LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING AGENDA
WEDNESDAY 9thOCTOBER 2019
8.00pm in the Langbank Church Hall, Main Road.
(following on from the AGM Meeting)
Present:Neil Barrington (chair), Gloria Dunn (treasurer), James Hunter, Giselle McGill, Maggie Hancock, Carly Deheer, Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), John O’Brien, Caroline Bryce, Mercedes Harms, Janice Buchanan and Cllr James MacLaren
Apologies: Julie Arbon, Julie Gilmour and Cllr Natalie Don
Also in attendance: Tom Adair.
Start and welcome:
The chairman thanked Lilian Belshaw of Renfrewshire Council for clerking the AGM and opened the October meeting of LCC at 7.50pm.
Chairperson’s Annual Report:
The chairman thanked those members of the committee who have served over the last 4 year’s term and those who continue to serve on the CC. Over the past year the CC have spent time on the following:-
* Dampness and covered walkway in school.
* Close communication with Police Scotland who attend most meetings.
* Creation and maintenance of Village Website
* Planting of flower tubs along Main Road.
* Still trying to find out who owns land between Main Road and A8.
* Organisation and running of Village Gala Day
* Annual village clean-up day.
* Langbank Village Survey – planning and implementation.
* Monitoring of drain clearing around village.
* Requesting road repairs around village.
* Tennis court issues/improvements.
Police Report:
6 recorded crimes: 1 common assault, 1 breach of peace, 3 road traffic (2 hit and run), 1 drink driver and one internet fraud.
Police have received a few emails around the recent Main Road traffic incident. There are positive lines of enquiry around this. Police have identified the car which was being driven dangerously and are currently attempting to identify who was driving the car.
There was mention of a lot of police activity outside one of the houses on Main Road. This is an ongoing situation for police.
Question asked relating to van parked at bottom of Station Road. As reflected in minutes of September’s meeting, this van was a risk as it was sitting unlocked. The owner removed the van following a request made by police that they do so.
Concern raised about cars being abandoned in the old bus stop at west end of village. The first one as per minutes of September’s meeting and then a second car covered in cling film and flour. Car eventually removed, but all rubbish left behind. Advice is to contact police on 101, if a villager is concerned about cars being abandoned.
180 officers lost as a result of Brexit looming and therefore community police officers are increasingly stretched and therefore less ‘present’ in communities. The community police do strive to have more presence in Langbank, but stretched manpower inevitably results in them be diverted elsewhere.
Concern raised about some ‘undesirable’ characters on Old Greenock Road who are walking along there with large dogs. Are these people poachers, dog baiters…? Some members of the CC have experience of poachers on their land. Police advised that anyone concerned should contact the police – if they have a gun then dial 999.
Acceptance of last meeting minutes:
Proposed by Carly Deheer and seconded Maggie Hancock. No issues raised.
Langbank Village Survey status:
67 digitally received and 31 hard copy. To be collated in November once all returns received.
Village Website :
Village survey has been put on website.
Smartwater:
There are currently 15 kits.
Status of Marypark/Middlepenny footpath:
No change.
Fly-tipping at West Ferry:
This appears to have improved since many of the trees and bushes have been cut back. Still major issue of fly tipping on the old road under railway viaduct. Renfrewshire Council have stated they do not have responsibility for this piece of land, and are unable to provide information as to who owns this land. The Council did put up barriers, but this does not stop fly tipping.
Litter on Main Road is bad, and it would appear likely that this is passers-by emptying their rubbish from their cars. James McLaren will try to see if we could get signage at entrance to village to encourage people not to litter.
Road resurfacing – Seath Avenue:
This has now been completed and unfortunately during this the gullies have become blocked. These will apparently be cleared the week beginning the 14thOctober. Residents are unhappy with the result of this micro-surfacing. Sunken drains have not been repaired prior to this work. Janice Buchanan has contacted RC in order to express views and ask questions, but has had no satisfactory response. Company leaflet/website states that they will sweep the road after a few days to remove surface aggregate, but this has yet to be done. They are also meant to put weed killer down before this micro-surfacing, but this was not done and within 2 weeks weeds were growing through.
There remains a blocked drain on Elmbank Road which was filled in with tarmac during resurfacing last year.
Roads were swept and cleared last week but leaves building up again.
Cllr MacLaren has asked when the gully-slurper will be out and about clearing blocked drains.
Fence on north side of Main Rd:
This is in a state of disrepair. One of the delivery lorries to Coast was seen to hit this and therefore it would be worthwhile contacting them and asking if they could arrange a repair. Chairman has a contact at the restaurant for this.
Flooding issues on Main Road and Station Road :
There was flooding outside Coast last week, which hasn’t been notice for a while.
Langbank Tennis Club update
Julie Gilmour has made a complaint to Business Stream who have delayed any court action to allow Business Stream to make an investigation into the matter. Although this does not resolve the matter is a step in the right direction and we can only hope that common sense prevails.
Primary School:
At the AGM of the Langbank Primary Parent Partnership there was an insufficient number of parents attending to allow a new committee to be elected. There will be a further EGM, however if parents are unable to step forward to take on committee positions then the school will no longer have a parent council, which would not only be disappointing but detrimental to the whole educational experience and well-being of the children attending the school.
At this meeting the parents were also requested not to involve local councillors in school matters as this invariably is flagged up to senior education managers in Cotton Street, who are unhappy that matters are not dealt with ‘in school’. However, since the matters the parent council and CC have brought to the notice of councillors, are serious and have been unable to be dealt with at a school level then any involvement has been not only appropriate but necessary. Such matters are the dampness in the school, covered walkway, lack of recycling and iPads left in cupboards unable to be used. This begs the question as to why Renfrewshire Council at Cotton Street would wish councillors not to be involved. Langbank is a small village and the school is at the heart of the community and it is important that the CC and local councillors have an interest in it.
Question asked about charges to schools to empty recycle bins. At a recent parent council meeting at Park Mains the senior pupils were talking about wishing to push recycling and litter picking this year, but it was suggested this may have a cost implication. Cllr MacLaren would try to find out further information on this.
Village Christmas tree:
Suggested dates were, Fri 22ndNov, Sun 24thNov, Fri 29thNov, Sun 1stDec, Fri 6thDec or Sun 8thDec.
AOB:
Although RC believe the signage at Station Road bridge is appropriate, there is still huge concerns that these are not visible enough for drivers. Previously several solutions to Station Road bridge were considered and all ruled out. In order to protect pedestrians traffic lights would be worth considering.
The water pouring out from under the wall to the north of Station road playing fields is getting worse. It is likely this will be owned by rail track and therefore they could be contacted and asked to investigate.
The chairman received email from villager asking that the poor state of Middlepenny Road is highlighted. He has filled in the appropriate form on RC website, but not satisfactory response. The chairman has contacted RC and was informed that it will be considered in next year’s budget. The CC asked JMCL to stress to RC that this is essential maintenance which is urgently required.
Accident 23rdSeptember at entrance to village between flatbed truck and car, this is likely to have been caused by lane confusion at roundabout.
Footpath from station to Dennistoun Road is still very overgrown and question asked as to who owns this and is responsible for upkeep. Cllr MacLaren will ask if this can be cleared again.
The bridge over the burn in the playing fields needs some maintenance.
It was noted that not all streets are cleaned during a road sweep and when this was done last week, they only did Station Road and Main Road but not Seath, Douglas or Elmbank Road. No confirmation as to which streets were done on the other side of the village. The lack of ongoing maintenance, including leaves clearance, is a real issue.
The village currently don’t have a defibulator, which makes them one of the only places in the region who do not have one. Caroline Bryce will investigate this.
Meeting closed. 9.40.
Update from Cllr Natalie Don :-_
St. James Playing Field– Concerns raised at the last meeting over the facilities. At the last meeting of Renfrewshire Council’s Leadership Board, a series of upgrades were confirmed.
- Demolition of the existing pavilion and replacement with new modular changing facilities to meet modern requirements
- Four existing grass pitches will continue to be maintained and serviced in line with current operations
- An improved hardstanding area for parking.
- Access road repairs and resurfacing with improved signage and wayfinding
- Creation of a new gravel-surfaced park path
- A secure staff area and compound and improved temporary facilities infrastructure.
Station Road– Following concerns raised about blocked gullies, I requested the mechanical sweeper visited Station Road. This was carried out last Friday and made a big difference.
Awaiting update on the repainting of white lines on Station Road and the Give Way on Gleddoch Road.
Awaiting confirmation on the most recent works carried out on Seath Avenue.
Update from Cllr James MacLaren:
Langbank Community Council Report from Councillor MacLaren:
1. Station Road Issues
i) Repositioning of pedestrian priority signs: - The distance of the pedestrian signs from the bridge is as the stated in the code of practice.
ii) Water continually runs through the bridge: - This has been referred to our road officers to investigate and I will provide an update once I have receive further information.
iii) a "low bridge ahead" sign at the top of the hill: - There is a low bridge sign at top of Station Road at the junction of Old Greenock Road
iv) White lines through bridge: - The bridge is not width restricted but given the tight turn on the south side, there have never been lane markings directly under the bridge, to emphasise to drivers that care is required at this location. For the give way lines at the top of the hill, An officer will assess the condition of the road markings and instruct the refreshing of road markings where necessary.
v) The sunken manhole cover near the bridge: - an inspector has put a request in to Scottish Water asking them to adjust the manhole to the correct level. In the meantime Roads Operations will make safe the damaged carriageway around the manhole.
vi) Probably 90% of the gullies are blocked. I am trying to get the gully slurper back out.
vii)Overhanging bushes, and ivy covering the pavement. The pavement and road has been swept but the ivy still remains. I am trying to get this cleared.
2. Other Road Issues
i) Gullies on Seath Ave: - micro-surfacing work took place recently and covered up the gullies but I am told that these gullies will be restored and cleared w/c 14 October. If any are not restored then please let me know.
ii) Mechanical sweeping recently activity recently took place (2 Oct – 9 Oct).The schedule for mechanical sweeping is available to view on the Renfrewshire website http://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/article/5940/Focus-on-Road-sweeping
iii) Middlepenny Road: - the footway between Dennistoun Road and Middlepenny Place is programmed to be resurfaced this financial year. At this time, there are no proposals for any road carriageway resurfacing.
3. Refuse collection
Many residents, especially those on assisted bin uplift are being missed by the council crews. One resident on Dennistoun Rd is continually affected by this failure.
4. St James Playing Fields
The changing pavilions at St James’ playing fields, whilst old, are usable and are presented in a clean and usable manner by our Outdoor and Community Services team. Any improvements to the changing pavilions would form part of the Council’s considerations surrounding their ongoing Cultural Infrastructure Programme.
Our booking records show that the demand for grass pitches is exceeded by the number available and that there is no shortage of grass football pitches in Renfrewshire. Last weekend only 1 of 4 available pitches at St James’ was booked for play so the booking was transferred to KGV Renfrew where pitches were also un-booked and available and could accommodate the booking and provide RL with the opportunity to provide service from one facility reducing costs incurred for both RL and the Council.
9/10/19
Feedback from Meeting
1. Fly-tipping: - The fly-tipping at the bottom of Hatton Brae has still not been collected. The question was asked as to who the owner of this section of the old A8 was. Mobile CCTV cameras should be used for a period to catch the offenders. The CC would like some signs to say “This is a litter free village”. I will investigate this.
2. Station Road
i) White Lines: - The CC stressed their desire for white lines through the bridge. Drivers are using their horns to warn other drivers of their approach. I will continue to push for white lines.
ii) Pedestrian Priority Signs: - These signs are not visible enough. I will see what can be done about this.
iii) Water Running Under Bridge: - Water is coming through the wall and bypassing the gully. I will draw the council’s attention to this.
3. Middlepenny Road: - Plans are to resurface the pavement from Dennistoun Rd towards the top of the road, but the section I had requested was from Dennistoun Rd down to St Vincent’s which is badly needed. I will draw this to Roads attention.
4. Blocked Gullies:- There was recent flooding outside Coast on Main Rd. This indicates to me that gullies are blocked there. I will let the council know about this.
5. Overgrown Footpath: - The footpath from the bridge of Station Road to Dennistoun Rd is still overgrown. I will chase this up with the other councillors.
6. Seath Avenue Resurfacing: - The micro surfacing is a mess with manholes and gullies covered over. Residents are not happy with the final result. One of the things is that they should have sprayed weed killer before they started.
7. Road Sweeping:- Only Station Road and Main Road were swept. I will ask why the other roads in Langbank were not done.
8. IPads: - these are still lying in cupboards unused. I will pursue this.
9. School Litter Picking: - It was reported that litter picking by school pupils at Park Mains High School are so successful that the school is worried as the cleansing department currently charge the school £25 to empty a bin and so the total cost of having the waste removed is rising. I shall look into this.