Action Note of the Joint Cromarty Firth and Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum

Held on Thursday 1st September, 2011

PRESENT

Cllr Richard Durham (Chair) Tain & Easter Ross Ward
Cllr Mike Finlayson Cromarty Firth Ward
Cllr Alasdair Rhind Tain & Easter Ross Ward
Cllr Fiona Robertson Tain & Easter Ross Ward
Cllr Maxine Smith Cromarty Firth Ward
Norma Young Saltburn & Westwood Community Council
Helen Williamson Saltburn & Westwood Community Council
Chief Insp Gus MacPherson Northern Constabulary (mid Area)
Sgt Vince Touch Northern Constabulary (mid Area)
John Edmondson Ardross Community Council
Robert James Balintore Residents Association
Janet Wilson Tarbat Community Council
June Ross Highland Council
Helen Ross Highland Council
Chief Insp Matthew Reiss Northern Constabulary (North Division)
Acting Insp Innes Smith Northern Constabulary (North Division)
John Boocock Kilmuir & Logie Easter Community Council
Marion Porteous Inver Community Council
Doug Kippin Nigg & Shandwick Community Council
Alpin Macdonald Kiltearn Community Council
Valerie Pugh Invergordon Community Council
Lillian Graham Invergordon Community Council

14 Members of the Public

APOLOGIES

Cllr. Martin Rattray
Cllr. Carolyn Wilson
Alice Smith, Balintore & Hilton Community Council
Douglas Gordon, Fearn Community Council

1. Welcome and Introductions

1.1 Cllr Richard Durham opened the meeting by welcoming everybody and making introductions.

2. COMMUNITY SAFETY UPDATE

2.1 Northern Constabulary representatives covering both Ward 7 and Ward 8 attended the meeting. The first update was given by Chief Inspector Matthew Reiss, Area Commander for the North Division. Acting Inspector Innes Smith accompanied him.

Chief Insp Reiss gave an update of some of the key issues in the area at the moment and the key points made included the following.

• A number of officers from Northern Constabulary have been helping the Metropolitan Police in London doing Public Order duties.

• The North Area Command has had the highest level of fatalities as a result of road incidents recently and in that context Chief Insp Reiss was particularly pleased to have been involved recently in the delivery of the Driving Ambitions Project. This involves pupils from all seven of the secondary schools in CSER and has been delivered in a number of towns.

The presentation includes a DVD, input from Police, Fire Service, the Red Cross and the Highland Council’s Road Safety Unit as well as representatives from a local garage.

• There had also been a number of thefts in Tain Academy and minor vandalism. All these things are being investigated and alongside this Police are continuing the usual business such as Court Business, Fire Certificates, etc.

2.2 There followed a period of questions and answers :

Question If Police go to support other police forces in England, who pays for that?

Answer All costs, including the cost of providing back up cover, are paid for by the Metropolitan Police.

Question Pending the possible announcement of the move to one Police force in Scotland, how will Northern Constabulary manage such a scenario?

Answer Staff of the Northern Constabulary will continue to strive to deliver the best possible service regardless of the structure that is agreed. They already have to prioritise duties and will of course continue to do that.

2.3 Chief Inspector Gus MacPherson then gave an update from his perspective as Area Commander of the mid division of Northern Constabulary. Chief Inspector MacPherson noted that he had been in post for only 1½ weeks, but having started with the Police in 1986 in Tain, done periods of cover in Alness, as well as Inverness, and having been based in Dingwall from 2004 to 2008, he had a good awareness of the area and some of the issues that affected the area.

He also confirmed his commitment to Ward Forums, noting that in his view, local Ward Forums and Community Council meetings were key meetings where Police could get the views regarding the community’s needs and priorities and be accountable locally.

2.4 Chief Inspector MacPherson also gave a summary of some key local issues including:

• Enquiries continuing in relation to a number of dishonesties in Invergordon including a break-in to a commercial premises.

• There will be a week in September when there will be a focus on underage drinking and anti-social behaviour. This will include letters being issued to parents of children who are found to be in possession of alcohol.

• Following the fatal fire in Milton, there has been a significant amount of work done with Albyn Housing Society and the Fire Service to identify vulnerable properties.

2.5 There followed a period of questions and answers:

Question if a Community Council expressed an interest would the Police potentially be interested in operating a community speed watch scheme whereby local people can be trained alongside Police in terms of using the speed gun with the idea being that those identified as speeding are then contacted by the Police.

Answer It was agreed that if the Community Council wished to progress this they should contact the relevant Chief Inspector to explore it further.

Question the speed limit on the road going past Milton has not been clear for some time due to signage issues. This is a concern, particularly for those who have to cross the road either from the new houses or to or from the bus stop.

Answer Sergeant Vince Tough will target this area to try and pick up the speeders. It was noted that the speeding is happening at all hours during the day time, not simply commuting hours.

A concern was also raised about the safety of cyclists and it was noted that a local cyclist had recently being hospitalised having been knocked off his bike. Sergeant Vince Tough agreed to check out that particular case.

Question Is there an update available on the Tomich junction?

Answer Transport Scotland have carried out their 24 hours service a period of one week on the junction. The Director of TEC Services, Neil Gillies, has written to Transerve asking them for an update on this survey.

3. UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS WARD FORUMS

3.1 The last Tain & Easter Ross Ward Forum and the last Cromarty Firth Ward Forum had both been held on 23rd June 2011. The notes of both previous Ward Forums had been put on to the Council’s website and copies were available at the meeting if there were any queries.

4. WARD DISCRETIONARY BUDGET

4.1 Papers on providing an update on both Ward 7 and Ward 8 Discretionary Budgets were circulated. It was confirmed that the 2 Ward budgets will continue to be managed and monitored separately.

5. CHANGES TO THE REFUSE AND RECYCLING COLLECTION

5.1 June Ross, Principal Waste Management Officer attended for this item. June gave a short presentation outlining the process for the roll-out of the blue bins across Highland which was followed by question and answer session.

5.2 Some of the key points June noted included:

• the level of recycling has increased from 2% up to about approximately 41% recycling earlier this year.

• Rural houses already have the blue bin which they can use for plastic bottles, paper, cardboard, cans and tins but these blue bins are now being rolled out across the North area for use starting in October.

Plastic bottles must be of the PET 1 and PET 2 types - It is important that only bottles of the right type are included as this affects the quality of the end product and therefore the end market that’s available.

• Shredded paper can be wrapped in newspaper to help stop it from blowing away. June also suggested that the quantity of shredded can often be reduced by making sure that it is only confidential element that is shredded, the rest dealt with as normal recycling.

• If bins are left so full that the lids are open, they will not be emptied. The reason for this is that an open lid will prevent the lift mechanism from working properly and it is therefore a Health & Safety issue.

• If recycling is put in the bins that is not correct it will affect the quality and therefore TECS will put a sticker on to the bin advising the customer of what the problem is.

• Glass cannot be put in the blue bin. This is because when the contents are compressed the glass would become shards of glass and therefore be a risk. People are therefore asked to continue to take their glass to recycling points and recycling centres.

Waste reduction is also a priority alongside the priority of recycling as much as possible when there is ways.

• The new bin collection is based on alternate points so one week the normal green bin will be collected, the next week the blue recycling bin will be collected. This will use the same vehicle and as a result there will be savings.

TECS will be able to reduce the vehicle fleet by 5 and the number of staff can also be decreased through natural wastage.

• As items from the blue bin are hand sorted people are asked to rinse out the tins before putting them in the blue bin.

5.3 There was a period of questions and answers during which the following questions were asked and answered :

Question What do I do with the old blue box?

Answer You may find it useful to keep for example to use to collect your glass in. If you do not want it, please return the blue box to either the Tain or the Alness Recycling Centre. In some cases, schools have also found them useful in classrooms, again to collect recycling materials.

Question What happens if somebody finds the fortnightly collection of the green bin is insufficient and their bin is overflowing and they do not intend to recycle more of their waste?

Answer Where these problems occur, Waste Awareness staff can go out to speak to people. However, it is very important that people do recycle and that they recycle the appropriate items as any contaminated items added to the blue bin can contaminate the whole load.

Question Composting is a good way to deal with food peelings, etc. but how long does it take for waste to turn into compost?

Answer. There is information on the Council’s website about composting. It was also noted it can help to add some soil as well as items like egg shells and coffee grinds.

Question Why will a brown bin not be collected if there is any soil in it?

Answer If people put soil into the bin this will often include stones. No soil is therefore allowed.

Question What happens if a household who are only entitled to one green bin put out two full green bins each time?

Answer Waste Awareness staff will go and speak to the individual and try to encourage better management of waste – e.g. more recycling. Only approved second bins which display the appropriate sticker will be collected.

Question As we all pay Council Tax why doesn’t everybody get a brown bin?

Answer The Highland Council did ask the Scottish Government for funding to provide brown bins to all households. Only partial funding was agreed however and therefore brown bins are provided in the built up areas but the costs were too high to provide them to all households.

Question What are shops meant to do with the shrink wrap this is produced?

Answer This has to be disposed of in the green bin, it cannot be recycled.

Question What help will shops get?

Answer The Waste Management Team will provide information to shops and leaflets to try and provide information and assistance.

Question What consultation has the Highland Council carried out to find out what folk do with their waste and what their views are?

Answer The Budget Ward Forums held in all areas in 2010 included two questions around waste management. These questions were also submitted to the Citizens Panel.

Question If people are not allowed to use bags to bag up rubbish, will the bins not get dirty and be hard to wash out?

Answer It’s only the blue bins where people are asked to put all rubbish in loose and that should stay fairly clean given the items that can be put into it. It is perfectly appropriate to use bags to bag up rubbish for the green bin.

Question What are the responsibilities of each householder in relation to them removing the bin from the public footpath between collections?

Answer If possible, the householder is always encouraged to remove the bin from the public footpath.

Question What happens if the bin is delivered to a holiday home so there is nobody there to take it to the back when it stays at the back?

Answer If TECS are made aware that it’s empty – e.g. a holiday home, then staff will visit again and put the bin to the back of the house or wherever is appropriate.

Question What happens where there isn’t enough space for bins?

Answer In some areas, for example for blocks of flats, communal bins can be used. These can include bins with a posting flap to prevent rubbish being put in.

Question What happens if bins are left blocking the road?

Answer This would be dealt with under Road Safety legislation.

Question In areas where there might be difficulties, is it not better to agree the provision before the bins are delivered?

It was noted that Highland Park had 52 full size bins delivered but nearly all the residents only need small bins so they need to be changed and it would have been helpful if this had been agreed prior to bin delivery.

Answer TECS are happy to talk to residents where needed to try and find a solution that will suit. June Ross noted that she was happy to do a walkabout and look at any issues that are being caused by bins

Question What can TECs do if issues arise or if there are particular issues, eg if people have chaotic lifestyles and don’t recycle and don’t manage the waste in the way that is intended?

Answer Waste Management staff will visit and try to provide more education for people. The experience in other areas where this has been rolled out, is that after some months it tends to settle down and work pretty well in practice.

Question One area in the Borders had some problems with contaminates being put into recycling and as a result used extra strong clear plastic bags so that it was easy to see if anything that shouldn’t have been put in had been added to the bag.

Answer As our vehicles are designed to collect bins, that‘s not an appropriate solution for Highland Council.

Question Should staff at recycling centres assist people if they can’t manage to get their waste into the appropriate skip?

Answer No, staff are not meant to be helping people. The assumption is that once somebody has transported the item of waste to the recycling centre, they will be able to manage it into the skip.

Question Commercial customers are being told that if a green bin contains lots of recyclables it will not be removed but people are also being advised to put newspaper at the bottom of the bin to assist with keeping it clean. Is this not contradictory?

Answer The suggestion of using newspaper at the bottom of the green bin is simply meant to be a helpful hint to keep the bin cleaner. A bin would not be rejected on the basis of this minor use of paper that could be recycled for a specific purpose

Question In Lochaber people have found that other people are filling their bin up. Is that a problem?

Answer Yes, sometimes it can be a problem but experience suggests that as the system beds in these things tend to work themselves out.

Question Why can’t we recycle envelopes?

Answer If envelopes are included, the gum causes issue and affects the quality of the final product.

Question The wording on the leaflets may be difficult for some people. Has TECS thought about using additional information such as a video for the doctor’s surgery or the Post Office, etc.?

Answer The Waste Management Service do provide a couple of slides in Service Points and also raise the profile through, for example, a school competition on recycling. June agreed to investigate the possibility of putting information on screens at doctors surgeries

Question What is the best way for people to contact the Waste Management staff if they have any queries or problems?

Answer Staff can be contacted by phone, via the website or by e-mailing to the recycling address given on the leaflet. June Ross also noted that she was happy to attend any Community Council if they want her to.

6. DATE AND LOCATION OF THE NEXT WARD FORUM

6.1 There was a short discussion on both the potential topics for the next Forum and also whether or not such a Forum should be held sole or joint.

6.2 It was agreed that Ward 8 would like Winter Maintenance to be the topic of the next Ward Forum and to facilitate a detailed discussion and would prefer that to be held as a sole forum for Ward 8 only.

This was therefore agreed and Helen will e-mail out with a proposed date for the next Ward 8 Forum. Helen will e-mail out with a proposed date for the Ward 7 Forum but will also ask for views as to what the topic should be for the Ward 7 Forum.

6.3 It was agreed that in the future Joint Ward Forums should be held where there is a Highland Wide topic and it appears appropriate but sole Ward Forums should also be held where the topic lends itself to that.

7. QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

7.1 Question

Is the house that burned down in Milton now been made stable and secure?

Answer
The normal procedure is for such a house to be checked and assessed for safety. If there are particular concerns however these should be reported to the Fire Service.