Draft Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the St Monans and Abercrombie Community Council held on Monday, 18 February 2019, at 7.30 pm.

Present:

P Copland (Chair);  S Bridges (Secretary);  V Salvage (Vice-Chair);  M Syme; W Morris (Treasurer);  H Ironside;  M Ashworth;  Cllr Holt; Cllr Docherty and Cllr Porteous

Members of the public: 15

1. Welcome and Apologies

Mssrs Bland, Collier and Buchan had sent their apologies.

The Chair noted that Mr Chris Hogsden had advised him that he could no longer be the Towns Team representative to the Community Council due to work commitments. Gordon Bell had therefore offered to become the Towns Team representative. This is a co-opted appointment without voting rights. Mr Copland called for a vote and, by a show of hands, the meeting agreed to Mr Bell’s appointment.

2. Declarations of Interest

None.

3. Community Police report

There was no report available for this meeting.

1. Minutes of last meeting and matters arising

 

4.1   Poor Condition of Bus Shelter on Elm grove

Cllr Porteous continues to push Fife Council to confirm funding for these improvements.

4.2   Community Support initiatives

Mr Copland suggested that Mr Collier could circulate a separate written summary to the meeting which would be attached to these minutes.

4.3   Bin Collection

Cllr Docherty again confirmed that a senior council official would be going out to inspect the area shortly.

4.4   Fife Council outline drawings to replace Churchyard bridge

It was noted that an article in the Fife Courier had highlighted the deteriorating condition of the bridge, the community survey being undertaken by the Community Council and Fife Councils response. Cllr Docherty confirmed that the seven designs had come from the Planning department via Bereavement Services. While Bereavement Services had suggested in the press article that they did not have budget for any repairs, Cllr Docherty suggested that other departments may have funds.

4.5   Gully Cleaning in Abercrombie

Mrs Ashworth noted that there were two blocked gully’s on the main road. She also advised that no gully box had been installed and despite advising Fife Council of these matters, no response had yet been received. Mrs Ashworth has copied in all three local Councillors and Cllr Holt agreed an action to chase up the relevant officials for a response.

Mrs Ashworth also read out an email response from Ross Walker regarding the damaged wall that had been previously reported to Fife Council. Fife Council wasn’t aware of the damage but advised that it would be a matter for the bus company or car owner who caused the damage to make good any loss. He also advised that the advisory route at the time of the road works was not through Abercrombie and that Fife Council did not have any liability for the damaged wall. Cllr Porteous noted that he had taken pictures of the traffic at the time and was confident that these would be able to identify the offending vehicle. He will share these with Mrs Ashworth.

4.6   Grit Bins

Although Cllr Porteous has requested several times for the grit bins to be returned to the village, he has still not received a satisfactory response from Fife Council. Mrs Syme reported that she had seen a stock pile of these bins at the Thornton depot.

4.7   No 8 and 8a West Shore – Old Post Office

Mr Bell noted he had written to the owners to ask when they were intending to open the gallery and for how long during the summer season.

4.8   Lack of lairs within East Neuk churchyards

Fife Council will be discussing the possibility of new capital funding to invest in more land for cemeteries within the region on Thursday 21 February.

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

Cllr Docherty noted that Council officials had inspected the site. The official had noted several fences as well as posts impeding the right of servitude in the immediate area. She will be following her findings up with the relevant residents. She also expressed concern about the dangerous state of the banking itself.

4.10   Traffic concerns on Station road

It was agreed that Mrs Wallace, the Primary School Head, be approached and asked if she could provide a written update on the Safe Routes to School Plan for the next meeting.

Mr Copland confirmed he had contacted Fife Council regarding junction improvements at the top of Station road to the A917. No reply has yet been received.

4.11   Potholes at two garages sites within St Monans

The poor condition of the roads into the two garage areas within the village remains a concern. In addition, complaints about inconsiderate parking of commercial vans and levels of rubbish were also raised by a number of residents. Cllr Porteous agreed to look into what Fife Council could do to address these concerns.

4.12   Water running down Abercrombie Road

Due to an administrative error, Scottish Water had prematurely closed down this incident without fixing the problem. Cllr Porteous confirmed that Scottish Water had re-opened the job and had been out to analyse the water. A further inspection was scheduled for the following week.

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

5. Chairperson’s Report

Mr Copland expressed the Community Councils sincere thanks to Mr Peddie, Mrs Salvage and Mrs Ashworth for their organization of the Community Burns supper. It had been an excellent and very successful evening attended by many local residents of all ages.

6. Secretary’s Report

A CAP matter would be discussed under Any Other business; otherwise Mr Bridges had nothing to report.

7. Treasurer’s Report

Mr Morris circulated the latest financial update to the meeting.

8. Planning Matters

Mr Copland noted that the full planning application for the housing development to the West of the Manse was still to be submitted to Fife Council. It was also noted that surveyors had been out on the site during the day.

9. Councillor Updates

Cllr Holt advised that planning application for a new residential build at the foot of the Dawsie had been approved. Both Councillor’s Holt and Docherty voted against this (Cllr Porteous had to declare an interest as a resident and could not vote). A resident queried why the councilors had voted against this, noting that a building had once stood on the site. However, Cllr Holt advised that the proposal was out of proportion and character for the immediate area.

Cllr Porteous asked whether there was anyone in the community who would be willing to become a local champion for cycle and mulituse path projects within the East Neuk. Mr Bridges advised that Sonia Potjeewijd and Catherine Baxter had both expressed a willingness to get involved at the public CAP meeting in January to get involved in the long-term plan have a network of cycle paths from Newburgh to Leven.

Cllr Porteous noted that Mr Bridges and Mr Duncan Reekie, the Session Clerk of St Monans parish church, had produced an outline plan and technical specification for a disabled friendly path to the Auld Kirk. Mr Bridges confirmed that in consultation with Cllr Porteous, he had submitted these to the Director of Bereavement Services, Planning and Conservation departments at Fife Council for their comments and consideration.

Cllr Docherty noted that he had recently completed a ‘Dementia Friend’ programme. Mr Copland noted that he had also completed this qualification.

10. Towns Team Update

Mr Bell provided a brief update on the work of the Towns Team. A number of projects were being generated out of the CAP report. He was pleased to report that Fife Council had appointed Sonia Potjeewijd as a part time, Community Development worker for six months. She will help develop some of the ideas generated from the CAP. Sonia, together with Helen Ironside and Victoria Riding, had been instrumental in creating the newly formed Mother & Toddlers Group.

Mr Bell also confirmed the Towns Team support for the creation of a Tenants & Residents Association (‘TRA’) and advised of the Bowhouse business/tourism event to be held later in the month.

11. Public Questions

11.1   Buddleia pruning on common ground

A resident asked who was responsible for the common area beside the service road to the fish sheds, as she had noticed that a buddleia had been badly pruned it and the perpetrator had simple dumped all the cuttings on Muirs land. No-one present was aware of who had been working in this area.

11.2 Potholes outside 15 & 17 West End

Several residents complained of the potholes and generally poor state of the road around 15/17 West End and up the Dawsie.

11.3 Poor state of railings on Station road

The local press had reported that new railings had been installed in Scoonie. A local resident queried whether there was now any funding within Fife Council to replace the railings down Station road as they are in a very poor condition. Cllr Docherty agreed to look into this matter.

12. Any other business

12.1   Donation to the newly created local Mother & Toddlers group

The new mother and toddler group, the ‘Little Wellies Club’ will hold its inaugural meeting on Friday 1 March in the Church hall. The organizers had written to the Secretary and Chair to ask if the Community Council would consider making a small donation towards the initial set up costs. Mr Copland considered this a good use of community money and noted that the CAP Steering group had already donated money to cover the first year’s hall rent.

Ms Ironside declared an interest as one of the group’s founders. Mr Copland said that subject to clarification of available funds, members of the Community Council would meet separately to discuss this after the public meeting.

12.2   Upcoming Events

Mrs Salvage reminded the meeting of the International Food Festival on 2 March and the Sunday school coffee event on the morning of the same day. Following a brief discussion, it was agreed that the annual St Monans Seniors Tea party would be on Saturday 30 March.

Mrs Ashworth and Mr Bell agreed to discuss possible suitable dates for the annual beach clean.

12.3 St Andrews hospital Out of Hours service

Mr Bridges noted that he had received an email from the Health Boards ‘Urgent Care’ Project Team inviting all East Neuk Community Councils and the public to meetings to discuss the out of hours proposals. It was agreed that this offer should be taken up and Mr Bridges was asked to arrange this with the Project team.

12.4 Tenants & Residents Association (TRA) meeting 27 February

The Chairman encouraged everyone to publicizes and attend this important meeting. It would be held at the Masonic hall. The TRA would be an influential organisation for the area and required local committee members and the widest of community support. Mr Bell and all three Councillors fully endorsed this recommendation.

12.5 Visit to St Monans by distant relative of Easton family

Mr Morris advised that a direct descendant of the Easton family s would be visiting St Monans on 15 March for three days. Lt Col Bill Easton from Oregon, United States, had funded a new headstone for the family lair. He was also hoping to visit the family home on George Terrace. Mr Morris also mentioned that the Heritage Centre would be open during the visit to display the Easton photograph collection. Times to be confirmed by Mr Morris.

13. Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Community Council will be on Monday, 18 March at 7.30 pm.