched on. Amey has been contacted but no action yet taken. Goalposts at Station Road playing fields: These are in place and the respective nets have now been provided. Community Police Officers: There are two new Community Police officers allocated to Langbank and they are PC Graham Muir and PC Bryan Cochran. They are on day shift on Wednesdays and therefore are unable to attend this evening LCC meeting. A brief written report was provided to say that over last month only two crimes - both road traffic incidents. Face to face meetings: As the Scottish Government Covid guidelines have now been relaxed, it should be possible in the future for CCs to meet face to face – The chairman has asked Tom Adair to find out if church hall would now be available for such meetings. Monthly report from Cllr Maclaren: Outdoor Access & Play Area Improvements The chairman, secretary and myself met with council officers for a site visit to discuss improvements to Station Rd playpark and the playpark on Middlepenny Road. Both playparks require some improvements but more so at the Station Rd playpark. Refuse Collection Marypark Road was missed again. Street Lighting – Marypark Rd Column R1 has no supply and this has been reported directly to Scottish Power. Unfortunately council have no influence over the Public Utilities and they have 28 days to attend. The whereabouts of R2 is a bit of a mystery and I have asked the council to investigate this. Road Sweeping I have requested that the Main Road is swept. It seems that the road sweepers are busy sweeping up after the grass cutters. Council are now reviewing sweeping of arterial roads and flooding hotspot areas. Roads Westferry Car Park: - Amey will prepare an estimate to resurface the car park, on the basis that if any additional funding becomes available this could be carried out. Cycle Path A8: - I have requested a barrier between the cycle path and the A8 road to make this a safer route to cycle. Amey is considering this. Temporary Prohibition Of Waiting & Loading - Main Rd (both sides) from a point 85m east of the east boundary of Coast car park, westwards for 195m will have a restriction on parking while road markings are applied. This notice will be in force on Friday 10th September 2021. The Roads dept will mark out parking bays and an off-centre centreline outside Coast to encourage better parking behaviours. Station Road Flooding: - I have tried highlighting this issue in the press and can advise that our Flooding officer is compiling a list of priority gullies that will be attended to proactively in advance of any forecasted major event. I have emailed the council in advance of the forecasted flooding tomorrow to ask what steps they have taken. Council’s Recycling Programme: Council would be happy to provide an online webinar showing the current path of our recycling. If anyone would be interested in learning more about the recycling of waste in Renfrewshire then please let me know and we can then sort out a date for this. New Community Police Officers PC Bryan Cochran and with PC Graham Muir we will be covering Bishopton / Langbank from Renfrew Police Office. Participatory Budgeting: The council has allocated £1.2 million of the annual roads capital budget over three years (2020-2023) for communities to decide on how it is spent (more info on my Facebook page). This funding could possibly be used to improve the footpath through Station Road Park to Dennistoun Road. Network Rail: An independent assessment is being done by Network Rail to assess the subsidence of the embankment at Marypark Rd. Feedback from Meeting: Main Road parking bays: - the length of the parking bays may be extended beyond that mentioned above. Marypark Road lamp posts: - Contractors arrived to dig a trench for new cabling for lamppost R1 but no work was done. Lamppost R2 was in the middle of a driveway and this should be relocated next to the rock face. I will request this. Marypark Road turning circle: - I will chase up a decision on this. Network Rail: - Residents of Marypark Road would like to be consulted re the subsidence. I will request this. Refuse Collection (Marypark Rd): - The Sunday collection seems to have moved to Monday. Last Monday 2 vehicles arrived to empty the bins. Station Road: - The hedges at the top of the road require to be cut and I will chase this up. AOB: Julie Gilmour has been contacted and asked if she will participate in a promotional”You Decide” campaign to encourage communities to get involved in decision making. All agreed this would be a good idea. Marypark bins weren’t emptied on Sunday and the team arrived on Monday morning, followed by a second clean up team in the afternoon. Hedges on Station Road need cutting back. Through the freedom of information act Gordon MacPherson was sharing a document he received from RC which was an internal memo mentioning the gifting of the Tennis Court and Bowling Green land to the villagers of Langbank. There is a feeling amongst some residents that this land, with specific mention to the bowling green section, is underused by villagers with control of this area being held mainly by residents of Bishopton. It was noted that The Langbank Bowling Club was a CASC and the reason for this and benefit to the village was questioned. This part of the meeting was quite disjointed due to connectivity issues with Jacqueline Doherty having to phone in to meeting It was noted that during meetings re the MUGA the bowling club members had repeatedly mentioned their need to recruit new members and several suggestions had been provided to them as to how they could reach out to the villagers of Langbank. The vice president did ask them to join the Community Facebook page, but has not made any attempt so far to use this to benefit the villagers, which is very disappointing. Unfortunately, despite an open invitation, no members of the Bowling Club had attended the meeting to answer villagers’ concerns. The Bowling Club will be contacted to ask for a copy of their governing documents which should contain details of their CASC status. Gordon MacPherson asked about the village's guardianship of the land and expressed concern over the lack of disabled access. The meeting was closed.