Strachur & District Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 19:30 on Wednesday 17th January 2024
Strachur Memorial Hall
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), 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 one member of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks.
Archie welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest.
There were no apologies or declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 13th December 2023 were agreed as accurate. With regard to item 4e (A886 matters), it was pointed out that the response from Argyll & Bute Council (paragraph 2) wrongly stated that there were “concerns regarding the lack of footway provision to Alt Darrach”. Concerns had in fact been raised about the lack of footway to ‘Springburn’.
4. Matters arising.
a. Area Plans.
Iain had e-mailed Cllr Sinclair on 3.1.24 to ask for more information on Area Plans. No reply had been received.
b. E-mail from resident about Strachur speed limits.
Iain had forwarded this to Cllr Sinclair, Jim Smith (Head, Roads & Infrastructure Services, Argyll & Bute Council) and Jenni Minto MSP. The only response had been from Ms Minto’s Communications Officer, who had asked to be kept informed of any developments.
c. Argyll Rally 2024.
At the meeting of the Argyll Rally CC Liaison Group on 15.1.24, Iain had asked the organisers to ensure that all affected residents and businesses were individually forewarned of road closures.
d. Flooding issues.
Iain had reported the flooding problem at the bottom of Clachan Brae to Argyll & Bute Council via the online complaints form. Someone else had previously reported this issue.
5. Police Report (received from PS Eddie McGunnigal by e-mail on 9.1.24)
Between 14/12/23 and 9/1/24:
“There have been several calls re weather conditions and the impact they have had on road traffic such as vehicles getting stuck due to the recent snow.”
“There have been several calls in relation to planned pest control shoots and no crimes raised in relation to public protection matters.”
PS McGunnigal had asked for feedback on the new format of the Police Report, which was more in line with Divisional Pr iorities. All attending Community Councillors were unanimous in their preference for the previous format, which itemised and enumerated different types of incident and crime reports, and was much more informative.
6. Health Report.
GP Relocation and Cowal Hospital Improvements.
Kirstie reminded those present that there was an online meeting re GP Relocation and Cowal Hospital Improvements on 29th January at 6.30 p.m. and that those wishing to participate needed to register by 19th January.
[This event was subsequently cancelled by Argyll & Bute Health & Social Care Partnership who gave the following explanation:
“You will be aware that the Scottish Government published its draft budget for 2024/25 in December last year. We have been working with the Scottish Government to fully understand the implications of the budget for our services and in terms of capital projects we have been advised to stop any project development spend and instead funds available should be focused on the maintenance of the estate and essential equipment and digital replacement. We are currently assessing the implications of this for the GP Relocation Project in Dunoon and as a result we have regretfully decided to cancel the on-line engagement event on 29th January. We will continue to work with our key stakeholders and will provide a more detailed update as soon as we have more information.”]
Articles for Newsletter and/or Facebook.
No articles had been submitted since the last meeting.
The main correspondence (in addition to any mentioned elsewhere) had been with:
a. Resident re: Light pollution (see item 11c below).
b. Argyll & Bute Council (Environmental Health) re: Fouling of bus shelter (see item 11d below).
c. Dunoon Observer re: School crossing.
Surveys and consultations.
No responses had been submitted.
Other activities.
Attended Argyll Rally Community Council Liaison ‘Zoom’ meeting on 15.1.24.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,561.79.
9. Transport update.
Kirstie had received a call from the Dunoon Observer regarding the bus service for Cowal and had been asked to comment. She had also spoken to Dunoon Community Council who at their January meeting had discussed the current bus timetable. They were intending to write to the Argyll & Bute Council Public Transport Officer and, if necessary, to the Local Councillor in charge of public transport. Dunoon CC would be asking other CCs for support and to state any concerns they had in their area with the current timetable and any improvements they would like to see. The intention was to send a single letter from all Cowal CCs. Kirstie agreed with Dunoon CC that the issue was not West Coast Motors but the fact that Argyll & Bute Council was not willing to listen to the people who live in the area and use the service. There would be an article on this subject in the next Dunoon Observer.
Anyone one with an issue or suggestion for improvement to the service through Strachur should let Kirstie know. She will collate all responses.
10. National Park Update.
None received.
11. AOB.
a. Resignation.
Laura Walker had informed Iain by e-mail that she wished to resign from the CC. Her resignation was accepted.
b. Community Council representative on Hall Committee.
William McGladdery volunteered to take on this role. Iain would forward this information to the Hall Committee.
ACTION: Iain
c. Light pollution.
A resident summarised issues regarding light pollution caused by a neighbouring property and observed that Argyll & Bute Council had produced guidance on light pollution (available at https://onedrive.live.com/edit?id=96046EB0F8DFFB8E!9320&resid=96046EB0F8DFFB8E!9320&ithint=file%2cdocx&authkey=!ALVDuDrrwQarc-Q&wdo=2&cid=96046eb0f8dffb8e), which included the statement: “The best method of dealing with light pollution is at the planning stage”. It was therefore suggested that it might be helpful if the CC asked Planning and Building Standards, Argyll & Bute Council to draw the attention of developers to the existence of this guidance. The CC agreed to forward this suggestion to Argyll & Bute Council
ACTION: Iain
d. Bus shelter.
Both Kirstie and Iain had reported the recent human fouling of the bus shelter to Argyll & Bute Council (ABC). Kirstie had been forwarded a response from Public Transport, ABC, which had stated that the Amenities team would be removing “the offending item”. Possible ways of deterring this behaviour were discussed and Iain agreed to pursue the matter.
ACTION: Iain
e. Neighbourhood Watch signs.
A resident of St. Catherines had informed Archie that the Neighbourhood Watch signs previously supplied by the CC were fading. The CC agreed to provide fresh replacements.
ACTION: Iain
14. Date and location of next meeting.
The next meeting would be at 19:30, 13th March 2024 in Strathlachlan Community Centre.
Iain Wilkie,
Secretary, Strachur & District Community Council