Community Council Minutes - June 2019

Draft Minutes Fossoway and District Community Council
4th June 2019, Blairingone Primary School

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

Police report: Our new Community Sergeant Michelle Burns attended the meeting and introduced herself.
There were no incidents to note in our area since the last CC Meeting from the Commander’s Reports received via Perth and Kinross Community Watch. Sgt Burns told the meeting that an abandoned caravan had been reported to PKC and will be removed shortly.
Speeding checks have been carried out in the area, in addition to checking for offenders, analysis of 100 vehicles was made to assess the average and maximum speeds at each point. On the 22nd May in the evening on the A977 the average speed was 29mph. On the 30th May in the morning, also on the A977, the average was 28mph with a high of 35mph, warnings were given to offenders. During a check on the B9097 at Crook Moss a driver was stopped doing 70mph.
Sgt Burns stressed that any issues could be reported either through calling 101, or by email to TaysideKinross-shireCPT@scotland.pnn.police.uk. Sgt Burns also left a number of leaflets about avoiding scammers, and said that the Police were are available to give talks on this subject to local groups.
CCllr Pye asked if Police Scotland had a process for submitting dash cam footage of potential offences. Sgt Burns said that she wasn’t aware of any system currently, although the Traffic Officers may have one. Meanwhile, reports should be made to 101 in the first instance.
Sgt Burns explained that the Police Community officers have changed their duty rotas so that rather than being on duty throughout the day and night they concentrate on hours that are more likely to be of benefit to the community. A MoP asked what to do if you detect speeding, Sgt Burns said that the most important thing was to take care of yourself and avoid confrontation; however she added that it’s actually very hard to tell when a vehicle is really speeding.
Wheelie bin 30mph speed limit stickers are being deployed in Angus and Sgt Burns will try and get some for our area too.
A MoP asked if the new traffic lights in Blairingone are working correctly, Cllr Barnacle answered that they were still under test and are not yet set to detect pedestrians as designed.

Minutes of the previous meeting: The minutes of the April meeting were signed off without amendment; the minutes from the May meeting were updated to include a correction to Cllr Purves’ report about VAT.

Matters Arising
Blairingone School Estate Transformation: The CC was advised on the 21st May that the Scottish Government had granted consent to the closure of the school. Consequently this, sadly, was probably the last CC Meeting in this building.
Cllr Watters has contacted the relevant PKC department to establish the process for a possible Community Asset Transfer to purchase the building. Officers from the department would come to this CC, or a meeting of any local committee established to take it over, to explain the process. If a transfer were to go ahead, then the building would be valued, and then its value to the community would be subtracted to arrive at a final price. Cllr Watters went on to describe some of the funds available to help with purchase.
A MoP asked what would happen to the School building if it was not transferred to the community. Cllr Purves said that eventually the building would be sold, although based on what has happened in other areas, this might not happen for some time.
Cllr Barnacle said that he was really upset about the process by which the school was closed, both the way the vote was taken, and the late planning department decision to ask for a master plan from the developers, which included playing fields, having previously told the education department that there was no demand for housing in the area.
CCllr Duffy wondered what would happen to all the school’s equipment. Cllr Purves said that some of it will go to other schools and then the residue might be available to community groups.

Powmill in Bloom: CCllr Farquhar reported that there was a good turnout for the working group at the weekend, and the refurbished trailer has been put in place, and is ready to be planted.

Crook & Drum Growing Together: CCllr Duffy reported that there will be a planting day on 15th June. All help is welcome.

Hydro Scheme Fund / Rumbling Bridge Gorge Bridge: CCllr Duffy said that plans for the two possible locations are being drawn up. Both the Community at large, and now also SEPA, have expressed a preference to reuse the old location.

Fossoway Gathering: CCllr Duffy noted that the event was quite successful, and financial reports will be presented to the CC when all monies have been finalised. CCllr Duffy hopes that the event can be repeated, although more helpers on the day of the event and immediately before and after were needed.

Fossoway Area Transport/DRT: The Community survey has been analysed and a report published. Cllr Purves stressed that activity is focussed on travelling from the rural areas into the towns, and that was reflected in the responses. Two meetings have been held between local councillors and the Public Transport Unit, and it appears that providing three routes would address the majority of needs.
A group needs to be set up to organise the service, which could either be run by volunteers purchasing a vehicle and operating it, or the three routes could be put out to tender to local bus companies, concentrating on out of school hours to get a better price. If grant funding could be obtained for the first couple of years then demand for the service could be confirmed and council funding might be obtained going forward.
A MoP asked if adults were allowed on current school bus services, Cllrs answered that only if it was a regular service scheduled to suit school hours, dedicated school services were for children only.
Other options, e.g. car sharing are also being considered by PKC. Cllr Watters added that the Action Partnership will be active in promoting any new service.

Blairingone War Memorial: Cllr Barnacle has spoken to Neil Kinnell of Profile Projects who has confirmed his commitment to the project. Cllr Barnacle is scheduling a meeting with interested parties. Profile Projects are planning to relocate their office to the old church building.

A977 Mitigation: Local resident Sara Campbell has collected a petition from residents in the Crook of Devon area of the A977. The residents are requesting that a 20mph speed limit be enforced through the village to ameliorate the problems caused by speeding goods vehicles. A trench in the road dug by Open Reach has dropped and causes noise and vibrations to buildings as HGVs cross it. Open Reach have been contacted but say that as it’s over two years since the work was done, fixing the road is no longer their responsibility. The petitioners have also asked for the road drains to be replaced with the type set into the pavement edge so they don’t cause noise as vehicles pass over them, and the road needs to be properly resurfaced rather than patched.
Ms Campbell has spoken to an audiologist who informed her that if traffic noise exceeded 80dB then PKC would have a duty of care to residents and so would need to address the problem.
Cllr Barnacle has contacted the Roads Department about repairing work done by utilities, and although the department is aware of the problem, the work hasn’t been done yet. It was noted that some drains were changed to the side mounted style in the past.
Cllrs explained that the overall mitigation measures for the A977 are designed to dissuade HGVs from coming through the villages at all, although there was general agreement from the floor that this was never going to be completely successful.
Cllr Watters pointed out that this year’s road budget was already agreed and doesn’t include enough to resurface the whole road, so the various contractors should be pressured to fix their defective repairs. Next year’s budget could include enough to surface the road properly. Cllr Purves wondered if priorities could be changed so planned top dressing in other areas could be replaced by more work in the village.
The CC will write to Stuart D’All supporting the petition.
Cllr Barnacle wrote to the roads department about the B9097 issues raised at a previous meeting of this CC. Unfortunately he received a disappointing response: the Police should be asked to enforce speed limits, and it would not be appropriate to extend the 40mph limit further out from the A977 as the road is in a rural area.
MoP Pete Trace had written to Cllr Barnacle pointing out the potential for road accidents on the A977 to A91 Loop Road – this road is substantially single track and the section between Newbigging and Claysyke has very poor visibility – this would be helped by the addition of slow signs, etc. Additionally the passing places are very potholed and rutted. Cllr Barnacle noted that the road is going to be top-dressed this year, and it would be useful for Mr Trace’s email to be forwarded to Stuart D’All so he is aware of the requirement to improve the passing places whilst the top-dressing is being done.

Ivy Cottage Powmill: Cllr Barnacle has spoken to PKC’s Empty Properties team. They have not received any response from contacting the US owner, although he is paying Council Tax, so they wanted to Compulsorily Purchase the building. Head of Planning David Littlejohn is against this idea. The CC will write to him to press the case for a CPO.

Carnbo Bus Shelter Path: Cllr Robertson has asked PKC to fix the overgrown verge, but has received no answer yet. Meanwhile, Cllr Purves has contacted Margaret Roy of PKC’s Transport Unit, who is arranging for the school bus to stop in a safer place as a temporary measure.

Powmill Play Park: CCllr Farquhar has contacted PKC to check progress against their previous promise that it would be upgraded by summer; it’s now planned to be done by the autumn.

Matters Arising with no update since last meeting:
Carnbo VAS, LDP2 and Crook Moss Travellers Site: No information at present.

New Business
None this month.

Community Council Business - Meetings Attended
CCllr Duffy attended a meeting of the Kinross Partnership where the latest tranche of investment funding for combating inequalities was discussed. There have been no applications for funding from this CC’s area.

P&K Councillors’ Reports
Richard Watters: The Kinross and District Men’s Shed are trying to put together a bid to acquire the Swansacre Perth UHI Learning Centre as a community asset, both for their own activities and for other groups seeking suitable venues.

Callum Purves: The next meeting of the Kinross-shire Forum will be on the 24th June; agenda items include the transport survey results and a potential community speed watch.

Mike Barnacle: Cllr Barnacle wants to promote a litter campaign in the area; There are now three parties involved in land ownership discussion around car parking near the Church, meanwhile the Church is now in favour of a new car park on land to the south of the cemetery.
At a recent meeting of Rural Scotland, Cllr Barnacle discovered that the Ochil Hills is a campaign target to become a Regional Park.

Planning Matters
19/00631/FLL Erection of a dwelling house and office (Class 4) at Land 180 metres south-west of Powmill Cottage, Rumbling Bridge
This application was only received on the day of the last meeting, the CC later decided not to object.

19/00622/FLL Erection of a shed at Fairview, Drum, Kinross, KY13 0UN. No CC Comment

19/00700/AML Erection of 10 dwelling houses, associated infrastructure and landscaping (approval of matters specified in conditions of 18/01855/IPL) at Land 100 Metres north-west of Schiehallion, Crook of Devon. CC Object: No flood study; inappropriate type of housing proposed.

19/00710/FLL Erection of a dwelling house and garage at land 50 metres south-east of 4 Pitcairnie Lane, Carnbo. No CC Comment.

19/00826/FLL Erection of a dwelling house and garage at Land 40 metres south-east of Croit Oran,
Carnbo. No CC Comment

Decided Applications
19/00026/FLL Change of use of equestrian land to form outdoor children’s nursery, siting of a yurt and associated works on land 70 metres north of An Darach, Fossoway.
Approved – The CC did not comment

19/00427/FLL Erection of replacement garage Cocklaw House, Powmill, Dollar, FK14 7NP.
Approved – The CC did not comment

19/00445/FLL Erection of 2 dwelling houses (change of house type - plot 2) Land 30 metres south of Crook of Devon House, Main Street, Crook of Devon.
Approved – The CC did not comment

Correspondence - All correspondence was available for viewing: In response to a request from a MoP to this CC, Cllr Purves had asked for dog poo bins to be installed in the Naemoor Road area. The request has been rejected on the grounds that there are already enough bins at the entrances to the Gorge walk.

AOCB:
School Lets Process: CCllr Pye noted that the process for booking school rooms is being changed to an online system which is obviously desirable. However it is currently intended that the CC will no longer be invoiced and make payment by BACS transfer, rather a cheque will need to be submitted as, like most organisations, the CC does not have a credit or debit card. The online system requires a registration process that appears to be aimed at individuals rather than organisations.

Powmill Notice Board: CCllr Pye had assessed what was required to repair this board and received approval from the CC to spend £30 to £40 on improving it.

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

No Meeting in July!
Next Meeting: Tuesday 6th August 2019 7:30 pm
Carnbo Village Hall
All Welcome