LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES
WEDNESDAY 11th JANUARY 2023
LANGBANK VILLAGE HALL, MIDDLEPENNY ROAD @ 7.30pm.
Present: Neil Barrington (chair), Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), Caroline Bryce, Maggie Hancock James Hunter, John O’Brien, Carly Deheer and Cllr Colin McCulloch.
Apologies: Gloria Dunn (treasurer), Cllr James MacLaren, Julie Gilmour and PC Dean Mitchell. Other Attendees: Eileen Tambourini and Iain McDougall,
Welcome:
The chairman welcomed everyone and opened meeting at 7.30pm.
Minutes of previous meeting:
Maggie Hancock’s apologies were omitted from these minutes and will be added.
No further amendments noted therefore the last meeting minutes were proposed by John O’Brien and seconded by Caroline Bryce.
Police Report.
Email sent with apologies for tonight’s meeting – no crimes to report.
Village website and Facebook updates.
A new “What’s happening” page has been added, which contains a weekly diary and information about regular village events. Caroline Bryce will provide additional dates to be published.
Repairs to A8 Roundabout and fence on Main Road:
Still not completed. The chairman has written to Brendan O’Sullivan of AMEY asking for a timescale. The damage to the roundabout is of increasing concern as the brickwork is starting to slide towards the carriageway. Cllr Colin McCulloch will chase this up.
The issue of speeding at roundabout was also raised again towards the end of the meeting - It was noted that the signage at the roundabout could potentially be confusing as there is a national speed limit sign after the roundabout warning sign. It would be advantageous to the safety of drivers to have the national speed limit sign moved to beyond the roundabout.
Parking issues at COAST restaurant on Main Road. - LCC Letter to Scottish Ministers :
A letter has been emailed to the “Scottish Ministers” – response received on 11th January is included at the end of these minutes.
This is a disappointing response in respect of lack of support from Scottish Ministers, however the letter clearly states that Renfrewshire Council do have responsibility to ensure there is sufficient parking. It was agreed that this letter will be included within the minutes for consideration and our response will be discussed at the 8th of February meeting.
Clyde Coastal Path Meeting developments:
A meeting was held on 5th January to look at the Sustrans,” Places for Everyone concept application”. Following this a short meeting was arranged with a member of Sustrans after which a decision was made to take more time to complete the essential parts of the form and submit at the next round – spring/summer 2023. Next meeting will be at the end of January, date tbc.
It will be vital to get the support of both Renfrewshire and Inverclyde councils on this project. Question asked as to who within Renfrewshire Council (RC) promotes the area for tourism. Colin to find out contact details.
MUGA status:
Further email re floodlights from resident on Douglas Avenue. Response has been sent and invite to attend meeting. Situation still being monitored.
Next Local Partnership Meeting:
These will be quarterly and likely to be virtual. The first will be 16th February.
11th May likely to be the funding meeting. Application for Christmas lights will be made.
Langbank Church conversion follow up:
A meeting was held in the church hall on 4th January at which members of presbytery were in attendance. More details to be provided on the status of 'mission church’ and questions raised about the impact on proposed changes to church building.
Flooding issues on Station/Main Roads:
Station Road has been swept and cleared, however many of the drains remain blocked. Middlepenny Road drains are also blocked – there was a RC employee out last week sweeping leaves and he did have the “gully slurper”, which he had been instructed he was not able to use to clear drains on that day??
The pavement at West Ferry also needs cleared and the streetlights there are defective. The chairman to contact Ken Grey, of Renfrewshire Council.
Village Community Centre update:
RC continues to complete small maintenance jobs. A new Hall Committee is required, with some trouble appointing a new chair. There is money in the bank to allow possible future improvements.
Cllr MacLaren’s monthly input:
Roads
Blocked Gullies: - Blocked gullies on Station Road and corner of Elmbank Road have been reported. 20 mph areas: - I have requested Houston Road be included and it will be assessed separately as part of the 'The National Strategy for 20 mph'.
The pothole on Old Greenock Rd over the Finlaystone Burn has been reported.
The pothole at the bottom of Middlepenny Rd has been reported.
Gritting: - Both Station Road and Middlepenny Road are Primary 1 routes and have been gritted anytime a grit has been called. At times conditions can be extremely challenging particularly with freezing rain so even the gritters can struggle on some roads.
Faulty Street Lights: - There is a lamp out at the bottom of Middlepenny Road and this has been reported.
Gallahill Road Street nameplate: - I have requested that this be replaced.
Flooding (Over the last month)
Despite heavy rainfall resulting in some flooding in Bridge of Weir for which I had an engineer out, there were no reports of flooding in Langbank village.
Old Greenock Road (OGR): - I received a report that a section of OGR adjacent the Drums Estate (both sides of carriageway) was flooded and I reported this.
It was noted that there was significant flooding on Main Road on 30th December. Disappointingly the mud and debris wasn’t cleared from the road or pavements afterwards.
Street Sweeping:
Main Road was fully swept with both the large and small sweeper on 21st December.
Station Rd Park, Footbridge
The proposed pipe will be as short as possible to try to avoid blockages in the future. It will not therefore take in the eroded section of the footpath leading down to the railway.
Park Mains High School
Council will only carry out repairs when they are critical or emergency works.
School Bus Parking, Main Road
The bus was parking in the middle of the junction at the bottom of Middlepenny Road. The transport team spoke with SPT about the location the school bus is parking. I have asked Roads to clear the vegetation from the bus stop to the west of the junction to allow the bus to stop there.
It was noted that the bus is still waiting at the bottom of Middlepenny Road.
Village Hall Playpark
The wooden surround to the playpark has been checked and repairs carried out. Unfortunately, the supply of sufficient timber was significantly delayed due to the crisis in Ukraine as the product was exported from Belarus via Latvia. Repairs were carried out in November that saw the replacement of the top edge of each of the two play areas.
Carers
Social Care Providers in Renfrewshire, including our own internal Care at Home Service are all experiencing recruitment and retention challenges. At times we struggle to identify a Provider who has capacity in some of our villages, particularly where the requirement is for 2 carers 3 or 4 times a day. All of the villages are a bit more difficult due to the potential for travelling only for 1 or 2 service users.
Dog Fouling, Dennistoun Rd
Someone is allowing their dog to foul the pavement and is not picking up. This is very antisocial so close to a school. This has been reported and the wardens will be out to catch them.
Refuse Collection
The blue bins on Gleddoch Wynd were not collected recently and I organised the return of the refuse collectors.
Langbank Village Hall Wi-Fi
This site is included on the list of community halls where public Wi-Fi will be installed later this year (timeline tbc).
It was noted that original date given for this was January 2023, so would be disappointing if this date was now being pushed back.
Biodiversity Areas
The next set of areas can be seen at www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/biodiversity. Station Road Park will include some of this wildflower planting.
Meeting closed.
Please also see below the response to the LCC from - on behalf of Scottish Ministers.
11 January 2023
Dear Jacqueline Doherty,
Thank you for your email dated 6th January 2023, addressed to a number of Scottish Ministers.
As your letter refers to parking on local roads I have been asked to respond in my capacity as the Head of Road Policy within Transport Scotland.
Having discussed the area of land you refer to with the relevant colleagues I have been advised that as per the previous correspondence issued on this matter, this land is not surplus to requirements and requires to be retained by Transport Scotland. It is therefore not possible for a lease to be given for the provision of additional parking you have described.
With regards to the ongoing issues, you have highlighted in respect of the current parking practice in the area, local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure expeditious,convenient and safe movement of traffic. These duties include the provision of parking and the ongoing parking situation would therefore be a matter for Renfrewshire Council.
I understand this is not the response you were hoping for but I trust it clarifies Transport Scotland's position.
Yours sincerely
Fred O'Hara
TS : Roads - Asset Management & Procurement