Community Council Minutes 20/03/23
ST. MONANS AND ABERCROMBIE COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minute of the ordinary general meeting held in the Church Hall, Station Road on
Monday 20th March 2023 at 7.30 pm
| Present: | Vicki Salvage (Chair), Marjory Ashworth (Vice Chair), Billy Morris (Treasurer), Diane Martin (Minute Secretary), Eileen Montador, Richard Croker, Morven Syme, Mervyn Blank, Trish Hardie, Councillor Fiona Corps, Councillor Sean Dillon, Councillor Alycia Hayes | |
| Apologies: | Police Scotland, Nicola Wallace, Norman Cowie, Ruth Brown | |
| Members of the public: 10 | ||
| Welcome and apologies (Minute Secretary introductions) V Salvage welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Diane Martin as the new Minute Secretary. | ||
| Declarations of Interest V Salvage gave an overview of the current committee vacancies and provided details of the four applicants. Three of the applicants were present at the meeting and B Morris advised that Paula Jane Keir had withdrawn her application. M Syme advised that, as she was the parent of one of the candidates, she would not take part in the voting process. The vote would be carried out as a secret vote, meaning no one knows who’s voting for who. | ||
| Election of New Members Voting slips were issued to committee members who were asked to indicate their two choices with a cross. Councillors’ Corps and Dillon collected the slips and moved to the rear of the hall to count the selections. Cllr Dillon then reported back that the successful applicants were David Robertson and Niamh Syme. V Salvage invited the two new members to join the rest of the committee although, due to space, they opted to remain in the public seating area for the remainder of the meeting. V Salvage informed the meeting that there would be further opportunities to join the committee. A full Community Council public election by postal ballot will take place this coming autumn. | ||
| Visiting Speakers/Groups There were no visiting speakers or groups in attendance. | ||
| Previous Minutes and Matters Arising E Mathers advised that the tree had been cut down. It was suggested that this might be replaced by a large Christmas tree to provide a focal point in the absence of a high street. Cllr Hayes agreed to find out from Fife Council what could go in place of the felled tree. The previous minutes were proposed by M Syme and seconded by E Montador. | ||
| Police Matters and Report M Ashworth advised that she had observed police speed checks at the new houses and that 2 cars had been stopped.V Salvage advised that the police report will be available at the end of March, and she will circulate as appropriate. | ||
| Treasurer’s Report The sum of £890 was deposited following the Burns Supper.Money was paid to V Salvage and M Ashworth for book tokens/expenses.The water bill for the Heritage Collection Rooms has been cleared. However, this expense will rise by 5% after April. Should the application for charitable status be successful, there will no longer be the requirement to pay this monthly expense. Enquiries to be made to Fife Voluntary Action for advice on the process of applying to become a charity.Floral Account – no money has been received from Fife Council for last year’s flower bill. This was due to a minor discrepancy in the application. The Council did not respond for a period of 4 months. The correction has been made and the application re-submitted, and we await payment.All applications to Fife Council now need to be made in a digital format. This process is not straight forward and, following discussion, Cllr Dillon agreed to contact the council to see if local training can be provided for St Monans & Abercrombie and other East Neuk Community committee members. M Syme and M Blank intimated their interest in attending this. | ||
| Secretary Vacancy M Ashworth suggested that some tasks could be split to perhaps create interest here. V Salvage acknowledged the assistance she has received from M Syme and M Ashworth since the previous secretary left the post. She stressed that the secretary needs to be a good organiser and asked people to consider this vacancy. | ||
| Members’ Reports T Hardie T Hardie, M Blank, R Croker and B Morris are looking into the development and production of a St Monans’ Heritage Gin. B Morris found an old recipe in the Heritage Collection Rooms dating back from the 1850s. M Ashworth An extraordinary meeting of several committee members was held on Wednesday 17th March to discuss options for a community event to mark the Coronation of King Charles III. It is proposed that an all-age family disco will be held on Saturday 6th May in the Town Hall. This will be a free event, with people bringing their own bottle/snacks. There is limited capacity in the Town Hall and people will need to register to attend by contacting M Syme. Information will be going out via the school App and invitations will be sent to pupils and nursery children. M Syme An afternoon Tea Party will be held in the Church Hall on Saturday 6th May. It is hoped there will be screens showing the Coronation. All are welcome. M Syme advised E Mathers that there is no planning application in for the works taking place in Station Road. R Croker The prize giving for the Burns recitations is to be held in the school on Tuesday 28th March at 11am.There will be a site meeting at 24 Station Road on Thursday 23rd March at 10.30 am to discuss/review the removal of the path/right of way. R Croker, Cllr Dillon and a representative from Fife Council will attend. M Blank M Blank provided an update on the situation regarding the Heritage Gin. R Croker has produced a ‘Non-Disclosure Agreement’ which will be submitted to Michael, and possibly other distillers, for consideration. B Morris £1900 has been awarded to the Heritage Collection Rooms to pay for the repairs to the damp wall. Up to date quotes are required. Electrics and radiators require to be disconnected, and a plasterer will be required to make good the wall after the repairs. Help is required to clear the wall area and cover other items ahead of the repairs.Richard Wemyss has agreed to provide 120 boxed Coronation mugs at a cost of £4 per item. M Syme has sourced small ‘hotel pillow type’ Coronation themed chocolates online, which will be placed in the mugs when they are issued to the children. V Salvage will send members the mug design for their views. Once Richard has the design, he will provide a sample prior to production. Extra mugs can be produced for sale in the Heritage Collection Rooms. | ||
| Chair’s Report The St. Monans’ International Food Festival will take place on Saturday 1st April at 6pm in the Town Hall. This evening will also include a bar and a family quiz. The event is being organised by The Sea Queen Committee. Particular thanks were extended to Vicki Roberston, who has sourced a number of excellent prizes for this event.Ruth Brown has sent her apologies for her absence. Ruth was to speak to the meeting about the planned tree planting. A copy of Ruth’s email detailing the plans is attached.The RVS are overseeing the receipt of applications for ‘Coronation Champions’. Applications should be made no later than 2nd April. V Salvage will send out the link for this. Coronation Champions may be inspiring volunteers etc. The committee was asked to share this information as soon as possible, as there is limited time remaining before the application process closes.A picture of the chair to be used instead of the 3 Baillie’s chairs was shared with the meeting. This new Sea Queen chair was gifted to the Sea Queen committee by the Preservation Society.There are no plans yet for the Old Folks Tea, but it is hoped that this will be resurrected in April. | ||
| Councillors’ Reports Cllr F Corps Cllr Corps met with Police who advised that there have been a number of car thefts in the area. Cars are being stolen to order and the police are recommending owners take additional security measures with keys. Community speed watch shows that wearing yellow vests has a significant impact on slowing the traffic. Any member of the community can obtain a speed gun and yellow vest. They can advise the police of any speeding details and the police will email the driver(s). Cllr S Dillon There is a meeting this Thursday regarding the right of way issue.There is a meeting in April regarding Gourlay Crescent.At a recent Fife Council budget meeting it was revealed that Rent and Council Tax are to be increased by 5%.Fife Council will carry out free uplifts of bulky waste items from 3rd April e.g. fridges/sofas etc. To arrange this service, residents should contact www.fife.gov.uk/bulkyuplifts. The uplifts will take place on the same day as blue bin collection. Cllr A Hayes People operating a short-term letting business e.g. holiday letting, now require a licence from the Council. Properties cannot be let out unless they are licenced. Currently only 159 applications have been received but there are approximately 5000 holiday houses in the area. Of the 159 applications made, only 23 licences have been granted so far. Cllr Hayes asked those attending to spread the word about this. Applications should be submitted by the 1st April 2023. | ||
| Public Questions E Mathers asked about the right of way issue. Cllr Dillon advised that there would be a meeting on Thursday 23rd April to discuss this. | ||
| AOCB B Morris Several reports have been received about the street lights not working. Apparently Scottish Power sub-contracted the repair work but the company responsible were short staffed. Fife Council agreed to step in to carry out repairs.Several artifacts were moved into a warehouse for storage. It was reported that 3 antique St. Monans’ Baillie’s chairs which Fife Council was understood to have taken into ‘safe custody’, were instead reported to be stored in a room between the Library and the Town Hall. V Salvage agreed to speak to Lisa about this rumour or report. M Blank Suggested selling items in the Heritage Collection Rooms, e.g. postcards etc. to raise some funds. He was concerned about missing the tourist season if we don’t press on with this. Discussion followed and the consensus was that, before this was considered, we should get the repair work done and establish the charitable status (which enables access to grant funding). Cllr Hayes advised that the Community Council need to look at their constitution to see if there is anything preventing them acting as ‘Lead Tennant’ of a charity/business. Advice here can be obtained from Fife Voluntary Action Group.Digital speed signs have still not been erected in Abercrombie. Cllr Hayes will look into this.The Local Transport Strategy was discussed and Cllr Dillon explained the process.There is a surplus in one of the Community Council bank accounts and M Blank wanted to know where the money came from, why is it still there and can it be used. B Morris advised this was a ‘slush’ fund. M Blank requested to see the accounts for this fund at the next meeting. R Croker Has concerns about the planting of the 350 trees. Who will maintain them? There doesn’t seem to have been proper consultation on this. The Council has agreed to the planting and no planning permission has been required. V Salvage agreed to send out all her correspondence and communications relating to the tree planting to R Croker and to discuss this at a later date. Cllr Hayes advised that Fife Council don’t have a great track record on maintaining trees and asked if this planting could be halted. M Ashworth Willbe organising a Beach and village clean up. This will take place at the end of May. M Ashworth to check tide times and contact the Council re provision of a skip. | ||
| Thanks V Salvage thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting. | ||
| Date and time of next meeting Monday 17th April 2023 at 7.30 pm. | ||
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