Community Council Minutes 17.03.25
ST. MONANS AND ABERCROMBIE COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minute of the ordinary general meeting,
held in the Church Hall, Station Road on
Monday 17th March 2025 at 7.30 pm
| Present: | Marjory Ashworth (Chair), Morven Syme (Vice Chair), Eileen Montador (Secretary), David Robertson (Treasurer), Niamh Syme (Social Media), Mervyn Blank, Cllr Sean Dillon, Cllr Alycia Hayes, Diane Martin (Minute Secretary) | |
| Apologies: | Cllr Fiona Corps, Peter Peddie | |
| Members of the public: 8 | ||
| Welcome and apologies. Marjory Ashworth welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received and recorded. | ||
| Declarations of interestThere were no declarations of interest. | ||
| There are still vacancies for people to serve on the community council. | ||
| Reports from Community Groups Floral Group – Helen MarshallRegular work is ongoing throughout the village and the plug plants have been ordered. The two tubs at the church are needing to be replaced. Cllr Dillon suggested contacting the Men’s Shed at Craigtoun Country Park, who may be able to assist. Also, possible Men’s Shed at the Botanical Gardens in St Andrews. A donation has been received already for the work of the Floral Group this year. Additional donations are required to keep the displays going. David Robertson agreed to water the hanging baskets again this year. Larder – Alison ChildCurrently covering approximately 40 people per week. Regularly take £80 per week from clients. Most of the food which is distributed would be going to waste. Regular collections from Greggs and M&S. Aldi to be approached too. Heritage Collection – HayleyFisheries museum – Memory Café tomorrow morning from 10.30 until noon. There will be a display of Easton photographs and an opportunity for people to come along and enjoy tea and home baking and share their memories. Sea Queen – Vicky RobertsonGrace Kell will be the Sea Queen this year. All the attendants have also been selected. There will be a family disco after the Sea Queen in the Town Hall. This will be a ticketed event. The Food Festival is on the 5th ofApril and tickets are £10 each. There will be no quiz this year, but there will be live music. SMAKE – Marjory AshworthBank account now up and running and an application has been submitted to the Scottish Land Fund. Bathing Pool (Salt Pans Restoration Project) – Mervyn Blank New CC subgroup addressing some concerns regarding erosion/safety at the Bathing Pool and Salt Pans. Funding for restoration of the coastline unlikely due to similar problems elsewhere. However, it is hoped that approaching the problem from a heritage perspective, to resurrect what was already there, will help any applications for funding support. Three people currently involved in this project with another two. A civil engineers report is required to establish just how extensive the issues are. M Blank met with Fife Architects who are going to prepare a digital view of the area free of charge. The Architects will also draw up a schematic of the plans for the area. No new permissions required as the plan is to reinstate what was originally on the site. Contact made with people involved in the restoration of the Cellardyke Pool area, who have helped with paperwork requirements etc. and fundraising ideas. Memorial Garden – Cllr Sean Dillon (Chair of group in Hugh Wallace’s absence)10 submissions for the design. Meeting tomorrow at 2pm to go through the proposed designs. Cllr Dillon showed pictures to the meeting. 11th May – National Fishermen’s Memorial Day. Silent Walk (26 people to represent people lost in the disaster) + 5 stewards, from St Monans to Pittenweem. People interested to contact Richard Wemyss. | ||
| Last minutes and matters arising No update re repair of the footpathMobile sweeper – apparently it has not been.Van on 26 Elm Grove (been removed) + cars on Manse Place – any issues to be reported to DVLA or car parking attendant.Footpath to Abercrombie – will be repaired this year but not before April. Tarmac required where it floods to prevent red blaes blocking the drains. The February minute was proposed by Morven Syme and seconded by Eileen Montador. | ||
| Police Matters and Report Report as at the end of 28th February.Abercrombie – no calls and no crimes recorded. St Monans – 21 calls with 3 crimes recorded.Police will be checking speed and also expired MOTs. | ||
| Chairperson’s Report – Marjory Ashworth Over 150 responses to the Place Plan survey. The results will be collated and put into a report.Bank signatory changes are ongoing.Beach Clean – is CC still interested in doing this? Yes Bank issues have resulted in us not being able to apply for our CC funding/grants. | ||
| Treasurer’s Report – David Robertson Floral Accounts Balance @ 07th March 2025 – £3487.24 – Confirmed Annual floral fund application approved for – £250.00 – Not received yet. Heritage Accounts Balance @ 07th February 2025 – £2590.39 – Confirmed No bank statement received this month. Cash Flow Accounts Balance @ 07th March 2025 – £4398.40 – Confirmed**The above amount includes funds being held for the memorial gardens of £3150.00.*Community council usable funds available £1248.40. Burns supper generated £620.00 in income. Town hall hire of £284.60 to be deducted from the £620.00, leaving £335.40 remaining. School raffle amount raised – £90.00. Cheque for £100.00 to be raised for the school. | ||
| Secretary’s Report – Eileen Montador Sea Mine at the bottom of Station Road – John Kinnesman to maintain this. Would appreciate assistance to maintain. Would like to meet with volunteers to discuss this. Permission has been given by him for the CC to upgrade. We have had volunteers already and EM will liaise between. | ||
| Members’ Reports Niamh SymeWhen making Space Plan can we do it however we want? Niamh thinking about doing a ‘cloud’. Morven SymePlanning – Stenton Farmhouse – Building works on one of the non-residential buildings. | ||
| Councillors’ Reports Cllr Sean Dillon Matters Arising:– Speed Countdown Markers:Following the last meeting, I have requested that Speed Countdown Markers be installed just before the western entrance to the village. The Transportation Service has agreed to this request but have advised there is a significant backlog when it comes to sign installation.– Streetlights on Forth StreetI contacted the council and Scottish Power to inform them that the streetlights on Forth Street were not working and was told that this would be investigated. I haven’t heard anything since so would appreciate if someone could let me know if anything has been done. Speeding on Elm Grove:– Since the last meeting of the Community Council, I have been approached by a few of residents of Elm Grove regarding the speed of traffic at the eastern entrance to the village. I have requested that a speed survey be carried out to determine whether traffic calming measures are required and have been told this will be done within the next few months. At the same time, I have also requested new speed surveys at Abercrombie after this was raised at last month’s meeting. Manse Place Bus Stop:– At the end of last month, I was contacted by a resident of Manse Place about privacy concerns they had around the Leven-bound bus stop on Manse Place looking into their property. Having spoken with the Transportation Service, I persuaded them to move the bus stop to the lane beside 11 Manse Place. (Please see attached map). It is hoped that these will be in place by the end of the month or at the beginning of next. Pavement Parking Ban:– At this month’s Cabinet Committee, it was agreed to progress with the implementation of a pavement parking ban from September. There will be streets that will be exempt from this ban and decisions regarding these exemptions will be made at Area Committee level. Obviously, many of the streets in St Monans and the wider East Neuk were built before the motorcar and I, and my fellow elected members, will be bringing streets of concern before the committee. Replacement for Ladywalk Care Home:– At last month’s full council meeting, the budget for Fife was set. One of the key outcomes of this is that work to build a new care on the site of the former tower blocks in Anstruther, commonly referred to as the Watery Butts, will go ahead. It is hoped a planning application will be submitted over the summer with construction to begin in 2026 and the new home opened by 2028. Bin Collections:– Last week marked the beginning of the reintroduction of bi-weekly collection of brown bins for the summer. Therefore, you should put your brown bin out alongside your blue bin for collection every fortnight. Cllr A HayesReview of polling stations – will not affect St MonansRoad and light reporting system is being improved – fallen trees/potholes etc. Begin in next couple of weeks. | ||
| Public Questions Hope Place – 3 houses with black bags (weekly collection) who do all their own recycling but pay same Community Charge as neighbours who use bins. Told by Fife Council that they will continue to be collected every week, but this did not happen. Lack of communication from Council about the service change. Cllr Hayes suggested possible change of staff. Despite contacting Council to find out position, getting different responses. Some householders in George Terrace also affected. Cllr Dillon will look into this.Condition of bus shelter at Elm Grove is in a poor condition. Needs painted and repaired. It would be good if there could be a bench for older people. Original bench removed to prevent youths congregating here. Footpath to church at top of the Dossie – 32 West End? Concern about new wall built on pavement. Deck House. Damage to footpath is historic. Cllr Dillon to investigate further. | ||
| AOCBMarjory Ashworth had a meeting with Mike Child and Gordon Bell regarding funding from the Common Good Fund to pay for a display cabinet – application now submitted with the support from the CC. Question about the old Spar shop. | ||
| Close/date and time of next meeting The next meeting will be held on Monday 21st April 2025 at 7.00/7.15 pm. Marjory Ashworth thanked everyone for their attendance and brought the meeting to a close. | ||
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