Maxton & Mertoun Community Council - Minutes of Meeting of 25th January 2007

MAXTON and MERTOUN COMMUNITY COUNCIL

MINUTES of the MEETING held at Maxton Village Hall on 25th January 2007 at 7.00pm

Present:
Andrew Leitch Chairperson, Vera Holbrook, Trudy Leitch, Penny Harvey, Ann Collie, Isobel Veitch

In Attendance:
Councillor Carolyn Riddell-Carre

Apologies:
Elvira Denoon (community member)

Members of the Public Present:
One (arrived after the first agenda item)

Notes of Meeting Held on 30th November 2006:
Proposed as correct: Penny Harvey
Seconded: Isobel Veitch

Councillor’s Up-date:
As Councillor Riddell-Carre had another meeting to attend she was invited to up-date the CC on her present work for the area prior to us undertaking any further business.

The main thrust of Carolyn’s was an excellent up-date on SBC Housing Policy, they have completed a Housing Needs Assessment in 7 housing areas resulting policy will be out for consultation. One of the main areas of concern for the local authority is ensuring there will be enough affordable housing on any future developments. New developments over 4 houses will require factoring in 30% of the housing as affordable.

Carolyn provided some welcome additional information on any proposed future housing development, in an effort to stop sprawling housing development, which are not sympathetic to Scottish Borders villages, towns and settlements. It is proposed builders will have to submit designs that compliment and blend in with their proposed environment, as well as provide a mix of housing types. CC Members welcomed this proposal and would provide their support to such developments.

Street lighting, CC members were asked to phone in with any lights not working to the relevant department to ensure they are fixed during this financial year, it would be helpful if this could be done prior to 28th February.

Questions to Councillor Riddell-Carre:
Q. What was SBC policy reference Community Charge for second homes
A. All second homes in Scottish Borders area are charged at 90% of the set Community Charge, this is discretionary on the part of local authorities, SBC consider it only fair on other residence of the SB.

Q. Was there any future housing development plans for Maxton and Mertoun parish?
A. No housing development, however should land be available for one house this would be considered through the usual planning application process.

Q. Was Councillor Riddell-Carre aware of any future plans for a reduction in the present speed limit for Maxton?
A. It is not one of the areas being considered at present, however this should not rule out a change should the evidence prove it was needed. Carolyn suggested contacting inviting the police to a meeting for discussion and information on the present thinking around the speed limit within the village.

ACTION POINT:
Secretary to e-mail police representative to attend future meetings of the CC.

Councillor Carolyn Riddell- Carre left at 7.30 pm, the Chairperson thanked her for her input.

Corrections to previous minute:
Vera Holbrook asked that we alter under Concerns Raised by Public section a) should have the reference to ‘Deanlea’ removed as it appears to indicate planning permission would not have been approved, when this was not to her or our knowledge the case. This was agreed.

ACTION POINT:
Secretary to adjust the minute accordingly.

Correspondence:
a) Letter from Elvira Denoon reference tree replacements on Main Street, Maxton, CC Members agreed there were a number of discussion points raised in this letter that required a wider debate with the community.

ACTION POINT:
letter of acknowledgement sent to E. Denoon explaining a dedicated agenda item will be made for an in-depth discussion on replacement trees/type etc at the February meeting. All CC member to encourage the community to attend this meeting.

b) Notice of SBC Meetings, Education Executive Tuesday 30th January, Executive Tuesday 30th January, Scrutiny Thursday 1st February, Development and Building Control Friday 2nd February.
c) Copy of SCOTTISH SMALL TOWNS REPORT 2007 – 2013, this was circulated to CC Members, the report will be available for members of the community by contacting the Secretary Ann Collie.
d) Dti The Post Office Network Consultation Document, this report was circulated to CC Members, the report will be available for members of the community for comment from the Secretary Ann Collie.
e) E-mail from C. Denoon notifying CC Members of a meeting to be held in Mertoun Village Hall to discuss the closure of the Hall. Three member of the CC said they would attend the meeting if possible.

Community Council Training:
None at present.
Clare Malster has offered to attend a meeting of the CC to answer any questions on our roles and responsibilities or any other questions we would like clarifying. It was agreed this was a very acceptable offer and a most welcome one.

ACTION POINT:
Secretary to e-mail Clare and invite her to our March Meeting, this part of the meeting will be a closed session as it will be considered as CC Training.

Eildon Area Committee:
Unfortunately the Chairperson or Secretary of the CC was unable to attend the last meeting.

ACTION POINT:
Minutes of the meeting will be circulated when the Secretary receives them.

Constitution:
The constitution is still with Anne Isles awaiting comment, two e-mails have been sent to chase this up

ACTION POINT:
Secretary to make contact again and report to next meeting

Bank Account:
Monies owed to the CC cannot be paid until the Constitution is past and a Bank Account opened and Sort Code and Account Number past to Clare Malster.

ACTION POINT:
Treasurer to speak with the bank to check if we can open an account without a deposit, then to arrange to set one up should this be possible.
The preferred bank by CC Members would be The Royal Bank of Scotland, Newtown St Boswells.

Environment and Climate Changes:
Vera Holbrook brought a number of ideas to the CC around these very important issues, which is of interest of all the community however, it was felt at this stage we are too new a Community Council to tackle such a large project. Vera was thanked for all her thought and concerns on the small but valuable contribution each of us make through increasing our contribution to recycling and the use of environmentally friendly products. It was accepted by all those present that the residents of Maxton are taking to heart the whole recycling, and as individuals we could do more, but it was not for us as a CC to try and dictate what and how to do this.

One point was raised about the difficulty of glass disposal, which is difficult if you do not have transport to the nearest Bottle Banks in either St Boswells or Newtown St Boswells. It was suggested a small Bottle Bank be placed in the village car park. However this was again a discussion which would have to be had with wider public debate.

Concerns Raised by Public:
Dog fouling on the lane leading to the church and St Cuthbert’s Walk, the fouling is becoming an issue when people have to step off the road to allow traffic to pass. It was suggested we approach the local authority about the placement of bins for the lane, both the top and the bottom.

Concern was also expressed about the number of used condoms being left in the church car park members felt we need to address these two issues, particularly in light of the new residents of Glebe House having young children neither situation is pleasant for children when playing or walking in the area.
ACTION POINT:
all the above matters would be followed up by the relevant bodies and reported back to the next meeting.

Response to previous concerns:
Response to concern expressed about the bus service. Ian Forbes has clarified that no review of the service had taken place as yet however evidence was being sort about the use of the bus. The evidence at his disposal at present indicates the last bus to the village in the early evening is not being used this would obviously be a concern for the review of service. Also there would be changes to bus provision to reflect the use of other services throughout the day and may mean a mixture of bus services and demand responsive transport. Ian did express an opinion that the review would have to be looking at providing a better service to the people of Rutherford.

The next step will be a review within his department followed by a consultation period, he will keep the Community Council informed of the progress.

DATE, TIME and VENUE for next meeting:

Date: Thursday 22 February 2007
Time: 7.00pm
Venue Maxton Village Hall

Other meeting dates for your diary in 2007:
Thursday 29th March
Thursday 26th April
Thursday 31st May
Thursday 28th June
No meeting in July
Thursday 30th August
Annual General Meeting Thursday 27th September