Community Council Meeting Minutes - August 2017
LANGBANK VILLAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL.
MINUTES OF MEETING – 9th August 2017
7:30pm – 9.30pm in Langbank Church Hall
LCC Members & Local Cllrs Present: - Neil Barrington (Chairman) Gloria Dunn(Treasurer), Russell Overend (Secretary), David McKenzie, Deirdre MacLean, Jayne Lasley, James Hunter, Julie Gilmour and Cllr James MacLaren,
Apologies: - Alex Dunn, Cllr Natalie Don, Joe McGarrigle (Deputy Chairman), Eileen Mather, Carly Deheer, Kirsteen Breckenridge, Jaqueline Docherty and Janice Buchanan.
Also in attendance: -. Tom Adair, Trish McLennan, John Smith, Norah Watson, Elaine Walsh, Graham Brown, George McMillan, Maggie Hancock, David Dresser, Ian McDougall, Catherine Farrington, David Mackenzie, PC Paul Mullen and PC Stephen McMinn of Police Scotland.
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Police Report:
Three crimes were recorded in the village for last month. All were road traffic matters.
The investigation into the residential house fire earlier in the year was listed as still on-going and no further status was available.
An attendee raised the concern that some cars on Main Road had been reported as being “keyed” and asked for status. The Police stated that this was vandalism and a group of children had been spoken to.
As a follow-up to the last meeting the police were asked for their views on double yellow lines being implemented outside the Coast restaurant to assist in responsible parking by clientele, but feedback was provided to say that Karen Anderson of RC has stated that double yellow lines were not appropriate in this location, however it was further recorded later in the meeting that a site visit by Mr Drew McNab of RC was still planned to be made in this respect.
Minutes of last meeting.
It was noted that June LCC Minutes did not contain an attachment with Karen Anderson’s presentation.
Proposed: David Mckenzie and Seconded: Deirdre MacLean.
Discussion on the Village Facebook Page:
Catherine Farrington has asked if we could have a discussion on this subject. She read from a prepared text that she was concerned that over the last month, certain posts had been deleted from this Facebook page and she thought that this was contrary to the ethos of the purpose of Facebook as a means of unfettered communication throughout the village. While the LCC was not able to establish exactly who had caused the deletion, due to absence from the meeting, there followed a long discussion after which the meeting agreed the following.
* The village Facebook page was created to allow easy and quick information flow (virtual noticeboard) on items pertaining to the whole village. Ie Traffic situations, suspicious characters within the village, flooding and/or any other pertinent information. We all agreed that it should not be used as a means of expressing personal views or grievances along with photographs of people or their possessions (car registrations etc)
A personal Facebook page could be used for this if so inclined.
* The Village Facebook administrators would look at the possibility of removing any single offending post, instead of the whole string, as currently happens.
* We would look at issuing the above guidelines on future versions of the village Facebook page to help everyone understand the rationale of this page and to prevent any grievance or misunderstanding concerning the purpose of it and the policing of it.
Catherine was not able to visually present her prepared views, but both she and I have a copy of it for distribution if needed.
Village Broadband:
It appears that the general broadband speed throughout the village has increased in recent months with “Standard” reported at between 8 to 15Mb and “Hi Speed” at between 32 to 37Mb. This is a big improvement over previous deliveries.
David Dresser reported that the number of villagers showing an interest in Virgin Media connections was 192 so far, but Langbank had a disadvantage in that its population density/metre was low due to having many detached houses versus blocks of flats/apartments etc. Virgin was still working with communities and looking to expand their services so the door was not closed for us yet.
Children Crossing Signs – Station Road:
Following on from previous correspondence requesting ”children crossing signs” at the top of Station Road, Cllr MacLaren could now confirm that the instruction for this sign to be installed has been issued. He will provide us with an update in due course.
SmartWater further roll out:
The LCC has now a second tranche of SmartWater kits for sale to villagers. Anyone interested in purchase should contact Russell Overend or Neil Barrington. The kits are available for £12 as opposed to the normal sale price of over £50.
Connections with other rural CCs:
Deirdre MacLean has offered to contact these CCs and try to establish common concerns and problems on which we could present a more united front for resolution to Renfrewshire Council.
She will include the following CCs -- Bishopton, BoW, Brookfield, Elderslie, Houston, Howwood, Kilbarchan and Lochwinnoch initially.
AGM Meeting:
As in previous years the LCC propose to hold its AGM Meeting on November the 8th.
This is a month later than most other CCs, but we have historically slipped a month due to low attendance in October due to school holidays etc.
Renfrewshire Town Planning event:
A diet of this was held in the village last month and was attended by various LCC members and villagers. It was reported that the information presented at the meeting was interesting, but there was nothing forthcoming that directly affected the village at this time.
Land between the A8 and Main Road for increased parking options:
John Smith was present at the meeting to help explain the options that may be available to the community with regards to increasing the parking facilities on Main Road. He explained the current thinking behind the Renfrewshire Council’s Environmental Improvement Scheme and the Right to Buy Project.
Should the Village Community be able to secure the land between the A8 carriageway and Main Road and from the A8 roundabout up to (and not limited to) the junction of Station Road, then this could be possibly used to create increased parking for the Railway Station Commuters, the Bowling Club Members and the customers of Coast Restaurant. This, if it were possible, would greatly alleviate the severe narrowing of Main Road when all three were busy.
It was agreed that the LCC would write a letter to Fraser Carlin, head of Renfrewshire Council Planning Dept. to seek their advice on this request. (Note: This letter has now been sent by the Chairman.)
Gala Day:
It was sadly decided that due to limited time left this summer to organise our annual Gala Day, that we would not hold it for this year, but would make a concerted effort to plan ahead for our event in 2018.
Gleddoch Renewable Energy Plans:
John Smith and Russell Overend updated the LCC with the current status of these plans to have either wind turbines and or solar panels installed on the south west of their estate. There was a concern that the wind turbines would conflict with the radar reception/efficiency at Glasgow Airport, and thus this project would firstly have to be assessed by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), (nominated by Gleddoch Hotels) and then submitted to the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES).
The LCC agreed to wait for a reply from Gleddoch Hotels before making a any further comment.
Permanent 20mph signs throughout the village:
Cllr James MacLaren was only able to say that there was not a definitive position on this matter taken by RC, at this time, but it was possibility in the future.
AOB.
There was no other business outside what had previously been discussed at this meeting.
The meeting was closed.
CLLR MACLAREN’S REPORT.
Langbank Community Council Report from Councillor MacLaren:
Roads
Potholes on Seath Avenue & Douglas Avenue: -
This has been inspected and an instruction has been raised to repair the potholes on Seath Avenue as a temporary repair prior to programmed resurfacing.
Roundabout: - There are some broken black dividers at the roundabout (visibility screen) and Scotland Transerv have been notified of the defect.
Children Crossing Signage – Station Road: - Council will carry out a site visit to see if a suitable location can be found to install the sign.
Core Path to Marypark Rd Upgrade
Council will supply Graeme Brown with some extra brown wheelie bins to assist with cutting back the vegetation.
9/8/17
Feedback from Meeting
Parking on Main Road: - I will ask the Transport Officer why double yellow lines would not be appropriate opposite the Coast Restaurant or near the roundabout.
Fly tipping: - there is still fly tipping of a mattress and other stuff at the bottom of Hatton Brae. I will ask for this to be removed.
Next Meeting Schedule – 2017
13th Sept 2017
8th Nov 2017 – AGM Meeting.
13th Dec 2017
