Badenoch & Strathspey WARD FORUM
Thursdays 10 April 2008, Boat of Garten Community Hall, Boat of Garten
ACTION NOTE
1. Attendees: Cllr Black (chair) supported by Elected Members, Ward Manager, Community Councils (CC), members of the public, Highland Council officials from Education Culture & Sport (ECS), and other agencies; Northern Constabulary (NC), Cairngorm National Park Authority (CNPA), Speyside Trust, Strathspey & Badenoch Herald, Voluntary Action Badenoch & Strathspey (VABS).
Invited guests; Highland Councils Convenor, Cllr Sandy Park, Vice Convenor, Cllr Jean Urquhart and Chief Executive, Alistair Dodds, members of the Youth Forum, Alex Murray, Paul Grant, Alishiya McStay, Amy Conboy and local transport organisations.
Apologises: Bill Carr, Dalwhinnie Community Council, Richard Eccles, Community Health Partnership, Careers Scotland, Destination Management Organisation and Highlands & Island Enterprise (HIE)
2. Introductions; Highland Councils Convenor, Cllr Sandy Park and Vice Convenor, Cllr Jean Urquhart and Chief Executive, Alistair Dodds.
3. Matters arising from previous forum 05.02.08
3.1 Lighting at High Range Roundabout (Sue Palmer, Ward Manager)
Grilles now placed over lights to redirect them, and no reports to date of glare.
3.2 Parking in Aviemore (Sue Palmer)
Works carried out at Strathspey Railway Car Park that includes drainage, surfacing, street lighting and signage with completion 9 May. Disabled parking provision available both sides of tracks – park west side for steam train and Platform 2 and east for Platform 1.
3.3 Scottish Court Service (Cllr Fallows)
SCS confirmed that a day will be set aside for B&S and Nairn business at Inverness District Court alternate Wednesdays.
3.4 Local Action Fund (Sue Palmer)
£11,320 Scottish Government funding for B&S targeted at young people to increase range and access to services and facilities has now been spent. The 9 successful projects across Badenoch and Strathspey have received their cheques.
3.5 Youth Policy & Funding (Cllr Douglas)
The position is that the May ECS committee will be considering a report which reviews existing policy. Hopefully the committee will be happy with the report and will then allow the vacant youth work posts to be advertised and appointed as soon as possible.
3.6 Newtonmore Travellers Site (Sue Palmer)
The Council are about to issue a planning application that grants temporary consent for one year to extend opening times of the site to all year round. This will allow monitoring of the operation of the site before considering a permanent application. (Refer to Question & Answer Sheet – question 3) If there was an impact on Council policy this would be considered after the application has been granted, and we would consult regarding this where appropriate.
3.7 Aviemore Master Plan (Sue Palmer)
Name now changed to ‘Aviemore Design Framework. It sets out the future vision and shape of Aviemore. Draft still not out nor timescales set for public consultation. It needs to go to the CNPA Board to obtain authority for publication and consultation. Consultation may be during consultation on local plan modifications currently anticipated to be June/July. CNPA agreed to attend either the May or August meeting to report back.
3.8 Improvements to Grounds Maintenance & Street Cleansing Services (Sue Palmer)
Still awaiting decision on amount allocated to B&S (out of the £1 million additional monies across Highlands). 3 Enforcement Officer posts have been advertised and appointments likely in next 6 weeks. They have an educational role putting out the Councils message to improve the environment we live in and will form hit squads to help the 3 areas target hot spots for littering, fly tipping and dog fouling with a view to getting the message across by enforcement of legislation and issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices.
3.9 Scottish Water (Cllr Douglas)
Grantown is hoping that the updated treatment works will help with the problem of the smell and the community council will be monitoring the situation
4. Ward Discretionary Budget / Ward Profile (Sue Palmer)
£56,818 allocated to B&S Ward for 2007/08 has now been spent. The 2007/08 spreadsheet of requests and approvals will be available on the Ward Profile (www.highland.gov.uk/Council Wards/B&S/Ward Discretionary Budget). ACTION Sue to arrange.
Approvals since last forum are;
• Grantown Winter Lighting £6,000
• River Spey Anglers Association £2,100
• Aviemore Floral Display £1,000
• Strathspey in May £2,000
• Newtonmore Village Hall £2,000
• Kingussie Gymnastics & Trampoline Club £2,000
• UCAN Club: Kingussie High School £2,178.50
BALANCE Nil
Ward Forum dates throughout 2008 were announced at last meeting but some changes as clashed with other wards. These have been placed on the Ward Profile (www.highland.gov.uk/Council Wards/Ward Forum Year Planner. Dates are Wed 28 May (was 27), Wed 20 August (was 19), Tues 7 October and Tues 9 December.
5. Community Safety (Les Donaldson, Northern Constabulary)
Cllr Black expressed his best wishes to Andy Walker (retired on 21 March) on behalf of forum members for his regular commitment and contributions at the meetings. ACTION: Sue will arrange a card to be sent on behalf of forum members.
Les provided an overview of current policing in the area, including use of CCTV vans, Pub Watch and Open Nights to raise publics awareness. The forces review will mean officers reacting better in the twenty first century. We live in one of the safest places in the Highlands, with a high detection.
(Refer to Question & Answer Sheet – question 2) Les stated that they require information from the public regarding disturbances, as not a lot has actually been reported. Increased controls had been put in placed in Boat of Garten and additional staff in Kingussie. Initiatives for young people include Blue Light Discos, Operation Youth Advantage and Midnight Football, and work in partnership with the Council. A bottle marking scheme has been introduced to establish where alcohol has been purchased.
6. Ward Forum Review / Evaluation (Sue Palmer)
The Council agreed to establish Ward Forums in June 2007, and they have been operating in Badenoch and Strathspey for past 10 months. We are currently undertaking a review of their operation to determine what has been successful and not, and use the findings to determine how best to improve them and align them with the Council objectives (to enable public & community to be informed of & scrutinise Council activities/service delivery, & to a meaningful & realistic approach to consultation).
A final report of recommendations will be brought before the Administration prior to publication when the document will be widely disseminated. 4 questionnaires have been produced; Ward Managers, Council staff (cascaded to B&S staff last week for completion) Community (community councils & public to complete) & Agencies external to the Council. The ‘Community’ & ‘Agency’ ones were e-mailed to those on distributed list with agenda the last week, and are in your handouts. Please send completed questionnaires to Bob Cameron by 30 April (details in the questionnaire).
7. TRANSPORT
Short presentations were provided by;
David Summer Highland Council
John Thorne Cairngorms National Park Authority
Ranald Robertson HITRANS (strategic road networks)
Frank Roach HITRANS (trains)
Maggie Lawson Badenoch and Strathspey Community Transport
Basil Dunlop Strathspey Steam Railway Company
Cllr Fallows provided an Overview of Current Provision based on mapping journeys against timelines, and identified a number of issues such as lack of services in evenings and Sundays, as well as several areas of duplication and missed connections.
Attendees took part in round-the-table Small Group Discussions, to identify their 3 top issues/priorities, solutions and agencies responsible. Sue provided an overview of the feedback as follows;
• Fix the gaps (Cllr Fallows identified earlier)
• Extend public transport in evenings, weekends and Sundays (based on ‘need’)
• Affordable transport – e.g. 10 journey flexi scheme
• Utilise the car scheme and community mini bus
• Improve the A9 and A95 infrastructure, including steam train tunnel
• Better information that is accurate, up-to-date and in key locations (and ensure drivers stick to timetables)
Cllr Black suggested taking forward the fixing of connection gaps and undertaking a survey of needs, which forum members agreed;
ACTION: David said he could fix the gaps and discrepancies regarding connections
William Gilfillan (Corporate Manager, INB&S) stated that information was already available from the CNPA transport audit and the ‘Green Travel Plan’, so it made sense to pool what’s already there and then look at what further information on need is required.
ACTION: David to progress forward a survey into needs built on existing work (i.e. CNPA).
Sue acknowledged that there had been limited time to capture in any detail the views of all the groups, but that notes from the discussions would be typed up and sent to appropriate agencies to follow up, and progress would be reported back to the forum. ACTION Sue agreed to ensure notes are sent to appropriate agencies and will bring back updates of progress to future forum meetings.
CNPA stated they would be in a position to support the Council and partner agencies with the work identified.
8. Question & Answer Session (Please refer to tabled Question & Action Sheet)
(Donald Scobbie – Qus 1). Donald stated that he and many members of the local community in Grantown have significant reservations in relation to Muir Homes current proposals for housing development in the area extending between Seafield Avenue and Ian Charles Hospital. He acknowledged the need for housing and affordable housing but had concerns about the density and height of housing proposed, the design, the impact on the caravan park, drainage, flood control, and Ian Charles Hospital, medical and dental centres. He also expressed concern on how local ducks will be redirected to a new site proposed by Muir Homes which is some miles away.
He requested to meet with the councillors and CNPA to discuss. Cllr Black said that this would not be the appropriate course of action and that his concerns should instead be relayed to CNPA. ACTION: Sue to ensure Donald’s concerns will be sent to CNPA.
(Willie McKenna) asked about the progress and timescales relating to Aviemore Community School. Cllr Jean Urquhart – stated there had been slippage, the school build programme was a massive job, but that the school was on the programme and in the capital budget and would be presented to full Council in June.
(Jen Stone) Question 2 (Refer to Question & Answer Sheet) Jen asked if there could be CCTV in Kingussie. Les Donaldson’s said he would look at this with other agencies. ACTION: Les to follow this up and report back.
(Basil Dunlop, Strathspey Steam Railway) said they wanted to develop the railway into the industrial estate, but the Council required a piece of replacement land, the strip at the edge of the lorry park was not considered by the Council to be suitable. Cllr Park – stated that he didn’t think the Council would stand in their way. ACTION: Sue to follow up this matter.
(Maggie Lawson) stated that due to dramatic increases in fuel rate it was having an impact on Community Transport workers in terms of the impact cost had on running their cars. She was concerned they would lose volunteers with the cost of fuel on top of servicing your car. Cllr Urquhart – said that there was a similar problem being experienced in Gairloch. ACTION: Cllr Urquhart agreed to look into the situation.
9. Future Meetings:
The next meeting will take place on WEDNESDAY 28th MAY, 7-9pm (refreshments from 6.30) at Kincraig Village Hall.
10. A.O.B
There was no further business and the meeting was closed.