11 April 2017

 

AGM HELD AT 7:30PM ON TUESDAY 11TH APRIL 2017

IN THE SUPPER ROOM AT THE KIRKCOLM VILLAGE HALL

 

PRESENT: – Sara McCulloch (KCC), Gail Adams (KCC), Thomas Cochrane (KCC), Susan Irons (KCC), Angus Carrick Buchanan (KCC), Ian Morral (KCC), Willie Scobie (Councillor), Bobby McKie (Bowling Club), Mark McFern (Police Scotland), Barry Miller (Resident)

 

APOLOGIES: – Peter Joiner (Resident), Morag Rowley (Sailing Club), Iain Dick (Councillor)

 

Susan Irons told the meeting that Iain Dick had contacted her to say he is not standing in the Council elections again and wanted to wish everyone well for the future. He also gave his thanks for working with him over the years. The minutes of the last meeting were verified by Sara McCulloch and seconded by Thomas Cochrane.

 

POLICE BUSINESS

Bobby McKie told the meeting that there was a white Transit like van possibly a sprinter crawling around on Saturday around his home and Kirkcolm, Leswalt area for the members of the public to be aware. He has reported it to Police Scotland. Mark McFern reported that there was a domestic incident the day before and one person has been arrested and will go to court. He said palm oil had been reported to be found on the Scar so everyone should be careful in the area with their dogs as it poisonous to them. There has been another scam phone call saying they are BT so the public need to aware of this. SEPA are keen for the local community to report any flood potential in the area so they can put contingency plans in place early. Community speed watch has been discussed by Police Scotland for communities to take control of the speeders in their area.

 

1 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Ian Morral read out his Chairman’s report to the meeting it is attached at the end of the minutes. After finishing he resigned from Kirkcolm Community Council.

 

2 TREASURER’S REPORT

Ian Morral read a short Treasurer’s report which is included at the end of the Chairman’s report.

 

A short conversation took place regarding a second Kirkcolm Community Council bank account which included all the Windfarm income and expenditure. It was agreed to delay passing this report to allow a balance sheet including financial transactions associated with Wind Farm funding to be included.

 

It was agreed to appoint Jim Brown, a qualified bookkeeper to take on the Kirkcolm Community Council accounts. This was proposed by Angus Carrick Buchanan and seconded by Thomas Cochrane.

 

3 CO-OP DR M BARRY MILLER, MAHAAR SCHOOLHOUSE, KIRKCOLM

PROPOSER – SARA McCULLOCH

Barry Miller was co-oped onto the Kirkcolm Community Council. This was proposed by Sara McCulloch and seconded by Thomas Cochrane and agreed by all.

 

4 RE-ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS

Chair – Barry Miller was proposed by Sara McCulloch and seconded by Thomas Cochrane. This was agreed by all.

 

Vice Chair – Sara McCulloch was proposed by Angus Carrick Buchanan and seconded by Thomas Cochrane. This was agreed by all.

 

Secretary – Susan Irons was proposed by Thomas Cochrane and seconded by Sara McCulloch. This was agreed by all.

 

Treasurer – Thomas Cochrane was proposed by Angus Carrick Buchanan and seconded by Sara McCulloch. This was agreed by all.

 

Windfarm Co-ordinator – Angus Carrick Buchanan was proposed by Sara McCulloch and seconded by Thomas Cochrane. This was agreed by all.

 

5 DATE OF NEXT GALA MEETING

Sara McCulloch told the meeting that Peggy Wallace did not want to open the Gala this year. A conversation ensued about who else to ask as it usually the oldest member of the village that has not previously been asked. Sara McCulloch is to make some enquiries regarding ages of residents. Barry Miller proposed that the decisions be delegated to the Gala subcommittee. This was seconded by Thomas Cochrane. The date of the next Gala meeting was set as Sunday 23rd April 2017 at 1pm at Kirkcolm Bowling Club. Susan Irons is to email photo of previous gala king/queen/attendants to Peter Caldwell printers.

 

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

A vacancy exists on the Kirkcolm Community Council.

 

It was agreed not to go ahead with a post box outside the village hall.

 

It was decided that in the future for the KCC there will be three signatories on the bank account but cheques will need to be signed by the Treasurer and one other signatory. This was agreed by all.

 

It was agreed to discuss the relationship between the Kirkcolm Community Council and the Kirkcolm Community Trust and to scrutinise the contract with Glenapp windfarm at a future meeting.

 

The prize of a £50 voucher for the Blue Peter from the Windfarm questionnaire prize draw had been won by Morag Rowley but she had declined it. Considering what had happened previously when monitors had not been bought when her son needed them it was agreed by all at the meeting to give this prize to Lummy Fletcher.

 

Susan Irons told the meeting Morag Rowley from the Sailing Club had asked her to inform the meeting of the sailing courses they are going to put on for residents or senior primary school children as she wanted to know if the KCC wanted to allocate the places. It was agreed by all to pass it back to the Sailing Club to contact the school and arrange it themselves.

 

Bobby McKie asked the meeting if we could contact the Council about passing places on the Kirminnoch Road that had been agreed by the roads department previously. It was agreed Bobby McKie would send a map to Susan Irons showing where he thinks the passing places should be and Susan Irons would write to the roads department and copy in all the Councillors.

 

It was agreed that the Secretary oversees the Kirkcolm Community Council website and has sole access. It was agreed to send a card to Peter Joiner. It was also agreed to note our thanks to Malcolm Baker and Ian Morral for all their hard work on the KCC over the years.

 

 

CHAIRMAN’S AND TREASURER’S REPORT FOR AGM APRIL 2017

 

The year began with an enquiry I made to CARES (Community and Renewable Energy Scheme) I discovered that they would fund the engagement of consultants and a questionnaire canvassing the residents of the parish to create a community plan which would set out objectives for the distribution of wind farm funds. At the June meeting it was agreed to pursue the purchase of a small piece of land on the school field to site a container to store gala equipment. I followed this up and out of three possible scenarios provided by the council it was decided to accept the site adjacent to the school gates. I am happy to report that following a recent site meeting the council is progressing this and I expect a formal offer to be made soon. Following further difficulties with the CCES system it was decided to complain to the council regarding enquiries not being properly answered and not always in good time. This has resulted in an overhaul of the CCES system. Our Gala day was yet again blessed with good weather, there was a good turnout and it was agreed by all at the July Community Council meeting that it had been the best Gala yet with many new attractions as well as the established ones. When all the income and expenditure had been calculated, the Gala had returned a small profit. We agreed to engage the Creetown Initiative to carry out a consultation within the community council area to draw up a community plan and canvass views on how best to spend the wind farm income. The initial results have now been given to community councillors who attended the last meeting.

 

I had been carrying out work on the community trust throughout the year, I produced a new constitution and liaised with CARES to raise funding. It was decided by the CC to name the trust The Kirkcolm Community Trust. Further work resulted in the trust being registered as a charity on the 9th of February 2017. South West Scotland Coastal Path Partnership had asked for the CC to provide a letter of support for the proposal to create a coastal path to run around the perimeter of the north and south Rhins. The CC agreed to support this project. In December Susan Irons was co-opted onto the CC as secretary. In January Peter Joiner resigned from the CC. I thanked Peter, on behalf of the CC, for his input to the Community Council. Malcolm Baker also thanked Peter for his support and help with attending Windfarm meetings. Also in January Angus Carrick Buchanan and Gail Adams were co-opted onto the Kirkcolm Community Council.

 

In March this year Malcolm Baker resigned from the CC. I would like to thank Malcolm for all the hard work he has put in over the years. As windfarm administrator Malcolm has overseen a total of nearly £34k of North Rhins Windfarm funds (including this year’s money) which will or has been distributed within our community. He and Elly have always helped at the Gala, Malcolm’s contributions to the running of the CC and especially his work as Windfarm Administrator have been highly valued I’m sure his help will be missed.

 

Finally, I would like to talk about the changes in the CC that I have been involved with in one capacity or another in the last ten years. I first became involved when Cathy Downy was Chair, followed by Ros Surtees, Scott Baillie and finally Malcolm Baker. Then I took over and ran things along the same lines, meetings were informal, rules were not always rigidly adhered to, for example we preferred open debate and vote rather than the proscribed method where everyone has three minutes to speak followed by a vote. Members trusted each other and for most the time we agreed and all pulled together for the good of the community. I feel that over the last couple of years’ things have changed and the community council needs to get back to working together, in harmony, for the good of the community or I fear for its future.

 

That concludes my Chairman’s report. As Karl Jackson-Barnes has resigned from his post of treasurer I will present the Treasurers report. The opening bank balance on the 1st April 2016 was £18,670.63 income over the period came to £4995.85 expenses came to £3395.27 leaving a closing balance on the 31st March 2017 of £20271.21

Included in that income is a payment of £2125 from CARES which is the first payment to the consultants which has not been cashed yet.

£10,500 of the balance is the money ringfenced for the core path works. The petty cash at the start of the year was £153.27 and closed with a balance of £53.87.

 

That concludes my business at this AGM and with my duty done I now resign from the community council as previously notified. I wish you all and the community council well I will now hand over to the vice chair for the next agenda item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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