LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY 11th AUGUST 2021 7.30pm by the ZOOM medium Present: Neil Barrington (NB)- Chair, Carly Deheer (CD), Caroline Bryce (CB), Cllr James MacLaren (JM), Gloria Dunn (GD) - Treasurer, Maggie Hancock (MH), Julie Arbon (JA), Julie Gilmour (JG) and Jacqueline Doherty (JD) - Secretary, Apologies: James Hunter, John O’Brien and Mercedes Harms. Other Attendees: Ian Millar, Susan Barrett and Hugh Harkins.
Start and welcome: The chairman welcomed everyone and started meeting at 7.35pm. Mercedes Harms has indicated that her work situation means that she will be moving in near future and therefore will have to resign from the LCC. The LCC thanked her for her contribution to the Community Council and wished her well. Police Report: Unfortunately, NB has not received a police report for some time and he has asked for an explanation for this from Police Scotland.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes: Proposed Carly Deheer and seconded Gloria Dunn.
Accident activity at A8 Roundabout: No accidents to report, although traffic is now heavier again as things get back to normal. Parking congestion outside Coast Restaurant: A face to face meeting with Alan Cawley (Coast Owner) and NB was due on 18th Aug 2021. cancelled by Alan Cawley, following comments that his group received on Facebook from an unknown person, ‘Langbank Parking’. Mr Cawley feels that he has put a lot of money into this facility and therefore believes he has made improvements for the village. There was a short discussion where it was acknowledged that The Cawley group had indeed spent time and money on the venue which some villagers do like, however it must be noted that a few villagers felt that this new facility is not welcoming for villagers. Despite these views the LCC have tried their best to work with Mr Cawley in resolving the parking issues, which can cause a huge concern for villagers due to ensuing congestion on Main Road at peak customer usage periods, which then compromises road safety. The Langbank Community Facebook page had previously declined the request of ‘Langbank Parking’ permission to join the group, as it didn’t comply with rules of the group. It was thought to be disappointing that Alan Cawley is now refusing to meet with the chairman until such times as the LCC identify this person and hold them to account. This is not the responsibility of the LCC, who are therefore disappointed with the situation as they have tried very hard to work together with all parties concerned. It was not the LCC who allowed this person’s point of view to be published and shared and indeed they stopped this from happening in their own page. The chairman will attempt to arrange a further meeting with Alan Cawley, however the LCC may need to This has now been pursue a different avenue to resolve the parking issue. (note: since this LCC meeting another meeting has been arranged between Alan Cawley and the chairman.) Cllr James MacLaren had followed up questions regarding RC – see his report for more details.
Village Defibrillator: Permission has now been given for the second defibrillator to be sited at the Doctor’s Surgery, which was the preferred option and Caroline Bryce will now purchase the second unit. She will also inform the Gryffe Advertizer and ask for the sites of the Langbank defibrillators to be listed in their next edition.
Mary Park Rd path update: £1600 in grants has been received for further wooden walkways to cross over the wettest parts of the path. The work on this will begin in the autumn, but works to deal with Japanese Knotweed in this area need to be completed before this begins. Ian Millar raised the issue of lack of consultation with Marypark residents and that some residents have an issue with the right of way, this includes users of the path going into gardens and not picking up after their dogs or playing with their dogs along this path and moving off path into gardens. (it was noted that the path limitations were in some areas ill-defined) Residents have challenged irresponsible dog owners and LCC agreed to put the same signs up on the path as have been placed in the village. Way markers could also be placed along the path which would clearly mark the path and hopefully keep users out of gardens. It was agreed that moving forwards - all parties will meet to discuss next steps. Issues about the state of Mary Park Road and fencing bordering the railway were raised, and this will be taken forward to the local councillors by the Mary Park residents..
Status on MUGA development: Hard core has now been placed and awaiting tarmac surface. Steel fencing will hopefully arrive next week. Old tennis hut has been removed and is in process of adding a new base for any future hut. A service pipe located at the east side of MUGA site has meant that it has been shortened by 1.5m. The Post Box was knocked down during construction, but has now been reinstated. Shrubs between the court and Main Road should be removed from the front of MUGA to enhance safety of users – no objections were received, and all at the meeting were in agreement. Existing security fencing in front of MUGA was placed by the Bowling Club a number of years ago. This will no longer act as a security fence as a gate must always remain open. The old fence is rusty and looks temporary and unsightly, so it was agreed that this is now surplus to requirement and will not enhance the new MUGA. Agreement that two fences are not required. Julie Gilmour to inform bowlers to engage in discussion. Bowlers have invited 6 CC members to a friendly game of bowling in September – LCC happy to get a team together.
Clyde Coastal Path: Future discussions on the concept of a pedestrian/cycle bridge across the A8 had been held. Next explorative steps – meeting with all interested parties to discuss the purpose of the group and how to proceed. Arrange further meetings to include politicians/councillors and Sustrans.
Goal posts for station Rd Playing field : The order for goal posts and their subsequent installation was placed with “Allsports”, which is one of the approved RC suppliers. The goals were delivered later than hoped, due to material shortages. Now awaiting the date for building – Jacqueline Doherty chased this up at the beginning of the week and awaiting a response. Total cost to LCC is £2000.
Local Partnership Meeting – Allocation of funds to Langbank Groups : The necessary forms have been completed and returned for grants re MUGA and Marypark path. Funds for MUGA have been received. Cllr MacLaren’s monthly input: Outdoor Access & Play Area Improvements: Despite council announcing that over the next two years they will invest £1,250,000 on enhancing and improving play areas across Renfrewshire, council plans to remove the existing play equipment from the Station Road park. I am arranging a site visit to discuss this.
Refuse Collection: Marypark Road continues to have missed collections. The latest was put down to a parked van restricting access. Roads:
West Ferry Car Park: - I have requested that this be tarmacked and lined.
Flooding on Footpath cycle path along A8: - Our contractor was on site to excavate at the point of the rising water. They discovered an uncharted buried chamber and pipework taking surface water from uphill. The chamber had partially collapsed and the pipework was full of silt. R. Council has cleaned it out and traced the outfall through an adjacent manhole and pipework that runs under the A8. Unfortunately, the pipework under the A8, which is a Trunk Road asset, is also blocked. The information has been passed to Amey, who maintain the Trunk Road network, and requested that they carry out the necessary cleaning/repair work to return the pipework to working order. Houston Road proposed pavement: - the owner of the first house under the bridge, “Inglewood”, has made a planning application to extend his property and build a boundary wall/ fence to enclose his garden. Through the planning process the wall has been set back and when finished the builder is to leave it with at least 2m wide flat verge along the roadside. Once the wider flat verge is made available, the intention is that the council will formalise a tarmac path to at least “The Chimes” and in time hopefully it can be extended further up the hill.
Coast Restaurant: At the time the planning application for the extension was decided, both “Transport Scotland” and “Renfrewshire Council Roads” were consulted and both offered no objections to the application. Roads would like to see the parking formalised into bays (individual bays or a continuous length), much like the rest of Main Road, and avoid the need for yellow lines, whose enforcement in this location would be problematic . Flooding, Silverwells, Main Road: The finding from the site survey of the existing surface water sewer system has not been as expected or hoped and unfortunately has necessitated the need for a reappraisal of solution options. Further solution development work is to be undertaken, and work has commenced on this. Unfortunately, it is anticipated that this will take a number of months to complete as this has now emerged as a more complicated and challenging issue, one which will require a more technical team and extensive input to progress.
Council’s Recycling Programme: Council would be happy to provide an online webinar showing the current path of our recycling. If anyone would be interested in learning more about the recycling of waste in Renfrewshire then please let me know and we can then sort out a date for this.
Station Road Park Footpath: Following a site visit re the eroding footpath I have been informed that the footpath is part of an area disposed to Langvale Limited. It is now the combined responsibility of the estate residents in Dennistoun Road. The cost of work to make good the path would have to be paid by the residents. In the meantime the footway inspectors will monitor its condition. LCC may need to make a decision on how best to approach this if the situation worsens.
Feedback from Meeting: Outdoor Access & Play Area Improvements : - The LCC chairman will also attend this site meeting if possible. Coast Restaurant: - I will ask Roads for an update on the parking now that the LCC chairman has given input. Lamppost Repair: - The lamppost outside Craigian West on Marypark Road is requiring repair. It is currently taped up. Council knows about it but this needs to be chased up, which I will do.
Road Sweeping: - The Main Road does not appear to have been swept since the winter. I will chase this up but the dirt at the side of the roads is a blight across Renfrewshire. AOB: Hill at Marypark Road - email received by Ian Millar this evening to say that landowner has entered into dialogue with residents from Marypark - re this hill and poor state of roadway. It is hoped this will lead to a positive outcome as service vehicles currently find this difficult to navigate. The street light at the end of Right of Way at Marypark is currently out of order and has been for a significant period of time. This has been raised by residents and RC hasn’t taken action to rectify. This has currently been taped up, although cover has not been replaced and therefore remains a significant hazard. Cllr MacLaren to follow this up.
The chairman announced the death of Monique Currie, who had lived in the village for many years and had previously attended many LCC meetings.
As of next week the Village Hall can open to regular users. The only difficulty is that users need to be spaced out, which causes some complications with previous back to back lets, but it is being managed and is positive progress.
Main Road has never been swept and as a result grit placed there last year is still there.
Meeting Closed The chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed meeting at 9.00pm.