Ward 8 –Tain and Easter Ross Ward Forum
Meeting held on Thursday 15 January 2009
in the Carnegie Hall, Portmahomack
Present:
Cllr Alasdair Rhind (Chair)
Ian Hargrave, Corporate Manager, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Insp Neil MacKinnon, Northern Constabulary
William Scott, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
Kerry MacLennan, Easter Ross Community Care Forum
June Ross, Principal Waste Management Officer
Emma Leel, Waste Management Assistant
Frances O’Connor, Fearn Community Council
Liz Whiteford, Fearn Peninsula Partnership
Hamish Mackenzie, Tarbat Community Council
Carol Elliot, Ward Manager Tain & Easter Ross
Fiona Robertson, Tain Initiative Group
Yvonne Kirk, Balintore & Hilton Community Council
11 members of the public
Apologies:
Cllr Richard Durham
Cllr Alan Torrance
Peter Whiteley, Tain Community Council
Isabell McLaughlan, Milton Housing Forum
Rose Hazell, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Action Group
George Dobbie, Kilmuir and Logie Easter Community Council
Susan Russel, NHS
Maureen Ross, Seaboard Initiative
1. Welcome and Introductions
Cllr Rhind welcomed everyone to the Forum and introduced those around the table and those doing presentations.
2. Apologies for Absence
As listed above. The Forum send their good wishes to Cllr Torrance.
3. Community Safety/Police report – Northern Constabulary
Inspector MacKinnon reported there had been some serious crimes in the area over the summer period. These cases are going through the court at the moment. In December, following an intelligence gathering period, an operation was carried out on four addresses in the Ward to recover drugs. Two officers from the Area Proactive Team will be working out of Tain on intelligence led work. The public are encouraged to report information to their local police or confidentially via Crimestoppers 0800 555 111.
The Local Councillors went on patrol with the police on a Friday night in December. They spent time in marked and unmarked cars; with police dogs and generally patrolling various parts of the Ward. This was also an opportunity for Councillors to show the Police those areas of concern to them and to see front line policing in operation. The Police were thanked for the good presence they had at the annual Tain Hogmanay Street Party.
Q – Is Tain a hot spot for problems?
A – The Police cover the whole Ward, but Tain by virtue of it's population size generates the greater demand.
Q – Are volunteer firemen encouraged to support communities?
A – Volunteer and full time fire personnel are committed to being involved in communities. Balintore has a RTC and wild fire unit and Portmahomack has a fire safety unit. It is their priority to raise awareness of home fire safety and to carry out assessments.
Q – Are they encouraged to support community bonfires etc?
A – Personnel are encouraged to be there as a safety requirement but the Service is currently reviewing if it can continue to cover community bonfires.
Q – The Fire Service has the best people to deal with displays and we hope to see their support continued in future.
A – The Fire Service has had complaints from the general public that whilst doing this staff aren’t providing an operational service.
Q – What is the estimated response time for outlying areas?
A – There are no longer categorised response times; these have been removed by the UK Government.
4. Ward Update
LEADER – Sandy Anderson, LEADER Consultant, updated Councillors on Monday on progress with the Local Development Plan work. Questionnaires to community groups have been distributed via CCs. The response hasn’t been as good as he would have liked so if Ward Forum members can help with a last minute push on questionnaires this would help. A youth focus group has been planned for the end of the month. Sandy has also been working on the other background information needed for the Plan such as Socio-economic information.
It is suggested that the Steering Local Area Partnership, that Ward Forum members are on, meets immediately before the next Ward Forum on 26 Feb to discuss the draft plan before it goes out to wider consultation.
Following up on an action from the October Ward Forum with the Chief Executive to provide the public with a picture for the coming year. The Programme of the Highland Council from 2009 – 2011 has been produced in a more readable format. The booklet “Strengthening the Highlands” is available at Council Service Points. Copies for Ward Forum members have also been provided tonight.
5. Feedback on action points from previous Ward Forum
The Notes from the previous Ward Forum are attached to the agenda. Feedback on actions is shown at appendix 1.
Tarbat CC reported that they received Housing information under a FOI request.
The Highland Council is holding a seminar in February to examine issues of concern relating to the housing allocations policy.
ACTION: Councillors to contact Albyn Housing Society about local lettings.
6. Presentation – Kerry MacLennan, Involvement Consultation Worker, Easter Ross Community Care Forum. Overview of the Community Care Forum in Easter Ross.
The Highland Community Care Forum (HCCF) believes that care services can only be at their best if influenced by users and carers, so they facilitate this happening via eleven local Community Care Forums (CCF) across the Highlands.
The HCCF is funded by the Highland Council and the NHS to provide access to good quality information on community care services and to carry out consultations across the Highlands to help shape services.
Our local CCF is the East Ross-shire CCF. At Forums members identify what work will be carried out over the year. For example, the East Ross-shire CCF has:
• Started a carers support group;
• Organised a carers rights forum and information day;
• Established a Ross-shire wheelchair users group which has gone on to organise events for users to access equipment providers and to lobby for improvements such as for dedicated wheelchair users parking at Raigmore Hospital.
• Started compiling a directory of Community Care Services in Ross-shire.
• Helped identify the need and to help set up the Handy Person’s Scheme.
East Ross-shire Community Care Forum can be contacted at:
Poolewe Office, Village Hall, Poolewe, Ross-shire IV22 2LD
Telephone 01445 781758. E-mail ross-shirehccf@btconnect.com
Q – Does the NHS or Social Work refer people to the HCCF?
A – No. The CCF feeds back information and the views of service users and carers to help improve services.
Q – Is the Handy Person scheme available throughout Easter Ross?
A – The scheme is run by ILM Highland in Alness. The HCCF doesn’t run services. It helps identify issues and looks for others to provide a service addressing them. Anyone of Pensionable age and/or with a disability can access this service throughout Ross-shire. Evaluation of this service has been 100” positive.
Members agreed to fund this service again through the Highland Council and with support from Albyn Housing Society, as they felt this was an important service.
Q – Is the Handy Person service adequately publicised?
A – It is well advertised and when it was set up ILM went around various user groups. They also get a lot of word of mouth referrals.
Q – Is the wheelchair users’ forum aware that the Tescos store planned for Tain won’t have access for users except by car?
A – The Ross & Cromarty access group work with the Highland Council on new builds and alterations and comment on access issues. Kerry to pass this information on so users can contact Planning if they wish.
7. Presentation - Transport, Environment & Community (TEC) Services. June Ross. How do we improve waste collection and recycling in Easter Ross?
The presentation covered the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle principles relating to waste; the background to where the Highland Council was and now is as regards recycling / waste minimisation and how this was achieved and then focused on the new Rural Kerbside Collection Service.
Reducing waste and stop wasting the Earth’s resources, we were encouraged to:
• Avoid disposable items
• Choose durable goods
• Stop junk mail by calling 0845 7034599
• Adopt the “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign
Reusing what we use. We were encouraged not to bin it but to use it again by:
• Trying a bag for life
• Using real nappies
• Rechargeable batteries
• Renting or borrowing
• Supporting Charity shops
Recycling, if waste can be made into something else by using:
• Kerbside recycling collection
• Recycling Centres
• Recycling Points
• Home Composting
In 2002:
• The Council’s recycling rate was less than 3% - 2nd lowest in the country!
• There had been an historic lack of investment in infrastructure
• Waste was not recognised as a resource by the Council
Recycling statistics since then have shown a steady upwards trend (now around 32%) through various Council initiatives such as:
• Upgrading Civic Amenity Sites to Recycling Centres
• Providing 5 New Recycling Centres
• Providing Recycling Points with 6 in this Ward
• Providing Kerbside Recycling Collection
• Running a Waste Aware 211 Campaign
New blue bins are currently being delivered for a new Rural Kerbside Collection Service in the Ward starting in March. June outlined what can and cannot go in to these bins. All households will receive an eight page booklet with all of this information and ways on which to maximise recycling and waste minimisation attached to their new bin.
Q – Can the glass recycling bins in Tain be categorised more clearly?
A – ACTION: June will look at problem. Plastic bottles taken to the recycling centre must have their lids removed and the bottles squashed before they are recycled.
Q – Are blue bins only going to those households new to the recycling scheme?
A – Yes. If households already have a blue box they won’t get a blue bin. When more investment is available this will change so everyone is on the same service with brown and red wheelie bins too.
Q – Is the frequency of green bin collections under threat?
A – Green bins will remain the same.
Q – Is the frequency of the new collections enough, have there been any issues with it?
A – No one has come back to say anything different. People are also encouraged to use recycling centres.
Q – Are there any plans to use a reward system to encourage recycling e.g. like Tescos club card points?
A – The incentive is that we all need to work together to achieve national targets or the tax payer will loose out.
Q – Balintore and Hilton are on a 2 week blue box collection, but these are usually full within a week. Can people get a second blue box?
A – Some people have requested this and if they have a genuine need for it yes they can have a second box. They should call the Highland Council Service Centre to request this. However, people are also encouraged to use recycling points.
Q – The blue box lid is easily damaged or lost, wouldn’t a bin be better?
A – Lids are an issue. You can request a replacement lid. And replacement hinges for normal refuse bins are available too.
Q – Why aren’t plastic bottles put into a compression container?
A – We would love to have this facility but don’t have the funding for it.
Papers can be composted effectively in equal quantities with grass. If we can compost at home we wouldn’t need the infrastructure to support moving it.
RoWAN (Ross-shire Waste Action Network) is working in communities to reduce waste. They are looking for five communities to work with and are open to ideas from communities on how they can support them. Contact RoWAN at: Upper Bank of Scotland, 1 Tulloch Street, Dingwall, Ross-shire, IV15 9JY Telephone 01349 867063.
Q – What about people who live up farm tracks?
A – They are also entitled to a blue recycling bin. Their collection point will be the same as their existing refuse collection arrangements.
Q – Everything we buy is packaged. Central Government should address this. What can be done at a local level?
A – The Scottish Government are reviewing its National Waste Strategy and the Highland Council has responded on what it thinks should be dealt with. RoWAN can help communities address these issues locally. You don’t have to accept the packaging.
Q – What is being done about fast food throw away packaging?
A – It is a huge problem. Schools are raising awareness of the problem and Enforcement Officers are working with schools and businesses.
8. Date, location and topic of next Ward Forum
Thursday 26 February, 7pm for 7.30pm. Fearn Village Hall. The host Community Council will be Fearn.
Main theme: Local Transport Strategy. How can the Council improve transport across the Highlands?
Short secondary topic: NHS - Review of Nursing in the Community - Tain pilot
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.
Election.
There is a European Election on 4 June 2009. In his role as Returning Officer, the Highland Council Chief Executive has a new duty to encourage people to vote. Community Councils and other community groups are encouraged to help promote the importance of using the right to vote.
9. Public Question and Answer session.
Q – How far do various items have to go for processing?
A – Paper goes to UK paper reprocessors via Stirling. The recyclate from the new Rural Kerbside Collections goes to Grangemouth. The full information on all of the waste / recycling destinations is in the Waste Data Report on the Highland Council web site. The value of the raw material is reflected in what is presented for recycling.
10. Thanks for attending.
Cllr Rhind thanked everyone for their attendance, Thanks to Moira and Kate from Tarbat Community Council for hosting refreshments.
Updates on ACTIONS can be seen at Appendix 1.