ST MONANS  &  ABERCROMBIE  COMMUNITY  COUNCIL  MEETING

PRESENT:

Vicki Salvage (Chair)   William Morris (Treasurer)   Marjory Ashworth (Vice Chair)

Morven Syme   Stuart Bridges   Helen Ironside   Eileen Montador  Mervyn Blank

Cllr Alycia Hayes

APOLOGIES

Cllr Fiona Corps;  Cllr Sean Dillon;  Mr Norman Cowie

Members of the public:  7

1.  Welcome and apologies; No declarations of interest were noted at the beginning of the meeting.

• Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising: 

The minutes of the meeting held on 16^th May 2022 were taken as read.

Under matters arising

• Cllr Hayes was asked to converse with FC about a ‘Camper Van No Parking’ sign(s) to try and resolve the issue as 2 CC members have tried but with no positive outcome.
  • Police report.  PC Wallace confirmed that reports are not always allocated a crime     status so figures are not always as we would expect.
  • Jubilee:  everyone enjoyed the Jubilee picnic. Coins were given to every primary school aged child and to Janet Reekie and Ena Gibbon as well as one to the Heritage Centre. The children were also given a book gifted by St Monans Parish Church. Adults and children who attended the Picnic in the Park for the Jubilee were all presented with a special and unique ‘St Monans Platinum Jubilee’ bookmark. The money to pay for this was donated by a kind wellwisher.
  • Heritage Centre is making slow progress, it is planned that in early July the Heritage Collection Rooms will be open on as many days as possible.

Miss Ironside Proposed and Ms Montador seconded the previous meeting minutes and these were signed off by Mrs Salvage the Chair Person.

• Election of new committee members

The Chair invited our 3 nominees to give their personal statements.

Richard Crocker attended in person and read his own statement; followed by Ms Montador who read Paula Keir’s statement and Mr Blank who read out Trish Hardie’s statement, as she was unable to attend. 

Cllr Hayes handed out voting slips to all CC members and then collected them and went to the back of the hall to count them. 

Cllr Hayes then announced that Mr Crocker and Mrs Hardie had been elected to join the community council.

•  Fife Coast & Countryside Trust   

Robbie Blyth from Fife Coast & Countryside Trust attended and spoke about the windmill path and grassy area from the end of Rose Street to the Windmill. Robbie also explained that FC&CT is a charity set up by FC to aid in the up keep of the coastal path and the coast line. They cover a multitude of tasks and areas.  Fife council fitted a pole at the start of the windmill coastal path to prevent traffic driving along to the tidal pool.  The pole has a padlock that only certain people have the combination to. He believes that the area from the pole to the tidal pool could be Common Good ground, but wasn’t sure.

The main objection to people driving along is that there is an underground spring that makes the grassy area more fragile so it cannot cope with traffic. Any previous vehicular traffic has always caused unsightly damage, and no-one wants to see that repeated.

A taxi company was given the code to take a volunteer to the windmill but the CC were not informed of this before it happened and had had quite a few enquiries from members of the public who were concerned about traffic on that area.

Robbie also discussed the ownership of the path way down to the west end of St Monans near the Auld Kirk – which he said he would try and find out for us.

The dead whale on the church beach and dead gannets in various places were also discussed and Robbie stated that the safest and best thing to do was not to touch the whale or the birds as they may carry the presently serious Avian Flu virus. The best thing to do would be to contact DEFRA about the birds. The whale will be left to decay and will be eaten by other animals. (Robbie Blyth explained that the positioning of the dead whale made moving it a greater hazard to health & safety – and to the coastal area than leaving nature to take care of it would be. Especially as it was not close enough to any dwelling houses to cause real problems.)

Robbie’s talk was very helpful and informative and the Chair thanked him for coming to our meeting to explain some facts and discuss local queries.

• Chairpersons report

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Picnic in the Park was enjoyed by everyone who attended. Well done to Marjory Ashworth of the CC and Abbie Connors for all their hard work organising and setting up the event. Thanks also to everyone else who helped.

The annual Beach Clean has made a difference to the village! It was again organised by Mrs Ashworth.  Sadly, not as many people attended this event as in pre-pandemic years, but those who did enjoyed the beach clean and felt that they had made a difference.

The Chair reported that we had no police report this month.

Since Mr Bridges has stood down as our CC Secretary, we are in great need of a new secretary. In the mean time we need a minute secretary.

Please contact Mrs Salvage if you are willing to be our minute secretary.

• Treasurers report

The Flower Account has been paid. We will need to apply to the Common Good Fund to pay for the watering of the tubs and hanging baskets.  The Jubilee coins were paid for as well as the Beach Clean refreshments.

• Councillors Report

Cllr Hayes informed us that the railings on Station Road had been painted.  She also highlighted the fact that Mr Kinsman (Coast Watch Volunteer) has been trying to engage more volunteers to help along the coast. They note down swimmers and boats to help to keep our coastline safe. This is all done by volunteers and donations.

Cllr Hayes also spoke about the allotments. She had spoken to Peter Duncan who had informed her that £50,000 was there to aide the allotments. Each will have a 6×4 shed which must be maintained properly by the owner of the allotment. 

Lochay homes have also been asking for people to vote on the artwork that is to be situated in the new house area. At present the CC members have requested more details or the proposed sculpture, as the previous sketch was too vague.

• Members reports

Planning report:  Mrs Syme had nothing to report.

Play park:  Ms Ironside informed us that the park on the Mair had been fenced off and was ready for the workmen to start. This will hopefully be finished in 9 weeks

Heritage Collection:  Mr Morris was hoping to have the collection open by the 2^nd July but a lot of indoor work still had to be done. He asked if he could arrange a night for the CC members to go down and help. He would also need to ask for Common Good Fund money to get work started properly inside and out at the end of the summer and early autumn opening period.  Mr Morris hoped to get LED lighting installed so the photographs and exhibited items can be seen with ease.

Platinum Picnic In the Park: Mrs Ashworth thanked everyone who helped her and Mrs Abbie Conners to plan and host this special celebration of HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It is hoped that photographs that were taken and a book that everyone signed will eventually be given to the Heritage Collection. There were many special parts to our Picnic – Cup Cakes for everyone, Games to play for children of all ages – including Splat the Rat, Hook a Duck and Pin the Diamond on the Queen’s Crown. Mrs Ashworth even arranged a brief visit from Her Majesty ‘in person’! Lots of picnickers posed for photos with the ‘royal visitor’ too. Then there was a Jubilee Tree Planting Ceremony by two St Monans Ladies who are almost the same age as the Queen. Ms Montador was in charge of our VIP tree planters, Mrs Janet Reekie and Mrs Ena Gibbins. The ladies thoroughly enjoyed their VIP afternoon and their afternoon tea in the Bowling Club after they planted the Jubilee Tree in the Serenity Garden near the Bowling Club. It was lovely to see residents and visitors enjoying their picnics on a lovely sunny June afternoon on St Monans Mair.

• Public Questions

Right of way at 24/26  Station Road:  A resident has asked if any progress had been made on this but as Cllr Dillon was not in attendance we could not respond.

Parked vehicles in the vicinity of Braehead Church are causing potentially dangerous congestion, especially from Braehead and around the corner into Kind David Street and in the area set aside for the cars using Queen Margaret Street garages:  A resident asked if anything could be done about the parking on the pavement and in areas of Braehead. The area at the junctions with Braehead are very often very difficult to come out and in to.

A red work vehicle was reported to be parked in the QM street garage area, when it should not be parked there. Cllr Hayes agreed to check it out and also the other parking problems mentioned.

1.  AOCB 

A member asked if all of the garages in Queen Margaret Street were all in use/ rented out as a few were in disrepair. Cllr Hayes agreed to check.

1. Date of next meeting

The next Community Council meeting will be held on Monday 15^th August 2022 at 19.30 (7.30pm) in the Church Hall, Station Road. Mrs Salvage reminded everyone that there would be no CC meeting in July, as this is traditionally our summer holiday month.

With no other business left to be discussed Mrs Salvage closed the meeting.

……………………………………………..   Chair Person