Ward 8 –Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum
Meeting held on Thursday 4 October 2007
in the Assembly Hall, Tain Royal Academy, Tain

Present:

Cllr Alasdair Rhind(Chair)
Cllr Richard Durham
Cllr Alan Torrance
Hamish Mackenzie, Chairperson – Tarbat Community Council
John Whitelaw, Vice Chair– Kilmuir & Logie Easter Community Council
Richard Cross, Chairperson – Nigg & Shandwick Community Council
Roddy Robertson, Chairperson – Tain Community Council
John Scott, Chairperson – Fearn Community Council
Fiona Robertson, Tain Initiative Group
Liz Whiteford, Fearn Peninsula Partnership
Inspector John Chisholm, Northern Constabulary
Ian Hargrave, Corporate Manager – Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Caroline MacAskill, Ward Manager Tain & Easter Ross
Allan Todd, Area Planning and Building Standards Manager for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Hugh Logan, Senior Engineer (Policy, Standards and Safety Team) TEC Services
24 members of the Public

Apologies:

Will Aitken, Seaboard Initiative
Hazel Bailey, KALE Action Group
Angus Scobbie, Balintore and Hilton Community Council
Bill MacKenzie, Inver Community Council
George Dobbie, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Community Council

1. Cllr Rhind welcomed the Forum and Members of the Public to the second Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum.

2. Feedback on Action Points from Forum held on 23 August 2007

Feedback from Council Services on Action Points raised at the Ward Forum on 23 August 2007 is contained in Appendix 1.

• Cllr Rhind was unable to raise the issue of the Delny Crossing at the Highland Rail Partnership Meeting on 4 September 2007 as Network Rail were not represented. However, Cllr Rhind met with Network Rail on a separate occasion and discussed the requirements for the Delny Level Crossing.

• Cllr Durham, along with the Elected Members for Dingwall and Seaforth Ward met with representatives from Network Rail and TEC Services in relation to the Delny Level Crossing. There are two proposals for additional signage for the approach to the crossing and the plans which detailed the two proposals were on display. Hugh Logan described the different features on each option. The options contained extensions to the existing signage plus rumble strips on the road to raise driver awareness. Members of the Forum agreed that there are two main issues:

1. the installation of barriers which the Councillors will continue to pursue
2. the need for increased signage on the approach to the crossing.

• The Forum agreed that Option 2 offered the greater awareness and asked that this be progressed.

• Thanks were expressed that work has now started to address the concerns raised in relation the roads in the Tain and Easter Ross Ward. Although there is still a lot of work to do it is good to see that work has started and that the new Wards are working.

3. Presentation by Allan Todd, Planning and Building Control

Allan made a presentation on the Service provided by the Planning and Building Control Service for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross giving details and answering questions relating to:

• Management arrangements and relocation of staff to Golspie
• The new Scheme of Delegation which provides more opportunity for officers to make decisions on applications in accordance with policy
• Changes in legislation that will see the Council undertaking neighbour notification
• Government review which may see a relaxation of Permitted Development rights and reducing the need for planning applications as a result
• Changes in legislation that will see appeals being dealt with by a Review Committee in the Council instead of being referred to Falkirk as they are now.
• Performance – the target is that 90% of householder planning applications be dealt with within 2 months, and 80% of other applications. However, due to the geographical area of the Highlands and the small number of staff dealing with large workloads, this is not always possible. However, performance is improving.
• The government are currently driving through ePlanning – the expectation from this is that planning applications will be able to be submitted on line, viewed on line and objections registered on line. Electronic communication will speed up the planning application process.
• There are varying timescales for advertising applications – 14, 21 or 28 days depending on the category of application.
• Community Councils are consulted formally in certain cases and can, if required, request an extension to the timescale provided the additional period sought is reasonable. Community Councils are also able to request consultation on any other planning application on the weekly list that is circulated to them.
• The Planning, Environment and Development Committee on 26 September agreed an amendment to the Scheme of Delegation which will result in the list of new planning applications being discussed at the Weekly Business Meeting attended by Elected Members and the Ward Manager. If the Elected Members unanimously agree that an application should be reported to the Planning Committee then this will be indicated to the Planning Officer. A protocol defining how this arrangement will work in practice is to be drawn up.
• Community Councils tend to be consulted on applications for large scale major development and are not expected to comment on applications that do not have wider community relevance.

4. Community Safety

Inspector Chisholm provided statistical information in relation to the Tain and Easter Ross Ward since the last meeting in August. The information provided is as follows:

• No house break ins
• Crimes of Violence – 7 assaults some of a serious nature
• 11 Crimes of Dishonesty
• 16 Reported Incidents of Crimes against property
• No road casualties
• 3 Incidents of Drink Driving

There is a pro-active approach to alcohol consumption in Tain and Easter Ross with a Pub Watch Initiative which has had a positive effect in relation to licensed premises.

In relation to Domestic Violence this is a multi agency issue, all reports are treated as a matter of urgency.

The Northern Constabulary achieve a 62.3% clear up and detection rate which is very high in comparison with other Police Forces.

Inspector Chisholm warned of a current problem with travelling criminals coming from outside the Highland area. Rural Post Offices are currently being targeted and should be extra vigilant.

5. Update from Initiative Groups

Fiona Robertson from Tain Initiative Group provided details of the projects Tain Initiative Group had achieved through attracting over £900,000 of external funding for the benefit of Tain.

Liz Whiteford provided details of some of the 50 community projects that have shared in the £280.000 Community Economic Development (CED) funding delivered by the Fearn Peninsula Partnership (FPP) and which has contributed to projects throughout the Fearn Peninsula valued in excess of £1.2 million. Since 2006, and targeted specifically at the regeneration areas of Balintore and Milton, the FPP has also allocated approximately £130,000 of Community Regeneration Funding (CRF) to 10 projects valued in the region of £270,000.

6. Ward Discretionary Budget

Information relating to the Ward Discretionary Budget is provided in Appendix 2 (PDF 11 Kb).

7. Date of Next Meeting

The next Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum will be on Thursday 22 November 2007 at 7.30pm in the Hall, Milton Community Wing, Milton. The topic suggested for the Forum had been Nigg Fabrication Yard. However, talks in relation to the subject are reaching a critical stage and it has been suggested that this topic be postponed for a future Forum.

The Forum agreed that Network Rail should be asked to the next Forum and the Nigg Fabrication Yard should be the subject for the Forum in January.

8. AOCB

Cllr Torrance advised the Forum and the Public that a Public Inquiry in relation to the proposed supermarkets in Tain would be held in the Duthac Centre on 30 October 2007 at 2.00pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

9. Questions and Action Points

• Three questions were received in advance of the Forum. The questions and the Council’s response are contained in Appendix 3.

• In response to the third question Cllr Durham added that he is of the view that the area is not “industrialised”.

• It was considered that Flashing Warning Lights at Level Crossing are dangerous and ambiguous and it was suggested that traffic lights may be more effective.

• The condition of the Wildlife Pond was raised. The lining under the pond had become exposed and investigations had taken place to reduce the “bubbles” that had come to the top. The lining has now however, gone down and the situation is being monitored.

Action Points

• Concern was raised in relation to visibility for cars coming onto Moss Road from Duthac Wynd, Stagcroft Park, Provost Fergus Drive due to overgrown hedging and the speed of the cars on Moss Road. The Ward Manager will meet with TEC Services to investigate the situation and look into the reference made to the Title Deed which includes the prevention of hedges at the boundary of the property. Feedback will be provided to the next meeting.

• There are a number of trees overhanging footpaths throughout Tain which need to be looked at.

• Request received that a Written responses to be sent to persons who submitted questions in advance of the Forum.

• Planning and Development are to be asked to consult with all Community Councils in Tain and Easter Ross if a Planning Application is received for a Wind Farm on Nigg Hill. It is expected that the details would go beyond one Community Council and that any Community Council not consulted would, in any case, have an opportunity to comment.