Thurso Ward Forum
Action note of meeting 5th November 2007
Attending
Cllr John Rosie – Chair
Cllr Donnie Mackay
Cllr The Lady Thurso
David Sutherland – Caithness Ward Manager
Ian Hargrave – Corporate Manager, Caithness Sutherland & Easter Ross (CS&ER)
Mrs Jean Lipa – Thurso Community Council
Bob Earnshaw – Thurso Community Council
Campbell Stewart – Area Roads & Community Works Manager (CS&ER)
William Brown – Caithness West Community Council
Sgt. Steve Raeburn – Northern Constabulary
Robbie Mackintosh – Caithness Ward Manager’s Team
Alex Macmanus – Caithness Ward Manager’s Team
24 members of the general public
Apologies – none
Ian Hargrave opened the Forum by explaining the rationale behind the Ward Forum meetings. Highland Council was nearly ready to start the process of submitting service reports to the Forums and that these reports would play a major role in the Forums as we go forward.
AGENDA ITEMS
Community Safety – The minutes of the Caithness Community Safety Action Team (CCSAT) meeting of 21st August 2007 were circulated to all forum members and general public. Community Safety would be a standing order item on all Ward Forum agendas and members of the forum were reminded that the next CCSAT was on 13th November 2007 in Wick Town Hall and that items for discussion could be submitted via David Sutherland, Ward Manager. A street plan of the proposed part-time 20 mph speed limit at Pennyland School was also circulated. Campbell Stewart spoke in favour of this plan.
Ward Discretionary Budget – Updated spreadsheet was distributed to forum members and the general public. No questions were raised over this. Forum members and general public were reminded that application forms were available and on hand. It was also mentioned that a notional figure of £10,000 was being considered for a CCTV system to cover Old St Peters Church.
Ward Updates –
1. Condition of Olrig Street. Ward Manager had spoken to Gordon Sinclair, Area Manager for Transport Scotland about this issue as previous advices had indicated that this was part of their small works programme for 2009/10. He, however, has advised that they would look at Olrig Street again and submit an update.
2. Condition of the Mall footpath. Scottish water have advised the Ward Manager that the pathway will be fully reinstated
3. Parking in Thurso. A meeting will be arranged with TEC services to discuss proposals for Riverside and Couper Square including re-siteing of Recycle Bins
4. Drinking in public places. Bylaw will be progressed to cover this taking in to account premises with designated outside areas.
Dates of future Ward meetings –
Tuesday 22nd January 2008
Tuesday 18th March 2008 – provisional
Dates of meetings would be advertised in the local press and council service points.
AOCB
Clarification on the anomaly regarding the residents of Scrabster being in the Caithness West Community Council Area but the Thurso Members Ward was sought. This item would require to be discussed at the Caithness Association of Community Councils meeting which is due on Tuesday 4th December in Halkirk. It was agreed that the residents of Scrabster would require to be consulted before any decision was made.
Q & A
1. From Mrs. Sadie Mackay, 28 Mount Pleasant Road, Thurso who wants to ask the following –
Could the local bus service be extended beyond Park Avenue to the top of Mount Pleasant Road to include Laurie Terrace and Royal Terrace? This area is very populated but has no local bus service for senior citizens like myself and others.
This question is unable to be answered at this time. The Ward Manager will be making contact with Ali Macdonald, Rapsons Coaches, Seafield Road, Inverness and Mrs Swanson at Rapsons Coaches in Thurso to discuss the issues raised by Mrs Mackay.
2a As per the article in the Press and Journal and today’s John O Groat Journal our residents group would like to put the following question to the forum;
Having received a partial response from Sam MacNaughton to our Freedom of Information Act request, we cannot find any obvious reason as to why there hasn't been a traffic order establishing a resident parking permit scheme drafted. Could you explain the lack of a traffic order? We seek this clarification because after the residents meeting with Councillors Mackay, Jackson and Saxon in November at the Royal Hotel, we were told it was a "done deal" and Convener Flear had quoted a fee of £40 per annum per car to John Thurso M.P., this was to be the only issue involved in implementing the scheme.
We look forward to your response on Monday evening.
Yvonne Gunn
26 Campbell Street
THURSO
2b D O'Hagan
I understand there already is a group who have raised the residents parking issue with the Council. As far as I am aware they have made little headway.
Could you please advise as to why this is a problem? I have lived at 16 Olrig Street for a number of years and frequently have to park my car three streets away. I note that in other town centres eg Invergordon, Inverness, residents have allocated parking. Could you please advise why the requests of the locals here are being ignored?
Cllr MacKay assures me that he has raised this with the Council for a number of years. Is this not what local democracy is all about? Please advise as to why the legitimate requests of those of us (with a growing number of elderly) are being ignored.
This is not rocket science. Surely it is not beyond the capabilities of the Council to allocate parking areas for residents. It would still allow parking areas for others if managed sensibly.
Unfortunately I will not be able to be at the Ward Meeting and indeed I am unsure what the purposes of the new structure are supposed to be about but would ask that this issue be raised and if not please pass this to the appropriate department.
D O'Hagan
We had originally arranged to have a meeting in Thurso with PARCO and local members on 1st November to discuss the results of our parking survey carried out during the summer. However, PARCO requested that this was delayed until they had received more information on previous parking surveys and other general information relating to parking management in Highland.
This info was sent out at the end of October and the intention was to rearrange a date for the meeting as soon as PARCO got back in touch.
Kind regards,
Neil
Neil MacRae
TEC Services
Highland Council
3. Received a written question from Don Smith for the Thurso ward forum on Monday 5th November.
Repair of chainlink fence.
Raised by Community Council, will be issued to workforce shortly
Repair of roadside fencing.
Waiting on O’Brien’s to replace a strainer and post that they removed during construction.
Returfing goal mouth areas.
Does need done but may have to wait until spring, need guidance from workers
Supply of wheelie bin for litter
Request made, awaiting stock (stand)
A further one has been received regarding replacing broken flagstones at Gillock park play area and fencing off play area only.
Will be issued for repair works. Have agreement from Education Culture and Sport Service to repair the caravan site fence as well.
4. Why is there a delay in the upgrading of yellow lines in Thurso?
It has been known for a while that the signage and road markings in Thurso display discrepancies resulting in confusion to road users and general public. Thurso is not unique in this as a number of towns in the north area are similarly effected. In law the signage takes priority over road markings. It is acknowledged that the road markings and signage requires to be updated. In time an assessment of Thurso will be carried out and in the meantime any new problems that occur should be reported through the normal channels. Parking tickets are being issued where the signage and road markings dictate.
5. Why are the toilets at the Harbour closed over the winter months?
The toilets at the harbour are closed over the winter months as a cost saving measure. Again Thurso is not unique here as other Towns in the Highland Area are also effected. It is felt that Thurso has sufficient other public toilet cover over the winter months.
6. Why are there no facilities for the surfing community in Thurso?
A separate meeting is being organised with the Community Council over this issue. The Highland Council have never been approached by the surfing community.
7. Why are the Highland Council paying for the fireworks display in Inverness?
The Highland Council are not paying for the fireworks display. The costs involved are being met by the Inverness Common Good Fund which is a separate entity.
8. Can a Community Centre for the elderly be provided at the Queens Square/Oldfield Terrace area of the town?
This issue is a priority of the local Members and will be brought up at meetings in Glenurquhart Road.
9. When will the footbridge at the Mall be replaced?
This is being vigorously pursued by the Ward Members and is their top priority. Letters have been sent to the MSP and to the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government will not fund a replacement bridge and the Ward Members are actively seeking funding to get this bridge replaced.
10. My home in Laurie Terrace has not been modernised, yet those around me and those build after mine have. Why is this?
It is understood that this property would have been built in the mid to late 1960’s and could well be now on the Councils rolling ‘year built’ programme. However the Ward Manager will contact the Housing and Property Services to get the definite response.
11. What is the up to date position as regards the building at 30 Princes Street which is lying derelict?
The Highland Council are experiencing difficulty trying to contact the owner. The Council will be taking out a compulsory purchase order over the building but this will take time.
12. Why has the seating at the War Memorial been replaced with steel rather than wood?
The seats were replaced by metal due to problems of vandalism. However Campbell Stewart, Area Roads and Community Works Manager, would look at the seats with a view to having wood placed over the metal to enhance its appearance.
13. Why was a local firm not used to supply and fit the new railings at St John’s Square?
Campbell Stewart, Area Roads and Community Works Manager replied -;
The Council will always try to get local companies involved in the provision of service when possible. Normally at least 3 independent prices will be sought for contracts such as this, although for specialised work this may not be possible. The Council Contract Standing Orders dictate that formal tenders must be used for contracts over £25 000, so this contract is below that threshold.
The Council have been trying to get a specification and cost for replacing these railings for a number of years. The Council originally asked Jackson’s Fencing to provide a quote in December 2004, but numerous other distractions prevented this happening until late last year. When the quote arrived it was beyond allocated budgets at that time, and the Council wrote to the British Legion for assistance. The assistance the Council required was for someone to try and seek additional funding sources, using the Council money for match funding, and for that person to ‘project manage’ the Scheme. Unfortunately that tactic failed and resulted in Stuart Bell, Communities Works Manager, and Cllr Mackay attending a meeting in March with the Royal British Legion Scotland, the outcome of which was reported in the press.
The positive element which emerged, following pressure from Cllr Mackay, was an undertaking from the TEC service director to allocate the TEC routine War Memorial budget for 06/07 and 07/08, together with a Council wide discretionary element for 07/08, towards this cost. In order to ensure the 06/07 allocation was used and the work done in the summer it was necessary to place the contract, and the Council did not have sufficient time to request tenders from other possible suppliers. However Jackson’s Fencing had been asked to provide sufficient detail in order that the scheme could go to other parties for pricing, so the price they gave would have been competitive. They have not been told that no other organisation tendered for the work.
Although there have been problems with the installation, (the existing coping stones have caused difficulties), the Council believe the quality of the railings to be very good (and come with a 25 year service guarantee). There has been some disquiet about the railings coming from so far away, but the Council would argue that this would not be excessive. Local companies would source steel from the south, possibly of Britain (or even abroad), and bring it to the local workshop for fabrication. Once fabricated the railings would need to travel to Elgin or beyond for galvanising, and then be sent to the Central Belt or further for the application of the polyester powder paint system. With the return journey to Thurso it may well be the case that the railings would have travelled further than the ones from Jackson’s Fencing.
That said, the Council would also have been happier if the circumstances had allowed them to get quotations from local suppliers. However given the resources the Council had and the position the Council was in earlier this year the Council believe the decisions made were appropriate.