Community Council Meeting Minutes - February 2017
LANGBANK VILLAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL.
MINUTES OF MEETING – 8th February 2017
7:30pm – 9.30pm in Langbank Church Hall
LCC Members & Local Cllrs Present:- Neil Barrington (Chairman), Russell Overend (Secretary), Dav McKenzie, Gloria Dunn (Treasurer), Jacqueline Doherty, Julie Gilmour and Deirdre MacLean,
Apologies:- Cllr James MacLaren, Cllr Maria Brown, Janice Buchanan, Catherine Farrington, Kirsteen Breckenridge, Alex Dunn, Carly Deheer, Jayne Lasley, Eileen Mather, James Hunter and Joe McGarrigle (Vice-Chairman.
Also in attendance:- Chief Inspector and Police Scotland Area Commander - Simon Wright, Scottish Fire Brigade and Station Manager - Edward Finnieston, David Dresser, Graeme Brown, Maggie Hancock and Derek McPherson.
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Police Report:
There was only one reported incident over the last month, that being the severe house fire at 65 Dennistoun Road, Langbank on the 22nd of January. This is being treated by Police Scotland as a very serious incident and one of wilful fire raising.
Ch. Insp. Wright explained that they considered this event as a “one off” and that the house was targetted, but that all back up forensics, CCTV and eye witness information were being fully employed and the investigation was on-going. He further requested that any resident with any information about the fire, no matter how small or apparently insignificant, to call the Police on phone number 101 or Crime Stoppers.
He added that they recorded notification of the incident at 22.48 hrs and police were in attendance in 19 minutes later.
Fire Brigade Presentation:
Edward Finnieston, Station Manager for East Renfrewshire Renfrew and Inverclyde, attended this meeting to provide an update on the recent house fire on the 22nd of January and the status of the local fire services with regard to future incidents of fire. Langbank is halfway between Port Glasgow and Renfrewshire and historical data shows no other recent fires.
The Fire Brigade described the fire as serious and their Incident and Research Teams were fully involved and investigations are still on-going.
Concerns over attendance response times were raised. - He explained that the Fire Brigade records/recordings show that the brigade was first notified of the fire at 22.39 hrs as a shed fire.
Port Glasgow station part-time fire engine was mobilised in 5 minutes after the first telephone call , and arrived at Langbank in 10 minutes.
On-route the fire engine was updated to learn that this was now a serious house fire, and immediately more appliances were dispatched. (4 in total). The full-time Port Glasgow appliance was in attendance 13 minutes later (coming from another incident). The Clydebank appliance arrived in 12 minutes. The meeting agreed that the response times were very good, allowing for the remote location of the village and the location of the house within it, due to steep hills, tight bends and narrow roads.
Mr Finnieston did report that the water pressure at the fire hydrant, which was situated immediately outside the property, had relatively low water pressure and that the Fire Brigade had to phone Scottish Water to request the water pressure be increased during their attendance. This fact did not directly impede the actions of the Fire Brigade on site however, as they used their engines’ pumps and on-board water supplies.
This point however was raised as a concern for the meeting members and a note was made to ask Scottish Water to attend a future LCC Meeting to provide details on water pressure availability throughout the village as there has been historical incidents in the past of poor pressure.
My Finnieston went on to explain that the 90+ fire hydrants in the village are checked every year and any low pressure is reported and recorded at that time.
He further agreed to ask his Public Relations Dept to request if the Langbank Primary School would wish a visit from the Fire Brigade on the subject of fire safety.
Minutes of last meeting:
It was noted that at the last meeting a member raised the subject of Cllr Holmes’s continuing lack of attendance at these meetings was becoming apparent, and that this detail had not been minuted.
Accepted -- Proposed – Jacqueline Docherty Seconded – Gloria Dunn
Chairman’s Report:
Jean Cameron (Paisley City of Culture Bid 2021): She has not yet responded to the points raised by LCC at the December meeting. These points were mainly concerning the information on cultural, social and educational events that were held in Inverclyde, but either not held in Renfrewshire or poorly communicated.
MP and MSP Invites: - Dav Mckenzie has sent out an invite to Derek McKay and Gavin Newlands to attend future LCC meetings
Virgin Media Broadband: - Dav Mckenzie to prepare simple brief on Fibre versus Cable and the capacity of the Langbank telephone cabinets for an explanation for the new Langbank web site. This update will also suggest a no-obligation request to all villagers to register interest in Virgin Media.
The Langbank Tennis Club:- It is being charged for water rates (Business Stream) as they are now on the valuation register. Renfrewshire Council are listed as the proprietor, but they have recently applied to withdraw to avoid future charges. The Club is therefore likely to be liable for more costs going forward. Because the ownership of the land is not clearly documented the tennis club are powerless to refute the charges being imposed. To try and resolve the situation and to secure the Tennis Club for the use of villagers the LCC agreed to work with the Tennis Club towards to have Club land adopted jointly by the Tennis Club and LCC. LCC are to consider an application to the Land Registry, having maintained the property for well over 100 years. Once ownership is established, then there are many more options and grants available for the Tennis Club.
Langbank Primary School Playground:-
The members of the PTP working to improve the facilities at the school playground, have now raised a total of £18,000. These funds will be used to purchase a Trim Trail and Outdoor Play Area and install this purpose-built play equipment and facilities for the children. The meeting congratulated this team for their efforts in achieving this target.
Communications.
A Langbank Matters edition is due for printing and circulation very shortly.
AOB:
Renfrewshire Council (RC) Recycling Strategy:-
A member asked if a representative from the RC could attend a future LCC meeting to fully explain the current recycling strategy as many people are finding it confusing.
Blocked Drains:-
Lower Middlepenny Road, Station Road and the East end of Main Road still has a few blocked drains.
Station Road:-
There is still no red 30mph road sign at the top/south end of Station Road. This is deemed very important as the Primary School bus picks up children immediately round the blind bend following from this sign and this situation has been reported many times in the past.
Mary Park Road (MPR) :-
Graeme Brown updated the meeting with his progress in getting the footpath from MPR to Middlepenny Road into a reasonable standard such that schoolchildren can use it. Path edges have been cut back for 1.5 metres and there is an agreement to use old road chippings/plannings as a proper base at a future stage.
A villager reported that the traffic light sequence for the railway bridge on Middlepenny Road is still not satisfactory, despite a report in last month’s LCC Minutes from a villager to say that these were now adequate.
Meeting was closed.
Next Meeting Schedule – 2017 (second Wednesday of every month apart from July)
8th March 2017
12th April 2017
10th May 2017
14th June 2017
9th Aug 2017
13th Sept 2017
11th Oct 2017
8th Nov 2017
13th Dec 2017
Cllr McLaren's Report
LED Street Lighting
Council have been replacing the old sodium lighting with the new LED lighting. The new lighting is more direct and does not reflect so much and it is not meeting everyone’s approval. Legislation will be introduced this year that will make the maintenance of the old style orange lighting untenable. LED technology will reduce energy bills by around 60% and make a substantial contribution towards the Council's carbon reduction targets. The new white lighting enables colours to be identified and many people find this improves visibility at night. A further benefit is that LEDs have a very long life, potentially in excess of 20 years and this will reduce incidences of dark lamps.
The new lighting units produce less lighting “backwash” than conventional units and so there is less light spill from the street onto gardens and the frontages of houses. As a consequence, missing lamps or faulty lamps are far more obvious. The lighting scheme is designed for the relevant road class (residential, distributor road, etc.), i.e. different wattages for different roads.
I have received a number of complaints and have sent details to one person on how to raise a petition in protest. I understand, but have not had confirmation, that people in Linwood complained so much that the bulbs were replaced with stronger ones.
Roads
Resurfacing of Roads and Pavements: - I have sent off to the council a list of roads and pavements I think should be given priority in the next round of resurfacing come the new financial year.
Potholes: - The roads are in an atrocious condition at present with potholes springing up everywhere. The council can take 14 days to reply to correspondence and then some to fix the problem.
Council Tax changes in 2017/18
The Scottish Government introduced legislation to change Council Tax and this will come into force from April 2017. Those in the four highest council tax bands (E, F, G and H) will receive an increase. Band E = +7.5%. Band F = +12.5%. Band G = 17.5%. Band H = 22.5%. Renfrewshire Council will set its budget on 16th February.
Flooding – Houston Road/Main Road
There has been flooding at Eastbank Lodge again. There are gullies on Houston Road to the front of Eastbank Lodge, which are currently clear, but Roads will carry out a further clean to ensure the carrier pipe is clear. However, I am aware that during periods of heavy rain that a lot of water comes out from Eastbank House where there is a grid to catch. We will have the drainage pipes jetted in the next couple of weeks.
