LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2021
7.30pm by the ZOOM medium
In Attendance: Gloria Dunn (GD) – treasurer, Cllr James Maclaren (JM), John O’Brien (JO), Carly Deheer (CD), Neil Barrington (NB) – chair, Maggie Hancock (MH), James Hunter (JH), Julie Gilmour (JG), Julie Arbon (JA), Caroline Bryce (CB), Jacqueline Doherty (JD) – secretary.
Apologies: Mercedes Harms and Giselle McGill.
Also in attendance: George MacMillan
Police Report:
No report available.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes:
Proposed by Carly Deheer and seconded by Gloria Dunn.
Membership of the Community Council: it was noted that Giselle McGill had intimated to the Langbank Community Council (LCC) that she could no longer participate as a member for personal reasons, and therefore had to offer her resignation. We thank her for her valuable contributions in the past.
Village website update:
All previous minutes have been uploaded and Carly Deheer will look at creating an “Accessibility Statement” as per the Renfrewshire Council (RC) request for all CC websites.
Accident activity at A8 Roundabout:
There was a recent accident involving a tractor and 2 other vehicles between roundabout and West Ferry on eastbound carriageway, but no specific information available.
James Hunter has noted an increase in traffic speeding and racing along the A8 over the last year. Others also noted this and all agreed that this was particularly hazardous for those exiting the village from the slip road at the west side onto the A8.
Attempts to purchase land opposite Coast Restaurant for parking:
The chair has been in contact with Joe Lynch and Frank Hughes from RC in order to ascertain ownership and he was advised to check the Register of Sasines, however he was able to check an email from Sharon Marklow (RC) 9 months ago which stated that this land was owned by the Scottish Ministers. It appears that they have custodianship due to the Compulsory Purchase Order during the building of the A8 dual carriageway. Frank Hughes confirmed that RC has no interest registered against this strip of land. The chair has contacted Customer Enquiry Unit (CEU) in St Andrews House, Edinburgh, but awaits a response. He has also attempted to contact the owners of Coast Restaurant, but has found this difficult during their current shut down.
A suggestion was made that perhaps Coast may purchase land adjacent to existing car park owned by Mr McCallum.
It was agreed by all present to do search of Register of Sasines, which will cost the LCC approximately £30. The Land Reform Act Scotland does have details as to how you can acquire land from Scottish Ministers, but you need to have completed this search first.
Village Defibrillator implementation status:
Still awaiting confirmation from Scotrail as to exact location of second defibrillator, but this is likely to be on platform 1. At previous CC meetings it was agreed that platform 2 would be the best location as this side of the station is more accessible to the vast majority of those served by the second defibrillator. Caroline Bryce to ask Scotrail to explain why platform 2 cannot be used and request that they consider siting it there.
Supply of green bin bags and pick-up sticks for villagers:
A supply of litter pickers and waste bags was requested for use by villagers. Unfortunately RC cannot supply to a group due to the Covid19 restrictions, but are happy to deliver to individuals who request these from RC. A safety leaflet will also be issued to individuals. This is part of the “Team Up to Green Up” campaign which is a great initiative encouraging people to help keep their communities tidy – they do have a Facebook profile. Jacqueline Doherty to put a Facebook post together to intimate this.
There have been several posts of late re increase in dog fouling in village. A post containing the number of the dog wardens has been placed there and in addition agreed that perhaps some additional signage required. One particular area of concern was on the “right of way” accessed from Middlepenny Road.
Status on Langbank Tennis Court Improvements:
Still awaiting one final quote before decision on supplier is made. Julie Gilmour has heard back from RC to say that they have earmarked approximately £80,000 in grants for this project with application required by March. As this land is not owned by RC, then any project will be liable for the 20% VAT.
Initially looking at new fencing, appropriate multi-purpose surface (the recent village survey questionnaire highlighted tennis, basketball and football as most popular), and the preparation of surface for hut/container and cabling in place for floodlights.
Currently exploring Land Reform Act re land ownership as this safeguard site as this will open up external grants.
Water leak outside Coast restaurant:
Chair noticed what appeared to be a mains a leak at the car park entrance of the Coast Restaurant which he has reported to Scottish Water. The leak has now disappeared, however this may be due to fact the mains water supply to the restaurant has been shut off as Coast is currently closed. Continue to observe site.
George MacMillan’s Care Home:
George MacMillan had a proposal that the community could build a care home within the village, for those who wish to continue living in Langbank. He proposed the land in Station Road playing fields running parallel to the railway line. This home would require vehicular access and would have parking underneath the building. It was noted that this land is under governance of “Fields and Green Spaces” to safeguard this area from development and it is a space well used by villagers for recreational purposes – there being no other.
Discussion followed around possible sites and access issues and whereby everyone present agreed that a care home would be a nice thing for the village, however there were a number of issues, and a suitable site would need to be found – land at west of village, strip of land between A8 and Main Road or at Gleddoch were all mentioned - with none being identified as ideal. There would also be issues with the idea of a care home being exclusively for use of villagers as this could be seen as discrimination.
Local Partnership Meeting:
Held on 28th January 2021 with the chair and Jacqueline Doherty in attendance. At this meeting approval was given to those groups who had been allocated grant funding last year to be able to carry this forward if their project had been delayed by the current pandemic.
RC will provide information to groups on how feedback should be provided and ensure they are accountable for spend. This audit has not been completed in the past and therefore will be a welcome addition.
Annabelle Walker gave a presentation on the impact of the current pandemic on the various Local Partnership areas in Renfrewshire. Once this presentation is received it will be shared with LCC.
Jacqueline Doherty asked why the bus for Langbank Primary school was still running despite no children using the bus. A follow up concluded that RC were aware of this and the bus has now been suspended and will resume when required.
Footpath to Marypark:
Maggie Hancock met with Billy Jones (RC) on site to discuss issue. A location was identified where an old drainage pipe could be reinstated to try to reducing flooding on path. Maggie then spoke to landowners, who are supportive of improvements, but understandably concerned about water being diverted through their gardens. Julie Gilmour to forward grant link for possible future funding. Process ongoing.
AOB:
Villagers residing on Middlepenny Road overlooking Main Road have noted an increase in noise from the A8 dual carriageway. Request has been made that perhaps a quieter road surface could be used, however this is the responsibility of AMEY and not RC. Information to be forwarded to Cllr James MacLaren who will explore.
As the current zoom meetings have been working well it was agreed that these should be opened up to the wider community. Anyone wishing to join the meeting should email info@langbank-community.com for joining information.
Report from Cllr James MacLaren
Roads Resurfacing
It is time to consider the list of roads and pavements needing resurfaced. Old Greenock Road by Gleddoch will be on my list.
Missed Bin Collections
Due to the bad weather I am expecting that some bins will be missed due to different crews on board. I hope I am wrong, but happy to hear from anyone who has had a missed collection.
Houston Rd flooded footpath
Our engineer is chasing Scottish Water to fix this.
Marypark Rd ROW Footpath
A meeting took place after our last CC meeting and in principal, the water problem looks as if it can be fairly easily sorted.
Station Rd Park
Eroded Footpath - I am chasing a report on this.
Footpath Light: - I understand that the footpath light between the bridge and the steps are now lit.
Team Up To Clean Up
There are quite a number of people collecting rubbish using the council green bags and litter pickers. I have been impressed with the Facebook group which the council monitors and the collected rubbish is quickly removed. I recently collected 5 bags of rubbish at Westferry and will return there when the snow melts. By posting a picture of what you have collected, I think this encourages others to get out there also.
Covid Vaccinations
Generally going well but within an age range it appears that younger people are getting the vaccine first. The difference can be as much as 4 weeks.
Recycling Centre Temporary Closure
The Recycling Centres will be closed for a period for an upgrade. The centre at Erskine will be closed on 1st – 3rd and 8th – 10thMarch. The other centres will be open at these times.
Council Survey
Council have been awarded match funding from Sustrans’ Paths for All Fund, for a ‘Smarter Choices, Smarter Places’ project which will investigate the potential for using a smartphone app provided by the organisation BetterPoints Ltd. This Renfrewshire app, still in the making, will reward you for walking or cycling rather than driving. More details on my Facebook page. If you would like to complete the survey, it is at:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx...
The survey will close on Friday 26 February 2021.
It was noted that RC council had been approached last year re improving cycle paths and footpaths exiting Langbank to make it safer – barriers on A8 and widened pavement towards Bishopton for use of both cyclists and pedestrians. RC stated that this would not be viable as these weren’t major routeways/insufficient numbers of pedestrians/cyclists using these. It could therefore be perceived that as RC aren’t willing to invest in the infrastructure to make it safe for pedestrians and cyclists leaving the village then the villagers would be discriminated against re this initiative. JM will follow this up.
Community Empowerment Act
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (Part 5) seeks to encourage Community groups to take control of publicly owned assets by lease or ownership, where the Community group are a community controlled body, and propose to utilise the asset for the wider benefit of the community. I think there is reason to believe that this Act could help the cc both for the land opposite Coast and the Tennis Club.
Langbank School Bus
At the recent Local Partnership meeting a question was asked why the school bus in Langbank was still running even though there were no pupils on the bus. Children’s Services and SPT were already aware of the lack of use of the Langbank school bus and a decision has been taken to temporarily suspend the operation of the bus from Monday 1 February 2021.
Feedback from Meeting 10/2/21
A8 Road Noise: - I will write to Amey about excessive road noise from the A8 traffic and ask for a quieter road surface.
A8 Traffic Barrier: - I will write to Amey and council requesting a barrier and a wider cycle track/footpath from Langbank to Westferry