MEETING HELD ON 12TH OCTOBER 2011 IN THE SUPPER ROOM
AT KIRKCOLM VILLAGE HALL
PRESENT: – Fiona Halliday, Elly Baker, Matt Halliday, Ian Morral, Scott Baillie, Ros Surtees and Malcolm Baker.
APOLOGIES: – Mary Milroy – KCC, Carrie White – KCC, Karl Jackson Barnes – KCC, Iain Dick – Cllr and John Dougan – Cllr.
IN ATTENDANCE: – Willie Scobie – Cllr, Kevin Wylie – Police, Cameron Ritchie – Free Press, Louise Cochran – Parent Council, Residents – Mary Gibson, Brenda Underwood, Marie Bradshaw, Kingsley Bradshaw, Steven Hall and Ian Murray.
Karen Morley – Access Officer (Wigtownshire) came to discuss her proposals for possible improvements to the core path for wig bay (Circular walk along the Scar returning along Fishers Lane).
The minutes of the last meeting were verified by Ian Morral and seconded by Fiona Halliday.
POLICE BUSINESS
Kevin Wylie reported that there is not very much criminal activity to report from the previous two months.
A boat had been pushed down the slipway one night causing considerable damage to it, and enquiries are ongoing.
A suspicious object had been seen on a beach near Kirkcolm, but this turned out to be a lid from a container.
At the request of the Parent Council of Kirkcolm, and the Community Council, speed checks were made for one week in the mornings. 196 vehicles were checked with 12 vehicles found to be exceeding 30 mph, of these 9 were going to the school, 8 of them being parents going to the school. Mr Wylie said that speeds were mostly in the range of 25 to 28 mph, and that the speeds recorded reduced through the week as news of their presence spread. Mr Wylie said that the figures did not seem to support a 20 mph speed limit. Cllr. Scobie did not necessarily agree with this observation, indeed it could be said to support a 20 mph limit.
Mr Wylie said the training commitments would prevent him from attending the next meeting on the 12of December, however he will pass on any relevant information to the Community Council for the meeting.
PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE WIG BAY CORE PATH AND FACILITIES
Karen Morley apologised for the absence of her Ranger who was away on holiday. She wrote to the secretary of the Community Council to ask if there would be any support from the Council/Community and would they be prepared to participate, and in what manner; – Ideas, Funding and/or Physical Work on the project. She said that her group had been reviewing facilities in her area and revealed that she has been trying to obtain funding for a project in the Wig Bay area. Funding of some £10,000 has now been allocated, but it has to be used in the current financial year. The proposal is to upgrade the core path along the Scar and its return route along Fishers Lane. To achieve this she needed to know what local support existed in the community and how it would like to participate. The secretary canvassed the Community Council, the Head Teacher of Kirkcolm Primary School, and some regular users of the facilities. This was confirmed to Karen and she was invited to this Community Council meeting to outline her ideas and launch the project. Karen gave us copies of the walk, and told us that Barrs had no objections to the project, but that other landowners had not yet been approached.
There were many contributions from Steven Hall, Ian Murray, Ros Surtees, Elly Baker, Ian Morral, Matt Halliday, Scott Baillie and Willie
Scobie relating to; –
· The eradication of fly tipping.
· Existing use by birdwatchers including coaches on organised tours to visit one of the best sites in Scotland and probably one of the top three sites with a very large variety of birds.
· Clean up the dirty unkempt lookout building and converting it into a ‘hide/shelter’.
· Controlling access to discourage misuse
· The interest shown by the fishing club to relocate to the Scar in addition to the number of fishermen already using it.
· Visitor displays to show the history of the area, in particular its’ use by the flying boats during the war for convoy duties etc.
· Stopping the roads department using it as a store for grit used to resurface the roads – surely there is a more appropriate place
· Use by dog walkers
· Need to sort out the signs and information boards in a more
· cohesive manner
All agreed that there was sufficient interest and support to move ahead quickly with this project. To this end volunteers were requested to form a working group to work alongside the access team; -Steven Hall, Matt Halliday, Ian Murray, Ian Morral, Elly Baker and Ros Surtees all volunteered to form this group.
Karen Morley was very happy with the response and said that she would contact the secretary to arrange a meeting a.s.a.p.
FOLLOWING THE RECENT FLOODING OF MAIN STREET IT WAS DECIDED TO BRING ITEM 3 FORWARD
1 KIRKCOLM FLOODING.
Cllr Scobie had attempted to bring appropriate council employees to the meeting, in particular Charles Clemie who is responsible for the Roads Department for the western part of the region. This was not possible at this time but Cllr Scobie promised to follow this up with a site visit for the a.s.a.p. to be followed with a public meeting with the residents and Community Council.
Cllr Scobie came out to see the flooding, he and the residents present at the meeting recounted their experiences and concerns to the meeting.
- The residents were very concerned about the response they received from the emergency departments and by SEPA who didn’t want to know, it was said that they only get involved for flooding of roads. No one would accept responsibility for what had happened or for putting matters right. DGHP were an exception and will be instrumental in the cleanup for their properties.
- The floods were foul and damaging including effluent and goodness knows what else. This fetid water did considerable damage not just to gardens, but also to sheds/stores and the items stored in them.
- Residents had great concern for the health of their children who lost bicycles and they’re outside playthings.
- House owners were being faced with another excess payment to their insurers and the fear of becoming uninsurable because of the frequency of flooding. It was confirmed that flooding had been happening for at least 17 years on a regular basis.
- Residents were convinced that the flooding was caused by a blockage – probably caused by fly tipping – of the culvert just below Bay View. They wanted to know who is responsible for maintaining the culvert? The farmer of the land housing the culvert cleared the blockage and the culvert took the water preventing further flooding during heavy rain that fell a few days later.
- Residents wanted to know when the culvert was last cleaned and who is responsible?
- At the top end of the village the fetid water was flowing through the air vents under the floors of some homes. This flooding was not caused by the culvert problem but by water coming off the fields where there is little or no drainage.
The secretary was asked to write to Charles Clemie to express their concerns and ask for some answers.
MATTERS ARISING
Speed Signs – It was suggested that speed checks should organised on a random basis to prevent the skewing of results caused by speeds reducing through the week. It was also suggested that speed counters should be installed for an extended period of time.
Lighting in Fishers Lane – Cllr Dick had emailed the secretary to inform him that he had been in discussions with Scottish Water about the possibility of them moving the lights when their contractors are laying new pipes alongside Fishers Lane. Indications were that this may be a project they would undertake to help the community.
Village Hall Repairs – Scott Baillie and Cllr Scobie informed us that the council had agreed to complete all outstanding work on the hall. The only thing missing was start and finish dates. Cllr Scobie agreed to pursue this.
Community Spaces Fund – To date Matt Halliday has been unable to identify a project where matched funding was available. The Wig Bay project detailed above may be a possibility if it is possible get things moving at a quick enough pace.
Glen Ap Wind Farm – Postponed until December meeting.
- KIRKCOLM PROJECTS FOR 2012 SOLWAY HERITAGE FUNDING
The following proposed projects were considered and accepted or rejected
- Kirkcolm Primary School football team – project to replace broken posts and missing nets. Est. £500 to £700. It was agreed to accept
- this project.
- Christmas Lights. It appears that the fact that the Hall is not owned by or leased by the Community Council it does not qualify for any grants known of at this time. Considering that we receive £200 towards lights that the Community Council would use existing funds to finance the infrastructure work this year. Not Accepted
- WAWA Project to provide a new cattery – £1800 to £2370. It was felt that it is difficult to define the benefits to the community. The project was not accepted. However the members of the Community Council agreed to sponsor a fund raising event and to provide labour to build a new cattery.
- Welfare Committee for Senior Citizens – Request for part funding of £2020 of the £3530 needed for an outing to visit the Giants Causeway. Project accepted.
- Gala Infrastructure and Multi media projects investigated by Matt Halliday on behalf of the Community Council. The Gala infrastructure project includes items to improve the communications an safety of the Gala – £1500 which was accepted and Multi Media items to aid presentations in the hall – £900, this project was rejected because the use was projected to be low to zero.
- Kirkcolm Primary School requested a Camcorder to help with projects in the school and for use by other groups in the community Est. cost £300 to £900. This project was accepted providing there were funds still available after the other projects were catered for.
- Village Hall refurbishment Phase 2 concentrating on the inadequate/broken kitchen facilities including Cooking, Refrigeration and Lighting for the stage and for Stage curtains. £2000. This project was accepted.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
A request has been received from the church group for the Community Council to take over the provision of the annual wreath of poppies for Remembrance Day from 2012. Matt Halliday proposed that it be given full consideration when we have more information on costs etc. in good time for next November. This was seconded by Malcolm Baker and passed unanimously.