(Minute Secretary)

P Copland welcomed everyone.

Apologies: None

Several of the Community Councillors declared an interest regarding item 8.1 in the minutes – the Common Good Application for the Kirk Hall and abstained from voting on this matter.

3.1(2.2)(5) Miller Terrace

P Copland said that he had been busy this month as he had been involved with Sea Queen.  He had no further information regarding Miller Terrace.

P Copland

P Copland said that he did speak to Colin Stirling regarding parking across driveways.  He is awaiting advice from one of his Technicians.

 P Copland

P Copland said that, regarding moving the speed limit by the Caravan Park, that we looked at this before; and we will look at it again.

P Copland

Cllr J Docherty said that he had got the contact.   The person from Fife Council contacted him again.  He said that anyone interested should let him know.

G Brown said that he thought it is important that someone goes round with the Fife Council representative, especially those who have been involved with the surface water problems over the years.  E Hughes said that she was happy to do this but could not do it apart from a Tuesday or Wednesday.  M Ashworth, E Hughes and B Allan to co-ordinate with Cllr J Docherty.

E Hughes

M Ashworth

B Allan

Cllr J Docherty

A contact person is needed.  John Kinsman of Coast Watch was suggested, as he had said that he would deal with it.

 Cllr J Docherty

Cllr E Riches said that she was still chasing this.

B Allan said she was still awaiting replies.  G Brown said that the timber and paint are arriving tomorrow.  B Allan asked for Craig Hutton’s address.

B Allan said that there is no room for prams or buggies to go past at Miller Terrace because of the plant pots.  Bill Buchan mentioned the caravan at the corner of Miller Terrace.  Cllr J Docherty said that he would follow this up and take photographs.

 Cllr J Docherty

G Brown said that he had emailed Cllr E Riches with evidence of bids.  Cllr Riches said she got an apology from Sharon Ward for what she put in her email to Mr Kyle (which had said that no community groups submitted an offer …).  Sharon Ward had said that she was genuinely sorry for the confusion caused.  Cllr E Riches said that we all knew that when Mr Kyle read out the email last time that it was patently wrong.  Cllr E Riches said that she still needs to go back to Housing to see if they had the option to choose a lower bid.  She added that we are not going to turn the clock back, but we do need to understand this.

Cllr J Docherty said that he would bring up this with Rod Campbell, the former MSP, and ask him to look out anything in connection with this and make it available.

Cllr E Riches

Cllr J Docherty

This was looked into and it was agreed that what they were proposing was OK.

V Salvage said that she had tried to ring the telephone number.  There was no reply.  She said that she would get back to this.

 V Salvage

Proposer: G Brown                       Seconder: V Salvage

The Chairman said that the recent Sea Queen event had been a very successful couple of days – the sun shone on us for the two days.  He gave thanks to everyone who helped.  He gave thanks also to

Cllr E Riches for being our VIP for the weekend.

P Copland said that he would like to make his views felt about the damage that has been done to the MUGA.  He said that it is totally reprehensible and uncalled for.  Hopefully the information that the police have will go some way to find out who was responsible for this damage.  The fence was deliberately taken up, and now one of the posts for the tennis nets has been broken out of the ground.

The Chairman said that next Saturday we have a Faith, Hope and Blues evening here in the Mayview at 7.30 pm; tickets cost £5, which includes stovies.  This is the second one that they have held.  The first one was a sell-out and it looks as if this will be as successful.  The fundraiser is for the Nursery and for the Hall Improvement Fund.

There were a number of road closures because of Sea Queen Day.  There was also an emergency road closure in the West End.  These roads have now been re-opened.

Regarding the changes to the bus timetables.  There were numerous consultations.  The closest consultation was on Friday in Cupar on the pavement by the bus stop by W H Smith.  There have been changes to the timetables for the X60, X62 and X58.  The provision by the X62 will be enhanced and there will be buses at 20 minutes frequency instead of 30 minute frequency.

There has been the 5^th Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements.  The Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland has submitted to Scottish Ministers its Reports and Final Recommendations for the number of councillors and the electoral ward boundaries in each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.  G Brown said that there is a website that anyone interested can go to for more information:

www.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk/reviews/5th_electoral/

G Brown said that he also got something from the Fife Elderly Forum Executive.  They have now renamed their organisation the Fife Elderly Forum. G Brown offered to allow anyone interested to read what he had received from this organisation.

G Brown said that Bill Porteous has raised £527 from willing people for Beautiful St Monans flowers.  G Brown said this amount includes several small donations; adding that all donations (large and small) are very much appreciated.  We got our floral grant.  Over the years it has been cut year on year.  This year it is £229.  We have one expenditure item for the new mats and wicks.  Last month, G Brown said that he reported it as £530.  However he said that it is in fact £530 plus VAT – £660.

There have been one or two donations for the Heritage Fund.

Planning permission in principle for demolishing stores and garages at 12 Elm Grove and the proposer is to build a house.  There are no details: no elevations or sections.  The house would appear to be 12 m long.  Until such time as a full planning application goes in we can say no more.  G Brown said that he did not see any reason why we could reasonably object to it yet.

There was a non-material Variation request for height of the MUGA floodlights from 12 m to 8 m and G Brown said that he saw that it had been passed that day.

8.1  Common Good Application for the Kirk Hall

P Copland brought up the Common Good Application for the windows for the Kirk Hall.  It has been brought forward for CC approval for £5,000.  It has to go to Council for approval.   This is only part of the cost because the church has to fund part of it itself.  The estimate for the budget is £25,000.   They have given us copies of quotations.  There was a contingency built in of a few thousand to cover plasterwork which would inevitably be damaged.  The other £25,000 they are raising themselves.  In answer to a question from a member of the public it was said that the ‘Nearly New’ money goes into the church funds for various things; there was a copy of the Church of Scotland accounts for St Monans available to have a look at.  The estimates are for £22,174, £18,184 and £19,388 plus approximately £500 for repairs to the stone ingos.  In their application they do say that the Church Hall is used fairly heavily by various groups.   One group left the Church Hall because of draughts from the windows.  G Brown said that the CC needed to vote on this to decide whether we wish to support this or not.  Several of the Community Councillors who had a connection with the church, declared an interest and therefore could not vote.  A vote was taken.  Result: carried – all those able to vote were in favour.

8.2  Fence at the Bottom of the Dawsie

P Copland said that a fence has appeared at the bottom of the Dausie at the West End  (at the bottom of the hill beside the lamppost with the 2 hanging baskets).  He said that he had no knowledge of who that land belongs to, or who built the fence.  G Brown said that the people who are building that fence do not own that bit of land.  A Member of the Public asked what was the purpose of the fence.  G Brown said that it looks as if they are putting in rubble behind the fence to form a pathway.  G Brown said that the CC had objected to the outside store there.  There were conditions that they did not comply with.  Nothing happened.  He went on to say that, if Planning choose not to do anything, we are powerless.  All we can do is point it out to Lyall Smith in Enforcement and see what he says.  Cllr D Macgregor to contact Lyle Smith.

P  Copland

Cllr D Macgregor

G Brown said that, as everyone was probably aware, the MUGA was vandalised at the weekend by people bouncing on the net.  He said that he had a photograph.  He reported it to the police, who are pretty sure they will find out exactly who it was.  While he was reporting the vandalism, G Brown asked about CCTV.  He said that, as far as the policeman was aware, there was nothing to stop us from getting a CCTV system to cover that area.  So, G Brown said, he had gone back to Alan Bisset who is in charge of the MUGA and asked him to investigate that.

Also, when the sockets for the net were put in G Brown said that he had mentioned at the time that he was surprised that the sockets for the net were just in tarmac.  He said that he would suggest that when they are repaired that they are put in concrete.

He said that, in the meantime, this puts the official opening back yet again, because there is no way that we want to open it when there is a hole in the gate and a hole in the surface.

A member of the public said he went over and had spoken to the people involved, and had handed over photographic evidence and gave information to the police.  He said that hopefully it will be resolved in a sensible manner.  He said that it is a good facility but it needs to be controlled.  It will not work if it is to be open all night.

G Brown said that the lighting will be on a time switch, so it will not be on after 8.30 pm.  It will have PIRs so it will not go on if it is too bright – so the lighting will only be of use during the winter.  He went on to say that part of the condition was that it had to be open to anyone at any time for free.  They have one in Crail and they have virtually no problem with vandalism.  Nothing has happened to their playing surface or fencing.  They have to operate it in the same way as us.  We can do nothing else.  The member of the public said that he suspected that the facility that was there before got into a poor state of repair because it was not being controlled.  G Brown said that there had been a fee for the use of the facility, but, he said, the fencing started to rot and then people stopped using it.  The member of the public said that there needs to be some boundaries set.  For example, he said, there were people who were playing football at 12 pm at night in the dark.

G Brown said that we cannot lock it, because we would be in breach of one of the grants.  The member of the public said that it will only be used as long as it is usable.   G Brown again said that Crail had had no problem with vandalism of their facility.  Cllr D Macgregor said that that is not quite true: at the beginning they did have some vandalism.  The member of the public said that it may well be that a notice goes up trying to lay down some guidelines.  G Brown said that, if we have a CCTV system in operation, if something does get vandalised, we will have a good idea who has done it.  M Ashworth asked if the CCTV coverage of the area would be made known to those using the MUGA.  G Brown said that the police said that you must inform people that you have a CCTV system.

Cllr E Riches asked if the children had been taken along to the facility.  G Brown said that they were about to be taken along when the vandalism happened.

W Buchan said that the fencing in the gate has been cut, and he did not think it has been a school child.  G Brown said that, again, he thought that the fault was with the Contractors for not handing over sooner when it was finished internally.  A member of the public asked if it had been handed over now.  G Brown said that it has been handed over to Fife Council as it is on Fife Council land.  They are responsible for maintenance and have Public Liability Insurance.  He added that we do not want to own it.

P Copland said that we are still in consultation with the Council to try to resolve this situation.

A member of the public said that there had been a couple of things that have happened in the last 10 days.  He thanked Cllr E Riches for passing on his emails to the proper people in Planning.  He said that he had received a letter saying that they were going to dig up the road to lay a gas main.  The member of the public wrote back saying that we owned the road, but they said that they could use statutory powers.

The member of the public said that Willie Rennie came and looked at the development and said that he would look at it for us.  The member of the public said that he had put together a dossier with a covering letter.

The member of the public said that they are still building – still going ahead with external and internal work.  P Copland said that he saw some of the correspondence regarding finishes etc and said that they are obviously carrying on regardless.  The member of the public said that until they move in, we cannot do anything about the second condition of 2 parking spaces.

A member of the public said, can I ask on whose authority that condition was changed.  Transportation was very clear on that condition that 2 parking spaces had to be provided within the curtilage of the property.  An additional phrase has been added after saying that they can build the building, but 2 parking spaces have to be provided prior to occupation.  Cllr E Riches said that Transportation are asked for their views and then the Planners take from what Transportation have said.  The member of the public said that St Monans conservation areas are under Article 4 direction, which includes for example that you cannot change road layouts.  The whole conservation area is covered by Article 4 direction.  The member of the public added that this is in addition to this rather dubious rewriting of the script.

B Allan asked whether the people affected could go to the Ombudsman.  A member of the public said that, in most cases you have to go through the process.  Once you come to the end of the process with Fife Council, then you can go outside.  A member of the public said that Fife Council has not responded.   Cllr E Riches said that she would chase it.  The member of the public said that he had put in a reminder that day.  The questions are quite reasonable:  there are questions about the site; about the boundaries; about Article 4 Direction.  There are 2 main anomalies about the application: what is the site that was supposedly on the application; the other point about the extra 30 sq m is that street furniture which are historical drying posts have been removed from that site without planning permission or consultation.  You need Historical Scotland’s permission to remove street furniture.  Cllr E Riches asked when this happened.  A member of the public said they just dumped them next door to us at the beginning – about January.

A member of the public said that he reported to the Council meeting where the drainage work began, which has the car parking on it.  He said that he finally got through to Liam Anderson, Lead Architect, on

23 February.  The member of the public said that he was concerned about what was going on there, including drainage, but, he said that the drying poles came up in the conversation.  The member of the public said that he asked what the plans were for putting them back.  That was when it was said that they did not have to do anything about it – “we have a parking area”.  The member of the public said that people have rights of usage.  His reply was, “No we have clear and good title.”  The member of the public told Liam Anderson that we have our original Title Deeds, which said that we have rights of usage of the roadway of 20 feet, which is almost up to the wall of the property and I am sure we can produce these.  His reply was, “Where are you going to go with it?”  The member of the public said we had had no notice of this and that the Trustees should be made aware of this (Charlotte Scott Summers Trust).  He said that the Trust has no income.  The member of the public said that he was not getting an answer from the Scott Summers’ lawyers – who have the Scott Summers’ deed boxes.   The member of the public said that he wanted to look at them, but he said that he was not getting any response from them.  The lawyer said that the Trustees are not going to want anything to do with this.

P Copland said that it sounds as if there is a conflict of interest regarding the lawyer.  As land is in dispute, surely the Community Council should try, through a Freedom of Information request, to get what the true position is.  Cllr E Riches said that any individual can do that.  A member of the public said that we have seen some of the older deeds – 1904.  At the back of the house it was not a lane, but these deeds cover all the lane.  It was all Charlotte’s land.  They were the ones who originally bought that.  It was said that we all had a common right to that land.

The member of the public said that he (the person developing the property) has no right.  He is not included in that, and our area goes right out to George Terrace.  These deeds cover all the lane out to George Terrace as owned in common by these people.

The member of the public said that the person developing the land’s Land Register Deeds allow access and egress.  He is not allowed to park.  It seems that Fife Council Planning is just wanting it to go away.  He said that he suspects that any interest or objection must be created by the people here, assisted by the Community Council.

G Brown said that he thought that, in the first instance what we should be doing is getting the Head of Planning here.  Cllr E Riches wondered if it would be worth getting the Head of Planning to talk to some of that detail with a small meeting with key people.

It was suggested that the line that might be taken is to say that the owners of George Terrace have made a diligent effort to find out the ownership status of the land – which is a murky thing – for example with words such as ‘Charlotte Scott Summers and their heirs give permission ….’.  Cllr E Riches said that this is why the Planners say that they will not deal with the land issues, which, she said, is why she thought we can get people together to talk, with the Deeds.  G Brown said that he thought it would be a very useful first step.  Cllr E Riches said that it might answer some of the outstanding questions.  G Brown said that if it does not and we have exhausted that possibility, we need to go elsewhere.

A member of the public said that he had his property papers, but that it put him in a difficult position now, as he said that he needs his neighbours to show him their property papers.  However he said that he strongly suggests that when we get all our deeds together, the thing will all be the same.

Cllr Riches suggested that we may also need a legal person at the meeting with the Head of Planning.  She said that she was sure that one of the more Junior Planners such as Chris Smith would be good.   A member of the Public said that he thought John Leith is the person to do this, as he is a Trustee.  A member of the public said that at this stage there has to be a legal stance.  He said that the person building the property is basically promoting this and forcing a situation where he does not have to justify anything.  The onus is on the people affected to justify what they own.  P Copland asked if the people affected by the development had a legal adviser to sit in at the meeting.

Cllr E Riches said that according to the Land Agent, their client had made reasonable attempts to clarify the ownership, and issues related to the ownership of the land.  A member of the public said that it is quite significant that he has not approached any of the neighbours and he has to buy land from somebody.  The member of the public said that it bothered him that it suggests that the land ownership is the only issue.  We have rights to use the land – we know that; they know that.  He said he was sure everybody knows what is in our Title Deeds.  He does not have legal access.

The member of the public asked if it was possible for the Councillor to ask what was in the Deed of Purchase.

A member of the public said that the development seems to not comply with Fife Council’s guidelines on non-material variations.  There is a detailed list of what are planning conditions.  These are matters of law, of legality.  There are about 7 breaches of this, and the guidelines states that any single breach means the application must be put back to a full Planning Application with neighbour notification.  Fife Council needs to be asked why these issues have not been addressed.  The member of the public said that he did not understand why the CC or any other objector has not received any notifications of any of these non-material variations.

A member of the public said that he had pursued these non-material variations.  He spoke to Chris Smith and was told that, “that is not material”.  Cllr E Riches said that this is what we want to discuss when we get our meeting with Head of Planning.

P Copland asked to set up a meeting with the Head of Planning and a Case Officer, but added that we really need to have a legal representative in place to represent your best interest.  Cllr E Riches said again that Fife Council will not comment on land issues – that is Civil.  P Copland said again that he thought that the people affected by the development need legal advice.

P Copland asked if it is possible for our Councillors to arrange suitable dates with the Head of Planning and a Case Officer for a meeting.  Various dates and times were mentioned.  Cllr Riches suggested the week beginning the 4^th July in the afternoon or evening (saying that she could not manage the 6^th of July.  Cllr E Riches said that we will come forward with some dates for Head of Planning plus 4 residents representing those affected most, and at least 2 of the Community Councillors.

9.1  Roadsweeping

A member of the public said that she noticed a roadsweeper that day sweeping in Anstruther.  She said that Station Road in St Monans is a mess.  It was added that there were 4 people at Windygates picking up litter, but we get nobody here.  They do not sweep.  B Allan said that Inverie Street was swept on one of the days prior to the Sea Queen.

J Docherty said that he would chase this up.  G Brown said that he had had a meeting about this about a year ago.  The person claimed that we were not treated any differently than any other villages, but, G Brown said, to be honest he thought that there is a difference.  A member of the public agreed, saying that he saw street cleaning in Elie, but very little activity here.

J Docherty

V Salvage said that about 5 or 6 people have spoken to her separately suggesting that St Monans is being used as a dumping ground for people with mental health issues.  Cllr E Riches said that we have discussed this at our local office meeting; we can discuss it again.  She said that they have similar discussions about the High Street in Anstruther, where the ambulances will not go singly.  She said that they are trying to get some sort of special letting policy so anyone who is coming has to have a reference.  She added that we tried this at Johnston’s Close; I think we should try that again – to have a letting policy.  The following areas were identified:  Braid Court, Johnston’s Close, East Street.

Cllr E Riches

It was said that there seem to be people from Johnston’s Close who appear to be buying drugs.  A member of the public said that on 11 June he noticed a male going into the ladies toilets and half an hour later he came staggering out.  Then he secreted a bag in the recycling centre.  The member of the public said he called the police and showed the policeman the bag.  It was drugs and paraphernalia including used needles and spoon.  The police took all the details and went away.  An incident number has been given.  The member of the public said that he agreed with everything everyone has been saying: you get drugs – you get criminality, and violence.  It leaves booby-traps for young children and animals to find.  V Salvage said that she thought there was a reluctance in the East Neuk to report such incidents, but that the police had told us on more than one occasion of the importance of reporting anything suspicious, even if you don’t want to press charges: please phone to say that you have seen something.  Cllr E Riches said that some people do not even like doing that, but if you ‘phone a Crimestopper number – 0800 555 111, you do not need to give your name and number – do not ever think that what you have to say is unimportant; it can be what the police needs to be able to charge someone.

M Ashworth said that there had been a worrying incident that she had had to report to the police.  The police took one and a half hours to come. The youths were shouting and jeering and it was not a pleasant experience.

Cllr J Docherty said that phoning 111 can be slow, and advised to phone 999.

A member of the public said he had phoned Waste Aware because the large household refuse bin by the harbour was overflowing last week.  It was emptied, but is now overflowing again.  He said that during the holiday season more and more rubbish will be deposited there; they need at least 2 bins.  P Copland said that the landlords of the holiday lets should be paying special rates and putting their waste out on a separate day.   Instead they tell their rentees to dump their rubbish in the bin.  The member of the public suggested that, as Waste Aware are in the village every day, we should ask them to pick it up if they are here.  G Brown said that their vehicle does not have the facility to empty it.  P Copland said that they do not have the facilities because they have cut back on the number of vehicles.  G Brown suggested that maybe the folk who live there should have what we have; we put out a bag on a Wednesday morning.  There is very little problem.

Cllr E Riches said that there were complaints about the bins on George Terrace at the top of Braid Court.  Instead of the blue Bins, they will be removed, they will get a big bin.  Waste Aware do realize that this is something that does not just happen once in a while.

Cllr E Riches said that there had been comments made about the whirlygigs by the shore and questions regarding whether there is an agreement that people can put whirlygigs on the pavement.  The Council say that they could say it is a potential obstruction on the pavement.  They want to know if they have always been there.  A member of the public said that there used to be clothes poles there.  A member of the public said that she used to stay at No 3 about 30 years ago and there was a whirly there then.

B Allan asked whether Abercrombie could get a 20 mph limit, because twice this week she had just about had the side of her car taken off.

M Ashworth said that that is because they are trying to avoid the potholes; the 30 mph speed limit does not come into force until the narrow bit of the road.  M Ashworth added that the potholes in the road are causing a safety issue.

W Buchan said that he was asked this morning if a post could be put in Station Road to tell people where the Post Office is.  It was asked if there was anything that could be put beside the signboard on Station Road.  P Copland said that it was the responsibility of the Post Office to pursue the signage.  A Member of the public asked if we should not help our visitors – as signage is difficult enough to get from the Council.

A member of the public suggested going to Edinburgh to find out through the Land Registry the ownership of all the ground in

St Monans, as she claimed that people were taking community ground.  M Ashworth asked if we could not just get this from Fife Council and save the money.  The member of the public said that there appears to be a bit of a land grab by acquisition here.  P Copland said that you could argue that if they did not take ownership of it, it would go into disrepair – for example the back of East Shore: if that had been left in its original state, who would have looked after it.  The member of the public said that the Council would have come round and sprayed it with weedkiller.

G Brown said that you will recall that some years ago a lady in the West End claimed a wee bit of ground because she thought she should have it.  She then registered it in Edinburgh.  We pointed out this to the Council, but they said it would cost too much to pursue it.  The member of the public said that people are just coming and in and taking things.  She gave an example of ground at Virgin Square where someone has put Private Parking on ground that he does not own.  She said the man from the Land Registry had said that the man did not own an inch outside his property.

Cllr Riches suggested that they could offer to help by getting a map which shows all the Common Good Ground.  (She said that the map was publicly available.)

A member of the public said that a car had been abandoned in a local farmer’s field, and had lain there for several weeks, despite the farmer having contacted the police and Fife Council to try to get it removed.  He said that it went from one crime to another crime.  The car was vandalised and then eventually torched.  He said that the vandalism could have been prevented if Fife Council had removed the vehicle and moved the car to a pound.  The member of the public said that the reason that this did not happen was because Fife Council is cutting costs.

In reply in was said that if there is a query regarding insurance the vehicle will not be removed.

The meeting was closed.  The date of the next Ordinary Meeting will be advised.