Strachur & District Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 19:30 on Wednesday 12th June 2024
Strachur Memorial Hall
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), Ian Lowe, Catherine MacDiarmid, Lizzie MacDonald, Isabel McGladdery, William McGladdery, Steve Mclaughlin, Kirstie Reid and Iain Wilkie (Secretary).
Also in attendance: Cammy MacDonald (Strachur & District Community Development Company) and three members of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks.
Archie welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest.
Cllr Gordon Blair apologised for non-attendance. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 17th April 2024 were agreed as accurate.
4. Matters arising.
a. School lights on A815.
Councillor Sinclair had forwarded the following response from Roads & Infrastructure Services which he had received on 1.5.24:
“Please accept our apologies for the delay in replacing these lights. Unfortunately, our contractor ordered solar powered lights and it was not until they arrived on site that they realised that mains powered lights are required for the lights on the A815. They are in the process of converting these lights to mains, as this is the quickest way forward. We are treating this as a high priority and will be installing these lights as soon as traffic management and the necessary permits can be arranged. We will provide a further update when an install date is arranged.”
As there had been no further progress, Kirstie offered to follow this up.
ACTION: Kirstie
b. Police reports.
Following e-mail correspondence between Iain and local police officers, we were now receiving more informative Police Reports.
c. Dog fouling in graveyard.
Jim Ferguson (Dog Control Officer, Argyll & Bute Council) had installed four signs at the graveyard, which would hopefully encourage dog owners to behave responsibly.
c. Clachan Brae speed limit.
There had been 164 responses to the Facebook poll seeking views on the proposal that the ‘Village Road’ speed limit should be reduced to 20 mph: 109 (67%) were in favour of reducing the speed limit to 20 mph and 55 (33%) opposed the proposal. After discussion it was agreed that this was a sufficient mandate for the CC to submit a request Argyll & Bute Council for the speed limit to be lowered.
ACTION: Iain
d. Pavement adjacent to Birlinn Brae-Baycroft section of A886.
The pavement had been repaired before Iain was able to report its poor condition.
e. Road surface on same stretch of A886.
Subsequent to the last CC meeting, it was agreed that it would be better to wait until work at the Birlinn Brae development had been completed before requesting repairs to the road surface.
f. Road markings between school road and A886 junction.
On 9.5.24 Iain had made a request to Argyll & Bute Council for the road markings to be repainted. Although no response had been received, some of the markings had been repainted, but not the faded sections of the centre line or the markings at the A815/’Village Road’ south end junction.
ACTION: Iain
g. Drain subsidence at 4 Forest View.
Kirstie said that the repair work had been completed.
5. Police Report (received from PC James Convery by e-mail on 3.6.24).
Between 17/04/2024 and 03/06/2024, the number of Incidents and Crime Reports respectively are 9 and 3.
The incidents reported as follows;
Ongoing Disturbance
Neighbour Dispute
Assist Member of the Public
Concern for Person
Road Traffic Collision
Damage to Building
Police Info
Abandoned Vehicle
Abandoned 999.
There has been 1 crime report raised regarding an attempted fraud for which all lines of enquiry were exhausted which remains undetected.
There have been 2 crime reports raised regarding assault, both of which taking place within Manse Gardens. Both crimes raised are part of the same incident and both parties involved were issued with Recorded Police Warnings.
There has been 1 crime report recorded regarding the Strachurmore Sports Centre having been vandalised on the 14th of May. This is an ongoing enquiry.
6. Health Report (from Kirstie).
a. Appointments.
Kirstie had been informed that if a patient is waiting for an appointment for Orthopaedics, Dermatology or an Endoscopy, they will receive a text message from the mobile number 07860039092 to determine if they still need the appointment. If they do not have a mobile or have not registered their mobile number with the NHS, they will receive either a phone call to their landline or a letter.
b. Carers Week.
June 10th to 16th is Carers Week, with various events being held across the country and with the launch of the Argyll & Bute Council HSCP Carer's Strategy 2024-2027 (copies available from Kirstie or the Crossroads Carers Centre in Argyll St. Dunoon). As many as 12,000 people aged 16+ provide unpaid care in Argyll & Bute with the highest proportion residing in Bute, Cowal and Kintyre, of which 72% are female, 26% male and 2% unknown.
c. Crossroads Centre Dunoon.
The following groups are held in the Crossroads Centre:
Every week
Wednesday: Carers Drop In, 10.30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Thursday: Knit and Natter, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Every month
First Thursday: Dementia Support Group, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Last Tuesday: Male Carer Support Group, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Last Wednesday: Wellbeing with Fay, 10.30 p.m. – 1 p.m.
Last Thursday: Parent Carer Drop In, 9.30 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Articles for Newsletter and/or Facebook.
Since the last meeting six articles had been submitted. These were on: Strachur & District CC, A83 Road Closure, All Gaelic School Consultation, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service Consultation, Argyll Rally 2024, and Loch Eck LMP Consultation.
The main correspondence (in addition to any mentioned elsewhere) had been with:
a. Resident and Argyll & Bute Council re: dog-fouling in graveyard.
b. Resident and Argyll & Bute Council re: vegetation adjacent to A886.
c. Residents re: i/ Argyll Rally and use of private land.
ii/ Argyll Rally and insurance cover.
d. Tim Eagle MSP (letter received).
Surveys and consultations.
Responses had been submitted to the following consultations:
a. Loch Eck Land Management Plan Amendment.
b. Proposed works to BT Base Station: Pre-Planning Consultation.
Other activities.
a. Attended meeting with Jim Ferguson (Argyll & Bute Council) and Fiona Campbell re installation of signs for dog walkers in graveyard.
b. Attended Argyll Rally Community Council Liaison ‘Zoom’ meetings on 22.4.24 and 20.5.24.
c. Delivered Argyll Rally 2024 Resident Information Packs to properties beside B8000 (from Barnacarry to Otter Ferry Sea Fish and Evanachan) on 5.6.24.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,778.75.
9. Transport update (from Kirstie).
a. CalMac Passenger Ferry and Train timetables.
Kirstie reported changes in the passenger ferry and train timetables. For the period between 2nd June and 20th October, the ferries will leave BOTH Dunoon and Gourock at 5 mins and 35 mins past the hour. Trains will leave Gourock for Glasgow at 26 mins and 56 mins past the hour and leave Glasgow for Gourock at 5 and 35 mins past the hour.
The following sailings are cancelled for the month of June as CalMac staff need to take regulated breaks, due to one of the Rothesay boats berthing at Gourock overnight and one of the Dunoon boats berthing elsewhere, resulting in an earlier start for crew.
Cancelled sailings: Depart Gourock 10.05, 11.35, 18.35 and 20.10.
Depart Dunoon 10.35, 12.05, 19.05 and 20.40.
In addition, on 18th and 25th June the 22.35 from Gourock and the 23.05 from Dunoon are also cancelled.
b. Buses.
Kirstie said that Strachur had lost 384 miles per week since COVID, although West Coast Motors is running about the same millage around Cowal. Some areas are therefore benefitting from our loss. She would bring this up at the next Cowal Transport Forum on 18th June.
ACTION: Kirstie
10. National Park Update.
None received.
11. AOB.
a. Overgrown bushes at A816/A886 junction.
A member of the public informed the meeting that the bushes at the Scottish Water site needed to be cut back. Iain would pursue this.
ACTION: Iain
b. Defibrillators.
Catherine suggested that more defibrillators were needed in the village. It was agreed that in the first instance sources of funding should be identified for a defibrillator to be located at the Sports Pavilion. William would send information to Iain.
ACTION: William
c. Manse Gardens update.
Steve observed that we were not being kept informed about developments at Manse Gardens. Iain would request an update in advance of the next meeting
ACTION: Iain
d. Problems with Emergency Services finding properties.
Following a recent incident in which an ambulance had difficulties finding an address, a member of the pubic had e-mailed the CC with the suggestion that a map of village housing should be commissioned and distributed to the Emergency Services. After much discussion, it was decided that the CC should contact the Ambulance Service to determine their views on how addresses could be located more efficiently, and in particular what information would be most helpful to them.
ACTION: Iain
e. New name for New Hall.
The Hall Executive Committee had contacted all hall users with regard to suggestions for renaming the New Hall. CC members acknowledged this but did not think it was appropriate for the CC to make a collective suggestion.
f. CC publicity leaflet.
Iain had produced a draft publicity leaflet intended for distribution to all residents in the Strachur & District CC area. This was approved in principle subject to minor correction. It was suggested that it should be distributed by (1) including it in the Newsletter, (2) using Royal Mail’s Door Drop service (for postcodes entirely within the Strachur & District CC area), and (3) hand delivery (for postcodes overlapping with other CC areas). Iain agreed to pursue this.
ACTION: Iain
14. Date and location of next meeting.
The next meeting would be at 19:30, 14th August 2024 in Strathlachlan Community Centre.
Iain Wilkie,
Secretary, Strachur & District Community Council