Community Council Meeting Minutes - March 2017
LANGBANK VILLAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL.
MINUTES OF MEETING – 8th March 2017
7:30pm – 10.00pm in Langbank Church Hall
LCC Members & Local Cllrs Present:- Neil Barrington (Chairman), Russell Overend (Secretary), Dav McKenzie, Gloria Dunn (Treasurer), Jacqueline Doherty, Cllr Maria Brown, Cllr James MacLaren, Deirdre MacLean, Carly Deheer
Apologies:- Alex Dunn, James Hunter, Joe McGarrigle (Deputy Chairman), Eileen Mather, Janice Buchanan and Jayne Lasley.
Also in attendance:- Neil Shaw, Elaine Walsh, David Dresser Margaret Hancock, Graeme Brown.
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Police Report:
No police were in attendance.
Minutes of last meeting.
Accepted with no changes
Proposed: Gloria Dunn - Seconded – Jacqueline Docherty
Chairman's Report:
Local Area Committee Meeting. The following items were discussed -
The Police reported (Area Commander - Simon Wright) that there was no further update on the recent Langbank house fire.
Commencing in April this year- the Police Officers working in each area will be the officers attending CC meetings so they have knowledge of the local issues.
There have been no crime issues associated with the Good Shepherd and it was reported to be well managed.
The new M8 slip road for the Dargarvel Estate planned at Bishopton will be about 2 years later than planned, due to the need to allow the respective ground to settle further.
Renfrewshire Community Council Forum - on Monday27th February
Chairman was asked to raise the point that the villages and rural areas should not be forgotten as most recent spending and improvements have been made in the major towns.
Digital Towns meeting - in Edinburgh on Wednesday 8th March
Chairman and Vice chairman attended the “Digital Towns” meeting at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh today. Although the meeting was reduced to only an hour they made contact with the David Wallace, who is the new BT Regional Director for the Business and Public Sector in Scotland.
They raised the point about existing broadband speeds fluctuating badly and BTs own targets on availability are not being met.
The Scottish Parliament host further stated that broadband fibre roll out problems are well known to the Scottish Parliament.
David Wallace agreed to assist with our problems and he requested from us many details including postcodes of all reported problems within Langbank.
We agreed that Dav Mckenzie would collect upload and download speeds at different postcodes for both ADSL and Fibre which will be then be forwarded to David Wallace.
Other fibre broadband issues - the current green cabinet is almost at full capacity. A further cabinet will be required if more people sign up.
Scottish water.
The chairman has contacted Scottish Water asking about low water pressure reported by the Fire Brigade during the recent house fire, but was getting no replies from them. Chairman to follow this matter up through Peter Farrer’s office. (COO of Scottish Water)
Paisley 2021 City of Culture Bid
Still no follow-up from Jean Cameron. Dav Mckenzie to follow up with Jean.
Recycling.
RC have been invited to attend a future LCC meeting to explain what happens with recycling in Renfrewshire and to explain their current policy. We hope to have RC representative at the May LCC meeting.
The RC website is up to date with the latest recycling policy.
Fire Brigade
The Langbank Primary School head teacher has said that he is in touch with the Fire Brigade about fire safety education for the school children.
Langbank village clean up
Agreed date to be Sunday 7th May. The Primary School head teacher will be notified of this date with reference to the annual poster competition.
Scottish Government Funding direct to school headteachers:
It was intimated that Langbank School would receive £4,800, while BoW and Kilmacolm schools would receive £24,000 and PMHS would get £64,000. It was assumed that the relationship here was related to size and number of pupils.
April LCC Meeting -
Gavin Newlands (the local MP) will be attending the April LCC meeting.
Dav Mckenzie to promote this meeting and request questions in advance from villagers on Facebook and the new village web page.
We are still requesting a future date for our MSP representative, Mr Derek Mackay, to come to one of our meetings, but his office cannot commit to one at present.
Middlepenny Road Traffic Lights:
There is still a problem with the traffic lights at the rail bridge on Middlepenny Road. It was reported that situations can occur where red and green lights can be on at the same time.
LCC Insurance
The insurance renewal premium from Zurich Ins. Co. is due for renewal 1st April 2017. The premium is £1 cheaper than last year at £163 including £60 for Gala day cover. The meeting have agreed to pay the renewal premium.
20 mph Speed Limits within the village.
There is a proposal from Houston CC for a 20mph mandatory speed limit, rather than an advisory limit in all residential areas in Renfrewshire. The forum asked for opinions from all CC's.
The topic was discussed but there were a range of opinions. No conclusion was reached !
A greater problem than the actual speed limit was the lack of signage of the speed limit entering Langbank and the drivers who disregard the speed limit.
Cllr MacLaren's Report
Langbank Community Council Report from Councillor MacLaren:
Street Lighting
Missing Lampposts: - I am chasing up a number of missing lampposts and these should be replaced once the new LED lanterns have been fitted. If you know of a missing lamppost then please let me know so I can confirm that it has been reported. The column replacements should be complete by the end of May 2017.
Scottish Ambulance Service
Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) can be found all over Scotland and are vital pieces of equipment in the crucial early minutes following a cardiac arrest before an ambulance arrives. The Scottish Ambulance Service now has a dedicated registration website and are appealing to local communities to ensure that they know where this equipment is, so when someone calls 999 they will know where the nearest defibrillator is if it is required. I don’t think Langbank has any defibrillators so this might be something to consider fundraising for. Their website is www.pad.scottishambulance.com
Head teacher for Langbank Primary School
The authority is looking to resolve the temporary position within Langbank as soon as possible. The authority has begun an active recruitment process and the post will be advertised externally. It is hoped that Mr Simon Cundy will consider applying.
West Ferry Car Park
I recently requested to have potholes repaired within West Ferry Car Park. This car park is not maintained as part of the road network, however, the area will be inspected and should there be any spare road material left over from maintenance in the area, which is often the case, this will be used to help patch up the potholes at this location.
Gully at 10 Middlepenny Road, Langbank
I requested the gully at the above address be cleared. This was been added to the remedial programme of work and should have been completed by now.
Surgery
I will not hold a surgery in March due to a clash in meetings.
Rail Bridge
Network Rail says that when residents from Langbank were advised that the road would have to be closed for the Railway Bridge to be painted, they received so many complaints that they shelved the job to a later date. Recently when they looked again at doing the job the costs had risen to £87,000 to have the bridge scraped and re-painted. The bridge has been inspected and is structurally sound and Network Rail cannot justify £87,000 of taxpayer’s money for cosmetic improvement to the bridge. The Works will therefore not now be going ahead.
Bins @ Marypark Road
I am advised that at this address the grey and blue bins are serviced by our 'difficult to access vehicle' - this being a smaller collection vehicle than the front line collection vehicle which cannot access Marypark Road (I am told). This 'difficult to access' vehicle is routed to collect waste and dry recyclate on a fortnightly basis as we do with all other properties across Renfrewshire. The issue we have with this of course is that there isn't sufficient capacity for this vehicle to collect garden/food waste - hence the sporadic nature of service provision. Clearly this is an issue which needs to be addressed, and the Routing Team will look to find a solution to this matter.
8/3/17
Feedback from March LCC Meeting
Food Recycle Bags: - What is the best way to obtain them? A number of people are finding it difficult to obtain them. I will find out about this.
Food Waste from Primary School: - There seems to be some shocking wastage of food at the primary school. I will look into this.
30 mph sign on Station Road: - The 30 mph sign at the top of Station Road has gone missing again. I will request a new one.
Wheelhouse Inn: - there were questions raised about the license which the pub has. I will find this out.
Main Road lamp post: - the lamppost at the far west end of Main Road is lying at an angle. I will ask for this to be checked.
Potholes: - there are three potholes on Elmbank Road. Also, on Old Greenock Road approx. 70 metres west of Netherton Road. I will get them reported.
Burst Water Pipe: - There appears to be a burst water pipe on the road up to Gleddoch House. I will find out about this and report it.
Cllr Maria Brown Update:
Bishopton to Langbank school children transfers. A rumour has been officially denied that Bishopton Primary school children may be bussed to Langbank if numbers increase due to village expansion.
Langbank School toilets - School children have to cross the playground to get to the toilets from two of the classrooms. RC is looking to see if anything can be done within the capital budget. It was also asked if this could be a security issue for the children.
Some Street lights had been off for a few evening, but the problems seem to now have been resolved.
Flooding was present on 26th Feb. The root cause was blocked drains.
In both PPP schools and non PPP schools in RC there have been intrusive surveys to check structures following the well reported collapses in Edinburgh - no issues were found in Renfrewshire schools.
Cllr Maria Brown is due to retire in May. The Chairman thanked Maria on behalf of the LCC for her many years of service to the Council and to the Community Council.
Environment
Janice Buchanan has logged a complaint with RC about the lack of cleaning of Station Rd and to get the drains cleared. She has also reported pot holes next to manhole cover next to 2 Seath Ave .
AOB:-
Langbank Primary School is advertising for a full time Head Teacher. The village hope that the current acting head teacher will considering applying as he has made a tremendous difference over the past few years.
Jacqueline Docherty reported on the huge amount of food waste at the school due to the strict procedures applied by RC. We plan to raise this at the recycling meeting.
Questions were raised about the license for the Wheelhouse. We seem to recall that a condition of the original license was granted on the basis of being a village pub. Recently it has not been operated as a village pub, but much more as a licensed tourist restaurant.
James offered to get details of any licence conditions associated with the grant of the original licence to the Langbank Lodge many years ago.
It would also be interesting to hear the plans for the extended Wheelhouse.
The meeting agreed to purchase a further batch of Smartwater Kits and associated signage.
Russell Overend to place this order with the Police.
Gloria and Alex Dunn have reported 5 pot holes on Elmbank Road.
There is a massive pot hole between Gleddoch and Netherton Rd. Cllr Brown agreed to report it to RC.
Update on Marypark link path. There is flooding on the path from a pond overflow further up the hill. Cllrs MacLaren and Brown recommended the chairman write to Billy Jones / Dorothy Kerr for some help or advice from RC.
Meeting was closed.
Next Meeting Schedule – 2017 (second Wednesday of every month apart from July)
12th April 2017
10th May 2017
14th June 2017
9th Aug 2017
13th Sept 2017
8th Nov 2017
13th Dec 2017
