LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY 12h OCTOBER 2022
7.30pm in the Langbank Community Centre, Middlepenny Road, Langbank.
Present: Neil Barrington (chair), Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), Caroline Bryce, Carly Deheer, John O’Brien and Julie Gilmour.
Also in attendance: Jean Leckie, David Steele, Cllr James Maclaren, Lesley Fairlie, PC Dean Mitchell and PC Mark Ewing.
Apologies: Gloria Dunn (treasurer), Cllr Colin McCulloch, Maggie Hancock, James Hunter and Cllr Fiona Airlie-NIcholson.
Start and welcome:
The chairman welcomed everyone and thanked them all for their attendance. He introduced the two police officers in attendance and representatives from Langbank Church.
Police Report – in attendance PCs Dean Mitchell and Mark Ewing:Dean and Mark are the new Bishopton and Langbank Community officers. Not much requirement for policing in Langbank and acknowledged that most incidents involve the traffic police stopping people on the A8.
Two crimes reported this past month: One speeding – detected and one common assault – undetected.
Noted that there was an issue with speeding on Main Road. Asked if police could do anything to help – advice was to ask Renfrewshire Council (RC) for more traffic management things in place. It is particularly difficult for police to catch speeding drivers due to people sending out notification on social media to warn other drivers of police presence..
Working with Traffic Scotland for a long time, but unfortunately making very slow progress and noting frustratingly little change.
Discussion followed about difficulties caused by cars parking along Main Road. Issue of cars parking on pavement and noted that they should at least leave space for pram or wheelchair.
Should an emergency vehicle require access and the road is blocked they can simply drive through and drivers who have parked inconsiderately risk their vehicles being damaged.
Lack of clear legislation makes it difficult for police to take action.
Questions asked about the accident at the start of the year and whether this has gone to court. Don’t think has yet gone to court, which may possibly be due to backlog, although the chairman reported that he believed no charges were brought as no-one was injured.
PC Mitchell asked about the Community Speedwatch initiative – cost would need to be covered by CCs, with the detection device alone costing in excess of £1200. No other CCs locally have taken part.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes:
Proposed by Carly Deheer and seconded by Julie Gilmour.
Village website and Facebook update:
Previous minutes are on the website and the latest invoice received for the web domain charges.
Slight confusion over recent post on Facebook, however this has been dealt with and it is hoped the admin team won’t have too many issues to deal with as a result of this.
Publisher of Paisley based Mill Magazine requested membership of this page and it is hoped that this will help promote some village events to wider audience and to share other community events within Renfrewshire.
Cllr MacLaren had raised in an email that villagers were taking to Faceboook to discuss issues like flooding rather than contacting local councillors directly via email or Renfrewshire Council. It is evident that some members wrongly assume that posting on Facebook is a way to have issues dealt with. Agreed that a post would be put on page with appropriate contact details.
Question received from villagers about anything which could be done to assist those struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. RC has been posting helpful information on page and we will continue to support this.
Representatives from RC YouDecide campaign had been invited along tonight, however no response. The CC are keen to support and promote this with both Julie and Jacqueline offering support.
Awaiting TS update to repairs for Main Rd fence and A8 roundabout:
Last reply from Neil Lang of Transport Scotland (TS) stated that this work has been passed onto AMEY and will be dealt with by them. Neil Lang can provide no further information at this point. See Cllr Maclaren’s report for more information.
Parking issues on Main Road/land opposite Coast:
At a previous meeting it was suggested that LCC contact Scottish Ministers to state how ludicrous it is that they are unwilling to help resolve this dangerous situation. The simplest solution would be to offer a strip of off-road parking opposite Coast, but Transport Scotland have stated that they need this strip of land to be kept for accessing utilities and for parking should major works be required. John O’Brien has offered to draft a letter prior to the next meeting. Thanks were expressed to John.
Brief discussion followed about the planning process for the expansion of Coast and why the parking situation was not addressed by RC at that point. Villagers had contacted the planning department but were refused appropriate responses.
Attempts to purchase land adjacent to Coast Restaurant for parking:
Following information that Mr McCallum (neighbour to the Coast Restaurant) would be willing to sell this land. Unfortunately, Mr Cawley (Coast owner) has not been able to ascertain a price for the land yet which makes it difficult to start any real negotiation. Cllr James MacLaren will pursue this.
Clyde Coastal Path developments. Feedback from latest meeting:
No update, Jacqueline will email after the October holidays to set up a meeting of this group.
Status of power connection to LBC electrical supply for MUGA:
The floodlights are now working and the first electricity bill has been paid. Unfortunately, the switch on event had to be postponed due to a weather warning that evening.
Again thanks were given to the groups involved in getting the lights on – this included the Langbank Swingpark Regeneration Group, Ian McDougall, Langbank Bowling Club and the Community Council.
Padlock on Travellers gate now purchased and replaced:
Same code has been used for the new padlock.
Any update to Mary Park Road path and embankment?
No update this month re path works.
Residents of Main Road received a letter to say that there would be some noise due to rail works and it is hoped that this might be to resolve the embankment issue.
Grassy areas to rear of the Langbank School maintained?
Feedback from Cllr Colin McCulloch to say that RC representatives were meeting with Head Teacher for site visit and area and he has been advised that grass has now been cut to the hedteacher’s satisfaction.
Noted that the park/playing field had been cut today.
On-going use of village Community Centre:
Village Hall/Community Centre is up and operating again.
Question asked about return of “soup and sandwich” – unfortunately issues with environmental health are causing a problem with this. All agreed that this would be of great benefit to the village and previously had been very popular.
RC have launched their Winter Connections Fund which could help with costs.
Hall committee would welcome ideas of new users of the hall.
Potentially opening it up during the day for villagers to congregate, especially during this time when villagers may be concerned about heating their home. A number of suggestions were given.
Last year’s Village Hall Committee AGM was on 8th November. This year’s date has yet to be confirmed. Once confirmed we would encourage villagers to go along and provide their support as this is one of our few remaining village assets.
Flooding/drain clearing on Station Road:
Cllr McCulloch has been informed that all drains on Middlepenny road will be cleared.
This led to discussion around blocked drains around the village. On Main Road there is an issue with a fat dam/fatberg between Coast and Silverwells. Drains on Seath/Douglas and Station Road have been checked as part of this.
Noted that leaves on Station Road were actually being collected today rather than simply swept into a pile beside the drain and left to be washed back in again with the next downpour.
Data Protection:
The annual payment of the £40 Data Protection Fee has been paid to the Data Information Commissioner’s Office.
Update of conversion of Church building to community hub:
The future of Langbank Church had been shared with villagers in the last Langbank Matters newsletter. Since then the Langbank and Bishopton Kirk Session have been informed by the Clyde Presbytery that their guardianship of the church will come to an end in the near future. There will be a Presbytery meeting on the 22nd November and the Kirk Session are currently exploring all options to keep the church open. If the church can remain open planning permission will have to be applied for once again as this fell short last time due to covid.
Question asked as to how the community can assist at this time. LCC would be willing to send a letter of support. The church is a valued asset to the village and would be a great loss to not only the congregation but to all villagers. The community were fully on board and excited by the potential additional benefits the conversion would have brought.
All options given to the church members are unpalatable and cause significant distress.
Discussion followed about plans that had been put in place and the benefits this would have brought to Langbank Community. The closure of the church would be hugely detrimental to the village.
Letter to be written to Rev Fiona Smith, Principal Clarke to General Assembly, 121 George Street providing support to the church.
Cllr J MacLaren’s monthly input and updates:
Roads
New Signage on OGR: - New signage has now been installed including horse & rider signs. New street name plates are now in place at Netherton Road. The white lines are now overdue and I am chasing this.
Damage to A8 Roundabout: - I am chasing up these repairs.
Replacement Fence, Main Road: - Amey’s Routine Asset team have been asked to consider the renewal of the full length of boundary fence adjacent to Main Street in a future programme of work.
Abandoned Signage: - I have requested that the diversion and road works signage be removed from Station Rd. As some of the signage refers to the resurfacing, the loose chippings must be given time to “run in”, the road works signage will remain for a little longer. Any BT signage should be removed.
Station Road: - the road was fully swept on both sides on 22 September to remove all leaf fall and detritus as per my previous request. I have again requested that Station Rd be swept and debris from the gullies removed. It is disappointing that I only found out about flooding on the Facebook page. It would be good to receive emails with photos and times from residents. I know residents will be fed up contacting the council and councillors over many years but I feel they need to be more proactive and badger the Roads department, as I do, to get this flooding problem sorted.
Speeding drivers, A8: - Transport Scotland undertakes a review of collisions on the trunk road network to identify cluster sites, or routes with recorded collisions that may be worthwhile for furtherinvestigation. This screening process for 2022 has recently been completed and disappointingly Langbank Roundabout has not been identified as a priority site for further investigation. Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the location as part of the Annual Road Safety Review process.
Water on Middlepenny Rd: - Scottish Water have confirmed a burst pipe exists at the bottom of Middlepenny Road. Hopefully this has been fixed now.
Hatton Brae: - I requested the bollards at the layby on Hatton Brae to try to reduce the litter problem there. There is a carpark on the other side of the roundabout. The Council is not prepared to cut back any vegetation beyond the fence.
Active Schools
Volunteers are wanted by OneRen. They are looking for you to join their team! OneRen provide extra-curricular activities for children at breakfast, lunch, after school clubs, community sessions, school sport competitions and holiday camps. Their aim is to get our communities more active, more often.
Renfrewshire’s Community Sport Hub (CSH) membership is available to sport clubs, physical activity groups and non-sporting organisations who wish to contribute towards making sport ‘a way of life’ in Renfrewshire. Funding for groups is available. More info at - https://www.oneren.org/sport/active-schools/get-involved/
Station Rd Park
Paths: - Following my request, StreetScene have cut back the upper path edges last week. Network Rail have also cut back the vegetation along the path next to the railway.
Footbridge: - Renfrewshire Council did previously assist with a repair to the handrail of the footbridge; however, it is not the Council’s responsibility to carry out any maintenance or repair works to this footbridge and have declined to carry out further repairs.
Frustration expressed at RC not being prepared to fix the bridge as it would lead to the two halves of the village becoming more cut off. In addition to this the land boundary is in the middle of the burn so arguable some part of the bridge is on RC owned land. Therefore what are our options. Pursue RC or apply for grants.
Walking Football
This is organised by ROAR and takes place on Fridays from 11.00 at the Anchor Grounds, Blackhall St, Paisley. Email Gillian@roarforlife.org for more details.
Aircraft Flight Path
There is a consultation ongoing at https://airspacechange.caa.co.uk/PublicProposalArea?pID=175
It is a proposal to change low level routings to and from Glasgow airport. This may result in more air traffic over north west Renfrewshire with more noise and pollution over the area which may affect property values.
Bishopton Cemetery
Council will consider collecting grass cuttings in cemeteries in future. Council do not re-turf a grave after the ground settles but top dresses and re-seed the ground.
Street Lighting
The lamppost R1 on Marypark Road is now working.
Any other Business
THe chairman wrote to Anne McNaughton of RC to ask when the RC Forum meetings would return.
Anne McNaught will raise a small working group to ascertain the purpose of this group and how it should be managed going forwards.
Meeting closed.
The chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.48pm. A reminder was given that the next meeting will be the AGM.