Community Council Minutes 21 Sept 2026
ST. MONANS AND ABERCROMBIE COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minute of the ordinary general meeting, held in the Church Hall, Station Road on Monday 21st September 2026 at 7.30 pm
| Present: | Marjory Ashworth (Chair), David Robertson (Treasurer), Katy Gall, Peter Peddie, Cllr Alycia Hayes – arrived at 7.45 | |
| Apologies: | Eileen Montador (Secretary), Diane Martin (Minute Secretary), Suzy Cheong (Vice Chair) Mary Henderson | |
| Members of the public: 4 | ||
| Welcome and apologies. Marjory Ashworth welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies were received and recorded. | ||
| Declarations of interest – There were no declarations of interest. | ||
| Reports from Community Groups Heritage – Mary Henderson Report sent in from Mary Henderson. The Heritage Centre is closing for the season on Sunday 27th September. She will provide some statistics for the next meeting. There is a get-together for volunteers (tea / coffee and cake) on Sunday 27th. Memorial Garden – Mary Henderson Report sent in from Mary Henderson. The Council have made a start on removing the old lamp post but appear to have left things half-done and potentially dangerous. Hugh and Fermin are following that up. Mary asked if David Robertson could confirm the position with the Common Good Fund application for £10,000 – David advised that he thought that the meeting was on the 25th and that they should hear after that. Floral Group – Katy Gall Main activities have been a further tidy up of the Serenity Garden just before the Arts Festival, and cutting back the greenery at the side of the winch shed at the Welly Garden revealing the signage for “West End” and the grit bin. Continuing to water the Welly Garden. Marjory advised that her and David Robertson would look to take down the hanging baskets at the top of Station Road in October. Pool & Pans – Peter Peddie Continuing with process of establishing way forward and raising funds. There was a recent archaeological dig in salt pans, and in Pete’s field, looking to find the old wooden wagon way which was located. They will hopefully come back next year to do further excavation. They carried out a survey with ground penetrating radar and found wooden railway which appears to be shunting area for wagons. The findings date between 1770 and 1790 and would have been the pinnacle of technology at the time. The 1722 Group carried out the excavations. SMAKE – Peter Peddie Lottery Heritage Fund application is moving on and the meeting with the representatives went well. The group will hear their report in due course. The display of paintings in the Kirk for the Arts festival, particularly with the sunlight, was beautiful. Arts Festival – Helen Marshall A successful weekend and it is good to see the Community get more involved each year. Great to be able to provide all the workshops free with all the crafters and artists giving their time. The festival has never made a loss with the main income from the Café in the Church Hall. A big thank you to all who donate baking and everyone’s time to help make the festival a success. | ||
| East Neuk Veterinary Clinic Peter Peddie advised he will follow up with them. | ||
| Last minutes and matters arising Marjory contacted the Police re parking at harbour. Thinking in future that in May / June we ask for regular patrols to help alleviate position with cars parking on double yellow lines so that we don’t have the same issue for bins for next year for Craig Millar. The issue with the bins seems to have been sorted out once extra cars went away. Re the dumping of cars / vans on Muir Homes land, Suzy Cheon has contacted Muir Homes but awaits a response. At the last meeting planning for mentioned for the Planners House at 1 East Shore. There have since been objections raised / lodged and an Enforcement Officer has been out to the property and a discussion had. The August minute was proposed by David Robertson and seconded by Katy Gall. | ||
| Police Matters and Report Contact email address: eastneuklandwardCPT@scotland.police.uk (not for emergencies) Email in for any queries. If you have something urgent please call 999. | ||
| Chairperson’s Report – Marjory Ashworth Marjory thanked the Arts Festival Team for a successful weekend and also thanked the floral group for their work over the summer and David Robertson for watering baskets. She also praised the work of the volunteers at the Heritage with another successful season. Fife Council have also confirmed that the Floral Group are covered by Public Liability Insurance. Partial Review of the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Fife – this review will focus on section 13 relating to the Annual Administration Grant as well as a small number of governance amendments to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the Scheme. You can have your say between 21st September and 20th November at www.fife.gov.uk/ccreview2026 | ||
| Treasurer’s Report – David Robertson Cash Flow Account Cash Flow (Community Council Funds) – £877.20 Memorial Garden Spent £1,000, have £3,607.40, which does not include Crown Estate Funds. There appears to be a bone of contention around the Crown Estate Funds. The last email indicates that they might not get all the money. David to confirm. NNG funding First application for NNG funding received from St Monans Swallows. Looking for new strips for the team at a cost of £3,000. They have asked the NNG fund for £1,000 and David suggested they should get £1,500. The Community Council voted and confirmed they are happy to approve £1,500 for that. The Autumn Club asked for help to complete the form and David agreed to help at the end of the meeting. Floral Account £38.15 received over the last month so total now of £3,024.49 Heritage Account Water bill been paid up to date and cheque cashed. They currently have £3,043.37. Gas and Electricity accounts – ongoing David / Katy David confirmed that he had spoken to British Gas again and had been expecting a call back but has heard nothing further. He also advised that Katy has confirmed that the meter in the Heritage is registered with EDF and that Fife Council are paying the bills for this. | ||
| Secretary’s Report – Eileen Montador Eileen sent a report in her absence: There has been a query re the community orchard. Can village residents pick the fruit? The fruit appears to have been picked and would be good to understand what has been done with this. Ask allotment group.13 Queen Margaret Street – a complaint has been received about cars and vans blocking access to bins, as well as hammering / loud noise after 10 pm. It was suggested that the property does belong to the Council and Cllr Alycia Hayes has agreed to follow up. Following on from this there was discussion about a quad bike vehicle being driven along strip at new houses and at the grave yard. Following the last meeting a question has been emailed to the Community Council re the Common Ground at the top of Forth Street and what would work best for inhabitants of St Monans. It was agreed that this should be added to the agenda for the next Community Council meeting and to invite the couple that the email came from together with all residents in Forth Street, Miller Terrace and Rose Street to discuss this further. A leaflet will be created and distributed for this. Cllr Alycia Hays will attend and will invite Communities Manager, Kirstie Freeman, of Fife Council to attend.There was a query as to whether the Community Council ICO payment had been sent. David confirmed that this will be paid automatically on 15th October.An email had been received from Gleener (a Kerosene supplier) asking if there were any buying groups in the village that would be interested – it was confirmed that there were none. | ||
| Members’ Reports Katy Gall, Planning 14 Station RoadListed Building Consent for installation of replacement windows;and Prior Notification for installation of replacement windowsCoal Farm – Certificate of lawfulness (proposed) for formation of agricultural irrigation lagoon David Robertson A motorbike and car driving on Inverie Street, at least 60mph, comes completely off sleeping policeman. Goes to 30 Gourlay Crescent. Tends to be late at night. David to email the police.Lots of graffiti at the bus stop and elsewhere in the village. Thank you to Fife Council workers who came out on Sunday to clean it. There was discussion around the bus stops being revamped and Cllr Alycia Hayes advised there are many bus stops across Fife in the same scenario and that Councillors have been begging for improvement for over a year. There will be a paper going to the Council shortly to try and get action on this asap. | ||
| Councillors’ Reports Report from Cllr Alycia Hayes Sawmill Corner was last talked about in May and she had emailed Alastair Drummond at Fife Council re this. His reply was to confirm an order has been issued to have the chevron signs replaced and two directional signs. Alycia followed up early today after Marjory’s email re the latest accident and forwarded that email to him. She has asked for this to be priority.The Council has been firming up on its pets policy for tenants in particular, tightening up on XL bully dogs, which must be on a lead and muzzled. Need written permission for pets. Tenants can have a maximum of 2 pets as a general rule and no farm animals. There are an ever growing number of dogs roaming streets, other pets being attacked and a problem with dog dirt. Dogs are at risk from being hit by cars and there is an increase in people complaining about neighbours not picking up dirt from their gardens, causing issues for neighbours.Awaabs Law (named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak—who tragically died in 2020 from a respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his Rochdale home) has been adopted by the Scottish Parliament. This means that if a case of mould is notified to the Council that the tenant must receive a visit within 3 days, the report must be completed in 10 days, work must begin in 15 days and be completed in 20 days. Cllr Hayes has queried what technology is being used to monitor damp. Most cases they receive are not damp but condensation. The council is negotiating with Amazon for monitors re dampness. If you suspect you have damp don’t wait until it gets bad, contact the Council asap. | ||
| Public Questions It was noted there has been dog mess in graveyard, and on some people’s properties. Dog fouling can be reported to Fife Council here – https://www.fife.gov.uk/community-life/safer-communities/dogs/report-dog-fouling Issues with numerous cars / old shed to be removed in Council House on Gourlay Crescent. A resident has also had part of a brick thrown into the garden that landed near a window. If it happens again the Community Council will contact the Fife Council Safer Communities Team. Re the steps at The Plerick, these have been closed on occasion due to work being carried out on the house at the bottom of the steps which has caused issues for members of the community walking down and not easily being able to get back up. It was suggested they could put a notice at the top of steps when the path is closed off. Katy Gall offered to follow up on this.A member of the public suggested it would be good to try and get the Right of Way tidied up from between 24 and 26 Station Road through to Braehead. It was suggested that this could be tackled via the Community Development Fund and the contacts would be Kirstie Freeman, Community Manager and Frances Arbuckle, Support Officer, Fife Council. | ||
| AOCB None | ||
| Close/date and time of next meeting The next meeting will be on Monday 19th October at 7.30 pm. Marjory Ashworth thanked everyone for their attendance and brought the meeting to a close. | ||
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