Copy of Community Council Meeting Minutes - October 2017

LANGBANK VILLAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL.

MINUTES OF MEETING – 11th October 2017

7:30pm – 9.30pm in Langbank Church Hall

LCC Members & Local Cllrs Present: -  Neil Barrington (Chairman), Gloria Dunn(Treasurer), Russell Overend (Secretary), Dierdre MacLean, Jacqueline Docherty, Carly Deheer, Catherine Farrington, and Cllr Colin McCulloch.  

Apologies: - Russell Overend (Secretary), Alex Dunn, Joe McGarrigle (Deputy Chairman), Eileen Mather, Kirsteen Breckenridge, Janice Buchanan, Julie Gilmour, Jayne Lasley, Cllr James MacLaren and James Hunter

Also in attendance: - John Smith, Norah Watson, Tom Adair, Lesley Fairley, David Dresser and PC Tom Connor of Police Scotland.

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Minutes of last meeting:

Approved by: Jacqueline Docherty and Seconded by:  Catherine Farrington.

Police Update – PC Tom Connor:

1 crime reported over the past month – A car was scratched while parked on Middlepenny Road.  No suspects for this vandalism advised at this stage.

Some residents had complained about their driveways being blocked by inconsiderate parking near to the Coast restaurant. The Police advised anyone encountering such thoughtlessness to record the offender’s registration and then to contact the Police without hesitation.

Contact with other rural Community Councils:

Deirdre MacLean has been in contact with the other rural CC’s about issues effecting rural communities. She has had several positive replies and is pursuing the others.

She was asked if it was possible to ascertain the Renfrewshire Council “per capita” funding for each Community Council.

A member also asked what the LCC top 3 priorities were and we should define these for the next meeting.

Drainage:

The road surface and drainage on Dennistoun Road outside the Langbank Primary School is poor and has been reported to the RC. They have stated that some drains have been cleared, but LCC members say that others are still blocked and will need to be cleared before the winter rains and snow arrive.  Cllr Natalie Don is still working on this matter with RC and has reported that the drains on Dennistoun Road and Middlepenny Road have been instructed to be cleared.

Main Road Parking:

The congested parking problems outside the Coast restaurant were still evident especially on weekends and Sunday lunchtime, but perhaps not as severe as previous. Most of the on-going problems were caused by inconsiderate parking by patrons.  As stated previously, Police Scotland again advised the offending registrations be recorded and reported to the Police, who would then contact the restaurant and request the offenders to quickly remove their vehicle - failing that they would organise the vehicle to be removed to the Police Vehicle Pound in Glasgow, where the owners would have to pay a hefty fine to retrieve them.

With regard to the question of ownership of the land between the A8 and Main Road the chairman has still not received any reply from Ken Power, Route Manager at Transport Scotland, to discuss this matter further and has written to him again.  A member asked if this stretch of land could include the whole strip in front of Langbank and not the section just outside the Coast restaurant.

Catherine Farrington stated that she is still to approach Sandy McCallum about the possibility of purchase of the land to the east of the existing Coast Car Park.

Cllr Colin McCulloch:

This was the first LCC meeting that Cllr Colin McCulloch has been able to attend and he was warmly welcomed. He was particularly interested in the various poor facilities that this village endures and was keen to record details of these, saying that he would try to help. He was particularly interested in the dampness problems which affect the village Primary School.  The school has suffered this problem for some years and previously Cllr MacLaren had persuaded RC to install de-humidifiers on a temporary basis to counteract this situation, but the school is now asking for them to be retained permanently or until the dampness problem can be eradicated fully.  Cllr McCulloch said that he would approach RC on this matter and tie in with Cllr MacLaren.

Gleddoch Green Energy Scheme:

LCC have drafted a reply to Gleddoch Hotel recent letter on this subject, which requested our support to apply for a grant from CARES, and this was debated. The meeting agreed with the basic content of the reply, but asked for any specific reference to future funding use be removed and a general statement inserted.  This has now been done and the letter has been sent to Gleddoch Hotels and receipt of it has already been acknowledged. 

Children Crossing Sign on the top of Station Road.

This sign has yet to be erected and the Chairman reported that he would write to Cllr James MacLaren who was negotiating with the Roads Dept within RC to have it erected.

Village Broadband Speeds:

David Dresser reported that Virgin Media was conducting a “Proof of Concept” exercise at a location in England, and it would be interesting to see what the results of this exercise reveals, and any spin- offs that may affect our own situation.  He added that BT Infinity was the only real other option for increased broadband speeds, but when applying to request this service the BT Website states that the required BT Cabinet in Langbank is “full” and they cannot specify when additional support would be available.

Mary Park Road Path:

Norah Watson reported that contaminated drainage was still leaking into her property from this path.  A discussion followed and the conclusion was that RC Roads, who provided the “plannings” for the bottoming must know that they are hazardous and should not have delivered them without clear guidelines to their use.

SmartWater Security Kits available.

As the secretary was at another meeting, we were unable to determine how many kits were still available, but this would be established prior to the next meeting. Meanwhile the Meeting was asked to “spread the word” that these were still available at the LCC reduced cost.  

AOB:

It was reported that the “flytipping site“ at the bottom of Hatton Brae was still be used by irresponsible members of the public, and had not been cleared away yet.

Elected Councillor’S Reports:  

1.       Cllr James MacLaren Report

   The Cllr is unwell at this time and there is no report from him this month. We wish him as speedy recovery.

2.       Cllr Natalie Don Report

·         - The drains on Dennistoun Road and Middlepenny Road have been instructed to be cleared.

·         - A full inspection will take place on the blocked gully on Elmbank Road

·          - Overgrown vegetation on Station Road and Middlepenny Road - 

·         "The roads inspector will ensure that a full assessment is carried in accordance with Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. If the vegetation requires attention, we will serve notice on the land owner for this to be cut back to the property edge. If it is Council property we will look to have this cleared back" 

·          - Station Road playing field - I am currently pursuing several long term outstanding issues in relation to the maintenance of the playing field and surrounding area. I will update when possible.

·          - Team Up to Clean Up - Calendar now available on Renfrewshire Council website under Team Up to Clean Up. This shows a schedule of fully cleaning, street sweeping and litter picking and when/where they will be.

Kind regards,

Natalie

Next Meeting Schedule – 2017 

8th Nov 2017 – AGM Meeting.

13th Dec 2017

Future 2018 meetings for your diary.

10th January

14th February

14th March

11th April

9th May

13th June

8th August

12th September

10th October

14th November

12th December