Kilmaronock Community Council
Ordinary Meeting of KCC
Monday 16th January 2023 at 7.30pm
in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
1) Sederunt
- KCC : Gavin MacLellan (GM), Andrew Sinnott (AS), Anita Anderson (AA) and David Scott-Park (DSP).
- Plus 6 other members of the public
Notices in memoriam
- Fiona Wyllie of Church Street. Fiona was a prominent member of the community and served on the community council and the Millennium Hall committee. She did so much more than participate in meetings being hands on in events organised for the community, the most recent being the 2022 celebration for the anniversary of the Millennium Hall and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. In 2017, Fiona was nominated for and awarded the Scottish Civic Trust My Place Award.
- Irene Thomas of Boturich Estate. Irene was the wife of the late David Thomas and lived and worked on the Findlay family estate for the best part of 50 years.
- Nan Leitch formerly of Aber Cottage. Nan was the wife of the late Hugh Leitch, a very active member of the community often helping with sports events at the school where she was the PE teacher.
- KCC send our condolences to the families and friends.
2) Apologies
- WDC Cllr. Martin Rooney and Community Teams member Geraldine Macdonald.
3) Declaration of interest for tonight’s agenda
- None.
4) Minutes of meeting on 7th November 2022
- Proposed as accurate by DSP, seconded by AA.
5) Matters Arising and Associated issues
- Recruitment : No response regarding the electoral roll from Geraldine at WDC – further follow up required.
- Lomond Banks : Reference previous minutes - KCC submitted a formal objection until parking provision is resolved satisfactorily.
https://eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org/OnlinePlanning/files/219915F2B6D6502971056F95A7B8B258/pdf/2022_0157_PPP-Objects-100410081.pdf - Wind Farm : GM still seeking clarity on how any community payback scheme would work in practice. The Planning consultants who visited KCC are no longer involved.
- Letter sent to Roads dept : No response, yet again despite a reminder being sent ahead of tonight’s meeting. Cllr. Rooney & Sorrell were both in copy. A further follow up is required.
6) Treasurers Report
- Outgoings : Kilmaronock Hall hire.
- Current account balance : £824.35
- Benevolent fund balance : £424.01
The missing monthly web hosting invoices have now been received and paid.
7) Planning Matters
Erection of replacement conservatory: https://eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org/OnlinePlanning/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=RLFTD3SIHS900&activeTab=summary
Stable Cottage, Ashfield House, Stirling Road Gartocharn West Dunbartonshire G83 8NB
Ref. No: 2022/0336/LBC | Received: Wed 16 Nov 2022 | Validated: Wed 16 Nov 2022 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment.
Erection of replacement dwelling - partial demolition of existing dwelling and conversion to use as domestic outbuilding: https://eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org/OnlinePlanning/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=RKLYC2SIHPU00&activeTab=summary
Aber Cottage Gartocharn Alexandria G83 8NQ
Ref. No: 2022/0315/DET | Received: Mon 31 Oct 2022 | Validated: Fri 18 Nov 2022 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment.
Some community discussion on difference between replacing a house and creating a new one, the Planning Policy being to allow the former but not the latter.
Refurbishment with possible extension of existing farmhouse, conversion of 4 other structures to artisan/tourist accommodation with residential capability: https://eplanning.lochlomond-trossachs.org/OnlinePlanning/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=RK8WVLSIHOZ00&activeTab=summary
Old Kirk Farm Gartocharn Alexandria G83 8LY
Ref. No: 2022/0309/PPP | Received: Mon 24 Oct 2022 | Validated: Thu 17 Nov 2022 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment.
8) Community Matters/Local Place Plan
LPP
There have been 3 meetings of the steering group. A questionnaire has been designed and will be both mailed out in hardcopy to each household and posted online in mid-February. Please look out for the specially marked envelope and respond accordingly. The feedback from the questionnaire will be used to inform a public consultation event to be held in the Hall in late March.
Septic Tanks in Aber Area
This has been raised in multiple correspondence with Aber residents and SEPA in relation to the management of any adverse consequences due to beaver activity. Site visits have been made by Paula Baker (RSPB) and Peter Kelly (NatureScot). RSPB are planning to install water level monitors with alarms. Owners of Sewage Treatment Plants or Septic Tanks are responsible for ensuring that their own systems are functioning correctly. They need to know what action to take if they are adversely affected by flooding due to beaver activity. Residents would also like more information on what actions RSPB will take in the event of a high water level alarm.
KCC (GM) will request advice from NatureScot via letter
In the meantime, it is recommended that the owners check for general advice and make sure their systems are registered with SEPA.
Some useful links are here:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/consumer/water/water-and-sewerage-s/septic-tanks-s/
Registration
https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/water/septic-tanks-and-private-sewage-treatment-systems/
Application Form
https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/authorisations-and-permits/application-forms/private-sewage-treatment-system
In respect of other beaver related issues, residents with trees they don’t want chewed were recommended, by NatureScot’s Peter Kelly, to plant Willow as that appears to be more appealing to beavers and they would leave the other ones alone. NatureScot will pay for preventative measures but not compensate for any damages.
KCC will seek further information on this in the letter to NatureScot as we seek to find out how to access mitigation assistance or funding.
9) Kilmaronock Community Trust
Current focus is on the LPP consultation.
AGM will be held in the Hall on 15th February and the Annual Report and Accounts to 31 August 2022 can be viewed via the Community Trust section of the Community website https://www.gartocharn.org/community-trust/kct-annual-report-and-accounts
As mentioned last time, the board would like more trustees to join up so perhaps those with good ideas will be the ones to help get them implemented. Contact KCT@gartocharn.org if interested.
10) National Park Issues
GM described his attempts to get the official LLTNPA email address of community elected board members. Currently there is only a generic firewall address for all board members so it is not clear if mails are passed on. Emails using private addresses may not have corporate substance or security. When the board member steps down any mail that was sent to their personal email will be retained by them and lost to the LLTNPA.
AS noted that Cairngorm NP board members all have their official email addresses posted on their website. Our locally elected board member has been asked directly for this info in order for us to communicate directly with him in an official capacity but has not responded so far.
GM asked AS to follow up with LLTNP further.
KCC (AS) to write to LLTNP with cc to MSP’s
11) West Dunbartonshire Council
CC Forum
In December, post elections and new CC Scheme of Establishment, the CCF was reformed.
The forum will meet at least 4 times a year and aims to
- promote liaison between CC’s and WDC officers
- provide training and development for CC’s
- support CC’s in their workings
The make up of the forum will be two members from each active CC.
Roads
Still no response from Gail Macfarlane.
KCC (AS) to follow up with a letter to councillors.
Recruitment
KCC are seeking new additional members, we can co-opt one more but if we want and can get more than one, then we will arrange for a mini-election with WDC assistance.
GM proposed a recruitment event with a social aspect to it. Either in the hall or a pub. First though we have to send out a letter inviting participation. Geraldine Macdonald was approached to find all the relevant Kilmaronock household names and address from the electoral roll. GM suggested including a flyer in the LPP survey mail out.
AS to follow up on how best to get a recruitment mail out – via Royal Mail or WDC or KCC.
12) Correspondence
No police report.
AS to follow up and request one for the minutes.
There was Press interest, from The Herald & Scottish Farmer, in the community response to the release of beavers. DSP responded on behalf of KCC.
Croftamie Bridge update supplied by Sally
Official Update from Stirling Council
Catterburn Bridge Update January 2023:
Piling works continue to progress on site. Single lane opening is now expected to take place in mid-April 2023, with overall works on site continuing until May 2023.
--
Structural complexity, poor weather and extremely low temperatures experienced during December have been contributing factors to the delay to works. Additional propping to spandrel walls and wing walls was installed to further safeguard the structure during piling works. Despite additional propping mechanisms being installed, structural instability was identified during piling. Extensive structural surveys and coring took place pre construction phase as well as during construction phase, despite this, pile clashes with the existing structure were still experienced during the course of the piling works. This resulted in refusal of piles upstream and snapping of a piling augur downstream. To offset the construction risk piling activity on site was delayed and redesign of pile positions and sizings was commissioned, a smaller piling rig was also sourced. 30 piles have now been installed, with a further 8 to be installed. As planned, weekend working will again be adopted (6 day per week working) once piling has been completed. Excavation to formation, and installation and pouring of ground beams will also then take place.
We would like to thank the Community for their ongoing support and patience during this challenging time.
13) AOB
- None.
14) Next Meeting
Monday 6th March 2023 at 19:30 in KMH
Please send in any agenda items in good time to secretary@kilmaronockcc.org
GM thanked everyone and closed the meeting 21:00h
An ordinary meeting of Kilmaronock Community Council
will be held on
Monday 6 March at 7.30pm in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
Draft Agenda
- Sederunt
- Apologies
- Declaration of interest
- Minutes of ordinary meeting November
- Matters Arising and Associated issues.
- Treasurers Report
- Planning Matters
- Community matters & Local Place Plan
- Kilmaronock Community Trust
- National Park Issues
- West Dunbartonshire Council
- Correspondence
- AOCB
- Next meeting
Ordinary Meeting of KCC
Monday 6th March 2023 at 7.30pm
in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
1) Sederunt
KCC : Gavin MacLellan (GM), Andrew Sinnott (AS), Anita Anderson (AA) and David Scott-Park (DSP).
2 x Police Scotland
Plus 7 other members of the public
2) Apologies
Willy Roxburgh (Kilmaronock Old Kirk Trust)
3) Declaration of interest for tonight’s agenda
None
4) Minutes of meeting on 16 January 2023
Proposed as accurate by AA, seconded by DSP.
5) Matters Arising and Associated issues
None
6) Police Scotland
PC Duncan Steele presented the police report (see Appendix) and discussed the contents. The process of reporting incidents was discussed and the use of 101 was promoted, as this helps drive the allocation of resources e.g. patrols being sent to where most activity is reported.
Use 999 if crimes are in progress and 101 if it is not an emergency. You can also contact Crimestoppers to report a crime anonymously. They will pass the information about the crime to the police.
Rural and wildlife crime was discussed as was the use of CCTV on private land.
Notes were taken and PC Steele will look into them further.
7) Treasurers Report
a. Outgoings : Kilmaronock Hall hire, web hosting.
b. Current account balance : £776.07
Kilmaronock Community Council
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c. Benevolent fund balance : £424.01
The financial year closed on 28th February and accounts have been prepare for inspection. Outgoings of £837.98 versus incoming grant of £662.88 produced a deficit this year.
Main annual expenditure is the rental of the hall and the web site fees. A one off expense was incurred by the purchase of a projector.
Expenditure for next year’s IT support (£150) was approved unanimously.
Despite overall cuts in WDC grants, a change in the formula will increase what receive.
8) Planning Matters
Badshalloch – requesting removal of occupancy condition (tied to agriculture)
Further application (under section 42) for planning permission for demolition of two chalets and erection of dwellinghouse approved under 2015/0210/DET without occupancy restriction (condition 1)
Parkview Gartocharn Alexandria West Dunbartonshire G83 8SB
Ref. No: 2023/0044/DET | Received: Wed 08 Feb 2023 | Validated: Thu 02 Mar 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment.
Installation of sculpture
RSPB Scotland Loch Lomond High Wards Farm Gartocharn G83 8SB
Ref. No: 2023/0022/DET | Received: Thu 26 Jan 2023 | Validated: Tue 07 Feb 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment.
9) Community Matters/Local Place Plan
LPP
Thanks to several dedicated members of the community, a survey was created and sent to as many addresses as we could find. Approx 75 responses have been received. The data is being worked on and formatted so that it can be presented for consultation at a drop in day at the hall on March 28th. The hall will be open in the afternoon and early evening where more information and conversations can be had on how we best promote local advice on possible solutions.
Feedback from those conversations and suggestions will be pulled together much like the previous CAP’s and then a draft LPP created. There will be a second consultation on the draft LPP before it is finalised. Once finalised, it will be presented to LLTNPA for validation and registration.
AS showed the project plan and described the process and the timeline being followed. Currently this matches with the LLTNPA timeline for the next Local Development Plan.
Drymen has now prepared a draft Local Place Plan. It has just been published online for public consultation at https://www.drymen.org/plan until 31st March 2023.
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Luss & Arden have now prepared a draft Local Place Plan. It has just been published online for public consultation at www.bit.ly/luss-arden-LPP until 28th February.
Vale of Leven Wind Farm
Should the scheme go ahead, community compensation will be made. The method of distribution has not been decided. Various models have been proposed and they can be viewed on our website. See Appendix 3.
GM suggested local residents get compensation via way of reduced energy costs on their bills compared to lumps sums handed out to community bodies. There was some consensus from the floor but no vote taken at this stage.
Visibility of the turbines was discussed, visualisations can be seen in Appendix 2.
Regarding the time line, the only info we have is from the consultation feedback report :
“We will take into account feedback from the exhibitions as we progress the development of our proposals. We plan to hold another event by Spring 2023 and expect the application to be submitted in Spring/Summer 2023.”
AS to check with WDC planning dept whether the application will still be submitted to them or direct to the Scottish Ministers.
10) Kilmaronock Community Trust
Current focus is on the LPP consultation.
The AGM was held in the Hall on 15th February, current trustees are Bob Shand, Mary Sweetland, Sam Morrison, Andrew Curry and Andrew Sinnott on behalf of KCC.
The board are seeking more trustees to join up. Contact kct@gartocharn.org if interested.
11) National Park Issues
General
It was confirmed, following our enquiry, that the board members are not issued with official LLTNPA email addresses, so contact is via their personal email addresses or a central email address as listed on their website.
Byelaws
The draft of the new byelaws was produced and one of our main concerns is their desire to remove the right of navigation on the loch from the public. Another is their intent to force all loch users to register with proof of ID – currently only the boats themselves are registered.
The floor discussed the NP focus on tourism at the expense of a sustainable community. Increasing visitor numbers without providing the infrastructure puts pressure and costs on local communities often with no benefit. However, there are a number of local businesses that cater for the tourist industry.
Kilmaronock Community Council
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National Park Partnership Plan
We took up an invite to attend an information session on the development of the next NPPP. Main thing of note was a plan to hold a consultation on the draft version in Spring/Summer 2023.
Beavers
We were in dialogue with NatureScot regarding Beaver related mitigations in particular water level monitoring and tree protection. Their response was shown to those present – see Appendix 4.
12) West Dunbartonshire Council
Budget
The budget cut associated with the Communities Team involves them being restructured and amalgamated with the Working4U Youth Learning and Community Planning support role.
The admin grant to all CC’s was cut from £25k to £14k but restructured to give a higher basic rate and smaller per capita top up. This gives a fairer spread between different sized CC’s.
CC Forum
The Forum met on 1st Mar and initial projects will concentrate on recruitment of CC members, standardisation of practice across CC’s, IT support and general promotion of the good works of CC’s.
Roads
We received a partial response from Derek Barr to our last letter (sent via cllr. Rooney). Work has started on improving the A811 footway to a useable condition. Due to the balance of scope of work and budget available, the section from Balloch to the garden centre was deemed as feasible. So far, the section from Ashfield to Milton Grove has been scraped back, levelled and topped. WDC had agreed to survey the narrow sections beside and beyond Ashfield farm with a view to continuing the path.
A thank you letter will be sent to acknowledge the work and find out more on their intentions overall – no response to that one as yet.
AS to follow up
Church Street potholes and flooding – no response to requests for the poor state of the road to be addressed.
Auchincarroch Road – surface extremely bad in places
AS to follow up
Private Water Supplies
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GM & DSP were in dialogue with WDC over excessive bills for annual tests of private water supplies. With the assistance of Cllr. Rooney a 50% reduction has been agreed, with an ongoing discussion about how a risk based approach could reduce sampling intervals.
13) Correspondence
SEPA asked us to fill out an Opinion Survey which we will do in collaboration next week.
Community Map Scotland – we took up an invite to a Webinar to introduce a mapping tool specifically designed for community councils. We can use this for the LPP project.
Planning – Notice received from Bill MacPherson regarding the granting of the planning application for a new home.
14) AOB
There was a discussion on the potential loss of sites of historic topographic value from landfill or other landscaping activities. As there is not much knowledge of these sites even by the landowners it was suggested that some local sites of particular interest be identified before any further discussion on the matter. This could be brought up in our next meeting and/or the ongoing LPP consultation. The sites discussed ranged from Geomorphology, standing stones and ruined chapels.
KCC to add this to next or future agenda.
Questions were raised about the future of Gartocharn Church. A request was made for a special meeting to be held. KCC will investigate further and discuss at the next ordinary meeting.
KCC (AS) to follow up with Church authorities.
15) Next Meeting
The AGM followed by an ordinary meeting will be held on Monday 15th May 2023 at 19:30 in KMH
Please send in any agenda items in good time to secretary@kilmaronockcc.org
GM thanked everyone and closed the meeting 21:45h
Kilmaronock Community Council
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Appendix – Police Scotland Report
Community Council Report
Name of Community Council:- Kilmaronock Community Council
Date of Report:- 05/03/2023
Submitting officer:- Sgt Heron
Attending officer:- PC Sutherland
Crimes/Offences that have occurred in community area since last meeting
Police Report covering the period:
Monday 7 November 2022 – Sunday 5 March 2023
There were two recorded offences during this period.
On Friday 20 January 2023, police attended a two vehicle road traffic collision on the A811 near to Gartocharn. A 20 year old male from Greenock, the driver of one of the involved vehicles, was subsequently arrested for driving whilst under the influence of drugs. In addition to this offence he was also reported to the Procurator Fiscal for the offence of dangerous driving.
On Friday 3 February 2023, police attended a report of a dog attacking livestock at an estate near to Gartocharn. The 38 year old female owner of the dog was subsequently charged with an offence contrary to Section 1 of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. The matter has since been reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
The above does not include a number of fixed penalty tickets which were issued for minor road traffic offences.
Although the above figures relate to recorded crime it should be noted that these figures don’t necessarily give a reflection of all police activity in the area during this period (07/11/2022 to 05/03/2023).
To give a more accurate picture of police activity in the area it should be noted that 62 police incidents were raised during this period. The majority of these incident didn’t necessarily involve any criminality.
Whilst not a comprehensive breakdown these figures included:-
• 1 x Public Nuisance Complaint;
• 1 x Neighbour Dispute;
Kilmaronock Community Council
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• 4 x General Public Assistance Calls;
• 1 x Abandoned Vehicle Call;
• 3 x Assist Other Agency Calls;
• 4 x Animal Related Incidents
• 3 x Waterborne Incidents (persons on vessels on Loch Lomond requiring assistance);
• 9 x Silent/Dropped 999 Calls Requiring Investigation;
• 2 x Concern for Person Incidents;
• 14 x Road Traffic Related Incidents (varying from road traffic collisions to reports of debris on the carriageway).
Updates on previous actions
No allocated actions to update.
Incidents of note or crime trends
Local officers are carrying out partnership working with Water Bailiffs from the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association to deal with suspected cases of poaching taking place in the area.
Forthcoming events / Initiatives
N/A.
This month – Issues raised at the meeting
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Appendix 2 – Wind Farm Visualisations
Appendix 3 – Wind Farm Community Benefits Report
Appendix 4 – Correspondence with NatureScot
The Annual General Meeting of Kilmaronock Community Council will be held on Monday 15th May 2023 at 7.30pm in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall, Gartocharn
Agenda
- Sederunt
- Apologies
- Minutes of the last AGM
- Chairman's report
- Treasurer’s Report
- Secretary's report
- Election of Office Bearers
Ordinary Meeting of KCC
Monday 6th March 2023 at 7.30pm
in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
1) Sederunt
KCC : Gavin MacLellan (Vice-chair/GM), Andrew Sinnott (Secretary/AS), Anita Anderson (Treasurer/AA), David Scott Park (DSP)
Rob Vincent (Chair of LPP Steering Group), David Mackie (LLTNP board member), Clifford Clark (Croftamie CC)
Plus 1 member of the public
2) Apologies
Jackie Baillie MSP, Police Scotland.
3) Declaration of interest for tonight’s agenda
None.
4) Minutes of meeting on 6th March 2023
Proposed as accurate by AA, seconded by DSP.
5) Matters Arising and Associated issues
Wind Farm application will go to Government planning portal not WDC or NP.
“The scale of this proposal means it will be an application under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989. Such applications are made to the Scottish Ministers and will be administered by the Scottish Government’s Energy Consent’s Unit and not the Council. Such applications are therefore not submitted to the Council.
Any application will be viewable on the ECU website via their Portal. The link is below:
Scottish Government - Energy Concents Unit
The Council’s role will be one of consultee and not determining authority.”
Gartocharn Church – Response from Clyde Presbytery
“The proposals for the church can be found in the draft mission plan to be found on the Presbytery of Clyde website: https://clydepresbytery.org/images/230301_Clyde_Presbytery_Complete_Final_Draft_Plan.pdf
However, these are still not approved by the Church of Scotland General Trustees, the Church's property owning arm, or the Presbytery Mission Plan Implementation Group (PMPIG), though major changes are not expected,
In the draft plan, Gartocharn Church is earmarked for disposal within one year of the union with Lomond, with the continuing place of worship the Lomond sanctuary, although occasional services may happen in Gartocharn in that first year.
The unknown is how long it will take from approval of the plan to implementing the union, although the Presbytery clerk estimates that will be a minimum of three months.
That would give the building a theoretical lifespan from the date of the plan being approved of around 15 - 18 months, but it would not be surprising if that drifted to two years.
Other factors may affect the timescale. For example, if the building lingers before sale then the congregation will find it advantageous to keep the building technically open for a skeleton set of events rather than to close it completely as the insurance premiums for closed buildings are prohibitively high. So it may be 'open' for a bit longer than the plan actually determines- even if that is only for a once a week afternoon tea meeting.
As to future use thereafter, the Presbytery Clerk says that depends upon who it is ultimately sold too - which is not known at this stage.“
6) Treasurers Report
a. Outgoings : Kilmaronock Hall hire, web hosting.
b. Current account balance : £592.79
c. Benevolent fund balance : £354.41
A new set of defib pads were purchased from the Benevolent Fund. They are good till 2025 unless used in action before then.
The KMH committee have arranged some AED training with Trossachs SAR – this will consist of a lifesaving and use of defibrillator training session on Wednesday 31st May. Trossachs SAR provide this training for free and it is open to anyone interested at 7 - 9pm in the main hall starting with video and demonstration then practical session.
7) Planning Matters
Erection of single storey rear extension
Dunerica Church Road Gartocharn Alexandria G83 8NG
Ref. No: 2023/0147/HAE | Received: Thu 27 Apr 2023 | Validated: Wed 10 May 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
Erection of agricultural building
Knockour Boturich Road Balloch Alexandria G83 8LX
Ref. No: 2023/0139/NOT | Received: Mon 17 Apr 2023 | Validated: Mon 17 Apr 2023 | Status: Decided
As it was not an application but a Notice of development, it was “disposed of” as opposed to “refused”
KCC has no comment
Little Duncryne Farm Gartocharn Alexandria G83 8NG
Ref. No: 2023/0126/DET | Received: Mon 03 Apr 2023 | Validated: Wed 05 Apr 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
8) Community Matters/Local Place Plan
LPP
Rob Vincent, chair of the Steering Committee for the LPP project gave a detailed update covering the make up of the steering committee, the postal survey and the public consultation event. The responses have been analysed and are being worked up into a set of priority themes setting out their context, the issues and the further actions needed. Some engagement with harder to reach groups is ongoing. Rob set out the timeline for the next steps and what remaining work is to be done before presentation of the report to the National Park for validation. Broadly, the themes will be split into those that fall under the remit for the NP, those for WDC and those that can be progressed by the community directly.
GM thanked Rob and those that have put a lot of effort into this so far. AS highlighted the work done by Kirsty Sweeney in assisting with the project from giving advice, to digging out statistics, providing maps and even helping us get poster boards for the public event. Kirsty is about to leave her post but before she does has agreed to shoehorn in some mapping tool training in her final days.
9) Kilmaronock Community Trust
Current focus is on the LPP consultation. The feedback so far, reflects traditional needs and desires of the community which will inform the projects KCT will look at assisting with.
The Trust chairman will be meeting with the National Park access officer to further discuss the Aber bridge repair.
10) National Park Issues
David Mackie, the locally elected board member was present to discuss a range of matters of interest. There was a good dialogue on community representation within the NP. David raises community matters with the appropriate officer in the park and a method for addressing local members’ feedback is being implemented.
The National Park Partnership Plan consultation period is due to close soon.
The Byelaws Review is now with Scottish ministers for approval.
11) West Dunbartonshire Council
Roads
KCC and Roads dept dialogue has been delayed due to internal restructure of Roads team.
Residents of Church Rd have received notification of road repairs to fix drainage and resurface Church Rd.
Bottle banks
AS wrote to the Waste Manager, Kenny Lang for a comment on the removal of the bottle bank at the COOP. The one from Caulders was removed a while ago. Waiting on a response.
12) Correspondence
The Police report is appended to these minutes.
SEPA Opinion Survey - completed.
SCDC Participation Request experience survey - completed
13) AOB
An increase in dog fouling was reported. We can review the signage and bin provision in our Local Place Plan to keep it in focus for dialogue with the local authorities.
Leylandii growth on Church Rd corner reducing sight line reported. Not sure if there is any guideline on this, police or council. AS will try to find out.
KCC (AS) to follow up
14) Next Meeting
Monday 3rd July 2023 at 19:30 in KMH
Please send in any agenda items in good time to secretary@kilmaronockcc.org
GM thanked everyone and closed the meeting 21:50h
Community Council Report
Name of Community Council: - Kilmaronock Community Council
Date of Report: - 15/05/2023 (covering period from 05/03/23 to 15/05/23)
Submitting officer: - Sgt Alan Heron
Crimes/Offences that have occurred in community area since last meeting:
There have been four recorded crimes in the Community Council area since the date of their last meeting in March 2023.
Two of these recorded crimes relate to a single domestic incident involving a couple from out-with the local area who were on holiday there. Due to the nature of this incident, it is not appropriate to provide any further details.
The other two recorded crimes were in connection with the internal matters of two separate families. Due to the nature of these incidents, it is once more not appropriate to provide any further details.
In relation to these four recorded crimes there was no wider community impact for anyone to be concerned about.
Police have dealt with a number of incidents in the area since the time of the last meeting but these have overwhelmingly been for non-criminal matters such as general requests for assistance and road traffic matters.
Updates on previous actions:
Police have received reports of persons lamping in the area and extra attention is being given, where possible, in an attempt to trace persons involved. PC David Armstrong, our divisional wildlife crime officer, is aware of the problem.
An ordinary meeting of Kilmaronock Community Council will be held on Monday 10th July at 7.30pm in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
Agenda
- Sederunt
- Apologies
- Declaration of interest
- Minutes of ordinary meeting May
- Matters Arising
- Treasurer’s Report
- Planning Matters
- Community matters & Local Place Plan
- Kilmaronock Community Trust
- National Park Issues
- West Dunbartonshire Council
- Recycling facilities
- Correspondence
- AOCB
- Next meeting
Ordinary Meeting of KCC
Monday 10th July 2023 at 7.30pm
in Kilmaronock Millennium Hall
1) Sederunt
KCC : Gavin MacLellan (Vice-chair/GM), Andrew Sinnott (Secretary/AS), Anita Anderson (Treasurer/AA), David Scott Park (DSP)
Plus 4 members of the public
2) Apologies
Police Scotland, Sally Page, Mary Gray, David Mackie (LLTNPA).
3) Congratulations
KCC were delighted to learn that our MSP, Jackie Baillie, was given a Damehood in the King’s birthday honours list. We sent a note of congratulations to Dame Jackie and received a thank you dedicated to the community in reply.
4) Declaration of interest for tonight’s agenda
None.
5) Minutes of meeting on 15th May 2023
Proposed as accurate by DSP, seconded by AA.
6) Matters Arising and Associated issues
Following up on overgrown trees/hedges creating a blind bend in Church St, it would seem to be a matter for the council roads team. It was added to the agenda for a future meeting. In the meantime the hedge has been trimmed.
7) Treasurers Report
a. Outgoings : Kilmaronock Hall hire, web hosting, ICO annual fee.
b. Current account balance : £521.69
c. Benevolent fund balance : £354.41
8) Planning Matters
KCC noted that the planned landscaping at the corner of Church Rd has been implemented. A fantastic job has been made of moving the wall back from the road and realigning of the path from Duncryne Terrace.
Our appreciation goes to the residents of Lomond Cottage (former public toilets) in making the corner safer.
• Erection of machinery store for agricultural and domestic use
Knockour Boturich Road Balloch Alexandria G83 8LX
Ref. No: 2023/0231/DET | Received: Thu 29 Jun 2023 | Validated: Wed 05 Jul 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
Land West Of Gartenwall Old School Road Gartocharn West Dunbartonshire G83 8SD
Ref. No: 2023/0119/DET | Received: Fri 31 Mar 2023 | Validated: Fri 16 Jun 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
Glencairn Farm Old Military Road Gartocharn G83 8RZ
Ref. No: 2023/0205/DET | Received: Tue 06 Jun 2023 | Validated: Thu 22 Jun 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
There was a general discussion on pros & cons on the use of Conditions.
• Erection of single storey extension
Rosebank School Road Gartocharn West Dunbartonshire G83 8RT
Ref. No: 2023/0178/HAE | Received: Fri 19 May 2023 | Validated: Mon 19 Jun 2023 | Status: Current
KCC has no comment
9) Community Matters/Local Place Plan
LPP
The findings from the survey and consultations were worked up into a very basic draft document. The next step is to engage an editor with a track record of working on LPP’s for the NP. We are awaiting a third tender for the work and aim to select one of them by the end of this week. The NP have agreed to fund this stage via KCT and once the agreements have been signed we will start the next phase. There are some gaps in consultation participation e.g. younger age groups which we will try to catch.
The draft will then be made available for a third round of consultation via a special meeting called by KCC. At this point, we are aiming for end of September for that.
The NP LDP process is delayed until at least March 2024 but we plan to complete our input via the LPP by December 2023.
10) Kilmaronock Community Trust
Current focus remains on the LPP project and the administration of the NP grant to fund it.
The Trust chairman has yet to meet with the National Park access officer to further discuss the Aber bridge repair.
11) National Park Issues
The National Park Partnership Plan In reply to correspondence with GM, Gordon Watson wrote : “The Draft National Park Partnership Plan 2024-29 is currently being consulted on with a closing date for comments of 19th July 2023. Thereafter the Plan will be finalised following consideration of consultation responses with the intention of presenting a finalised Plan to our Board in December and submit to Scottish Ministers for approval thereafter. It is a strategic document for the whole Park but also includes draft objectives, actions and priorities for delivery partners and the Park Authority. You can read more on the Draft Plan and how it relates to other documents (including our Local Development Plan, which will contain more detail on planning policies and development strategy), here : “
National Park Place Programme
“The National Park Place Programme is a new, multi-year programme for prioritised capital investment in visitor management infrastructure. The Place Programme is about how we make investment in our infrastructure happen as well as where we make it happen using a place-led approach.”
In reply to correspondence with GM, Gordon Watson wrote : “Strategic Tourism Infrastructure Studies have been done for East and West Loch Lomond with studies for Strathard, the Trossachs and the Callander area nearing completion.
The Strategic Tourism Infrastructure Study covering Balloch and Gartocharn was programmed for 2023/24. At the Park Authority Board Meeting earlier this month a proposal to move to a single Park-wide consolidated study was discussed, the purpose of this change is to accelerate the completion of the strategic priorities across the Park as a whole and thereby maximise current funding opportunities. This change in approach will help us unlock potential funding for projects on sites across the whole Park through the Government's Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund. The Balloch and Gartocharn area will be included within this revised approach which is planned to start this financial year. As with the other Strategic Tourism Infrastructure Studies there will be significant community and partner engagement to inform the emerging priorities for investment and community organisations will be notified of how to get involved in due course.”
12) West Dunbartonshire Council
Roads
We are awaiting a suitable date for a meeting with Liam Green, Head of Roads dept. Church Rd has been repaired but there was a comment from the floor that the surface was left fairly open and it required a top coat. It is certainly better than it was.
KCC to follow up on arranging a meeting
Bottle banks
Kenny Lang is no longer with WDC, he was Head of Fleet & Waste Services. At the moment, Ian Bain, Head of Greenspace, is covering that position. KCC was in correspondence with Ian to follow up on the loss of bottle collection points at the Garden Centre and CO-OP. There are smaller ‘pods’ at Balloch Library and Moss O’Balloch and Ian asked what we thought about siting one in Gartocharn. As this has been raised during the LPP project, we will be investigating the most suitable place to put one.
We were informed that the facility at Dalmoak receives approx. 6000 tons per year of which 40% is recycled. We have no information for Barr Environmental at Auchincarroch and are curious to know how the household recyclables are processed, what rates are recovered & what is done with it plus what happens to the rest. We are also interested in how the gases recovered from the landfill activities are captured and reused. Rather than have someone visit us at a meeting GM suggested we organise a site visit for anyone interested.
KCC (AS) to write to Barr and see how we can arrange an educational tour (probably for Autumn time).
13) Correspondence
The Police report is appended to these minutes. Three recorded crimes – a traffic collision, a fraud and a theft.
The UCI World Cycling Championships are being held in Glasgow with 2 road races coming through Gartocharn on 11th & 12th August around midday. Details have been posted on the village FB page and the
KCC website. https://kilmaronockcc.org/news
14) AOB
GM had some correspondence on the setting up of a Scottish Court for Environmental Rights.
https://www.ercs.scot/our-work/environmental-court/
After discussion we decided it would be a good idea to arrange an evening event based around Environmental matters and ask Professor Campbell Gemmell to speak. This is aligned with issues raised in the LPP project. There are already suggestions for a Green Energy event and we have had popular events past with specialist guest speakers on geology, flora and fauna.
15) Next Meeting
- Monday 11th September 2023 at 19:30 in KMH
Please send in any agenda items in good time to secretary@kilmaronockcc.org
GM thanked everyone and closed the meeting 20:50h
Community Council Report
Name of Community Council: - Kilmaronock Community Council
Date of Report: - 09/07/2023 (covering period from 15/05/23 to 09/07/23)
Submitting officer: - PC Michael McKay
Crimes/Offences that have occurred in community area since last meeting:
There have been three recorded crimes in the Community Council area since the date of their last meeting in May 2023.
One of the crimes relates to a road traffic offence whereby a collision has occurred between two vehicles passing through the area via Stirling Road.
One of the crimes relates to a fraud. This was done electronically and the complainer has been at a large financial loss as a result.
Lastly, the third crime relates to a theft. Letters were taken from within a cardboard post box that contained monies.
In relation to these three recorded crimes there was no wider community impact for anyone to be concerned about.
Police have dealt with a number of incidents in the area since the time of the last meeting but these have overwhelmingly been for non-criminal matters such as general requests for assistance and road traffic matters.
Updates on previous actions:
N/A as no officer was present.
Annual General Meeting of KCC
7:30 pm 15th May 2023
Kilmaronock Millennium Hall, Gartocharn
Sederunt
CC : Gavin MacLellan (Vice-chair/GM), Andrew Sinnott (Secretary/AS), Anita Anderson (Treasurer/AA), David Scott Park (DSP), Rob Vincent (Chair of LPP Steering Group), David Mackie (LLTNP board member), Clifford Clark (Croftamie CC), Plus 1 member of the public.
Apologies
Jackie Baillie MSP, Police Scotland.
Minutes of the AGM on 16th May 2022
The minutes were proposed as accurate by DSP and seconded by AA.
Chairman's report
Last year’s AGM was held in May and chaired by Jim Morrison, Chairman. Since then, KCC has held meetings in this Kilmaronock Hall on a bi-monthly basis, 6 meetings in total. Jim Morrison was in the Chair for July and September meetings. A Special Meeting (open to the wider community) was held on 5 September to discuss the introduction of Beavers by local landowner RSPB attended by approximately 60 people.
In October a new CC was constituted by WDC. We were not aware that the Past Chairman was not standing for re-election and to maintain continuity I took the Chair on an interim basis in my position of Vice Chair. I have previously held the position of Chair and the CC agreed to keep the position open for a new member. We continued in this way for meetings in January and March. The meetings have been attended by community members, Councillors and representatives of the Police and National Park as reported in each Minute.
I believe that we have conducted the affairs of the CC in accordance with the old and new Scheme of Establishment as set out by our senior body, West Dunbartonshire Council - this document is available on our website. Our meetings are held in public and notices, minutes and relevant documents are posted on our website and on the WDC website. Our Community Councillor’s work and opinion is based on the views of our attending community members.
We are not alone as a CC in trying to recruit new CCs at all times, this is our inclusive approach and we seek young people, experts or old hands as Community Councillors or co-opted members. We are the recognised representative organisation for the community and we work hard to provide meaningful representation. A circular flyer was issued to all households earlier this year in an effort to attract new members.
On behalf of the Community, I wish to thank all office holders for their work, we are all volunteers, but these people provide a level of service that is consistent with best operational practice.
Treasurers Report
The Fiscal Year (FY) ran from 1st March 2022 to 28th February 2023.
KCC hold two accounts, the first of which is the main account which is the official business account of the KCC. The second account is the KCC Benevolent Fund which is the modern incarnation of the Kilmaronock Poor Fund.
Kilmaronock Community Council
The only rural parish in West Dunbartonshire
During the Fiscal Year, the office of Treasurer was borne by Anita Anderson. The account signatories are Andrew Sinnott & Anita Anderson.
Main items of expenditure:
Rental of Meeting rooms in KMH : £120.00
Website : £305.00 - Maintenance (£150.00) and hosting & Data Protection (£155.00)
Miscellaneous: Projector £367.98, Leaflets £15.00 and APRS £30.00
The account ran a deficit of £175.10 primarily due to the purchase of a projector and all meetings taking place in KMH. Actual expenditure was £837.98 and grant received from WDC was £662.88 the same as last year.
The main account had a closing balance of £776.07
The accounts were examined and approved by David S. Taylor and are presented tonight. See Appendix 1. Our thanks go to David Taylor for his professional assistance.
The Benevolent Fund had a closing balance of £424.01
Secretary's report
Andrew Sinnott (AS) held position of secretary for this term and attended all KCC meetings. Main themes this year :
WDC Community Council Scheme of Establishment (SoE) and CC Elections
The SoE was published in the summer of 2022 and CC elections followed in Autumn.
KCC has 8 elected positions to fill. If 8 or fewer candidates stand then all candidates are appointed without an election process. At the time of the election, only 4 candidates had been nominated and were thus elected without the need for a vote. Note – 4 is the minimum requirement to form a CC.
Across WD, a few CC’s folded due to lack of sufficient candidates, our neighbours in Balloch & Haldane being one.
Development Management (Planning)
KCC has had several engagements with the planning department as a statutory consultee. Approximately 20 applications have been presented and discussed in the past year.
The development of a “Local Place Plan” has gathered pace and community engagement has taken place in the form of a householder and online survey followed up by a public consultation event in the Millennium Hall.
All local anchor bodies took an active stake in the process; KCC, KCT, KOKT, KMHA, School and Parent groups etc. and the public showed a great interest but in small numbers.
West Dunbartonshire Council
Most of our council engagement has been with the Roads department. Not only on the general condition of roads and gulleys but also on re-establishment of a safer and more useable footway along the A811 from Balloch to Gartocharn. Some major progress has been made on the latter with a new surface allowing full width use of the footway from Balloch to Ashfield House. The next section will be the most challenging due to two narrow spots between Ashfield House and the vehicle recycling centre.
Election of Office Bearers
Until the new elections are completed the office bearers will remain as:
Chair : Vacant
Vice chair : Gavin MacLellan
Secretary : Andrew Sinnott
Treasurer : Anita Anderson
Kilmaronock Community Council
The only rural parish in West Dunbartonshire
AOCB
None raised
Date of next AGM
Monday 13th May 2024 @ 7:30 pm
Programme for forthcoming general meetings (preliminary)
Mon 3rd July 2023
Mon 4th September 2023
Mon 6th November 2023
Mon 15th January 2024
Mon 4th March 2024
Mon 13th May 2024 after AGM
Appendix 1
