Community Council Minutes - August 2019

Draft Minutes Fossoway and District Community Council
6th August 2019, Carnbo Village Hall

Attending: Community Cllrs Sarah Bruce-Jones, Trudy Duffy, Carol Farquhar, Graham Pye and Rob Young; P&K Cllrs Callum Purves and Richard Watters; Eight Members of the Public (MoP).
Apologies: P&K Cllrs Mike Barnacle and Willie Robertson; CCllr Angus Cheape.
Declarations of Interest: None.

Police report: There was one incident to note in our area since the last CC Meeting from the Commander’s Reports received via Perth and Kinross Community Watch: Overnight on Friday 7th June, an attempt was made to gain entry to a domestic heating oil tank in Carnbo.
Updates received by email from Sergeant Burns who was unable to attend this meeting: Police Scotland does not have the facility for the public to upload dash cam footage directly – instead a call should be made to 101 (or 999) in the first instance; A977 speed signs do not gather data which could be shared with the Police, however the results of other surveys carried out by PKC could be used to identify relevant times and places for speed checks to be carried out.
CCllr Cheape noted that Fly Tipping is becoming a problem on the A91 between the Devon Bridge and Carnbo – this information will be passed on to Sgt Burns.

Community Speedwatch: Cllr Robertson attended a meeting with Inspector Kevin Chase, Cllr Barnacle and Cllr Purves. Inspector Chase said that Police Scotland are very supportive of Speedwatch schemes and are keen to establish one in Kinross-shire. Setup costs would be in the region of £1000, and the Police would train the volunteers. The Police would also agree areas to be studied and ensure that a safe location was used. All vehicles exceeding a defined margin above the limit would be written to by the Police and repeat offenders visited by the Police if possible. Cllr Duffy encouraged members of the public to join this scheme and stressed how effective it had been when piloted in the past. Cllr Purves suggested that initially one set of equipment should be obtained for Kinross-shire.

Minutes of the previous meeting: The minutes of the previous meeting were signed off without amendment.

Matters Arising
Hydro Scheme Fund / Rumbling Bridge Gorge Bridge: Alastair Smith and Fred Whalley from TRACKS presented the proposed location and design of the new bridge. The bridge would be located at the site of the old bridge but with a slightly different landing on the west bank. It would be constructed from two lattice masts which are manufactured in short sections to be assembled on site. The beams would then be surfaced with wooden planks 1.2m wide covered in non-slip material. It’s unlikely that a large crane would be able to access the site, but the lattice masts chosen are light enough to be installed without. The landing at the west end would be formed by burying a concrete pipe in the ground and filling it with concrete. There are no detailed costings at present but it is estimated that the scheme would cost approximately £100k in total – based on pro rating the price of £14k obtained for the previously proposed bridge to 24m plus install.
There was some discussion about whether the Army could help with, or perform, the installation as they have been involved in this sort of project before – Jim Duffy agreed to contact Andy Middlemass who knows how to get in touch with the Army.
Alastair Smith suggested that it would be a good idea to get a tree surgeon to look at the area upstream and possibly remove any trees or branches that could harm the bridge in future. Alastair also stated that SEPA were happy with the proposed location, as it would be high enough above water level to be safe. The proposed landings would be level with the paths so there will be good access for disabled.
A MoP asked about land ownership in the region of the bridge landings, and in the area required by the contractors – George Lawrie would know. A MoP asked if PKC would adopt the bridge. George Lawrie is going to discuss this with PKC shortly, and could also discuss the potential planning application that will be required. TRACKS will prepare some more detailed costings.

Powmill in Bloom: CCllr Farquhar reported that they will enter the “Well Kept Village” competition this year.

Powmill Play Park: CCllr Farquhar reported that it is due for significant development later this month – a refurbished, level, football area will be created and new play equipment installed.

Ivy Cottage Powmill: Some tidying and decoration has been done by Powmill Bloom members. Cllr Barnacle had forwarded a letter from David Littlejohn stating that PKC were about to contact the owner and ask if they would sell the property at market value. MoP asked if that would be a compulsory purchase, Cllrs answered that would only happen if the owner wouldn’t sell it voluntarily.

Fossoway Area Transport/DRT: Cllr Purves is planning to set up a group consisting of the local Councillors, plus representatives from each CC, if interested, to implement a solution based on the survey results. Three bus routes is the likely potential solution. The Rural Outreach volunteer drivers will also be involved.

Blairingone War Memorial: Cllr Barnacle has asked Tam Carroll’s stone mason to provide an estimate.

A977 Mitigation: As described in the last meeting, Crook of Devon resident Sarah Campbell submitted a complaint together with a petition about the condition of the A977 to PKC. The response from Lachlan MacLean was rather disappointing - the request to address the dip in the road in Crook of Devon, left after utility works, was met with the answer that there is a future resurfacing scheme for this section of road but there is no date for it to be implemented at the moment. Cllr Purves suggested it might be possible to reorder priorities so this could be done sooner. CCllr Duffy will write to Daryl McKeown to try and get this addressed.
The speed sensing traffic lights in Blairingone are now fully operational. There have been some suggestions from the public that the speed threshold is set too low which then causes noise as vehicles accelerate again, however the aim of the system was to reduce the speed of vehicles through the village, which was what local residents asked for.

Matters Arising with no update since last meeting:
Crook & Drum Growing Together and Crook Moss Travellers Site: No information at present.

New Business: None this month.

Community Council Business - Meetings Attended
CCllrs Bruce-Jones and Cheape attended the Kinross Forum on 24th June at which the following items were discussed: The proposed Community Transport group described above; Cllr Purves is trying to get draft schemes of administration agreed by PKC’s legal and finance departments; Cllr Robertson agreed to organise a meeting with the Police to discuss Community Speedwatch as described above; A presentation was given about Community Fibre projects – a grant of £1500 per household is available to get fibre network connectivity if less than 30Mbit/s is currently available. Although this would not be enough on an individual basis, it could be if a number of residents in an area all applied. Cllr Purves encouraged qualified residents to contact him if they are interested in applying for this scheme so that big enough groups can be assembled; Cllr Barnacle is hoping to establish a local litter collection campaign.

P&K Councillors’ Reports
Richard Watters: Cllr Watters is keen to arrange a Community Asset Transfer meeting to assess whether there is enough interest from the community to take over the school building. However the meeting can’t be held at the school as it’s now closed! So Cllr Watters will try and to arrange the meeting somewhere else towards the end of September. There is funding available and a team from PKC available to help.
The Action Partnership would give £1200 to each village hall to provide Wi-Fi – the sum would cover making the connection and funding it for two years, letters are being circulated, it’s possible that two halls could be connected via the local school’s network.
The Men’s Shed in Kinross is struggling to purchase their building via Community Asset Transfer, since there is a loophole that the building is currently owned by an educational establishment and hence is not included in the scheme. Cllr Watters asked the CC to write to Margaret Cook, principal of the College to support the bid from the Men’s Shed.

Callum Purves: A MoP asked about the Carnbo bus shelter problem with the verge being impassable – Cllr Purves will chase. LDP2 has been returned by the reporter: Cllr Purves’ amendment for developers to take account of the route action plans for the A977 and B9097 was accepted; The Member Officer Working Group had included an amendment to LDP2 which would require developers to include a range of house numbers along with any development. Not only did the reporter reject this proposal but watered down the requirement on developers to only specify an indicative number of houses;

Mike Barnacle: Although Cllr Barnacle was unable to attend the meeting due to a conflicting appointment, he sent updates as follows: There will be a meeting at Fossoway Church Cemetery regarding the proposed church car park on 27th August – Cllr Barnacle asked if a member of the CC could attend, if possible bringing a copy of the planning application previously made by the CC; On the 29th August there will be a meeting at Fossoway Church regarding possible adoption of Drummond Park.

CC Election Process: PKC have changed the CC’s financial year to finish at the end of August. Consequently CC members will need to submit expenses for the period April to August and a set of accounts will be prepared and audited. There will then be an AGM at the start of the CC’s October meeting to hear reports from the chair and treasurer and to approve the accounts.
In addition, all the CC members become liable for re-election, with nominations opening on 15th August and closing on the 22nd September. Should an election be required, this will be held on the 7th November. CCllr Duffy requested that anyone interested in becoming a member of the CC should submit their nominations along with the existing members, who it is hoped will all stand. Finally, there will be an EGM at the start of the CC’s December meeting to form the new CC.

Planning Matters
19/01001/FLL Extensions to dwelling house at New House, Powmill, FK14 7NS. No CC Comment

19/00962/FLL Alterations and extension to dwelling house at 34 West Crook Way, Crook of Devon, KY13 0PH. No CC Comment

19/01073/FLL Formation of five pitches and associated works at land 50 metres east of Powmill Cottage, Rumbling Bridge. No CC Comment

19/01141/FLL Alterations and extension to dwelling house at Fossoway Schoolhouse, Crook of Devon. No CC Comment

Decided Applications
19/00473/IPL Residential development (in principle) Land 110 metres south-east of 3 Birkfield Park, Rumbling Bridge. Application refused – The CC objected.

19/00622/FLL Erection of a shed Fairview, Drum, Kinross KY13 0UN. Approved – The CC did not comment.

19/00710/FLL Erection of a dwelling house and garage Land 50 metres south-east of 4 Pitcairnie Lane, Carnbo. Approved – The CC did not comment.

Correspondence - All correspondence was available for viewing: To mark their 100th year, Tesco have launched Bags of Help Centenary Grants - applications for grants of £25,000 from not for profit organisations for a broad range of projects that will provide community benefit are invited.
The B918 at Balado will be closed for five days from 9th September for resurfacing.

AOCB: A MoP reported that the Aldie road has branches overhanging road which are dangerous to cycles if they meet an oncoming car. The CC will write to Garry McConnell to ask for this to be addressed.

Draft Agenda for Next CC Meeting
Welcome and Apologies, Declarations of Interest, Community Policing, Minutes of last meeting.
Matters arising: Rumbling Bridge Gorge Bridge, Powmill in Bloom, Crook & Drum Growing Together, Ivy Cottage Powmill, Fossoway Area Transport, Blairingone War Memorial, A977 Mitigation.
Community Councillors: Meetings Attended, PKC Councillors’ Reports, Planning, Correspondence, AOCB

Next Meeting: Tuesday 3rd September 2019 at 7:30 pm
Fossoway Primary School
All Welcome