LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCILMEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2019
7.30pm in the Langbank Church Hall, Main Road
Present: Neil Barrington (chairperson), Julie Arbon, Maggie Hancock, Caroline Bryce, Giselle McGill, Janice
Buchanan, Mercedes Harmes, Gloria Dunn, Tom Adair, John O’Brien, Carly Deheer, Nick Sharpe, Jacqueline
Doherty (secretary), Julie Gilmour and Cllr James MacLaren.
Apologies: James Hunter and Cllr Natalie Don
Start and welcome
Neil thanked everyone for their attendance and opened the meeting at 7.30pm.
Police Report by Fraser Williams
5 recorded crimes. 3 of which have been detected, all relating to incidents pertaining to one property on
Main Road. 1 domestic incident within Gleddoch House and one police assault which happened within a
police car in transit to Greenock – only reported as the police car was passing through village when incident
happened.
Question asked about abandoned vehicles and the procedures followed. If reported the police will attempt
to find registered keeper and alert them. Abandoned vehicles are the responsibility of the council to issue
an abandonment notice and then they should uplift if the vehicle has not been removed.
22nd October a villager reported another abandoned vehicle – this is the 6th they have noted in a period of
several months. Villagers should continue to report and log these, the more details the police have the
better, i.e. times as well as locations.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes
Janice noted an error in the "Resurfacing - Seath Avenue" section. It was Keily Bros that she contacted with
a list of questions, not RC.
Proposed Janice Buchanan, seconded Maggie Hancock.
Number of Smartwater Kits left
10 kits remaining.
Village website update.
Carly is keeping this updated with minutes of meetings and village events.
Accident activity at A8 Roundabout
No accident activity noted but noted that some bricks around roundabout have been dislodged – this
potentially caused by large lorry which was observed to have some difficulty navigating the roundabout.
Responses from the Langbank Survey.
85 digital and almost 90 paper copies returned with few more responses expected. Carly and Julie are in
the process of inputting data from paper copies and once this is complete, we should have some
information for December’s meeting.
Village Defibrillator.
Good response so far with several villagers already defib trained. The first village training session will be
Tuesday 19th 10am-12pm. The approximate cost will be £2300. 25% funding is available from Heart Start.
Maintenance costs involved are a new battery every 5 years and annual charge of £15.
A suitable location would need to be considered, the most likely would be the Village Hall, the church or
railings outside tennis court. The funding would need to be accessed by a group with charitable status
which would allow the Village hall, Church or Langbank Swingpark Regeneration to apply. Following
discussion, it was agreed best place would be on railing outside tennis courts.
Data Protection Annual Payment.
The cost of £40 has been paid. Seems like a considerable cost for an organisation which does not hold
much personal information, however every community council must pay this.
Langbank Village School Canopy
Head teacher reports back from RC and in it they state;
The structure is fully certified by an external certifier. Technical drawings were submitted to Building
Standards and have a stamp of approval. Property Services applied for “Building Standards Completion”
certificate when the job was completed and are waiting for this to be returned by Building Services. They
will let us know when the certificate has been received. Property Services stated that they don’t have any
concerns as the structure was built exactly as designed.
Must be noted that RC still have not answered the direct question which was, Would the structure be
weight bearing should someone climb on the roof? This question needs to be answered as well as the
name of the person responsible should any such unfortunate accident occur. It could be concluded that as
RC appear happy with the structure then RC must be satisfied that there is no risk to anyone, therefore
should there ever be such an accident then surely RC must take full responsibility. Jacqueline to respond.
Status on Langbank Tennis Court
Julie has been in contact with complaints department at Business Stream. Following some discussion there
has been agreement that court papers would be withdrawn, some charges have also been dropped.
Business Stream agreed that the only way forward is to meet with Scottish Water, although so far, they
have been unable to set up such a meeting. Until this happens no progress can be made. In the meantime,
it is important that grants to improve the area continue to be sought.
Repair of Seath Avenue and other roads.
Following the recent resurfacing the drains have now been dug out and reinstated and excess stones swept
away. This was following Janice contacting Keily Brothers, who were the contractor responsible for the
repair.
Primary School recycling implementation
No proper implementation yet. The school does have recycle bins, but they do not appear to be getting
used properly. It may be that the bins aren’t being uplifted or that the school are unsure about the correct
collection days. There was a discussion around ways of reducing the waste in school rather than emphasis
on recycling. RC have spoken to school and offered help, but Head Teacher informed them that they had
the necessary bins etc for recycling. At a Langbank Parent Partnership meeting the head teacher asked for a
parent to assist with recycling and Jacqueline volunteered to help, but unfortunately nothing has been
moved forward since then.
Brown Bin waste
Question was asked as to where this rubbish went and whether it ended up in landfill. James was able to
inform group that it was turned into compost. There was then a brief discussion around whether this
compost was available to collect as they do in Inverclyde, but it would appear this is not the case. It is
unclear where this compost goes.
Village Christmas Tree – switch on date.
Sunday 24th November. The church will be open from 6pm with the sing-along at 6.10 – 6.40pm. Time to
purchase hot chocolate/mulled wine/mince pies before tree lights switched on at 7pm. All proceeds will go
to the Glasgow City Mission. Villagers can also choose to bring a donation for the food bank.
Village Tree Festival
December 7th and 8th December. All village groups are being asked to participate by decorating a 3ft tree in
the style of a Christmas song/carol. To be set up in church on evening of 6th. Giselle agreed to take the lead
on this and will be helped by other members of the CC.
Grange Cottage flooding /sewerage concern
Resident contacted CC to highlight the blocked gullies along Old Greenock Road at the top of Station Road
which is leading to an increase in flooding. In the past there has been an issue with sewage on roads
during times of flooding, this is possibly coming from the septic tanks at the side of Old Greenock Road.
These septic tanks have remained the same size for many years despite the number of houses at Gleddoch
increasing. The resident has contacted RC and SEPA but has had no satisfactory action. James MacLaren will
contact both RC and SEPA on this matter.
Fly tipping at West Ferry – RC Signage?
RC would not provide such a sign but have suggested that the Community Council may wish to pursue this,
however the RC email was not clear as to whether they would pay for this or there would be an expectation
that the CC should pay for this.
This fly tipping continues to be an issue and James MacLaren has asked for some works to be completed
which may make it more difficult for fly tippers.
The bins at West Ferry are currently over-flowing and need to be emptied.
White lines at the foot of Station Road bridge
The council will not repaint these as they believe the road is not wide enough as it is under 5.5m wide. It
was suggested that we start a petition to ask for this to be completed. The pupils getting off the Park mains
bus and walking under the bridge at Station Road are concerned about their safety as some cars do drive
around the corner and under bridge at speed and on the wrong side of the road.
It was suggested that perhaps we start a petition for double yellow lines on Main Road to help address
parking issues at Coast.
The land to the north of Coast is owned by the ‘Scottish Ministers’ but there are no named person/people
to be able to pursue in relation to the possibility of building a car park there. James MacLaren will make
enquiries into this. The CC remain bemused at the planning permission approved to Coast for the
extension without showing any commitment to providing parking for the additional cars which would
surely be generated due to the increased number of covers for the restaurant.
Church Improvements
There have been a couple of positive meetings about proposed improvements to the church building to
make it a more usable community space. The church is very keen to have the viewpoints of all members of
the community.
Update from Cllr MacLaren
iPads
I understand that there are no significant issues with the iPads in Langbank Primary School. The iPads are
used in school on a daily basis. The only issue is that the school are not able to purchase apps or set up new
iPads at this current time. This is an issue that is authority wide and is being worked on at authority level.
This will be resolved in the very near future.
Road sweeping
Council has a mechanical sweeping programme for all communities over an 8-week period. Recently, at
Station Road, Langbank, council undertook a specific visit to this key street where I had informed them of
leaves covering gullies and increasing the flood risk. They are due in Langbank between the 5-8 December
and will address all areas. Mechanical sweeping has been increased from twice per year to six times per
year and in this autumn period, council are committed to focusing on tree areas across communities. They
are aware of the issues in Langbank and if conditions warm up will schedule a night-time sweep prior to the
next visit to Langbank.
Park Mains School Litter Picking
Pupils are keen to not only litter pick but to recycle. Our Education Support Manager is meeting with the S6
Leadership team reps & a Council officer this week to take this forward & clarify the position 're costs etc.
Maintenance of Footpath at Station Rd to Dennistoun Rd
I have asked Network Rail to clear the vegetation on the footpath from Station Rd to Dennistoun Rd. This
footpath leads to and from the station.
Litter free village sign
Council would like to cover the cost of the manufacture and installation of the sign. I will ask the traffic
section to go ahead and provide a quote for the consideration of the community council. (I need to clarify
who is paying for this).
Litter A8 Hatton Brae
This area is not part of the adopted roads network and Council is liaising with the Community Payback team
to have this addressed. I have asked for the hole at the side of the road to be filled in as I see this as part of
the problem.
Resurfacing of pavement at Middlepenny Rd
In recent years, the footways at the top of Middlepenny Road (2017/18) and Middlepenny Place (2018/19)
have been resurfaced. The section between Dennistoun Road and Middlepenny Place has been highlighted
as requiring attention and I am advised that the footway is programmed to be resurfaced this financial
year. The Roads section will consider the footway between Dennistoun Road and St. Vincent for
resurfacing works in the next financial year.
Blocked gullies, Station Road
I have reported several gullies that did not get cleared out or only partially cleared. These are due to be
fully inspected.
White lining, Station Road
Council say it is not possible to mark the road centreline at this location, as advised in the traffic
regulations. On roads below 5.5 m in width, such as the bend, “drivers might expect a road marked with a
centre line to be wide enough for opposing lanes of traffic to pass. In these circumstances the centre line
should be omitted”. My suggestion is that the community council organises a petition around this.
Pothole Old Greenock Road
Regarding the potholes on Old Greenock Road in Langbank, an officer will inspect the areas highlighted and
instruct repairs to any safety defects.
Idling Vehicles
Council has just got stricter about drivers standing with their vehicles idling. A £20 fine was approved at
the recent ILE Board.
Brown bin collection
Council policy states that only 2 recycle bins of each colour can be collected per property, if you have more
than 2 bins these can be kept allowing you to store your waste however only 2 will be picked up at a time.
Only one grey bin is permitted.
Clothing for the Homeless
Several residents at The Haven Kilmacolm have formed a group called Team Gabbatha and are looking for
donations of the following items: Sleeping Bags, Blankets, Gloves, Scarfs, Warm Hats, Night clothing, Socks,
Toiletries, Flasks, Food Vouchers etc. The items collected will be issued to the homeless people over the
winter months. If you can help contact, 01505 872099 or E-mail: info@thehavenkilmacolm.com
alternatively I can pass any items on to them.
Wear Bright Clothing
Can I appeal to those of you that go out walking in the evening to wear bright clothing and it is a good idea
to use a torch to see and be seen by.
Meeting closed 9.35pm