Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the St Monans and Abercrombie Community Council held on Monday, 20 May 2019, at 7.30 pm.

Present: P Copland (Chair) S Bridges (Secretary) W Morris (Treasurer) M Syme W Buchan H Ironside M Ashworth and Cllr Docherty

In attendance: Sonja Potjewiid, St Monans Community Development Officer, Fife Council

Members of the public: 15

1              Welcome and Apologies

V Bland, E Porteous, G Bell, V Salvage, S Collier, PC Robb and Cllr Porteous had sent their apologies.

2              Declarations of Interest

None.

3              Minutes of last meeting and matters arising

All matters were considered closed, except for the following:

3.1   Poor Condition of Bus Shelter on Elm Grove

Ongoing

3.2   Fife Council outline drawings to replace Churchyard bridge

Nothing to report.

3.3   Gully Cleaning in Abercrombie

A number of gullies have been cleaned, but not the road towards St Monans.

3.4   Grit Bins

Nothing to report.

3.5   Fence post on right of way adjacent to 24/26 Station Road

This issue was added to the list created during the town walkabout held with Fife Council officials.

3.6   Potholes at two garages sites within St Monans

Mr Buchan noted that Council employees had started working on the potholes today. A resident complained that vehicles were unfairly parking in the garage sites and that garage owners had to pay to park their cars (through the garage rental). Cllr Docherty agreed to check what parking restrictions could be enforced by Fife Council.

3.7   Potholes in and around 15/17 West End

These have now been fixed.

3.8   Repairs to railings on Station Road

Ongoing.

3.9   2019 Annual Beach Clean on 26 May

Mrs Ashworth confirmed that a skip and the services of a forklift truck had been arranged for the beach clean day.

3.10   Village Walkabout

Mr Copland noted the success of the walkabout day, with a good turnout of residents and a considerable amount of information and photographs taken by council officials. All the action are now with Fife Council to review and, hopefully, address.

It was noted that Pittenweem and Anstruther had conducted similar events.

3.11   St Monans Residents Group

The next meeting will be on 22 May in the Masonic hall at 6.30pm.

3.12   East Neuk Community Emergency Planning Team (ENCEPT)

The Secretary confirmed that Kirsty Ironside and Bill Buchan had agreed to represent St Monans & Abercrombie. He has sent their contact details to ENCEPT.

3.13   East Neuk Salt Company and East Neuk Heritage Company

Mr Morris, a director of the East Neuk Heritage Company, advised that there had been some progress with plans to recreate a salt panhouse on the original site. Building estimates were being sought and plans were being developed to seek funding.

3.14   St Monans Community Development Officer April Update

Noted that there would be a ‘Silent disco’ on Saturday 26 May in the townhall. Mr Copland also advised that the organized 12–18 year old football event at the MUGA had been well attended on its first meeting and would continue throughout the summer.

3.15   Community notice board

Noted that we are still looking for quotes to replace the notice board on Station Road. A resident asked if the garden area around the community notice board, and owned by Fife council, could be tidied up.

3.16   Litter on roads around Abercrombie

Mrs Ashworth confirmed Fife Council had tidied up litter around Abercrombie. However, many local residents continued to throw their coffee cups around the road through the village.

There being no other comments, Mrs Syme proposed (Mr Buchan supported) that the minutes be adopted. The minutes were approved.

4              Chairperson’s Report

Mr Copland advised that the East Neuk Community Council group would be holding its next monthly meeting in St Monans. Members of the public were welcome to attend the meeting at the church hall on 29 May at 7pm.

5              Secretary’s Report

Mr Bridges had received a letter from an individual in Crossford who was keen to establish a fiddle orchestra in Fife. If anyone is interested, please contact the Secretary in the first instance.

6              Treasurer’s Report

Mr Morris circulated the annual accounts to 31 March 2019. The accounts were independently audited by Mr Colin Wilson and the Chair thanked Colin for agreeing to do this. Mr Morris also advised that the outstanding arrears for £206 (in relation to the Burns supper) had now been paid.

There was a brief discussion about the use of the church hall by the Community Council and it was noted that rental fees had not been raised by the parish church. Mr Bridges was asked to write to the church treasurer to request an invoice.

7              Members reports

Planning Matters:   Mr Copland advised that an application to improve disabled access to the Auld Kirk had been received by Fife Council. He also noted that plans for a new crematorium at 100 acre wood, Cameron, near St Andrews.

St Monans Children’s Play park:   Ms Ironside provided an update regarding funding applications. She reminded the meeting that the estimated cost was £120,000. An application to Fife Environmental Trust for a £50,000 grant was being prepared. Lottery funding was being considered and approaches had been made to a number of supermarkets to have an allocated bag packing weekend.

In response to a question from Mr Bridges, Ms Ironside agreed to check with Fife Council officials on what planning permissions would be necessary for the new play park.

8              Councillor Updates

Cllr Docherty noted he had been in ongoing discussions with the local Health Board regarding the proposed out of hours proposals. One suggestion that patients at St Andrews who need to be transferred to the Victoria hospital in Kirkcaldy, would be sent via local taxi or minibus. Cllr Docherty had raised concerns about the appropriate medical qualification of the drivers.

9              Towns Team update

Mr Copland invited Mr Child to provide an update on the Towns Team activities. Mr Child noted the success of the Bowhouse event in May and that several local organisations would benefit from the profits of the fund raising event.

10           Community Development Officer update

Sonja Potjewiid provided an update. She noted that the Little Welly Club was going from strength to strength, with new members joining and approx. 30 children attending. The first community newsletter was about to be distributed to all homes in St Monans and Abercrombie. She confirmed that 14 young people (aged between 8 and 13) had attended the first football night at the MUGA. She also advised the meeting that the CAP drop in centre had started in the local library and some residents had already dropped in to discuss their ideas for the village. Finally, she noted that she was working on a programme of summer activities and that further details would be available at the next meeting

11           Sustran (National Cycle Network) ‘EN 50’ multi-use path

The East Neuk bike awareness weekend in May had seven local cyclists take part in an organised ride from Bowhouse to Kingsbarns. Ms Potjewiid also advised that Pittenweem Community Council had applied for funding for £4,000 to undertake a feasibility study and public consultation on the creation of a multi-use path in their area.

12           Public Questions

A resident complained about the quality of the grass cutting on public spaces by Fife Council. It was very untidy. Cllr Docherty explained that this was due to a change in the Council’s grass cutting policy, which now aims to encourage more environmentally friendly wild grass areas, particularly on sloped ground.

Another resident asked the Chairman if the St Monans Community Trust had purchased the old Salvation Army hall on West Street. Mr Copland confirmed that the Trust had not purchased the hall.

13           Any other business

13.1   Speeding and dangerous cycling through Abercrombie

The Chair read out a letter from a resident in Abercrombie regarding vehicle speeding and hazardous cycling through the village. In particular, she had noted several cyclists riding three abreast through Abercrombie while cars were travelling at speeds in excess of the limits. She had considerable concerns about safety. Mrs Ashworth confirmed that the concerns raised were legitimate and it was only a matter of time before a serious accident occurred within Abercrombie.

Speeding is a serious issue in Abercrombie and the current speed limit measures are not working. It was agreed to forward on the letter and Community Council concerns to Police Scotland.

13.2   Dangerous parking around Station Road, Gourlay Crescent & Inverie Street junctions.

Another near miss of a child being knocked down was reported to the meeting, again due to inconsiderate parking on this busy junction. Mr Copland asked that residents take pictures of offending vehicles and send them directly to PC Robb. It was also suggested that new railings should be installed on the four corners of the junction to prevent parking on the pavement. Cllr Docherty agreed to look into this and raise it with Council officials.

It was also agreed that Ms Syme would speak the Nichola Wallace, the local primary school head, to see if children could carry body cameras to document the hazards they face while walking to school.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Community Council will be on Monday, 17 June at 7.30 pm.