LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING AGENDA
WEDNESDAY 10th JANUARY 2024
LANGBANK COMMUNITY CENTRE, MIDDLEPENNY ROAD @ 7.30pm
Present: Neil Barrington (chair), Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), John O’Brien, Maggie Hancock, Carly Deheer, Julie Gilmour (treasurer), Caroline Bryce, James Hunter.
Also in attendance: Lesley Fairlie, Iain McDougall
Apologies: Cllr Fiona Airlie Nicolson, Cllr James MacLaren, Cllr Colin McCulloch
Start and welcome:
Chairman opened the meeting at 7.32pm and welcomed everyone to the first meeting of 2024.
Police Report:
No police report available. Chairman will email and request this from Police Scotland.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes:
No issues raised, proposed Carly Deheer and seconded by John O’Brien.
Village website and Facebook updates:
No issues posted this past month.
Retrospective Planning Approval. App 23/0535PP:
LCC received a letter from a resident on Main Road to draw attention to the objections they have raised in terms of the above retrospective planning application, at the junction of Middlepenny Road and Main Road..
The letter was read out to the meeting and all agreed that the issue of insufficient parking does indeed pose a significant safety risk as well as inconvenience for residents.
Concerns have been raised at previous meetings with regards to vehicles parking in bus bay on Main Road which forces the Park Mains school bus to park dangerously close to the junction of Middlepenny and Main Road.
It was agreed CC would submit concerns to RC with regards to this application.
There was a short discussion around the bus bay as RC claim that this has never been marked as such, however longstanding residents can remember this being marked and used as a designated bus bay.
Double yellow lines at COAST Restaurant on Main Road:
Most breaking of rules is towards the roundabout, where drivers park on the double yellow lines. This can be hazardous.
Clyde Coastal Path Meeting Developments:
Meeting held via Zoom 9th January.
The group would like to be able to submit something at next round of Sustrans applications, however this is dependent on getting the appropriate engineering company to provide a quote on how much a feasibility study would cost and an idea of total cost of project. Unfortunately this information is unlikely to be provided at no cost and therefore funding would need to be sought in order to obtain the information required. It was estimated initial costs could range from £10,000 to £20,000. Now a matter of reaching out to a number of firms.
This project would align with Inverclyde Council’s Active travel plans as they are proposing an upgrade/extension to the path from Park Lea towards Langbank.
There was a discussion around this and several suggestions were made, including asking RC for assistance – which had been tried and proved unsuccessful.
Suggestion that group could reach out to Universities asking for their help.
Inspiring Scotland is another potential group which could help and may be able to provide contact details for a civil engineer with project manager skills
Langbank Church conversion follow up:
No update available.
Street lamp replacements - timeframe for re-installation:
Noted that this had been raised again on Facebook, with one member of the group commenting that issues had been reported to RC.
Recent flooding - Drainage clearing:
The most recent flooding seems to have been worse than anything previous, with a much wider impact. The burn midway along Main Road burst its banks during a very short period of time.
Although it was acknowledged that the rainfall pattern was a major factor in recent floods, there is a general feeling that lack of gully maintenance is partly responsible for this.
Although it was reported that drains on Station Road had been cleared there are clearly some ongoing issues as high water levels were noted in some of these drains, indicating issue with a couple of them. Suggestion that tree roots may be a factor.
The debris from the most recent flood has not yet been cleared from roads and pavements on Main Road, this may be due to the fact that parked cars prevent this clearing. If RC were to provide advance warning it may be possible to request that residents ensure cars are moved.
Suggestion that we map any problem areas and ask RC to follow these up. Discussion around whether we do this now or wait until better weather?
Noted that bore holes and yellow markings have been marked on main Road – could these be relating to drainage issues?
Village Community Centre update:
New Year party went ahead and wasn’t as well attended as previous years, however those in attendance enjoyed the night.
Issue with gazebo and a neighbouring property has now been resolved.
There has also been slight a change of Village Community Centre committee, with Alisa taking over the responsibility for hall lets.
Soup and sandwich lunch was very well attended today and was enjoyed by those attending.
MUGA – Winter Connections:
Following a number of email exchanges prior to the last meeting and following meeting, we were provided the names of alternative service providers. “Get Active” were contacted and had availability to provide activities on a Wednesday evening in Langbank. The grant money has been reserved for this, however a new application must now be submitted and considered before funds are released. It is hoped that these sessions will run from 17th January to the end of March 2024.
Although Cllr Fiona Airlie Nicolson had submitted apologies she was able to provide the following information in relation to the Winter Connections funds:
I had followed up with the officer in terms of your application for funding through winter connections for street stuff being refused.
He confirmed that whilst his presentation had referenced Linwood and Erskine as part of winter connections they had not been funded through the fund.
I advised him that including these areas in this way was misleading. He apologised for this.
I have asked Michelle Campbell, chair of the partnership for assistance in supporting us to find funding for continuation of street stuff.
However despite RC acknowledging the confusion caused by advertising their services this way, they continue to do so and therefore anyone reading the information will still continue to assume that some Street Stuff sessions are funded by the Winter Connections grant.
Langbank Roundabout:
As per previous minutes John O’Brien had drafted a letter to Gavin Newlands asking that the LCC be made aware of results of a recent traffic survey. This was read out to the meeting and all present agreed that this letter should now be submitted.
Letter to RC:
As per previous minutes Jacqueline Doherty had drafted a letter to the Chief Executive and Head of Children’s Services with regards to the discrimination experienced, in particular by the children of Langbank, by RC. This letter highlights examples and requests clarification of the reasons as to why these decisions are made.
Planning Application 23/0128/PP 30 Glamping Pods, Gleddoch House – any further development:
No update available.
Cllr MacLaren’s monthly input:
Roads
Road & Pavement Resurfacing: - The Following has been put forward so far for consideration of next year’s Capital Works Programme: Middlepenny Rd Pavement (bottom section)
Blocked Gullies: - The gully at Elmbank Road/Station Rd has been cleared?
A8 Barrier Works: - Amey, on behalf of Transport Scotland, are undertaking essential VRS upgrades on the A8 between Woodhall Roundabout and Langbank Roundabout from Monday 15th January and
Friday 8th March 2024. Construction works will be undertaken during daylight hours. 24-hour offside lane closures and a temporary 50 mph speed limit will be in place.
Flooding issues, Barochan Rd B789: - The road needs the ditches cleaned and also there is a pipe runs under the road that is blocked. Our contractor will be instructed to carry out these works. Offlets will be dug in the short term to see if they will help.
Flooding on Main Road: - I have reported a large number of gullies blocked on Main Rd, particularly around the burn in Drumhirk, and requested Main Rd be swept after the recent flooding and the gullies cleared out. Flooding on bridges: - I have suggested that all bridges that suffer flooding should have channels dug to allow surface water to run away. LAs need to start thinking seriously about flood protection and prevention, identifying hotspots, constant drain clearing and the installation of "super" storm drains that can handle very heavy downpours over a short period.
B789 Barochan Rd, White lining: - The lines are barely visible in places and I have requested that they be repainted.
Christmas lights: - After the last meeting, I reported that there are 2 or 3 of the Christmas lights that are not working on Main Rd. An engineer was promptly sent to fix this.
StreetStuff
Street Stuff is a council funded programme delivered by St Mirren FC which makes them ineligible for Winter Connections or Local Partnership funding. Activities delivered elsewhere form part of the core council funded programme mainly due to analytical information highlighting high levels of antisocial behaviour and deprivation. I understand that an external organisation will provide similar activities which is very welcome.
Newspaper Articles
I was quoted in the Paisley Daily Express on the following days:
10th January – “Council Must Rebuild Trust”, Accounts Commission S102 Report on Dargavel and Park Mains HS. PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions
Missed Bins:
sA number of properties have had their bins missed including Marypark Rd (brown and green) and Gleddoch Wynd (blue – now emptied). I will continue to chase this up.
Winter Connections Funding:
A total of £3,872 is still available to allocate to projects being delivered between January and March 2024.
Coastal Path Project:
I attended the CCP/LCC Liaison Group meeting last night. I urged the group to apply for funding for a feasibility study. There may be difficulty finding a company willing to carry out a feasibility study.
AOB.
Discussion around the Playing Field path and how good it is - need marked entrance to field. It was noted that there are volunteers who do a fantastic job clearing roads around Langbank, including the road to Bishopton.
Meeting closed.
Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 9.05pm.