Draft Minutes – Kirkcowan Community Council held on Monday 16th December 2019 – At 19:00 hrs in the Lesser St Couan’s Hall.
Present: Mr A Gladstone (Chair), Mrs H McWhirter (Treasurer), Mrs D McBain (Secretary), Mr D McBain, Mr J Wright Jnr. (arrival 19:15hrs), Mrs L Parker, Mr C McEwan (arrival 19:20hrs), Mr D Baillie, Mrs M Harkness, Mrs M Murdoch, Mr J McColm DGC, Mrs J Markwell (Minutes) and 14 members of the public: I McLachlan, N McGeoch, J Ross, K Harper, N Bodle, R Rudd, A Parker, J Johnstone, D Kiltie, W Wood, C Richardson, M Mackenzie and K Dean.
- Mr Gladstone welcomed everyone to the meeting.
- Apologies: Mrs J Mortiboy.
- Minutes of the last meeting: request for amendment at those present to include Katie Hagmann DGC. Request at correspondence under final point – M Harkness asked to amendment to say Community Council to meet on 25/11/19. Proposal from M Harkness for all members of public names to appear on minutes as is the past. Minutes accepted proposed – Mr A Gladstone Seconded Mrs D McBain.
- AG welcomed John Ross and Karen Harper from Transforming Wigtownshire, who presented information from the Transforming Wigtownshire Programme (TWP) Community Council Re-engagement – Winter 2019/20. The aim of the programme is to understand the needs of people to facilitate the development of new sustainable models of health and social care meeting the needs of the population into the future. Challenges faced included effective use of health care facilities as demand increases. A draft version of ‘Your Health & Wellbeing toolkit for Wigtownshire’ was made available for viewing. Karen and John were thanked by AG for an informative presentation.
- Police Matters: No representative from Dumfries and Galloway Police.
- Treasurers Report: Account no 1 £81.30 Account no 2 £13,375.99.
H McW to find out what the money in each account is to be used for, some will be for hall funds and there will be an amount already allocated.
Questions raised re Administration Grant, unsure if this has been received this year, however this may have been between the past and present treasurer post. It was noted that the administration grant needs to be applied for H McW to investigate. - Correspondence: Mrs D McB reported no correspondence.
- Planning:
i. 8 – 10 Main Street application approved.
ii. Application for access from Barn Harrow onto a minor road – Accepted.
iii. Retrospective application, formation of access for the former railway line onto Newton Stewart Road B735. Questions raised as to the purpose for access. Objection on the grounds of road safety and the positioning of the point of access, implications for the viewing line. Mrs D McB to raise and file objection. - Appointments:
i. Nomination of two DIRECTORS from Kirkcowan Community Council for Kilgallioch, one Community Councillor and one member of the public:
Nominees: Andrew Gladstone nominated by Mary Harkness.
Jackie Mortiboy nominated by Andrew Gladstone.
Richard Marsh nominated by Joe Wright Jnr.
Andrew Gladstone appointed with 9 votes and Richard Marsh also appointed with 6 votes.
ii. Nomination of 5 MEMBERS of the Kilgallioch Community Benefit Company:
Hazel McWhirter
Mary Harkness
Alex Parker
Robert Drysdale
Jillian Johnstone
All nominated and accepted.
iii. Resilience Plan: Volunteers needed in the event of severe weather disruption within the parish to act as a community response team to check on the elderly and vulnerable members of the community, to clear paths of snow and ice and spread grit/salt. There is also a requirement to ensure generator is started on a rota basis to ensure its effectiveness.
Volunteers:
David McBain
Robert Drysdale
Joe Wright Jnr.
Bill Galloway
Edward McNeil
Jack Parker
Martin McCornick
Hazel McWhirter
Andrew Gladstone
Charles McEwan
Joe Wright Jnr to coordinate with volunteers a rota to start generator on regular basis.
Suggestion from DB to use the revamped village hall when completed as a suitable resilience centre. This would be a way off as Village hall planning is still in the early stages. School has been rewired to be compatible with the existing generator at the school.
Questions re communication in the event of severe weather – there are walkie talkies for such an event.
iv. Jenna Morra Wood
AG – Aware there is a lot of controversy around the purchase of the wood, however KCDT has purchased the wood. The money would have been lost if it had not been spent therefore the wood has been purchased.
Discussion concerning the health of the trees, if found to be diseased they will need to be taken down for insurance reasons. Questions raised re how this would be done and how they would be extracted from the wood. Ash trees have not been confirmed to have Ash die back.
Idea is to spend money on improving the wood to improve its eco system.
There are no plans for the wood to create an income.
Further expenditure is unknown; however, this could be as much as £35K.
Views from the meeting include: No forward vision. CC landed with Public Liability for the wood. Expenditure of wind farm monies not open or transparent with KCDT proposing and agreeing own projects. Community should be involved with the spending of funds. All should be able to put a point of view to KCDT.
KCDT website not up to speed difficult to negotiate.
Questions regarding the availability of KCDT minutes.
Suggestions of updates from KCDT from a KCDT representative to the CC at meetings to report projects and raise awareness.
Questions regarding ownership of the wood – J McC commented that CC is not allowed to own property, buildings or land.
CC wished to express disquiet with the way KCDT spend money, with no input from CC. There are concerns regarding transparency and respectfully request a closer look at the relationship between the roles of the CC and KCDT. - AOCB
Christmas Eve service – Santa, Music, Selection Boxes and Carol Sheets all in place. Service to start in the church at 18:30hrs. Poster in shop and notification on Facebook in ‘Kirkcowan what’s going on!’.
Carols in the Village Hall on Saturday 21st December with Creetown Silver Band at 19:00hrs.
Winter Fuel Allowance – discussion around the decision by KCDT to go ahead with the winter fuel allowance, no consultation with CC. Agreement at last meeting that Development Officer would canvas views of all within parish, KCDT approved without further consultation with wider population.
Suggestion for newsletter where all groups can join to consolidate information re events and projects, this can then be distributed to all within the parish.
Village Hall – No decision on the hall yet, therefore, no business plan in place. Questions of who makes decision re hall development, is there any CC involvement – The hall board ultimately decides based on what the village wants. The board is in place to keep the hall open for use by all who want to use it. Wind farm pays money to sub groups using the hall.
KCDT – KCDT asking for suggestions and ideas from individuals, groups etc for proposals of projects, there will be a drop-in event held in the village hall on 22nd January 2020 to submit ideas plus a chance to meet trustees.
Dog Mess in the park, suggest a letter sent to John McKie.
Proposal for fibre optic from the box in the village to every house within the village (C McE) – Proposals need to go through correct channels i.e. completed application form with evidence and full details of who benefits with full costings and procedures.
Mr Gladstone thanked everyone for coming – The meeting closed at 21:10hrs.
The next meeting of Kirkcowan Community Council to be held Monday 17th February 2020 19:00 hrs in the Lesser St Couan’s Hall.
Jane Markwell (Minutes Secretary).
Completed Application Forms for Funding from
Kirkcowan Community Development Trust
The following applications were submitted to Kirkcowan Community Council for approval at the meeting on 16th December 2019.
Kirkcowan Tai Chi Group (KCC): Application for hall fees – requesting £594.00 – Approved by Kirkcowan Community Council.
Kirkcowan Art Club: Application for hall fees and materials – requesting £676.00 – Approved by Kirkcowan Community Council.
Kirkcowan Hall: Application for Public Toilets provisions, Cleaning service and further costs for toilet rolls and paper towels. Toilets are kept open for the public by request of CC – requesting £213.00 – Approved by Kirkcowan Community Council.
Once approved by Kirkcowan Community Council the applications then go to the Directors of Kirkcowan Community Development Trust for approval – 20/11/19.
The Meeting closed 21:35hrs.
Jane Markwell (Minutes Secretary).