KILMUN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING
12th September 2017 held at Younger Hall, Kilmun
7.30PM.
PRESENT:
Brian Tester (Convenor), Russell Humphreys (Treasurer) Janet Holm (Secretary), Graham Revill, and Diane Nicholson.
Also Present, PC Donald MacKay, Councillor Y McNeilly, Kari Clouston (Infinergy) and Fiona Milligan (Project Manager Infinergy)
APOLOGIES: Lachlan Macquarie, Kirsty Husband, Councillor G Blair, Councillor A Reid, D Mckenzie (LATNP)
2. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING:
Proposed: Russell Humphreys
Seconded: Graham Revill Carried
4. MATTERS ARISING NOT ON THE AGENDA
None
5. TREASURER’S REPORT
Carried Forward: £1434.11
Parts for defibrillator £37.00
Stationary £ 17.39
Balance at 11th July 2017 – £1370.69
6. POLICE REPORT
PC Donald MacKay stated that he is not back on full duty yet. He attended the meeting although he was on his annual leave.
He reported that there had been 22 incidents with 2 crime reports. One for driving with no insurance and the other was an assault resulting in severe injury and arrest.
Speed checks had been set up at Blairmore Pier and Midge Lane.
Donald is working on the development of Rural Watch – links to the new website are to be sent to Clive to add to the KCC website. Clive to update Donald’s details.
GR asked about speeding through Clachaig village and Donald said that speed checks had been tried but because the layout of the road this is difficult to do.
JH asked if police patrol cars carried a defibrillator. Donald replied that they did not at present although they do have access to defibrillator. Donald will be invited to the training session KCC will organise on using a defibrillator.
7 Correspondence
- Review of the Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils- B Tester replied on behalf of KCC
- Cycling Initiative Meeting: Follow Up
- Cowal Area Network (CAN) on Wed 13 Sep 2017, 7-9pm, Uig Hall!
- Blairmore Hall Trust’s Annual Autumn Fundraising event this year is going to take the Form of an Old Blairmore History Exhibition. It is going to be open to the public on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September from 10.30am – 3.30pm. Refreshments and home baking are going to be provided and there will be a small entrance fee.
- Celebrate and sharing the award at our Blairmore Village Trust community event on Saturday 16th September (11.00am to 4pm) at Blairmore.
- Ardentinny Harvest Fair Sunday 17th September 12 – 4pm Ardentinny Community Trust Glenfinart Walled Garden
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
The following planning applications have been submitted to LLTNP
2017/0269/DET
Erection of telecoms mast and associated equipment
West Loch Eck Telecoms proposal - Neighbour Notification
2017/0212/DET
Construction of new pipework (associated with new below ground septic tank) including concrete casing on seaward side of sea wall
Land Opposite Dunselma Lodge Shore Road Strone - Approved
2017/0180/HAE
Extension to dwellinghouse
Forestside Kilmun Dunoon Approved
2017/0279/HAE
Installation of access ramp, conversion of 2no. existing windows on front elevation to form 2no. French doors and erection of decking Flat 2 Craigard Shore Road Application
2017/0194/DET
Erection of telecoms mast and ancillary equipment Scottish Water Compound Loch Eck Strath Eachaig Approved
2017/0289/HAE
Erection of conservatory
Highfield Shore Road Kilmun Application
9. Windfarms
Kari Clouston and Fiona Milligan from Infinergy, the company who propose to put in a planning application to develop a windfarm on the Ardtaraig Estate in the ridge above Loch Striven and backing onto the Colglen windfarm gave a detailed description of what their company propose and freely answered all questions from the committee and the floor.
They said that they had consulted widely and had feedback from many organisations towards a full environmental impact report. They had undertaken 2 half years of bird surveys and bird counts. The validity of this data will run out by the end of 2017.
The MOD has been consulted and small infa red light, which can be seen by pilots, will be put on top of the turbines.
RSPB had a large input into the report. From this they have scaled back their proposals to eight turbines 135 metres high and changed the proposed location of the turbines. They have used consultants to say what is possible and not possible.
There will be further community open days at Colintraive and Glendaruel in Early November when photographs of before and after the proposed development will be available. A letter drop, posters and adverts in the paper will publish the open days.
They expect the application to go in before the end of 2017. The application will go to A&BC
GH asked about the access roads. They plan to make use of the roads already in place for the Col glen windfarm.
Lynne O’Keefe asked about the visual impact from the Kyles of Bute and whether they had been consulted. At present Infinergy can’t say how many turbines will be visible from there. There was one response from the Kyles to a newsletter given out there.
Once an application has been submitted then objections can be given.
10. Community Matters
Liaison/communication with other local organisations / groups
The Shore Collaboration Summit held on the 31st August was very successful and positive. Almost all of the 19 groups were able to attend. It was agreed to:
- Set up a communal Google calendar manage the timing of events
- Develop and publish a Shore and Glen Directory (name still to be decided) to provide information about all the groups in the area. This is going to be extended out to include the clubs in the area too. It is planned that this would be distributed to every household in the area. Unlike Lochs and Glens, which gets its funds from advertising, the printing of this booklet will come from donations from the organisations within the collaboration group.
- Lochs and Glens Newsletter is acknowledged by all as a key factor of communication in the area and Janice has done a great job. All groups pledged to support this in any way we can, in providing copy and also funds if it becomes necessary. It will continue to be produced, but the directory would be a separate publication.
- It is hoped to be able to set up way of Skills sharing – A pool of people able to share labour/skills and experience - could be practical, could be help with accessing grants, could be sharing of equipment. Could be as simple as the Christmas lunch, beach cleans, environmental improvement.
- Set up a Facebook page
Flower tubs etc. – funding A&BC Funding
Still waiting to find out if we are successful in gaining finding.
Defibrillator from Strone Primary - possible funding from SCEN –first responders
The defibrillator has been moved from outside Strone primary and has been serviced. At present it is a Brian Testers house until it can be set up properly outside the Younger Hall in Kilmun. When it is set it will have a flashing white light. Scottish ambulance service will do a training session when the defibrillator is set up.
JH spoke about the Sandpiper Trust, which is a volunteer organisation, which gives bags to medical volunteers to help give rapid response care in rural areas. There is a doctor in Dunoon who is a volunteer when she is not working. www.sandpipertrust.org
Grass Cutting Graham’s Point
See Councillor Reid’s report
There was some discussion about an inappropriate Facebook comment that has since been removed. KCC confirmed that it did not condone or support the comments, which were made by an individual, and not on behalf of the Community as a whole.
11. DISCUSSIONS A&BC LOCAL COUNCILLOR AND NATIONAL PARK REPRESENTATIVE
Feedback report from Councillor Reid, who was not present at the meeting, on issues raised at August KCC’s meeting.
Speed Indicator Devices for A880, particularly where 30mph begins in Kilmun
Roads response – “The department used to have these Speed Indicator Devices as detailed below but they ended up needing repairs that made them uneconomic to fix. However replacement electronic signage is currently be considered by the Traffic and Development Manager, which would be more portable as it is affixed to existing street furniture. There is currently a list of locations where such a device has been requested and would be happy to add this locus to them. A copy of your enquiry will be forwarded to the traffic section of Police Scotland for their consideration.”
Graham’s Point
ACHA have informed the Council that they will continue to cut the grass they own at Graham’s Point.
Dissatisfaction with recent surface dressing of A880
I complained to Roads and got the following response.
“The surface dressing on the A880 has been done to a satisfactory standard and has sealed the surface against the ingress of water and provided good surface texture and therefore good skid resistance. A surface dressing does not provide any additional structural strength or shape to the existing surface so any areas where water ponds prior to a surface dressing will still have ponding water afterwards. The limited pre-patching works targeted the worst sections within the sites to strengthen them and to give shape back to the carriageway.
“As for the drainage and other ironwork, this is masked prior to the application of the surface dressing and would have been removed immediately after the treatment was applied, before the binder had broke (set). The gully pots will gather some of the excess chip due to the action of the traffic but this is normal as the pot acts as a sump to collect debris etc. from the carriageway. When the gully-emptying vehicle is back in the area they will be emptied first and all other roadside drainage within the surface dressing sites will also be checked. The final sweep of the sites normally take place 2 to 3 weeks after the application of the dressing and a final site inspection and measure normally follows this which will highlight any issues, if any, which normally need to be resolved before payment is released to the contractor which is dealt with centrally at our head office in Lochgilphead.”
Councillor Reid also complained to Councillor Roddy McCuish, chair of the Council’s Environment, Development & Infrastructure Committee, and got the following reply from the Head of Roads.
“Cllr McCuish has forwarded to me your enquiry regarding recent surfacing works in the Cowal area. Our technical team have confirmed that the surfacing work on the A880 has been completed to a satisfactory standard and that drainage gullies will be cleared of any stone chips during the overall surfacing and maintenance programme. I can provide further comment and detail as follows:
Background Information
The work carried out in Cowal recently is surface dressing rather than resurfacing. Surface dressing has been chosen to maximise the surface area that we are able to treat, to seal the road’s surface to stop water penetration and the deterioration this causes to a road and to improve surface texture/skid resistance. For the last few years we have delivered a programme of surface dressing which along with some resurfacing has enabled the council to see an improvement in road condition. Without surface dressing and with the budgets available it is fair to say that we would have experienced a significant deterioration to our roads.
The graph below is an extract from the member induction training I delivered in May this year. This provides an illustration of the area that can be covered by surface dressing ‘v’ resurfacing/overlays.
Work carried out independently from the council confirms that our backlog maintenance value (the figure required to bring the road network up to an A1 condition) is approximately £190M and that we would now need to invest approximately £11m per year to see any further improvement to the condition in the road infrastructure. We currently have £3.6M to invest in capital maintenance this financial year.
Surface dressing is simply the application of bitumen onto which stone ‘chips’ are added. The bitumen does two jobs, firstly sealing the roads surface as mentioned earlier and also providing the ‘glue’ to stick the chips to the original road surface. The chips are rolled into the original road surface by pneumatic wheeled rollers and are further embedded by traffic over a number of months following application. Depending on the traffic volume and condition of the existing road there are a number of types of dressing available ranging from single dressing, double dressing (two layers) and racked in where 2 sizes of chip are used. This together with a range of bitumen types provides a dressing suitable to most situations. The actual dressing type is determined by a nationally recognised technical design guide. Surface dressing is successfully used on all classes and speeds of roads.
Surface dressing provides excellent value for money. However, surface dressing is not comparable to resurfacing in terms of the ability to regulate uneven surfaces as the treatment will follow and replicate the existing profile. Also, immediately following application, there are loose chips, which require a number of sweeps to remove the loose and traffic to help bed in the chips. Immediately following application surface dressing can look ‘untidy’. This usually quickly improves.
Occasionally surface dressing can go wrong for a number of reasons but typically any failure is due to one or a number of the points below:
• temperature related issues
• heavy rain during or soon after the application
• heavy turning traffic soon after application
• traffic not adhering to the 20 mph temporary speed limits
• contaminated materials
• too much or too little bitumen being applied
• workmanship
As stated above, from the feedback I have received from our technical team the Cowal work has been satisfactory with no failure.
We currently deliver our surface dressing via a contractor. As part of the contract the contractor takes the risk for any issues (including claims for bitumen spots on cars) and provides a 2 year guarantee. During the guarantee period we will monitor all works across Argyll and Bute and if necessary arrange for the contractor to carry out remedial works.
Jim Smith”
Bend opposite the ‘Tea Cady’ Houses overgrown
Roads response – “Area has been inspected, scrub has been cut back to behind the vehicle safety fence. Sightlines are adequate for a 30mph speed limit.”
Kilmun cemetery grass
Awaiting response from Amenity Services
Proposed New Toilet at Kilmun cemetery
Amenity Services response – “I have to advise that Amenity Services will be reviewing public convenience provision and the installation of a new chemical unit at Kilmun will not be taken forward at this time.”
There was also discussion with Councillor Y McNeilly about roads and the 3 week bin collection, She has asked KCC to email her to highlight our concerns about the sightlines on the A880 across from at tea caddy houses and the toilet at Kilmun Church. J Holm
D McKenzie (National Park)
National Park
Not present at meeting but apologies sent, and following report:
- NP Partnership Plan – the steering committee met recently and the input from KCC and Ardentinny were welcomed. A significant number of comments were received to the draft plan, with a very high number of organisation indicating that they will work with the NP on implementation of the final plan. A revised Partnership Plan will be available for review at the September Board meeting.
- Displacement – the NP would welcome specific input from police or residents on evidence of displaced camping from other areas of the NP. Please pass to me in the first instance.
Benmore & Kilmun Community Development Trust
BKCDT took part in the Shore Collaboration Summit. They are holding their AGM on Monday 18th September at Kilmun Hall where there will be a presentation about the development of a Historic Trail. A&BC are also doing a Heritage audit
Blairmore Village Trust
KCC congratulated BVT on their success at the beautiful Scotland Awards ceremony in Dunfermline on the 7th September in achieving a 'Silver Gilt' medal for their entry, which was assessed against the national criteria. They received the prestigious 'Keep Scotland Beautiful Award’, which is presented 'to the entrant that demonstrates consistency, significant progress from the previous year, and particular commitment to the Beautiful Scotland campaign themes'. This particular award is the only one that is exclusively decided by the 'Keep Scotland Beautiful Charity' and BVT feel particularly honoured to have received it.
Agnes Harvey said that 146 volunteers helped giving over 2000 volunteer hours and that they were only 18 points away from achieving a gold reward. They were given a 4 page glowing report which will go onto KCC’s website when an electronic copy is available.
11. Matters arising out of Community Action Plan
NTR
12. CURRENT ISSUES
Argyll Community Planning Group (ACPG)
Bute and Cowal Community Planning Group scheduled for Tuesday 3rd October at 10am in the Moat Community Education Centre, Rothesay.
Caucus of Community Councils
NTR
A880 Walkway & Safety Barrier, Pavement Invereck to Cot House
NTR
Cemetery Toilets
See Councillor Reid’s report.
Struan Lodge
NTR - Archive
Highgate Hall
NTR
BT Broadband
No report back from Fraser re broadband provision in Clachaig.
13. Archived issues
None to address.
14. Any other competent business
Cowal Cycling initiative – JH briefed on latest information.
Brunch at Younger Hall – Sue Minns reported back on suggestions for holding a regular Brunch at Kilmun Hall to raise funds for Kilmun CC. Suggestion is to be shared with the committee of the Younger Hall. Feedback to Janet holm
Posting minutes in the post office/ doctors surgery/Blairmore hall/ Younger Hall. J Holm to look at placing a paper copy of the minutes in these places for people to read/refer to.
NEXT MEETING
Place: Blairmore Hall, Blairmore
Date: Tuesday October 10th at 7.30pm.
Meetings held Second Tuesday each month alternating between Younger & Blairmore Halls.