LANGBANK COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY 14th DECEMBER 2022 MEETING TO BE HELD IN THE LANGBANK COMMUNITY CENTRE, MIDDLEPENNY ROAD @ 7.30pm.
In attendance: Neil Barrington (chair), Caroline Bryce, Carly Deheer, Jacqueline Doherty (secretary), Cllr James MacLaren, John O’Briend and Julie Gilmour. Apologies: Gloria Dunn (treasurer), James Hunter, Cllr Colin McCulloch and Cllr Fiona Airlie-Nicholson Also in attendance: Leslie Fairley and Iain McDougall.
Start and welcome: The chairman welcomed everyone to the last meeting of 2022 and began the meeting at 7.35pm. Police Report: No police attendance and no matters to raise Minutes of previous meeting: No objections/comments were made regarding these minutes, and therefore were then proposed by Carly Deheer and seconded by John O’Brien.
Village website and Facebook updates: Our village website costs are on a par with other similar sites - $216 $72 is work based which provides us with a community council email address. Having done some research Carly Deheer has not found anything comparable and much cheaper which would justify the upheaval of changing service provider. Website statistics were provided – over last 30 days, 97 visits, with 94 unique visitors and 221 page views. The 30 days before that were 95 visits with 93 unique visitors and 197 page views. In process of updating the site with a village diary/what’s on etc, and going to add more village information, e.g., MUGA pictures etc. Discussion around RC winter funds projects – there will be a conversation café and “Move it or Lose it” Fitness class. Looking at other options with suggestions of Indoor Bowling and Men’s Shed. Repairs to A8 Roundabout and fence on Main Road: Brendan O’Sullivan at AMEY has been contacted to ask about the timing of this repair – no response has yet been received. Cllr James McLaren offered to speak to Mr O’Sullivan in an attempt to expedite a repair. Parking issues at Coast restaurant on Main Road: Mark Higginbotham from Renfrewshire Council (RC) has started the process for double yellow lines to be installed outside the restaurant. The meeting was shown a schematic of proposed parking restriction areas – this was as discussed at the site meeting which John O’Brien attended earlier in the year. John O’Brien has completed a letter to the “Scottish Ministers”, which will now be sent on behalf of the CC. Clyde Coastal Path Meeting developments: A meeting planned for Tuesday 13th December was cancelled due to late information regarding Sustrans Expression of Interest. The next meeting is planned for Thursday 29th December. The question asked as to whether Renfrewshire and Inverclyde councils been approached? Yes, both were contacted early in process and will be contacted again as their support will be required to move initiative forwards. Councillors from both authorities attend meetings. MUGA Status: Two residents, both on Douglas Ave, had made representations about the floodlights. Prompt action was taken by Kemp Ltd who came and adjusted lights. Unfortunately, both residents are still able to see floodlights from their homes. As it is a matter of floodlights being seen and not that they are shining into properties it is very difficult to make any further immediate changes. Floodlights do not have hoods or filters and therefore full screening cannot be obtained. The MUGA Group has begun impact monitoring and spoken to some residents on Station Road regarding their experience. They will also monitor how long lights are on for and importantly continue to monitor the impact on safety of users (ensuring no dark spots with MUGA). Appropriate planning permission was obtained from RC prior to installation and at this time replacing floodlights with screened lights is not a viable option. Situation will be monitored. RC’s Street Scene has provided an update to say an assessment will be carried out to see whether they can return to Langbank. Consultation should be completed by the end of this week. It was noted that the “Active School Provision” in Langbank Primary has also been drastically reduced. Next Local Partnership Meeting: 16/02/2023, 11/05/2023, 07/09/2023 and 30/11/2023 are the dates set for the 2023 meetings. Invites for these have been received, but surprising that these would be on Teams. Langbank Church conversion follow up: The Langbank Church Building will be kept, and the church will become a “Mission Church”. Final decision has yet to be made but is likely to merge with the Houston Church. Church members would be keen to pursue building conversion, however unlikely they will be able to make an independent decision. Flooding issues on Station/Main Roads: There has not been any flooding since the last meeting, but this is likely due to lack of rain. See Councillor Maclaren’s report. Question asked about how often the roads are being gritted, as this appears to happen less frequently than previously. The understanding is that Middlepenny Rd and Station Rd should be priority routes. Cllr MacLaren’s monthly input: Roads Blocked Gullies: - The blocked gully on Main Street outside Woodside Cottages has been reported. Station Rd, loose chippings signs: - These should now have been removed. 20 mph areas: - Councils are being asked to look at making advisory 20 mph areas into mandatory ones and as such it is one of the initiatives included in Renfrewshire’s Road Safety Policy document. Consultants “Systra” are working through the conversion (TROs) of all current advisory 20 mph streets to mandatory. I would expect Main Street and Station Road to be included in this and will remind them. I will also ask that Houston Road be included. Pavement Parking: - The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 bans pavement parking to try and stop indiscriminate parking, an issue which has become so vast for all local authorities. There will be exemptions made in Renfrewshire and a consultation will need to take place. There is no timescale for this at present. Road markings: Lining of Old Greenock Rd: - A short section was not completed due to the volume of standing water on the verges that could not be dried back or swept away as was done in other locations. This has now been completed. Station Road: - the SLOW markings on both sides of the railway bridge have been completed. Consultation on the draft parking restriction proposed, Main Rd: - This looks to be in order. Station Road, speed signs: - Our inspector has straightened the signs after they were hit and removed some damaged branches. Flooding: (Over the last month) Old Greenock Rd, East Finlaystone Cottage: - A site visit is being organised to assess this with the landowner. Old Greenock Road, bridge over the Finlaystone Burn: - the inspector for the area will assess and arrange for any necessary works. Station Rd: - Our Roads Operations received a report of the flooding at the beginning of November. They attended and swept leaf fall from the road and gully gratings at the bottom of the hill. All gullies uphill on Station Rd were checked and 7 were found to be blocked and in need of cleaning. An instruction was raised to clean these. The flooding was once again a result of leaf fall obscuring/blocking our road gullies during heavy rainfall. Thankfully most of the broad leaf trees have now shed their leaves. It was noted that the gullies on Station Road have not yet been cleared. Footbridge in Playing Field: Council accepted a 50% responsibility. Works to repair the footbridge, which council is requesting be carried out, will be to permanently pipe the burn with an over footpath so alleviating the need to keep replacing the wooden deck & handrails to the present bridge. This will be a money saving solution which will require minimal inspections/maintenance. No start date is available, but the work has been requested to be issued to a contractor. Street Sweeping: I requested that the pavement on Station Rd be swept again, and council partially swept this, but the freezing conditions has resulted in a focus on gritting areas, and they have noted this to return to in the future. The west end of Main Road has also been noted for sweeping. Deer Crossing: Drivers are reminded to be aware of deer crossing the road. I was recently involved in taking a young buck to Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre after it was hit one evening just outside BoW on the A761. Broadband Signal: I reported that the signal was dropping out on Marypark Rd, whenever the train passes, to BT and await their reply/investigations. Council Winter Connections programme :This can be viewed at https://www.renfrewshire.gov.uk/winter-connections and in Langbank includes an exercise class and café both in the village hall. Park Mains High School – Bus Transport: SPT carried out an inspection on Wednesday 9 November 2022 at Park Mains High School for the Langbank contract. There was enough capacity for all pupils to travel, two vehicles arrived at the school. The first vehicle arrived before the specified time therefore the contractor has been issued with penalty points for this. Council will continue to review this contract with SPT and the school management team and ensure any issues are addressed with the contractor. Park Mains High School Heating Issue: The school, which was closed today, will not be open tomorrow (Thursday) due to heating problems. AOB: When will we know the outcome of “You Decide Campaign”? No date yet but will take some time to finalise. School bus parking on Main Road, at bottom of Middlepenny Road, partially blocking the junction and causing an issue for cars. The bus stop which was used previously is not clearly marked and as a result cars are parking there. Noted that Park Mains has been closed for two days this week due to heating issues. This led to brief discussion around lack of maintenance at school, with several issues being highlighted. It raises the question as to where maintenance of PMHS lies within local authority priorities. Question asked about proposed council boundaries and whether Langbank will become part of Inverclyde. This is not the case as it is Houston and Bridge of Weir which will become part of Inverclyde. These are only political boundaries and not local authority boundaries. Contacted by Bridge of Weir CC to ask about grant applications for path improvements. The only one RC received by LCC for path improvements was a LAP grant. Secretary to respond, with this information. Main Road Planters - Should we ask RC to supply two large planters for either side of the village? This is something we have previously spoken about, and it seems sensible that we make any funding application sooner rather than later to allow these to be planted in the spring. A LAP grant or Village Investment fund grant may be more appropriate. Everyone was also in agreement that we should ask the LAP for funding for Christmas lights. Noted that streetlights at bottom of Middlepenny Road are out. Access to social care - Issue was raised about difficulty in getting carers to assist with residents in Langbank. Very few companies provide a service in Langbank. Meeting closed The chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and wished everyone best wishes for the festive period.