MINUTE OF THE 282^nd BUSINESS MEETING

OF THE

STONEHAVEN AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

HELD IN THE COWIE LOUNGE OF THE INVERCARRON RESOURCE CENTRE

At 7.30pm ON TUESDAY 13^th JULY, 2004

PRESENT:

Community Councillors: Derek Stewart, Duncan Cursiter, Mary Jackson, Pam Dobbie, Raymond Christie, Nigel Parkes, Allan Cairnduff, David Bray, and Peter Bellarby

Kincardine & Mearns Councillors: Wendy Agnew – Stonehaven South; Mike Sullivan – Stonehaven North and Fetteresso

Minute Secretary: Linzi Dykes

Sergeant Trower From Grampian Police attended the meeting to update on Crime Prevention.

Two Members of the Press and two members of the Aberdeenshire South Access Panel attended.

Item	Description	Action/Date
1.	Apologies Apologies were received from Douglas Dykes, Isabel Parkes, Sarah Dickinson, Margaret Ross, Jane Davidson, and Councillor George Swapp.
2.	Minutes of meeting held on 8^th June, 2004 The Minute was proposed by Duncan Cursiter and seconded by Derek Stewart.
2.1	Matters arising from previous Minute None.
3.	Nominations for Vice Chair Only one nomination had been received for the post of Vice Chair and this was for Pam Dobbie to take on the role. This was proposed by Peter Bellarby and seconded by Allan Cairnduff. Pam was delighted to take on the position of Vice-Chair.
4.	Crime Prevention Sergeant Trower from Grampian Police gave a brief update. She advised that most patrols in the area were currently concentrating on the prevention of fatal road accidents primarily as a result of drivers speeding. A large number of Police had been positioned along the A90 with mobile speed cameras and were observing many motorists not staying within the designated speed limit. She also reported that the Police pedal cycle patrols were now fully operational in Stonehaven and it was proving a success dealing with issues such as anti-social behaviour and underage drinking. All agreed that this was a good initiative. Derek Stewart advised Sgt Trower that following the repair of the road at Hillside, Portlethen the road markings alongside the speed camera on the northbound carriageway had not been repainted. Sgt Trower agreed to bring this to the attention of the senior Traffic Officer and BEAR Scotland.
5.	Projects for Community Council The Chairman advised that no more suggestions for projects had been received but felt it was important the Community Council get some ideas together. He reiterated that we would be carrying out a further survey later in the year to find out what the people of Stonehaven want for their community and was keen to keep this fresh in people’s minds. Allan Cairnduff queried if there were any projects that Aberdeenshire Council were currently involved in and thought it would be useful to know of any plans and perhaps co-ordinate with them. The Chairman agreed to provide Allan with a copy of the Kincardine and Mearns Area Plan 2004-2007 for any comments that he may have so that these can be put to the Area Manager.	Secretary 20/7/04
6.	Helen Rzechorzek Remembrance Project The Chairman advised that he and the Secretary had met on site to discuss the options. It was felt appropriate to purchase a hardwood bench seat to go alongside Mr Rzechorzek’s husband’s seat as opposed to the reconstituted plastic option that was initially suggested. The Council agreed that due to the increased cost of the hardwood bench a planter could no longer be afforded. It was agreed to go ahead with the purchase of the bench provided this was within budget.	Secretary 20/7/04
7. (a)	Reports and Projects Update Planning Report The Chairman advised that there were eight planning issues relating to Stonehaven but there was nothing of any great relevance to report on.
(b)	Town Sewerage Treatment Works - Nigel Parkes advised that Aberdeenshire Council had carried out a site visit on 22^nd June; no feedback had been received as yet. The planning application was next being considered at the August Area Committee Meeting. He reported that MSP Ross Finnie was currently looking in to the situation. Allan Cairnduff questioned whether their comments on the appearance of the building would be taken into account and the Chairman advised that he thought this was unlikely, based on the outcome of a similar application at the Backies, but the matter would again be brought to the notice of the Local Councillors.	Derek Stewart 20/7/04
(c)	Community Council website – David Bray advised that all Members contacts details had been updated and Minutes put on the website, he had not however had time to put in the latest Newssheet. He voiced his concerns over the responsibility of editing the website and was worried that any errors that occur during editing could have a vital effect. His only suggestion was to download the website prior to editing then re-launch it after each update. This would ensure there was always a back up. David went on to advise that when using the ‘Google’ search engine, the website address appears on page 2, however this is only if all the words ‘Stonehaven and District Community Council’ are typed in to the search bar. When inserting the words ‘Stonehaven Community Council’ into the search bar, the website was not listed in at least the first few pages of the results. It was agreed that some time needed to be spent to get these issues resolved and Raymond Christie suggested that the past chairman (Mr Ian Hunter) may offer advice or assistance with the website. It was agree he would contact him, and if necessary co-opt him onto the Community Council.	Raymond Christie 20/7/04
(d)	Horizon Project – Nigel Parkes advised on the various projects on-going at the moment.
(e)	Newssheet – Mary Jackson agreed to help with the Newssheet in Sarah’s absence. It was agreed that only the most up-to-date Newssheet should be placed in the website.
(f)	Kincardine and Mearns Community Safety Group – Duncan Cursiter advised that he had been absent from the last Community Safety Group meeting held on 1^st July, However, he was in receipt of the Minute of Meeting and provided Members with an update on various issues.
(g)	Disability Discrimination Act – The Chairman advised that Aberdeenshire South Access Panel (of which there two Members present at the this meeting), was now up and running and working hard providing comments on planning applications etc in relation to Disabled Access.
(h)	Constitution and Standing Orders – Peter Bellarby advised that he would have this completed in the near future.	Peter Bellarby
(i)	Christmas Tree Appeal – Raymond Christie confirmed the Secretary had sent out letters to 10 local organisations regarding funding for this year’s Christmas Tree. A poor response had been received and it was agreed to chase up those who did not respond in September.	Secretary Sept 04
(k)	North East Coastal Forum - At this point, The Chairman advised that he had attended the North East Coastal Forum meeting in April regarding the protection of the coastline from Fraserburgh to St Cyrus and felt it would be worthwhile keeping an interest in this. It was agreed that he, Duncan Cursiter and Nigel Parkes would pen together a brief list of ideas for improvements, as coast stakeholders.	DS/DC & NP 20/7/04
8.	Correspondence IN requiring action
(a)	Aberdeen Justices Report – it was felt that this was not something that the Community Council were in a position to comment on.
(b)	Aberdeenshire Comm. Learning & Development Strategy – Peter Bellarby had a copy of the draft strategy for comment It was agreed he would pencil a reply for response by 16^th August and pass this to the Secretary for forwarding.	Peter Bellarby 2/8/04
(c)	Finalised Aberdeenshire Local Plan Enquiry – Derek Stewart advised that this enquiry would go on for many days, it was agreed that he and the Secretary should try to attend on days where important issues pertinent to Stonehaven could arise.	Chairman/ Secretary
(d)	Draft Housing Land Audit 2004 – Derek Stewart reiterated that the Community Council should get a strategy in place to allow them to comment of documents such as this.	Derek Stewart
(e)	Stonehaven Medical Group re out of Hours Service enquiry – Pam Dobbie read out a letter from the Stonehaven Medical Group which had been received in response to the Secretary’s letter regarding the Out of Hours Service. It was agreed that it should be suggested to the Medical Group that they post the relevant information on the board in the Medical Centre to explain the out of hours situation to patients. It was agreed that the Secretary writes a letter to Dr Morgan thanking him for the information and also to make the suggestion.	Secretary 20/7/04
(f)	Mr. P. Daniels re Proposed playpark at Mineralwell – A letter of concern had been received from a Mr. Daniels regarding the proposed new playpark at Mineralwell. It was agreed that the Community Council would copy this letter to PARCS and confirm that they considered most of the points made were valid.	Secretary 20/7/04
(g)	Open Air Pool Chairman re Public Toilet Orderly – Despite the complaint regarding the lack of an orderly to look after the public toilets, Pam Dobbie advised she had met the person who was responsible for cleaning various public toilets around Stonehaven and she confirmed that they were all cleaned once a day. Pam herself felt the toilets at the beach were in a reasonable state of cleanliness.
(h)	Aberdeenshire Area Plan Monitoring – It was agreed that the Chairman and Secretary would deal with this issue.	Chairman/ Secretary 27/7/04
(i)	Duncan Cursiter re state of former Commodore site – This issue had been passed to Mr William Munro, Area Manager to deal with and a response had been received, It stated that Tesco had passed it to a Mr Cloak to deal with and it was agreed the Secretary should contact Mr Cloak direct and perhaps send digital photos of the site.	Secretary 20/7/04
(j)	Proposed Public Holidays 2005 – The proposed public holiday dates for 2005 were: - 11^th April, 13^th June, 12^th September and 10^th October. Members agreed these.	Secretary 20/7/04
(k)	Volunteer Opportunity Details – It was agreed that this was not something which the Community Council could make use of as all necessary work was carried out by the Members themselves.
9.	AOCB
	Pam Dobbie asked the Members to look at the plan of the Market Square that had been drawn up for the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership. Although the whole project was not able to go ahead due to funding, ATP felt that some of the design ideas could be salvaged and smaller projects carried out. The Members agreed to look at the plan and come back with ideas to the next meeting in time for feeding these back to the ATP meeting at the end of August. Pam went on to report that she had read an article in the Scotsman re. the introduction of policy for no third party right of appeal in conjunction with planning applications. After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that if those other than the applicant were able to appeal all planning applications, the whole planning process would grind to a halt. It was agreed the Secretary would write to the local MSP for more information on this. Raymond Christie advised that he had had his new recycling box emptied for the first time following the pilot recycling scheme recently launched in Stonehaven but was disappointed at (a) the size of the box which was too small for an average household and was only emptied twice a month; (b) the fact the lid was not replaced on the box and could easily blow away in the wind; and (c) the issue that not everything was removed from the box, plastic cartons were left behind. It was agreed that a letter be written to the Council detailing their concerns. At this point Councillor Sullivan reported that Aberdeenshire Council’s record for recycling in Scotland is reasonably good.	All Members 2/8/04 Secretary 27/7/04 Secretary 20/7/04
13.	Next Meeting
	The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 10^th August where this Minute will be formally approved. There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8:52 pm.
	Addendum: A. Correspondence/Brochures IN for information only & available on file: Twelve letters relating to Planning Applications and Appeals 1/6 – Aberdeen Licensing Board Public Forum on 28^th June 2/6 – Invercarron Resource Centre Meeting Minutes 7/6 – K&M Area Bus Forum Meeting Minute 9/6 – Community Council Administration Grant payment 21/6 – Aberdeenshire Sports Council Newsletter No 15 24/6 – Scottish museums re replica of Cowie Fossil 1/7 – George Swapp re Rabbie Burns Bust in Brewery Garden Aberdeenshire Council Annual Public Performance Report 2002-2003 B. Correspondence ‘signed’ OUT: As per those agreed at meeting of 8/6 plus a. 1/7 – To Councillor George Swapp re Official Opening of new Scottish Parliament building. b. 14/6 – To Council re naming of development at Kirkton Road – To be called Glen Court.