Agendas, reports and minutes

Isle of Skye and Raasay Committee

Date: Monday, 30 September 2019

Minutes: Read the Minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Isle of Skye and Raasay Committee (Comataidh an Eilein Sgitheanaich agus Ratharsair) held in the Chamber, Tigh na Sgire, Park Lane, Portree on Monday, 30 September, 2019 at 10.30 am.
 
Present:
 
Mr J Finlayson; Mr J Gordon; Mr R MacDonald; Mr C MacLeod
 
In attendance:
 
Mr W MacKinnon, Ward Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Chief Inspector Bob MacKay, Police Scotland
Mrs A Clark, Acting Head of Policy (by VC), Chief Executive’s Service
Mr C Simpson, Principal Tourism and Film Officer, Development and Infrastructure Service
Mr I Moncrieff, Road Operations Manager (Skye, Ross & Cromarty), Community Services
Mr S Fraser, Head of Corporate Governance, Chief Executive’s Service
 
An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council.  All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee.
 
Mr J Gordon – Cathraiche (Chair)
 
Business
 
1. Apologies for Absence
    Leisgeulan
 
There were no apologies for absence.
 
2. Declarations of Interest
    Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt
 
There were no declarations of interest.
 
3. Minutes
    Geàrr-chunntas
 
There were circulated for information, Minutes of Meeting of the Isle of Skye and Raasay Committee (Comataidh an Eilein Sgitheanaich agus Ratharsair) held on 
3 June, 2019, which were approved at the Highland Council meeting held on 27 June, 2019, the terms of which were NOTED.
 
4. Police – Area Performance Summary
    Poileas – Geàrr-chunntas Dèanadais Sgìre
 
There had been circulated Report No. SR/13/19 by the by the Area Commander for Police.
 
During discussion, Members raised the following issues:-
 
• The extent of contact between Police Scotland and Transport Scotland in situations where a community were concerned about issues such as speeding. Reference was made to concerns about speeding and safety that had been raised by communities in Raasay, Sconser, Staffin, Strollamus and Skeabost. It was advised that such concerns would require investigation through, for example, installation of speed counters and liaison with local Community Services staff. Enquiries would be taken forward to establish the extent of contact with Transport Scotland and the outcome of the speed count survey undertaken in both Broadford and Portree. 
• The extent of Police time spent on dealing with mental health issues had been discussed previously and if there had been any reduction. It was advised a multi-agency prevention and intervention strategy had been put in place and it was hoped this might lead to a reduction in demand on police resources.
• Reference was made to the value of the ‘Keep Left’ campaign locally and it was confirmed that the Police were continuing to promote including liaison with car hire companies with stickers being placed in vehicles’ windscreens.
• In welcoming production of the short film ‘The Slide’ it was agreed this would be made available to the Committee.
• Noted the reduction in the supply of drugs and it was explained there had been a number of initiatives including with the licensed trade and good liaison with communities:- and 
• Noted the proposal to roll out mobile working across the Highlands and Islands Division. Digitally enabled police officers will be operating and will be seen with mobile devices as part of their operational duties.
 
Thereafter, the Committee NOTED the progress made against the objectives set within the Highland and Islands Local Policing Plan 2017-20 Year 2 and 3, attached as Annex A to the report, for the period covering 1 April 2018- 31 March 2019 and 1 April 2019 – 30 June 2019.
 
5. Annual Area Capital Report
    Aithisg Bhliadhnail Calpa Sgìreil
 
There had been circulated Report No. SR/14/19 by the Head of Corporate Finance and Commercialism.
 
During discussion, Members raised the following issues:-
 
• There had been raised several Service specific issues in advance of the meeting. In respect of the Uig Ferry Redevelopment the spend to date was associated with the investigations and surveys, the progression of the Harbour Revision Order, Marine Licence and all the associated surveys including the environmental assessments, detailed design and contract preparation. Tenders will be invited for the main civil engineering works in October.
• In respect of the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme it was noted that an update had been  provided to the Ward Business Meeting on 20 September. The Skye windows and doors project is due on site imminently and surveys are being undertaken ahead of the external insulation project.
• In respect of the other Service specific issues an update would be  provided by the Ward Manager to a future Ward Business Meeting;
• It was noted that the meeting of Highland Council in June had agreed to allocate funding for redevelopment of Dunvegan Primary School which was welcomed.
• Noted that since the time of writing there was now agreement to create new nursery provision at Sleat Primary School. 
• The increase in tourism numbers had a consequential impact on the condition on the area’s roads and verges together with associated infrastructure. It was noted that a significant percentage of the roads in the area were single carriageways with passing places. It was common for those unfamiliar with driving on such roads to drive on the verges with resulting damage to the roads as drainage was affected.
• The lack of passing place signage was an issue as such places were often being used for parking.
• The absence of the Portree Link Road from the Capital Programme was noted and Members expressed their disappointment that it was no longer included. A number of interdependencies were noted to be present and members would continue to push very strongly for the Link Road. 
 
Thereafter, the Committee NOTED:-
 
i.   the expenditure on each project in this Council area in 2018/19.
ii.  the budget for each project in this Council area in 2019/20.
iii. the cumulative spend for each project in this Council area for 2018/19 and 2019/20 to end of June.
iv.  The Ward Manager had made a number of service specific enquiries and would  bring a further update to a future Ward Business Meeting.
v.   Portree Link Road was no longer included in the Capital Programme. This was disappointing and the case for the Link Road would continue to be made very strongly.
 
6. Update on Developments to Support Tourism Infrastructure
    Cunntas às Ùr mu Leasachaidhean airson Taic a Thoirt do Bhun-structair Turasachd
 
There was circulated Report No SR/15/19 by the Director of Development and Infrastructure and the Interim Chief Officer Resources (Community Services).
 
During discussion, Members raised the following issues:-
 
• Welcomed the significant investment of £2.9M identified and committed within the previous 18-24 months.
• With respect to car parking it was noted that consideration be given to the feasibility of introducing an all-day ticket to serve a number of the car parks;
• A detailed breakdown of the income from the car parks including those at the Green and Somerled Square would be made available. It was also advised that there were different levels of charging reflecting the difference between on-street and off-street car parking. Further local variation was allowed across Highland for long and short stay parking charges to reflect local circumstances.
• Future parking charges were to be discussed at the Special Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee on 24th October and it was noted that any agreement reached on tariffs was in accordance with the current Council policy providing for a local/corporate split of the income achieved. 
• Investigation was ongoing in respect of increased signage and that recruitment of additional decriminalised parking enforcement officers was currently underway .
• With respect to the Transient Visitor Levy consultation it was noted that there had been over 5400 responses to date with a range of different views being presented from residents, businesses and visitors. The results will be analysed and presented in a report to December Council. It was important that campervans and minibuses were included.
• The Council should continue to seek to exploit new technology and explore means of linking in with initiatives such as the Skye Connect pilot.
• There may be advantages in exploring means of directing and controlling visitors including expanding the number of destinations that might be visited possibly through the use of apps. It might be possible to explore the number of vehicles using particular roads acknowledging that the introduction of parking charges could be used to influence behaviour. 
• Given the concern that the introduction of parking charges might displace vehicles to residential areas it was noted that following the introduction a review would be undertaken and it would be important to pick up on any issues arising including those of residents.
• It would be desirable to mitigate the impact upon some of the highly visited sites and seek to influence visitors including investigating measures such as park and ride- noting this would have to be commercially viable or provision of display boards to serve the current selfie culture.
• Investigation of dedicated contract parking for businesses will be undertaken but there were likely to be restrictions on the availability of such parking. 
• An update on the waste collection review would be welcomed before the end of the year. Concern had been raised about the level of waste being left in locations such as Staffin and further investigation was needed to identify if more bins or collections were required.
• There was merit in  revisiting the findings of the workshop which previously looked at short term reactive issues as well as medium term ones presented by the visitor numbers, to see what was still relevant.
 
Thereafter, the Committee:-
 
i.   NOTED the importance of tourism to the Eilean a’ Cheὸ Ward 10;
ii.  NOTED the work undertaken to date to improve infrastructure across Ward 10;
iii. NOTED the work planned to address infrastructure challenges;
iv.  NOTED the need for further investment at certain sites to support tourism and impact on local residents;
v.   NOTED how this investment might be delivered and whether or not to pilot new approaches to find solutions to some tourism challenges;
vi.  NOTED the feedback received to date, agreed to the introduction of traffic orders to enable charging at Quiraing and Broadford Ford Road, subject to any further responses being received;
vii. AGREED to the introduction of charging at Neist Point subject to the appropriate traffic order consultation process and further discussions with the Waterstein Township;
viii.AGREED to the introduction of charging at the new off-street car park at Old Man of Storr, which would include the extension to this car park once complete;
ix.  NOTED the feedback received during the engagement and actions identified and,  AGREED to the introduction of charging at the new Bayfield West car park, following completion of the project, which would include a £10/month Local Parking Season Ticket (LPST) for local users;
x.   NOTED the reporting performance of Pay & Display at short stay car parks in Portree; and
xi.  AGREED, subject to a final review, the parking tariffs outlined at appendix 3. 
 
7. Winter Maintenance Plan
    Plana Obair-gleidhidh Geamhraidh
 
There had been circulated Report No. SR/16/19 by the Interim Chief Officer Resources (Community Services).
 
During discussion, Members raised the following issues:-
 
• The level of uptake of self-help within local communities was queried. It was advised that there was a scheme in place but, to date, there had been little uptake across Skye and Ross and Cromarty generally.
• The start time for operators/drivers was queried and advice sought if there was flexibility in the start time on Sundays. It was confirmed that there were a number of issues that precluded such flexibility as the Council Winter Maintenance Policy offered a template for the whole of the Council area and this identified a start time of 6am.
• It was noted that there were four gritters and two footpath tractors on Skye and the availability of plant to undertake maintenance in areas such as Skye was queried. It was confirmed that a more programmed approach was being adopted in Ross and Cromarty and consideration would be given to rolling this out to Skye.
 
Thereafter, the Committee APPROVED the Winter Maintenance Plans for the Isle of Skye and Raasay for 2019/20, which included the priority road lists and maps presented in Appendix B & C.
 
8. Street Naming
     Ainmeachadh Sràide
 
There had been circulated Report No. SR/17/19 by the Acting Head of Policy.
 
The Committee AGREED TO HOMOLOGATE the naming of ‘Murray Court’ for a new housing development within Portree.
 
 
The meeting ended at 1.10 p.m.