HELENSBURGH
COMMUNITY COUNCIL
“Helensburgh – Be Better : Be Excellent”
Minutes of the
Helensburgh Community Council Meeting
Thursday 26th
October 2006
Present: Sonja
Aitken, Ronnie Finnigan, Marion Gillies, Jim Gorie, Claire Greig, Catriona
Malan, Alastair Macbeth, Compton MacGill, Findlay McQuarrie, Nigel Millar,
Stewart Noble, Jim Robb, David Sinclair, Richard Trail, Gordon Tran and John
White.
Councillors
Gary Mulvaney, Al Reay and John Tacchi.
In the chair
Nigel Millar.
Apologies: Karen
Brabender, John Croy, Maggie Sheen and Kathleen Siddle
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Topic |
Minute |
Decision / Action |
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1. Welcome |
The Chair welcomed the
members and Compton MacGill who is the new representative of the Chamber of
Commerce. He thanked Jim Gorie
for representing the Community Council at the meeting in connection with the
design competition for Kidston Park. He thanked Gordon Tran
for his efforts in connection with the Tesco / Esso situation. (There is to
be a meeting in November with Andy Kerr of the Roads Department.) |
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2. Matters Arising |
2.1 Planning, Victoria Road An objection has been
lodged to the planning application on the basis of an inadequate standard of
design of the proposals. This is the first occasion when such grounds have
been cited by the Community Council as the principal
objection to a planning proposal. |
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2.2 Telecom Masts The issue is becoming
evident again A letter had been written to ABC
about repositioning the mast on the site of the new Academy. |
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2.3 Conservation Areas
Group Kathleen
Siddle will be meeting Historic Scotland to discuss how best to progress the
review of the two Conservation Areas. |
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2.4 Refuse and Associated Matters There is to be a
meeting on Friday with A & B Council. There is concern about the concept
of a fortnightly uplift of rotting matter. |
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2.5 Environmental Improvement
Group The Group is now
active under the leadership of Clare Greig. |
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2.6 Helensburgh Partnership A chief executive has
been appointed, nine months after the formation of the Partnership. He is
talking to people. He has been advised that it would be useful to have a
quick-implementation project to show people in Helensburgh that something is
happening. |
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2.7 Community Advertiser The magazine will
publicise the HCC
if minutes, etc can be got
to them soon after the meeting. |
It was agreed
that Nigel Millar and David Sinclair to arrange |
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2.8 Community Council
Web Site The site
is again out of date. Hermitage Academy had been approached to take over the
on-going management of the site. |
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2.9 Helensburgh Upper Railway Station Notwithstanding the
statement that there was no threat to the future of the station, it was felt
that there was a danger of its closure. |
It was agreed
that Nigel would write to ScotRail. |
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2.10 Beach Cleaning It was reported that
the Helensburgh and Lochside Rotary were proposing to sponsor beach cleaning
by providing volunteers via the adopt-a-beach scheme. |
It was agreed
that Heensburghl & Lomond Rotary to be invited to the November HCC
meeting |
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2.11 Visitors Alan Reid (MSP for the
area) and Derek Anderson (Chief Executive Helensburgh Partnership) will be
attending the December meeting of the Community Council |
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3. Public Session |
There were no members
of the public present. |
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4. Town Issues |
4.1 Safe Bathing Gordon Tran has asked
for the East Bay and West Bay be
designated safe bathing areas (from the bacteriological point of view). At
present they cannot qualify as their usage is too small. |
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4.2 Shop at Sinclair Street / West
Princes Street The derelict condition
of the shop is a cause for concern. However, unless it presents a danger to
the public A & B Council have no powers to enforce improvement. |
It was agreed
that the Secretary should write to the owner to remonstrate with him about
its condition. |
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4.3 Pavement Uneven-ness It was reported that
some of the slabs in Colquhoun Square were irregular and giving rise to falls
by pedestrians. The state of the
carriageway in West King Street was also adversely commented on. It is
understood that this is to be dealt with under the 2007/08 capital programme. |
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4.4 Environmental Group The remit of the
Environmental Group was circulated. See Appendix I for details. |
It was agreed
that this was a suitable remit. |
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4.5 Single Transferable Vote James White and Ronnie
Finnigan reported on their visit to a presentation Kilmory on this subject.
At the next election, Helensburgh and Lomond will contain three wards. The
burgh will be largely covered by the new Helensburgh Central Ward, which will
have an allocation of four councillors. The other two wards will have three
each. |
The
situation was noted. |
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4.6 40 Campbell Street It was reported that
the listed building at 40 Campbell Street for which planning application had
been granted for the construction of an additional dwelling in its garden was
at one time occupied by Dr Hooker the well-known Victorian plant collector. |
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4.7 Jeannie Deans Unit It was noted that the
Jeannie Deans unit is scheduled for closure as soon as suitable arrangements
have been made for the transfer of its existing residents elsewhere. The
transfer of residents would appear to have a considerable financial knock-on
effect on some of them. |
It was agreed
that Findlay McQuarrie should draft a letter asking NHS Highland to review
this decision. It was agreed
that Alastair Macbeth should consult with other Community Councils in the
area to establish their views. It was agreed
that Marion Gillies should liaise with the Helensburgh Care Forum on this. |
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4.8 Helensburgh Lawn Tennis Club It was reported that
neighbours were starting to become concerned about the noise arising from one
of the instructors using the courts and from cars / voices when functions are
exiting in the early hours. |
It was agreed
that the question of late night noise should be considered along with that
generated in other parts of town. |
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4.9 Litter Bins in West Clyde
Street The traders along the
front are concerned at the lack of litterbins along the front. It is said
that the density of them is much less than places such as Rothesay. |
It was agreed
to add street cleanliness to the remit of the Environmental Group |
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4.10 Phasing of Traffic Lights The difficulty caused
by the phasing of the traffic lights at the intersection of Sinclair and
Clyde Streets was raised. When the lights are red for westbound traffic in
East Clyde Street people turning right into Sinclair Street assume that the
lights are also at red, which is not
so, for the traffic going east from
West Clyde Street with the resulting potential for accidents. |
It was agreed
that Alan Kerr, A & B Council Roads should be written to. |
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4.11 Scottish Squirrel Survey Volunteers are being
sought to assist in carrying out a survey of (red) squirrels in the area.
Leaflets are available to those interested. |
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4.12 Community Outreach of
Scottish Parliament There is to be a
meeting in connection with outreach will be held on 20th November.
While community groups are welcome to send representatives, invitations will
be issued to named individuals only. |
It was agreed
that those interested should pass their names to Richard Trail. |
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5. Minutes of Previous Meetings |
The minutes of the
meeting of 28th September were considered along the adjustments
noted in Appendix II. It should be noted that Jim Robb was also present and
that the action on Stewart Noble in respect of adopt-a-station should have been passed to
the Environmental Group. Moved by John White and seconded by
Ronnie Finnigan. |
It was agreed
that the minutes represented a fair record of the meeting. |
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6. Priorities |
The
priorities for the Community Council during 2006/07 were considered as
follows:— ¨ Liaison with other
town organisations Nigel Millar ¨
Meeting
the needs of young people Clare Crogan ¨
Partnership
with the Glasgow School of Art Kathleen Siddle ¨ Annual Stewardship
Awards Stewart Noble ¨
Managing
the HCC Website Jim Gorie ¨ Local organisations
involved in housing ¨
Benchmarking
visits to other CCs |
It was the
agreed that the priorities (in order of importance) should be as
listed and that the person taking responsibility for them should be as noted. |
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7. Group Reports |
7.1 Response to Planning Applications Catriona Mallan
reported that letters had been sent in respect of applications at:— ¨
18
Millig Street ¨
Victoria
Road — It was reported that a survey commissioned by the Developers had
identified a number of decayed trees. |
It was agreed
that Bill Yule of the Helensburgh Tree Trust should be approached for a
second opinion. WHO BY? |
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BJ’s
Night Club ¨ Esso /
Tesco. : The HCC had requested a meeting with Esso and ABC to hopefully
resolve outstanding issues ¨
The
Aston Bar was complemented on its outside cigarette receptacles as compared
with the sand buckets at another establishment |
It was agreed
that Catriona Mallan would advice local people to make representations to the
Licensing Board in connection with the operation of BJ’s Night Club. |
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7.2 Conservation Area
Group It was
reported that they are undertaking the assessment of the two conservation
areas within Helensburgh and that they will be meeting Historic Scotland for
advice and assistance on this. |
The
position was noted. |
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7.3 Statutory Plans Alastair Macbeth
reported on three aspects:—
In connection with the
third comparisons were drawn by the group with West Dunbartonshire,
Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and the City of Glasgow. |
It was agreed
to give Fergus Murray a note of intended questions (prepared by the Statutory
Plans Group) to allow him to be more effectively prepared. It was also agreed
not to limit ourselves to these questions should the need to pose others
become apparent at the meeting. It was agreed
that the draft letter (of 20-10-06) in connection with SPP 11 was a
satisfactory response to the consultation and should be sent. |
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7.4 Community Safety Partnership Marion Gillies
reported on her attendance at a recent meeting. |
It was agreed
to circulate the paper relating to this meeting along with the minutes of
this meeting. |
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8. Finance |
The
Treasurer reported that there the bank balance stands at £1549.91 and that a
grant of £300 had been received from ABC for the Remembrance Day parade on
Sunday 12 November. |
The
position was noted. All Councillors are encouraged to attend |
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9. Next Meeting |
The next full meeting
will be held on 30th November at 19.00 hours in the Victoria
Halls. |
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