Minute of Meeting on Tuesday 19 October 2010

Kalewater Community Council

Minute of Meeting on Tuesday 19 October 2010

In the Village Institute, Morebattle

Present:  Community Councillors; Eric McNulty (chair), Michael Scott (Secretary), Margaret Lister (Treasurer), Sarah Dixon, Paul Grime, Margaret Blackmore, George Aitchison, Andrew McEwan.

No members of the public.

ACTION

1

Apologies

Community Councillors; Matilda Hall, Helen Cessford, Peter Tweedie.

SBC Cllr Alec Nicol

2

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting of 21 September having been circulated were passed as a true record of events.

Proposed: Cllr Grime; Seconded: Cllr Lister.

3

Matters Arising from 21 September Actions

3a

Completed.

3b

See item 4

3c

See item 4

3d

Chair has purchased new Christmas lights at £97.98, enabling existin stock of bulbs tio be used.

3e

Cllr Lister has discussed arrangements with Cllr Blackmore.

3f

To be arranged this week.

3g

Completed.

3h

See item 5

3i

Next meeting with Vattenfall would likely take place in November and involve Kalewater Community Council representatives only. It was noted that until the Council Planning committee meets to discuss the application, letters of support or objection could still be written to the Planning dept.

Cllrs Grime, McNulty, McEwan, Scott and Dixon to arrange a suitable date.

Cllrs Grime, McNulty, McEwan, Scott, Dixon

3j

Completed.

3k

Agreed that Secretary should send document attachments as PDFs in future.

Secretary

3l

Completed

4

BT Telephone Kiosk issues

Hownam

Information received from BT and from Scottish Borders Council clearly states that when the BT kiosk in Hownam is decommissioned then it could only be adopted by the community council.

Chair to contact SBC Cllr Nicol and SBC Officer Douglas Scott re. advice on potential issues around public liaibility insurance if the kiosk was adopted

Morebattle

Chair has communicated with Scottish Borders Council, SBC Cllr Nicol and BT and it is clear that BT policies on replacing kiosks means that they will only replace the damaged red kiosk with a modern one.

Purchasing a refurbished red kiosk privately could cost around £3500 ex VAT excluding installation. BT would then charge a large annual sum for providing a service to the box, far more than for a modern BT kiosk.

Chair to place a notice in the village shop explaining the situation as a recent informal survey had indicated a majority in support of a red replacement kiosk (albeit without knowledge of the costs involved).

Chair

Chair

5

Kalewater Community Action Plan LEADER funding application

Secretary reported that with the Treasurer, he had met with SBC LEADER funding officer Maria Mackenzie on

LEADER refers to Collaborative Local Development Strategy projects – the equivalent of a Community Action Plan.

LEADER pays retrospectively. Could give £2700 in advance plus £1000 from KCC covering the first invoice (STAR proposal) of £3700. The consultant would need to agree this payment schedule..

Any recruitment of volunteers would need to be an inclusive process.

After mid-Nov, next deadline is early Feb 2011. The Nov deadline requires the project to start in 2010 (letter to successful consultant would be enough). Feb. round may also offer 90% grant but not definite.

The KCC CAP is potentially a good fit for LEADER.

Would need 3 tenders for CAP. Assessment of proposals could be qualitative as well as cost-based.

Within KCC there could be a sub-group which oversees CAP delivery.

Quarterly claims – the schedule would require agreement with the consultant. Eg the Jan-Mar 2011 period be due in April.

The initial payment will be taken form the two later payments (for a 4-5 month project).

10% of final payment is post-project following  amonitoring visit. This might require an overdraft or other source of funds for KCC?

No ineligible costs for this project.

In completing the application, look to other communities for economic activity which has been spawned by similar projects.

A resulting Development Trust would also be eligible to apply to LEADER in the future

6

Report on Scottish Borders Community Council Network Seminar, 2 October

Chair reported that the day had been very informative with a substantial turnout of community council representatives and continues to be a useful event.

SBC Chief Executive David Hume had stated that the local authority had made £2.5M cuts this financial year, to be followed by expected £16M cuts in 2011/12, totalling £60M less spending by 2016. SBC may have to share some services with neighbouring Scottish local authorities.

In a presentation on local policing, the main point made was a new effort on community policing.

On the role of community councils, Vince Watters (Association of Scottish Community Councils) presented some very useful information.

There was also information on funding from Scottish Community Foundation (Nick Addington) and an update on the SESPlan process.

Presentation print-outs were placed in the circulation folder.

7

Correspondence

Secretary read through the recent correspondence, some of which were placed in the circulation folder.

·   Letter from SBC requesting a named Kalewater Community Council representative at Cheviot Area Committee. There were no volunteers. Community councillors not present to be emailed.

·   Planning Aid Seminar for Community Councils, Tweed Horizons, Newtown St Boswells, 20 November 2010

·   Save ‘Violence Against Women Services’ campaign. Details to be emailed to all Kalewater Community Councillors

·   Email from SBC Home Energy Advice Centre re. Community Councils, Fuel Poverty and Home Energy

·   Letter from SBC: Early Engagement on Local Development Plan with questionnaire link (paper version to be requested) http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/life/planningandbuilding/plansandresearch/33449.html 

·   Letter from SBC: Public Consultation: Draft Supplementary Planning Guidance on Shop Fronts and Shop Signs, deadline 7 January 2011. Visit: http://www.scotborders.gov.uk/life/planningandbuilding/plansandresearch/33624.html  Print-out to be circulated before responding to SBC.

Chair added an extra item re. a request from Morebattle Nursery for a contribution toward the purchase of an interactive ‘whiteboard’. The maximum donation of £50 was agreed.

 Secretary

 Secretary

 Secretary

 Chair

8

Items for Circulation Folder

The Secretary summarised items going into the new circulation folder as listed on the agenda.

·   Scottish Borders Elder Voice October 2010

·   Lothian & Borders Police Kelso Area Newsletter, October 2010

·   Assoc. of Scottish Community Councils Annual Conference, Glasgow, 29 November 2010

·   Energy Saving Scotland Newsletter September 2010

·   Scottish Borders Community Council Network Conference Presentations, 2 October 2010

·   Cheviot Wardens’ Monthly Update, October 2010

·   Kelso Area Pathways Meeting Minutes 25 August 2010

·   Walk It Health Walks October 2010

·   ‘Too Good to Waste’ booklet 2010

·   Scottish Borders Violence Against Women Partnership Conference ‘National Priorities: Local Action’ 25 November 2010, Tweed Horizons, Newtown St Boswells

·   Development Trusts Association Scotland Newsletter October 2010

·   Borders Mental Health Bulletin September 2010

·   SBCCN Core Group Minutes 8 September 2010

·   News from Energy Saving Scotland October 2010

9

AOB

Cllr Lister asked who would present the wreath on Remembrance Sunday?.Suggestions included Sue Curran and Joe Brandreth

Secretary noted that SBC Community Engagement Officer Clare Malster had advised him that the minutes should not include personal details of private individuals.

Cllr Dixon reported that John Henderson, an operator of a guided walks business who sits on the St Cuthbert’s Way route management group had replied to an enquiry regarding the feasability of moving the footbridge over the Kale Water and of clearing a length roadside vegetation. Mr Henderson had noted that both issues were being looked at. Cllr Scott, who also sits on the SCW management group (representing Harestanes Visitor Centre for Scottish Borders Council) added that it was very unlikely that a relatively new footbridge would be moved a short distance without very good reason, due to the high cost.

Cllr Dixon noted that a new cattle grid between Hownam and Greenhill had been damaged by snow ploughs during the previous winter. Secretary to contact SBC Officer Ronnie Pattenden.

Cllr McEwan noted that there would be an ‘apple pick’ at Morebattle PS on 20 October with the harvest being distributed locally. The apple trees are old ‘cookers’ and ‘eaters’. The school’s new kitchen chef is organising a tasting.

 Cllr Lister

 Secretary

Secretary

10

Items for Next Meeting 16 November 2010

No items raised.

Meeting concluded at 8.45pm.

Signed:

Date: