LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING AGENDA
WEDNESDAY 7h SEPTEMBER 2022
7.30pm in the Langbank Community Centre,Middlepenny Road, Langbank
Present: Neil Barrington (chair), Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), Caroline Bryce, Carly Deheer, James Hunter andJulie Gilmour.
Also in attendance: Wendy McNeill, Lesley Fairlie, Cllr Fiona Airlie Nicolson and Cllr Colin McCulloch
Apologies: Gloria Dunn (treasurer), Cllr James MacLaren, John O’Brien, Maggie Hancock and Helen Tamburrini
Welcome:
The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, our first since June. There is no meeting in July and the August meeting was cancelled due to issues with village hall. Due to the length of time between meetings this meeting was brought forward a week.
Police Report:
No police report had been received prior to meeting.
Noted that there was an accident on the A8 between Finlaystone entrance and Parklea roundabout a couple of weeks ago and resulting traffic was re-routed through the village. There was some inconsistency as to who was allowed into the village and who wasn’t. There also appeared to be some confusion caused as Station Road was also closed at this point, however traffic was still being diverted up Station Road rather than along Houston Road. Initially police were diverting traffic up Middlepenny Road, until a resident advised that this was a dead end.
This is likely due to fact that those police officers dealing with incident were not local and therefore have no understanding of roads infrastructure within village.
Minutes of previous meeting:
Proposed by James Hunter and seconded by Julie Gilmour.
Village website and Facebook update:
Meeting minutes have been put on website.
Group rules to be reposted onto village Facebook page.
Transport Scotland (TS) update to repairs for Main Road fence and A8 roundabout:
John O’Brien attended meeting with TS, who said that they would repair the roundabout and the fence, but to date no repair has been carried out. The chairman has contacted Neil Lang (TS Area Manager and he was able to say that this has now been passed to Amey for actioning.
Confirmation that roundabout and damaged fence will be repaired, but ideally we would like whole of the fence repaired and not only broken section.
Mr Alan Cawley of the Coast Restaurant, has offered to fix damaged section of fence if TS do not.
Attempts to purchase land adjacent to Coast Restaurant for parking:
See Cllr MacLaren’s report re landowner selling land to east of Coast car park.
The chairman has written to Mr Alan Cawley to find out if he will pursue this option.
It was noted that parking was getting worse at weekends.Question was asked about double yellow lines being placed on Main Road – this option has been explored previously and hasn’t been totally discounted.
This led to brief discussion of cones at MUGA and it is disappointing that people are now simply moving these and parking regardless. This does pose a risk to safety of children attending Street Stuff.
Clyde Coastal Path developments. Feedback from latest meeting:
Had noted expression of interest to Sustrans Places for Everyone Funding in August but insufficient time to have application completed, therefore will try when applications open for 2023 in November.
Status of power connection to LBC electrical supply for MUGA:
It has been a long journey, but the floodlights are now connected, so thanks to all groups involved.
Still money available to apply for in Village Investment Fund and we just need to work out what else is still needed and how much this will cost.
Cost of running lights will be carefully monitored and reviewed as necessary.
There will be a fundraiser on September 30th to help cover ongoing costs.
Due to several concerns around emails being sent it was agreed that going forwards any ongoing issues between different user groups should be raised at, and discussed at LCC meetings, rather than by email.
Repair to Playing Field notice board:
No progress to report.
Noted that since Network Rail were in doing works the padlock has not been replaced. The chairman committed to buying another one and fitting it.
Discussion around state of park – it wasn’t cut during the summer, meaning that during the school holidays children weren’t able to use this area as it is designed to be used, however the overgrown area at the east side of the park has now been cleared.
There is another issue at the Langbank primary school, as not all grassy areas are being cut and cleared. As a result the children cannot use rear of school where there fairy garden and storyteller chair used. A lot of money has been spent on this area and now due to lack of maintenance it cannot be used. Both attending councillors took note of these situations.
Any update to Mary Park Road path:
Julie Gilmour will forward new “Paths for All” grant opportunity to Maggie Hancock. This grant could also be considered for the path through the playing fields which hasn’t been maintained by Renfrewshire Council and is now becoming narrow and overgrown.
Julie Arbon has now moved from Langbank and therefore can no longer serve as a CC member. Thanks were extended to Julie for all her efforts in helping with this project and for her litter picking efforts around the village, she will be missed in the village and at our meetings.
Community Speedwatch Initiative… any update?
No update to report, still awaiting communication from Bishopton CC.
Speeding on Main Road and other areas of the village remainsa huge issue.
It was noted that about 20 years ago the police carried out a campaign in village to stop speeding drivers - most were villagers themselves. It was noted that 20 years on, although van drivers and visitors are still an issue, much of the current speeding is also perpetrated by locals.
The chairman to log this issue with police.
Speeding is a common issue throughout the ward and is probably reflective of the resourcing issues within Transport Policing.
RC Street Stuff sessions at Langbank Muga:
These sessions continue to be well supported and hoped that our new floodlights will ensure these can continue throughout the winter.
Tree planting within the village:
No further update therefore can be removed from agenda.
On-going use of village Community Centre:
The village hall is open again following a very difficult period during which hall had to close. This was due to Renfrewshire Council not completing the 5 yearly electrical inspection on time, which was required for the hall committee obtaining the necessary public liability insurance. This inspection has now been completed and necessary certificate obtained.
Hall remains a very valuable and unique asset to the villageand it is hoped it will continue to be well used.
Cllr J MacLaren’s monthly input and updates:
Roads
Parking at Coast: - The land owner next to the car park is willing to sell to the restaurant to enable them to extend their car park.
Resurfacing: - OGR carriageway has now been resurfaced and I have requested new lining.
New Signage on OGR: - New signage should be getting installed in 2 to 3 weeks’ time.
Damage to A8 Roundabout: - I have been chasing up these repairs.
Embankment Subsidence at Marypark Rd
A joint site visit is due to take place on 9 September, organised by Network Rail structures team. This will involve NR staff across different teams with a range of expertise.
Update of conversion of Church building to community hub.
Information was provided to the village through the “By TheWay” newsletter which was distributed this week.
In summary the restructuring of the Church of Scotland will have an impact on Langbank Church but as yet no details are known. Someone from church should be invited to the October meeting to allow the CC to see how we can provide support.
Any other Business?
Impact of closure of Station Road:
It was evident from the recent road closure of Station Road that RC were unaware of the impact of such a closure on the village. The proposed closure was extended by almost two weeks with no urgency being given to its re-opening despite bin collections being impacted and villagers being unable to received delivery of goods. When the upper section of Station Road is closed no high large vehicles can gain access to homes on the east side of the village due to the height restrictions on the bridge at the bottom of Station Road. Despite a number of residents contacting RC no urgency seemed to be given to the re-opening of this road. It was noted that a fire engines can get in under bridge.
Flooding:
Once again there have been several incidents of flooding at the bottom of Station Road, despite reassurances being previously given that this would be a priority for RC. On each occasion the clearance was actioned by a villager who went out and cleared surface blockage of the drain. Most of the drains around the village are once again silted and blocked and this will only get worse when leaves start to fall.
Silted toby drains:
In a recent incident a villager was unable to get access to their toby valve out in the street due to silting and debris. Other residents have also noted similar issues with silting. Jacqueline to contact Scottish Water to ask if they are able tocheck all in Langbank.
Village defib was accessed, no outcome is known, however it would have been useful to know that the procedure of getting the code worked as expected.
Need to check whether defibs are still both listed in Advertizer.
Next meeting will return to usual time – second Wednesday of the month, 12th October.
Meeting closed.