Action notes - Ward Forum - Eilean a'Cheo (Ward 11)

Meeting held on 17 March 2008

Agenda

Attendees:

Councillor Drew Millar (Chair)
Councillor Ian Renwick
Councillor Hamish Fraser

Maressa Munro, Dunvegan & District Community Council
Christiane Higgins, Uig Community Council
Watson Laing, Glendale Community Council
Catriona Leslie, Portree Community Council
Janet Pringle, H&I Fire Service
Willie McGilvary, Northern Constabulary
Roderick Murray
B Robertson
David Ashford
Flora MacLean, Sleat Community Council
Steve Heap, Sleat Community Council
Bill Peppe, Minginish Community Council
Aileane MacKinnon, Portree Community Council
Stuart MacPherson, HIE Skye and Wester Ross
K Fraser
Tim Godfrey

Officials in Attendance

Jan Laing, Ward Manager
Moreen Pringle, Chief Executive Service
George Speed, TEC Services

Apologies:

Councillor John Laing
Mark Crowe, TEC Services
Vic Hawthorne, Planning & Development Service
Robert Muir, HIE Skye & Wester Ross
Kate Earnshaw, NHS
Ruaraidh MacNeill, Waternish Community Council
Les Downes, Staffin Community Council
Bob Cameron, Corporate Manager
Rod Richard, Social Work
Gordon MacDonald, TEC Services
Ross Notman, H&I Fire Service
Chrisanne MacDonald, Skye & Lochalsh CVO
Inspector Duncan MacLean, Northern Constabulary

Action Notes

1.0 Apologies

Apologies were received as listed above.

Drew Millar introduced everyone and thanked Flora MacLean and Sabhal Mor Ostaig for organising the Forum venue etc.

He then went on to give a vote of thanks to Moreen Pringle who was leaving the Council after 22 years.

2.0 Previous Action Notes

The action note from the meeting on 4 February 2008 was noted.
Jan advised that the Policy Unit had confirmed that the Post Office Closures across Highland were to go ahead (with only the Post Office in Wick getting a reprieve).

3.0 Presentation

Inspector Duncan MacLean of the Northern Constabulary had been due to give a presentation to the Forum but unfortunately had been unable to attend due to ill health.

Janet Pringle the Highland and Islands Fire Service’s Community Safety Adviser had agreed to speak to the Forum. Janet advised that her role in Skye, Lochalsh and Lochaber was to help promote Community Fire Safety. They would visit homes and carry out Fire Safety Check to identify any hazards, raise risk awareness etc. These Checks are important and vital. The public have to invite them into their homes to carry out the Check and she spoke about wishing to work with Community Councils to generate support. She is willing to attend Community Council meetings to give a presentation.

She can be contacted on 07771937075 if anyone wishes further information.

4.0 Issues Raised

Jan spoke about various issues raised by Sleat & Strath Community Council and Uig Community Council.

Sleat:

Blocked ditches due to tree felling – the Community Council should let Mark Crowe in TEC Services have the details and he will investigate;
Lighting at School – it had been suggested that the lighting could be switched off in the evenings – it spoils the view and would also save energy. This is something that could happen at a lot of Schools. Jan will contact the Education Service to discuss.
Lack of clearing up after roadworks – This is a matter that affects both TEC Services and Transerv. If the specific locations affected are notified to Mark he will deal with it.
Plastic Recycling – This has been referred to the Waste Team and a response is awaited. Jan will continue to chase it up. There is a big problem with plastic waste and it is a matter with the Highland Council is actively looking into.
Support for Uist to get sailing to Mallaig – The Highland Council will certainly be supporting this proposal. Sleat Community Council were encouraged to write to the other Community Councils asking for them to support the plans.
Car Parking at Uig Cemetery – The costs for this project have been identified as over £10000. It would need additional capital resources which are not currently available. It was agreed that a Community Officer from TEC Services would attend an Uig Community Council meeting to discuss this further.
30 MPH Speed Limit - This is a Transerv issue as on a Trunk Road. The Community Council will require to contact them direct.
Broadband Issues – The Community Council should contact BT to discuss this further. Cllr Millar spoke about a Pathfinder project which a company called THUS were involved with which might help. Jan would find out more info on this and send out to Community Councils.
The lack of Mobile Phone Service was also discussed. Community Councils should write to the Mobile Phone Companies putting forward their case for masts etc. The possibility of Phone Companies access Police Masts and old Highland Council masts was also mooted. Jan would look into this.
Replacement of Public Bench at Ferry Inn – Jan was looking into this and would report back once she had the necessary information.

5.0 Proposed Review of Ward Forums

Jan spoke about how the Forum’s had now been running for 9 months and the Highland Council had decided to look at how they are working, improvements that could be made etc. This is a Highland wide review.
An Evaluation Questionnaire had been produced and would be issued to everyone at the end of the meeting (would also be posted out to the other organisations/ Community Councils not at the meeting).

Once the Questionnaires were back in the points raised would be discussed at a future Forum meeting.

6.0 Community Council ELections

Jan advised that the Community Council elections were due to take place over April/May.

A copy of a guidance document which had been produced by Highland Council had been circulated. It appeared that much more onus was being placed on the Community Councils to organise the elections and this caused a lot of concerns.

It was unclear as to what everyone’s roles and responsibilities were. Jan agreed to get clarification on this and provide Community Councils with clearer instructions on what is expected of them.

A lot of responsibility/remit is placed on Community Councils these days and many potential Community Council members may find this off-putting. It is important to encourage as many new members as possible to join.

7.0 Surface Dressing Programme 2008/09

A copy of TEC Service’s Surface Dressing Programme for 2008/09 had been circulated for information.
George Speed from TEC Services advised that the list is prepared following yearly road inspection and put before the Councillors for consideration/prioritisation.
The programme would commence in May and last for approximately 4/5 weeks – but is very weather dependant.
Steve Heap from Sleat Community Council queries the poor state of the road following the recent chipping which had taken place. The Council Sweeper has had to spend a long time working on the road – and a lot of chips are still being thrown up by cars.
George advised that the quality of the binder was not as good as it had been in the past. The Council were aware of the problem and would rectify it once the weather improved.
George Speed advised that there is a pothole patching programme attached to the surface dressing programme – which would then roll out to all roads in the area.
It was hoped to have representatives of Transerv at a future Ward Forum to discuss the state of the Trunk Roads in the area. Community Councils are encouraged to write to them with their concerns.
A Scottish Parliament on-line petition is currently circulating raising signatures for the A82 Upgrade Campaign. It was agreed to send the link to the petition to all Community Councils for their attention.

8.0 Ward Discretionary Buydget

A document had been circulated outlining all the projects which had received financial support through the Ward Discretionary Budget for in 2007/08.
The budget for 2007/08 has now been fully spent.

Drew explained that the Councillors were currently discussing how the Budget should be allocated in the future to ensure the money was put to good use. This would include better monitoring, match funding requirements etc. New criteria would be drawn up and issued for guidance.

Once they have firmed up the criteria they will discuss the matter at a future Ward Forum. The 2008/09 Village Officer funding will continue but it was hoped that discussions would take place in the Autumn as to how to deal with this in the future.

9 Any Other Business

It was requested that, where possible, information to Community Councils be send by e-mail as well as paper copies.
Watson Laing again raised the question of Community Council representatives received travelling expenses to attend Ward Forums. Feels it is vital that the Community Councils are represented and that the Highland Council should be doing all they can to facilitate this. Catriona Leslie said that a high mileage rate was not required – just repayment of fuel costs. The Community Councils are not wanting to pay these expenses out of their annual grant. – This was one of the items which would be looked at as part of the Ward Forum Review which is underway.

10.0 Question and Answer Session

Aileane MacKinnon of Portree Community Council took the opportunity to thank Moreen Pringle for all her hard work over the years …. especially in relation to Community Councils.
David Ashford raised the following points:
(i) Lack of Broadband coverage in Sleat Peninsula – asked that the Highland Council do everything in their power to get the exchanges upgraded etc. Many people in the area are still on dial up networks which is slow and not very effective. - It was Agreed that this matter would be looked into.
(ii) Expressed concern about the large amounts of work and responsibility that is being placed on the voluntary sector. - The Councillors advised that this is a matter which is causing a lot of concern and they are working hard with organisations such as the Skye & Lochalsh CVO.
(iii) Concern about the lack of public attendance at the Forums. Need to get people involved and motivated. – Everyone agreed about this. This last Forum had been advertised in the West Highland Free Press and posters had been issued for distribution in all Community Council areas – but still the attendance was very poor.

Watson Laing highlighted that the majority of Community Council issues which are raised relate to TEC Service. Feels that TEC Service needs more funding to enable them to deal with all these problems. The high number of tourists, heavy loads etc using our roads should be taken into consideration when funding being distributed. Our roads were not designed for all this traffic and need to be made a priority.

Drew advised that the Councillors were shortly to prepare a list of roads which need attention which would then be submitted for funding. This was a matter which was being treated as of vital importance.

11 Date of Next Meeting

It was agreed that the next Ward Forum Meeting would take place on 28 April 2008 at 2.00 pm in Glendale Hall.