Community Council Meeting Minutes - November 2016

LANGBANK VILLAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL.

MINUTES OF MEETING – 9th Nov 2016
8:00pm – 9.30pm in Langbank Church Hall

LCC Members & Local Cllrs Present:- Neil Barrington (Chairman), Russell Overend (Secretary), Joe
McGarrigle (Deputy Chairman), Deirdre McLean, Cllr James MacLaren, , Dav McKenzie, Gloria Dunn,
Alex Dunn, Jacqueline Doherty, Carly Deheer, Janice Buchanan and James Hunter.
Apologies:- Eileen Mather, Catherine Farrington, Julie Gilmore, Kirsteen Breckenridge and Cllr
Maria Brown.
Also in attendance:- Tom Adair, David Henry, Neil Shaw and Sgt Frank Williams of K Division, Police
Scotland.

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Police Report:
There were no crimes in the village last month.
Over the last month there have been high value cars stolen in other villages. Please ensure that your
car keys are not visible from the front door and be aware and call 101 if suspicious activity is
witnessed.
The number of speeding checks have been increased between Langbank and Port Glasgow. Recently
two people have been charged - one at 90mph (65 year old male), another speeding van (59 year old
male). Unmarked cars are operational in the area.
If nuisance parking in the village is observed please call 101 and report the make and registration
number.
It is worth noting that the Traffic Police for “K” Division is now located at the Police station in
Greenock, and thus most of the officers pass Langbank on a daily basis.
Minutes of last meeting:
Accepted. Proposed – David McKenzie and Seconded – Janice Buchanan.

Chairman's Report:
The Chairman has paid the £35 data protection fee to the ICO for the Community Council, received
receipt for same and been reimbursed by the LCC.

As a follow up to last week's discussion the chairman wrote to Police Scotland about parking in
Langbank’s narrow residential streets – especially Middlepenny Rd. David McKenzie also put an
article in Facebook requesting residents and visitors to park responsibly, and as not everyone has
access to Facebook, we suggested adding a few lines to this effect on parking in the next “Langbank
Matters”.
Tennis club water bill - the meeting suggested that our MP, Gavin Newlands, may be interested in
speaking to Julie Gilmour about checking the water bill and understanding where this charge is
coming from. Carly Deheer to speak with Julie Gilmour.
The Renfrewshire Community Council Forum is looking to broaden participation by inviting more
members from each of the Community Councils. Joe McGarrigle agreed to attend with Neil for
many of the future meetings.
Flooding and drain clearing. Langbank are now a priority area. Cllr James MacLaren agreed to ask
the RC sweeper to attend to remove the leaves as a precautionary measure to prevent the drains
becoming blocked again.
Christmas tree switch on – Friday 25 th November. There will be a Christmas Fayre at the School
from 5.00 -7.00pm (burgers and hot dogs, home baking, tea coffee), followed by a procession from
the school down to the church, then Christmas sing along in the church until 7:40pm. Tea and mince
pies. The “switching on” of the Christmas Tree lights will be at 8pm.
Village website: David McKenzie will send round a development link for everyone to evaluate the
site before it is released. Any feedback or additional contents would be welcomed. Any advertisers
would also be welcome.
Many villagers are complaining about slow or intermittent fibre optic broadband service. BT have
not been resolving the situations to villagers satisfaction. There may be some relation to wet
weather as some of the problems being experienced only occur at that time. David McKenzie has
agreed to draft a letter that would be sent from the LCC to the Scottish Government who ultimately
funded the installation. David McKenzie further agreed to ask residents on the village Facebook
pages for their dissatisfaction with their broadband delivery. The idea is to map the reception across
the village to see if there are distinct areas of poor performance, which may help BT Openreach
improve the service.
Renfrewshire Council have distributed details of this year’s Provost’s Community Awards.
After a short debate on likely candidates it was unanimously agreed to nominate Joan Hallworth,
who has been the organist for the Langbank Church for longer than anyone can remember and at
the age of 92, is still performing that service. The secretary agreed to complete the necessary
paperwork to register the candidacy.
Greening Langbank Funds. Russell Overend announced that there is still an amount of money in this
group’s bank account, but some of the required signatories have moved on. Both Carly Deheer and
Jacqueline Doherty agreed to become signatories of the Greening Langbank bank account. Russell
will arrange the paperwork.

Cllr Maclaren report:
Station Road 30mph signs. Renfrewshire Council have said that only one sign is required at the top
end of Station Road, due to the narrowness of the road. The police have indicated that the single
sign should not have an effect on the speed limit awareness for any speeding motorist.

The double litter bin formerly from the shop is to be moved to the Station and the Station single bin
is to be moved to Dennistoun Road.
The owners of the hedges lining the top end of Station Road have been requested to cut back the
overgrown hedge – to let vehicles pass each other safely on this narrow road, but this has not been
done yet. Renfrewshire Council “Street Scene” team will now cut the hedge themselves in the
following week and bill the owners for the work.
Cllr James MacLaren agreed to ask for a new Grit Bin to be installed outside 18 Elmbank Rodd to
provide access to grit for winter snowfalls.
The Core path between Middlepenny Road and Marypark Road is overgrown. Renfrewshire
Council have offered help and materials from the “Community Payback Team”.
Installation of the new energy efficient street lighting within Langbank. Cllr James McLaren will
establish what the schedule for the installation of these lights within the village will be.

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Cllr Maria Brown Report:
Parking on Middlepenny Rd - Contact police on 101 if there is a problem.
Street lighting - Glencairn and Helenslee Road street lights have been reported.
Management of Park s within Renfrewshire Council (RC) – Cllr Brown has met with the RC Parks Mgt
Team and understands that there will be a new post, who will be responsible for the future “self
adoption” of parks and playparks. Funding would be required to be raised by each CC, but match
funding could be available for the RC.

AOB:-
Dav McKenzie is to invite our MP and MSP to a future Langbank CC Meeting to discuss concerns
within the village.
The Erskine Amenity Facility is to be re-opened on November 28th.
Langbank Matters edition due in December – Please pass any articles to David McKenzie and James
Hunter.

With no further business, the Meeting was closed.

Next Meeting Schedule – 2016 (second Wednesday of every month apart from July)
14 th December.

2017 Meeting Schedule:
11 th January
8 th February
9 th March
12 th April
10 th May
14 th June
No meeting in July
9 th August
13 th September
11 th October
8 th November & AGM
13 th December