DOLLAR
COMMUNITY
COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE DOLLAR COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING
HELD AT DOLLAR CIVIC CENTRE, DOLLAR
15th February 2010
Present
Andrew Black (AB) Chair
Iain Burns (IB) Secretary
Ian Whyte (IW) Member
Alan Jamieson (AJ) Member
Gurdial Duhre (GD) Member
Kier Downie (KD) Member
Ray Barton (RB) Member
Easton Boyd (EB) Member
Jennie Milligan (JM) Member
Apologies
from;
Paul Broughton (PB), Detlef Lorenz (DL), Mick Rice (MR), Charles
Bell (CB),
Dug Bradley (DB), Councillor Alastair Campbell, Councillor Irene
Hamilton, PC Jade Coles.
1. Introduction/Apologies
1.1
AB opened the meeting and welcomed
Mr David Loudon who asked to address DCC.
Mr Loudon lives on the Dollar bends and has witnessed a number of road accidents
outside his property including being first on the scene at fatal
accidents. He asked that DCC meet with
Clacks Council and the Police with a view to making the bends safer. It was agreed that Police and Clacks Council
would be invited to next meeting to discuss the issue.
Action- AB to invite
Police and Clacks Council to next meeting.
2. Law and Order
2.1 PC Jade Coles was not present but had
provided a written report, which is included below.
2.2 During the past 4 weeks I have
conducted several hours of foot patrol within Dollar, the majority of my time
being spent on the Back Road at the start and the end of the school day and on
Bridge Street. My main focus was to talk to residents and parents about the
current parking situations. This was met
with mixed messages as to why there was an issue! When the parents stated that
they had a ‘system’ of how the drop off and pick up and on a daily basis and it
worked!! Only caused congestion for 30 minutes morning and evening, Monday to
Friday! This is a long standing issue that will require the work of multi
agencies. I have liaised with Clackmannanshire who are attending regularly
during these specific times to observe the current situation. However at this
point in time they are not considering any further street markings on the Back
Road; however they will monitor the area. Nicola Binnie (traffic regulations officer)
has provided me with a copy of the Traffic Regulations document for Bridge
Street, Dollar this does clear up any previous issues pertaining to parking on
the footpath. There are exemptions to this as expected i.e., doctors, emergency
services and for loading/unloading. As a result and corroboration permitting
drivers will be getting issued with fixed penalty tickets as a result. Residents
have been issued more than enough warnings regarding this, via the internet,
the local press and the radio.
2.3 On the 28/1/10 there was around 7
vehicles vandalised on East Burnside, Dollar unfortunately at this time our
enquiries have not provided us with any suspects responsible for this. This
area has been added to the ASBIT for the evenings and will be checked
regularly. Once again it appears that
the Castle Campbell car parks are being targeted. On the 31/01/10 a vehicle was
broken in to and the driver’s handbag was stolen. There has only been one
incident there and I am hoping that it is to be the last. Patrols during the
day are being increased and I have asked the shifts to assist me with this.
Posters have been placed at the car parks and leaflets and posters are to be
placed in the local areas.
2.4 As you are aware every month I have
to provide 3 PACT (Police and Communities Together) priorities to focus my
attentions, if you have any suggestions or concerns regarding the Dollar area or
indeed any ideas as to how we should be directing theses priorities please feel
free to give me a call or drop me and email. I look forward to your
suggestions.
2.5 JM noted the amount of work being
undertaken by PC Coles and that this would be appreciated by the community.
3. Minutes of Previous Meeting
3.1 January minutes were accepted as a
true record and were proposed by KD and seconded by IW.
4. Admin Matters
4.1 CB requested that it be minuted that
the Voluntary Action Fund Return had been submitted.
OLP Update
4.2 DB was not present at the meeting but
had submitted a written report, an edited version of which is included below.
4.3 About 20 people showed up to Alloa Town Hall on 15th
January. The earlier meeting at 4.30pm suggested to allow
the Sub Groups to chat exchange information was a 'wash out' since the OLP team
did not bother to turn up until 6pm. We
spend nearly three hours in three broad groups looking over Natural Heritage,
Built Heritage and Access projects submitted. The projects summaries were
dispersed with ’red line’ comments for consideration. None of the
comments were attributed to any group or individual nor moderated in any
way. They were often critical of specific projects. Many of these
comments contradicted what had been discussed and agreed at the previous 3 Sub
Group meetings covering Natural Heritage, Built Heritage and Access
projects. No conclusions were reached
and although details notes were taken of each
discussion, it appeared that few of these comments were
passed onto the Steering Group to assist in making final decisions as to which
projects to include in the stage 2 bid.
For some time many OLP participants have been expressing concern about
the 'top down' approach taken by the Council led OLP Team and lack of
consultation with the communities affected and who might benefit.
4.4 Since we still do not
know which projects will be put forward with the HLF stage 2 bid, we see
no point in arranging another public meeting in Dollar until we have definitive
answers on the decisions taken by the OLP Steering Group [who are the final
arbiters].
4.5 MR also submitted written comment on
OLP matters which stated that we (the Dollar OLP Group) are very disappointed
in their (the OLP Steering Group) response to our efforts in Dollar. As you can
see, we are appealing some of their decisions, so we will wait for the next
Steering Group meeting and its decisions, but we are not hopeful. One of the big disappointments for me is the
knock back of the Dollar Cycle route project. I would like to float the idea at
this stage that we consider making a separate application to Awards for All
(for instance) to cover this project, especially as it involves youngsters in
the town.
5. Health
Issues
5.1 JM provided a written report of the
February PPF meeting of which an edited version is included below.
5.2 On February 2nd, the PPF meeting
heard a presentation by John Woodley, from NHS 24 and Karen MacClure, NHS Forth
Valley Out of Hours Service Manager on the current shape of these services.
5.3 Mr. Woodley outlined the operation of
NHS 24 from its 4 main centres (of which South Queensferry serves this area).
The centre is staffed by trained nurses and is virtually linked to the others
to pool information for clinical assessment and triage. Within working hours,
when GP services are available, they can offer health information and guidance.
Out of hours,
callers can
-
receive advice on self
care OR
-
be referred to local
out-of-hours services, who will either arrange that you visit a local centre
(in our case, Sauchie) OR arrange a home visit.
-
be referred to a pharmacy
advisor OR
-
arrange emergency dental care
OR
-
be advised to visit the nearest
A&E (in our case SRI) OR
-
have an ambulance sent for
them.
Response times: Urgent cases, 20 mins. Non-urgent, 60 mins.
NB At all times, patients may simply call 999 direct.
5.4 Ms.
MacClure described the operation of Forth Valley Out of Hours Service. A central control centre at Falkirk
co-ordinates calls across Forth Valley and directs them to 3 local centres at
Stirling, Falkirk and Sauchie. NB
The centre at Sauchie is staffed only until 12 midnight. After that, calls are
routed to one of the others or a home visit arranged. This caused some questioning, but we were told
that the volume of calls had been monitored and, after 12, was insufficient to
warrant staffing.
5.5 She
described:
-
the budget (4 million) and
staffing levels, including 131 GPs, advanced
Nurse-practitioners and paramedics.
-
a walk-in minor injuries service
at Falkirk
-
emergency dental services
(appointment only)
-
a Palliative Care Line
available from 4.30 – 5.30 (contact via GP)
-
A phone-line service, called
Breathing Space, to advise sufferers from depression.
5.6 QUESTIONS
(a)
Did the call-handler insist on
speaking to the patient in person?
Yes, if
possible, but can deal with a third party if necessary.
(b)
In view of the new housing
developments, should the midnight closure of
Sauchie be
reviewed?
This would be
monitored.
(c)
Have the differences recently
apparent between the BMA and NHS 24
been resolved?
No answer was
available, as this was said to be a political matter.
6. Finance
6.1 DL was not present and no finance
report was presented.
6.3 AB noted that funds
have been forwarded to Dollar Guides following their earlier request.
7. Leisure and Recreation
7.1 EB advised that 6 sets of lights had
been damaged and would be replaced. It
was agreed that 20 sets in total would be ordered over the summer to replace
damages and allow more lights per tree.
It was also noted that sponsorship of individual strings would also be
taken forward.
7.2 EB reminded members of quiz night
being held on Saturday 6 March in aid of Ian Whyte’s sponsored walk from Lands
End to John o’ Groats passing the highest point in each of the 84 historic
counties of mainland Britain. EB
encouraged all members to turn up in support and to provide raffle prizes if
possible.
7.3 AB noted that CB will take over admin
function relating to the Gala.
Action- CB to explore
funding options for the Gala and to prepare license applications
8. Communications
8.1 IW
previously submitted a written report.
Dollar
News
8.2 Handover
to MR now complete. Next issue is scheduled for delivery 2 weeks before the
Gala. Request for articles to be issued at the end of the month, with an
article deadline of Friday April 9th. MR requires a volunteer to pick up the
advertisers that I handled last year. AB and DB will continue to process
the majority of the 2010 advertising contacts.
8.3 GD
agreed to help with advertising.
Data
Protection Act
8.4 Registration
document received. We will now have to renew the registration annually
(£35)
9. Roads and Transport
9.1 No report submitted this month.
10. Planning
10.1 RB had previously submitted written
report.
10.2 7 Lovers
Loan. Confirmation that the application for a two storey extension
has been refused.
10.3 20, Castle Rd. Further application submitted. Details not presently available.
10.4 Site Adjacent to 12
Back Rd. An application for
erection of a dwelling house has been applied for by Mr Ross Henderson. In 2002 an application for
outline building was refused. Three off the reasons for refusal
apply to the latest application.
(a) That it would be contrary to the Clacks Local
Plan Policy RES3 as the site in question is part of a mature garden and does
not comprise vacant, derelict or under used land in the built up area.
(b) The proposal will be detrimental to the amenity
of adjoining householders
(c) The proposals do not accord with the
pattern of development in the locality.
10.5 It was agreed that a
letter would be forwarded to Clacks Council pointing this out and that reaction
from neighbours would be waited on.
10.6 North West Saline Wind
farm. Fife Council is recommending that
the application be refused when it goes before the full committee on the 17th
February.
11. AOCB
11.1 JM provided a written report on tthe
Community Plan meeting held on 28th January.
11.2
The Local Government (Scotland) Act of 2003 requires each Unitary
Authority to have a Community Plan (CP) for the area over a ten year period. This should act as the basis for an annual
Single Outcome Agreement (SOA), which sets out targets in greater detail.
11.3 The Clackmannanshire Alliance consists
of representatives of all the organisations working in the area; Community
Councils, Police, NHS Forth Valley, Social Services, Tenants’ Associations. The JCCF sends one representative to Alliance
meetings. (The next meeting, on 22nd February, will work towards
finalising the layout and wording of the CP)
11.4 Several meetings of interested bodies,
chaired by Lesley Baillie, have worked to clarify and improve the wording of
the document. On 28th January
we examined a revised, but not yet finalised, draft of the plan, under its new
title: “Working Together for Clackmannanshire”. We found it to be much
improved, considerably shorter and expressed in much clearer language. A further meeting is proposed for April (date
to be arranged). Apart from clarity,
discussion has always centred on the target audience for the document. Much stress was laid on the need to work
upward from community level, rather than downward from the centre. Each
constituent community needs to draw up a statement of its priorities and
interests for submission to the Alliance.
12. Next Meeting
12.1 IB advised members that next meeting
will be held on Monday 15th March at 7.30pm.
