The Highland Council - Eilean A'Cheo (Ward 11) - Forum Meeting
Monday 28th June 2010
Draft Action Note (For approval at the next meeting on the 30th August 2010)
Attendees:
Councillor Hamish Fraser (Chair), Councillor Drew Millar (Cllr DM)
Councillor Ian Renwick (Cllr IR), Councillor John Laing (Cllr JL)
Catriona Lesley, Portree Community Council, Dr Julian Toms, Vice Chair Portree Community Council, Gordon MacKay, Waternish Community Council, Sylvia Porter, Staffin Community Council, Anthony Moore, Broadford & Strath Community Council, Isobel MacDonald, Staffin Community Council, Maressa Munro, Dunvegan Community Council, Roddy Murray, Sleat Community Council, Donnie Oliphant, Raasay Community Council, Mike Shield, Minginish Community Council, David Oliver, Minginish Community Council,
Nick Duffill, Minginish Community Council, John Duncan MacInnes, Sleat Community Council, William Wallace, Sconser Community Council, Judith Wallace, Sconser Community Council, Jim Rennie, Skeabost & District Community Council, Moira MacDonald, Skeabost & District Community Council, Elaine Robertson, Waternish Community Council, Ruaraidh MacNeill, Waternish Community Council, Imogen Percy Bell, Waste Management , THC, Phil Dewar, Waste Management, THC
Officials in Attendance:
Jan Laing, Ward Manger, CEO, The Highland Council (JL), Katherine Nicolson, CEO, The Highland Council (KN)
Apologies:
Kilmuir Community Council
Listed below is the action required and the outcomes resulting from discussion at the Eilean a’ Cheò Ward Forum meeting on Monday 28th June 2010, Tigh Na Sgire, Park Lane, Portree, Isle of Skye.
Item No Decision Action/Information
1 Welcome and Introduction
1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the Ward Forum Meeting which was specially held for Community Councils.
2 New Waste & Recycling Schedule – Imogen Percy Bell
2.1 A 20 minute presentation was held detailing the forthcoming changes and pilot scheme for recycling. At present Highland currently recycles 35% of waste and it is anticipated to rise to 70% by 2025.
2.2 A leaflet will be delivered through Royal Mail to all households in the next few weeks detailing information about the 6 month pilot scheme which will begin on 6th September 2010.
2.3 A new collection calendar will be sent out in August detailing the fortnightly collection dates.
2.4 It was noted that this area is the last to carry out such a pilot.
2.5 Questions & Answer Session
2.6 Q. Some single people have a smaller waste bin which might not be suitable once the collection is changed to fortnightly, what will happen?
A. They will be supplied with a normal sized bin.
2.7 Q. How was the decision made for the date in September as this is after the tourist season?
A. This date was as soon as they could get everything in place for the changeover.
2.8 Q. Larger families will have more waste which may cause problems if only being emptied fortnightly, what will they do?
A. Households of more than 6 people are entitled to an extra bin.
2.9 Q. Will larger households be given this information?
A. All households will received a letter and there will be adverts in the newspapers, on the local radio and as much information will be given as possible.
2.10 Q. Why is there a new calendar, can the old one not still be used as it will cost more money to send out another calendar?
A. There is a need to do this and it is hoped that money will be saved through the pilot which would counteract the cost of new calendars.
2.11 Q. Why can’t glass be placed in the blue bins?
A. The recycling is taken by lorry to Grangemouth and unfortunately they do not accept glass for health and safety reasons and also as it affects the machinery they use for sorting the recycling.
2.12 Q. What about public bins?
A. A review of litter bins is being carried out and the HC Operations team will be dealing with this.
2.13 Q. The issue of packaging was raised as Tesco have a scheme where they sell 2 for 1 items but allow people to pick up the 2nd item at a later date which saves wastage due to expiry dates, can the supermarkets be approached to take on this type of scheme?
A. Supermarkets are being worked with to try and reduce packaging waste and this idea may be suggested to them.
2.14 Q. Are HC only paying for the costs of the lorry fortnightly now instead of weekly?
A. The lorry will only be sent to Grangemouth when it is full which will cut down on costs.
2.15 Q. Households have only had the blue bins for little over a year, has research been done to see if there’s a need for the change to fortnightly collections?
A. It is hoped that with the waste bins only being collected on a fortnightly basis this will encourage people to recycle more and use the blue bins which will then be filled within the fortnight.
2.16 Q. The old Somerfield supermarket had a system where they took cardboard away for recycling. Can the co-op and possibly other businesses be pressured to follow this system?
A. We can certainly suggest this and will look into it.
2.17 Q. Unsure of why the blue bin collection is changing from monthly to fortnightly as it was thought people were quite happy with the current calendar.
A. There were people requesting the change to fortnightly and as there was a demand it was thought to pilot the scheme and research the findings.
2.18 Q. There are some items i.e. yogurt pots and some other plastics that are currently not accepted in the blue bins, is there anything that can be done to recycle this sort of packaging?
A. Currently looking into this and it is hoped to be able to use the blue bins for these types of items but unsure when this will be.
2.19 The Chair thanked Imogen for her presentation and wished her luck with the pilot scheme.
3 Presentation(s) Sleat and Kilmuir Community Councils
3.1 Unfortunately Kilmuir CC were unable to attend but Stephen Varwell, Kilmuir CC, sent an e-mail which the Chair read out. The e-mail highlighted the positive projects which Kilmuir CC undertake/have done within the past 2-3 years, which they felt beneficial to the community, generated revenue and hopefully provide good value for money for the Highland Council grant.
3.2 The following have been carried out by Kilmuir CC;
• Construction of a car park and waymarking on the popular Rubha Hunish path
• Purchase and installation of a bench at the Rubha Hunish lookout
• Co-ordination of a bi-monthly community skip, which moves around the community as necessary
• Production of a bi-monthly newsletter which is distributed to every home in the area
• Co-ordinating the excavation of the Kilvaxter souterainn, construction of car park and maintenance of this area as a tourist facility
• Installation and management of two honesty boxes (at the souterainn and Flora MacDonald’s monument) which bring in several hundred pounds a year for use on the maintenance/upkeep of these facilities
• Undertaking a technical study of the Camus Mor slipway, with a view to improving the facility in future
• Donations of small grants to community/school groups
• Undertaking bi-annual beach cleans at Camus Mor/Score Bay
3.3 Mr Varwell also highlighted the fact that they have brought in several thousand pounds of grant/sponsorship/donation monies, demonstrating THC annual grant of £1,000 is multiplied several times and without the local CC he doubted that this would happen.
3.4 Roddy Murray of Sleat CC gave a 5 minute presentation on the workings of their community council. The following main points were noted:
3.5 Sleat CC were formed only 12 months ago and have become a very successful committee with a good turnout of attendance, including the public, at each of their meetings. They regularly engage with other Services i.e. NHS, THC, Police, Calmac etc to bring the needs of their community to their attention and to discuss any issues regarding their area.
3.6 The meetings are very carefully planned and are held on the 1st Tuesday of each month with the exception of January, April, July and August which are holiday months. 14 days notice is given on the date of the meeting and advertised, at no cost to the CC, in the Criomagan section of the WHFP, on De tha Dol? Gaelic television, Radio Nan Gaidhlteach and Cuillin FM.
3.7 The meetings are held alternately in 4 districts of Sleat which are Ostaig, Ardvasar, Duisdale and Tarskavaig. An agenda is compiled 10 days prior to the meetings and there is always an open forum section for members of the public or CC to discuss any other issues concerning their area.
3.8 The CC is currently working on issues regarding the Armadale to Mallaig ferry timetables in the hope of better sailing times in the winter months and are making some progress. They also have major involvement with the Draft Local Development Plan and Draft Rural Transport Strategies.
3.9 Following the archeological finds in Armadale, Sleatt CC have formed a new organisation to promote the archaeological finds at Armadale.
3.10 By default Sleat CC discovered plans to close the surgery in Sleat and the plan is to amalgamate the Sleat Practice with the Broadford Practice. They are also involved in discussions with NHS regarding bed closures in the MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford. This is an ongoing issue and requires the support of all the CCs in the area.
3.11 The Chair thanked Mr Murray for his presentation
4 Community Council Boundaries and draft Community Council scheme
4.1 Phase 1 of the Consultation is now complete. It was noted that five Skye Community Councils had submitted comments.
4.2 Catriona Leslie of Portree CC stated that their CC had submitted comments on Phase 1 and that the idea of reducing the number of CCs to 3 should be scrapped.
4.3 A meeting was held by the CCs prior to this meeting to discuss the consultation and they had asked that the Councillors attend. None of the Councillors were aware of having been invited to attend this meeting.
4.4 It seemed to be unanimous that the provision for 16 Skye Community Councils should remain. It was noted that Glendale was still without a community council. CCs being reduced to 3 was unreasonable due to it not being an appropriate way of putting the needs of areas to services as easily, travel distances between areas and smaller areas possibly losing their voice. CCs are there to represent their own communities and this didn’t want to be lost and people are far more comfortable with openly discussing issues within their own area.
4.5 A suggestion was made to have all the CCs meeting twice a year to tackle Skye wide issues and work as a bigger voice and a united front to address larger issues involving NHS etc.
4.6 It was agreed that Raasay should stay as it is as it would be difficult to merge it with another area.
4.7 It was noted that Braes does not have a CC at present and a suggestion was made to join Braes with Portree. It was also suggested that something should be done to try and get Braes more involved.
4.8 Sconser CC has made visible progress for a small CC and would like to remain this way and not be lost within a larger CC.
4.9 Staffin CC stated that it would be ridiculous to travel to Glendale for meetings and would make more sense to link Staffin, Kilmuir and Uig together.
4.10 There was concern about the writing on the consultation as it reads “draft consultation” and then on 1st page says that this proposal (16 to 3 CCs) is to be adopted on 1st April 2011. Cllr Fraser assured that every view will be taken into account.
4.11 Donnie Oliphant, Raasay CC suggested there be a forum for discussing wider issues. JL replied saying that this is what the Ward Forum meetings were created for.
4.12 Catriona Leslie, Portree CC said that the Ward Forums are largely taken up by presentations on issues of no interest to CCs. JL replied that it is the CCs and Forum members that are asked which subjects they would like to discuss and is not the decision of THC. JL asked for suggestions on how the Ward Forums could work better for CCs as there is a need to look at the structure to simplify them to suit both CCs and THC.
4.13 It was felt that more and more work and information is being given to CCs and secretaries which is creating more issues for discussion i.e. Planning. It was felt that an increasing workload would be difficult to mange if the number of community councils was reduced from 16 to 3 The Chair stated that the proposal of 3 CCs was intended as a starting point for discussion which has certainly had the required effect. The CCs should not get too hung up on the number 3 as it is not necessarily the number to be set in stone.
4.14 Cllr IR stated that he holds regular surgeries all over Skye and is always contactable should anyone wish to discuss any issues they have.
4.15 A request was made to send contact details of all the CCs to enable better contact with each other. KN will make up a list and forward it on at the earliest convenience.
4.16 Judith Wallace of Sconser CC asked about a Liaison Officer for the CCs. The Chair informed her that there is no such post and therefore falls upon the Ward Manager and her staff to do all this work which can be a fair burden as there are so many CCs in the area.
4.17 It was agreed to put a short term Working Group together to discuss this issue and CCs were asked for a representative.
4.18 Roddy Murray, Judith Wallace, Elaine Robertson, Donnie Oliphant, Jim Towers and Caroline Gould put their names forward.
4.19 JL asked Staffin CC if they could ask their members for a representative and get back to her.
4.20 If there are any requirements to change the boundaries then this will also be discussed by the Working Group.
4.21 The final decision on this consultation will go to Committee next year.
5 Attendance of local Councillors at Community Council meetings/attendance at Ward Forums by Community Councils
5.1 This issue will be discussed by the Working Group and will be relayed to all CCs.
6 Community Council Training Pack
6.1 The training pack is now complete and a copy was given to members of the CCs who were present at the meeting. If there are any CCs who were not at this meeting can they please contact Katherine Nicolson to arrange a pack to be sent out to them.
6.2 Special thanks went to Tony Moore for his help with this.
7 Ward Forum meetings – time, location, agenda, format
7.1 This issue will be discussed with the Working Group and will be relayed to all CCs.
8 AOB
8.1 Catriona Leslie asked if there was any way the CCs could make their voices heard by NHS. The Chair replied that there is currently a relationship being made with NHS but was unsure as to how much they are actually being told about local issues. He also stated that following the NHS meeting in Staffin earlier in the year, the CCs should have got together to put their voice forward.
8.2 The bed closures in Broadford and Portree hospitals along with other closures is a major issue in this area and needs the backing of the whole area.
8.3 Concerns were raised on Portree Hospital stats and it was asked whether there is a central location for people to contact when they have been told there is no room available so as to keep a note of the figures and views of those having to be sent elsewhere.
8.4 The Chair thought this was a good suggestion and would like to discuss this at a meeting at a later date.
8.5 The Chair thanked all for attending and brought the meeting to a close.