Ward 8 –Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum
Meeting held on Thursday 23 April 2009
in the Inver Hall
Present:
Cllr Alasdair Rhind (Chair)
Cllr Richard Durham
Sarah Lumb, Inver Community Council
Hamish Mackenzie, Tarbat Community Council
Alice Smith, Balintore and Hilton Community Council
George Dobbie, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Community Council
Eveline Waring, Nigg and Shandwick Community Council
Maureen Ross, Seaboard Initiative
Rose Hazell, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Action Group
Insp Ramsay Aitkin, Northern Constabulary
Phil Green, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
Pat Sproul, Senior Money Advice Officer
Campbell Stewart, Area Roads and Community Works Manager
Ian Hargrave, Corporate Manager, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Carol Elliot, Ward Manager Tain and Easter Ross
7 members of the public
Apologies:
Cllr Alan Torrance
Fiona Robertson, Tain Initiative Group
Liz Whiteford, Fearn Peninsula Partnership
Richard Cross, Nigg and Shandwick Community Council
Robert James, Balintore Residents Group
1. Welcome and Introductions
Cllr Rhind welcomed everyone to the Forum.
2. Apologies for Absence
As listed above.
3. Community Safety/Police report – Northern Constabulary
Insp Ramsay Aitkin, Northern Constabulary was welcomed to the area. He has been in post 4 weeks. He has spoken to his colleagues about the challenges in the area. It has been a busy time recently with various operations but he assured the community they will still receive a very good service.
Q – Because the operational area is now so large will the Police be thin on the ground locally?
A – There hasn’t been a reduction of staff locally; there is still the same number of staff.
Q – Does the operational area cover Milton? What about speeding on the B187 at Barbaraville?
A – This Police area boundary only goes as far as Ken’s Garage at Kildary. But Policing doesn’t stop at boundaries if there is a problem. The public are encouraged to report any incidents to the Police.
Q – There are concerns about speeding at the shift changing time on the B9175.
A – Insp Aitkin will ensure this gets looked in to.
Q – Does the Fire Service have anything they wish to say?
A – Group Manager Phil Green, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service replied that at present he had nothing to raise as he was in the process of reviewing the recently issued Service plan and this information would determine the future direction of Service activities. He also stated that the Fire Service is keen to work with the Police to reduce road deaths.
4. Ward Update and feedback from the previous Ward Forum.
The Local LEADER Development Plan for the Tain and Easter Ross Ward was approved this week.
The first meeting of the Tain and Easter Ross Local Area Partnership is next week; the group are being trained on how to assess applications for LEADER funding and will also be considering their first applications.
The Notes from the previous Ward Forum are attached to the agenda. Feedback on actions is shown at appendix 1.
5. Presentation – TECS 2009/2010 Grounds Maintenance Programme. Campbell Stewart.
The main tasks of Transport, Environment and Community Services (TECS) are roads and grounds maintenance. Ground Maintenance is operated and managed at Ward level by the Community Works Officer. John Bonthrone does this for the Tain and Easter Ross Ward. John is based at the Tain Service Point.
There are 2 permanent grass cutters in the Ward. For the growing months TECS employs 4 seasonal workers in the Ward. These permanent and seasonal operatives make up 2 teams of 3. One team covers Tain and the other the rural areas.
TECS has a Service Level Agreement with The Highland Council. This agreement details what is done. It includes the frequency of cutting on different areas of grass which are categorized as high, medium or low priority amenity grass.
Generally grass gets cut on an 8-10 day cycle (excluding emergencies). Doing it this way often means there is no need to pick up the grass which saves costs.
Their work is inspected to ensure it is being done as agreed.
The grass cutters use 7ft wide mowers and smaller mowers and strimmers as necessary.
Campbell reported that he believes the service provided varies from reasonable up to very good. Feedback shows that the public’s perception of the service is that it is good. This was not the case a number of years ago.
If people feel grass cutting in an area should be changed the Service Level Agreement allows for some flexibility, so suggestions for change are considered but something may also need to be removed to accommodate such change. There haven’t been many changes requested over the last few years. There have been a few suggestions from Councillors which have been accommodated. Local knowledge can help improve the service.
A local initiative in Balintore where a community group employs an officer to do work is supported by TECS funding. This works well.
Q – There is a hole in the road at the junction by Tain Tennis Club. Can this be looked at?
A – Campbell will arrange for this to be looked at.
Q – The grass on Mansfield Estate seems to be very long and has not had a cut yet.
A – TECS are the contractor responsible for looking after this area which belongs to the Housing and Property Service. TECS also does work for Social Work and Education on their land. TECS is currently recruiting seasonal workers to start in May. Campbell will get the Community Works Officer to look at.
Q – Tarbat CC is pleased with the service they get from the Community Works Officer. In Inverness there are large housing estates with large grassed areas. Do rural areas get their fair share of the budget?
A – Contributions are sought from Developers as part of the Planning Conditions. A calculation is done of the cost to maintain an area and multiplied by 40 before the Highland Council adopt it. The developer has to pay the Council or provide other maintenance arrangements.
Q – Can the Garty road get more regular grass cutting of verges as it is difficult to see sometimes and the road is much busier?
A – Tractor cutting starts in May until the end of the season. Legally the Council only has to cut once but all verges are cut at least twice and more in areas where there are problems. Campbell will get the Community Works Officer to look at.
Q – Are there any plans to spray memorials in the area with weed killer?
A – No.
Q – There are lots of holes in the road from Portmahomack to the Seaboard.
A – Workers are doing edge strengthening in the area at the moment. This year TECS are not surface dressing in the area but are edge strengthening for this reason. The programme for the year will be finalised soon.
Q – The Inver to Portmahomack road is the same.
A – TECS are aware of this and intend to do work across the Ward as budgets allow.
The Chairman stressed that Ward Councillors are very pleased with what has been done in the Ward to date, and are grateful for the good standard of grounds maintenance.
6. Presentation - The Credit Crunch – How can the Council’s Money Advice Service help? – Pat Sproul, Senior Money Advice Officer.
Debt has a profound effect on the individual; both on psychological and physical health. It leads to guilt, low self-esteem and depression, which in turn leads to an inability to cope with other life stressors.
If people don’t have money they can’t spend it in their community. Debt affects a wide range of people in all parts of the community.
There are many factors involved in debt cases so The Highland Council works with other agencies dealing with other issues such as mental health, gambling and employment.
Highland Council Services also work well together to help Money Advice in dealing with peoples problems.
In 2007/08 The Highland Council and the Citizen Advice Bureau dealt with £15million worth of debt related cases and this doesn’t include mortgage debt.
The Council provides advice and assistance (legal and practical) and will liaise with others to help clients out of unfair agreements.
The Income Maximisation Team will help anyone who needs it. They give advice on various benefits and make sure that people get what they are entitled to. They go to people’s homes to advise. £250,000 extra was brought into the Highlands last year.
They also liaise with fuel suppliers to sort out problems to help people out of Fuel Poverty (spending more than 10% heating your home).
The Credit Crunch means the team are seeing more people than before but it also gives people the excuse to seek help and advice.
Now the team are looking at what issues there are in each Ward and are trying to tailor services to fit local circumstances.
A Money Advice booklet has been produced which is full of advice.
Q – Does the Money Advice Service have an input into Education to help young people learn about debt?
A – We would like to do this, however due to the large amounts of clients seeking help; this is not something we are able to do at the moment. It is an area Money Advice would like to get in to. Cllrs Rhind and Durham will also look into this.
Q – How do you reach hard-to-reach clients, for example, the elderly who can be too proud to ask for help?
A – Lots of proactive work goes on. The team talks to health visitors and providers of services to this age group. Word of mouth, like this Forum, in communities is a strong route in.
Q – How does the Council promote this service?
A – There has been lots of promotion on the web, in the press and in community newsletters. This is reaching people because the service has seen an increase in clients.
Q – What about having discrete information for others to leave, such as through the Tain Community Nursing pilot as discussed at a recent Ward Forum or for the Fire Service to give out when doing home safety checks?
A – Money Advice is looking at producing small flyers. This suggestion is noted.
Q – How do people get in touch with you?
A – The contact information is in the Money Advice booklet. You can contact the Council's money advisers on 0845 600 4222 or by e-mail at money.advice@highland.gov.uk or by post at: Money Advice, The Highland Council Policy And Development Team - Money Advice
38 Harbour Road, Inverness, IV1 1UF. The 0845 number is changing shortly to an 0800 number. Income Maxmisation can be reached on the 0845 600 4222 number or at income.maximisation@highland.gov.uk
Q – Is the service open to everyone?
A – It is open to all Highland residents. It doesn’t include business debt where the client is still trading.
7. Date, location and topic of next Ward Forum
Thursday 11 June 7pm for 7.30pm. Seaboard Memorial Hall, Balintore. The host Community Council will be Balintore and Hilton.
Main theme: Tourism – starting with “How can we enhance tourist information available for visitors in the Easter Ross area?”
Short secondary topic: A representative from Stagecoach will also be attending as requested at the last Ward Forum to discuss bus timetabling.
As always – Can Community Councils and other Ward Forum member groups ensure you gather views from your communities on these items via your own agendas to feed into discussions.
To help the Council find out which sections of the community attend Ward Forums and to help us make improvements we would ask those present to complete a short Equal Opportunities and Monitoring questionnaire at the end of the Forum.
8. Public Question and Answer session.
Q – Two years ago it was agreed which paths would be in the Core Footpaths Plan; these paths are now being signposted. In Inver one of these paths runs past the end of peoples gardens and they don’t know the path is part of the Core Plan. Can people be told this?
A – ACTION 1. Pass this suggestion to Phil Waite, Access Officer.
Q – Are rural properties getting brown bins?
A – There are no plans to give rural properties brown bins as it is felt they can compost.
9. Thanks for attending.
Cllr Rhind thanked everyone for their attendance, Thanks to Inver Community Council for hosting refreshments.