North Kelvin Community Council Draft Minutes

Wednesday 21 September 2011 at 6:30pm
St. Charles School

Present: Dave Beavan (DB) (Chair); Ken Andrew (KA) (Vice-Chair); Janet Andrews (JA); Gordon Barnes (GB) (Website); Peter Blackshaw (PB) (Secretary); Kevin Edgar (KE); Liz Edgar (LE); Councillor Jim MacKechnie (JMacK); Jane Morgan (JM) (Planning Officer); Douglas Peacock (DP); Councillor Kieran Wild (KWi); Kate Wooding (KW) (Treasurer); Kirsty Davidson (KD) (Minute Secretary)

In attendance: Julia MacPherson (JMacP); Marion Mulholland (MM); Christine Sloan (CS)

Apologies: Susie Hallas (SH)

1.     Introduction and Welcome

DB welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the members of the public for coming. DB also thanked KA for chairing the last meeting.

DB asked the Community Council members to introduce themselves.

2.     Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

DB said he had received an email from Scott Downie (SD), who advised that following receipt of the Community Council’s letter of objection to the one-way system, all Councillors in the ward had been written to recommending the proposal be dropped and seeking their views. DB thanked JM for writing the Community Council’s report on alternatives to the one-way system and said he would forward this to SD and JMacK.

Action: DB to forward report on alternatives to the one-way system to SD and JMacK.

DB thanked KA for producing the Community Council logo.

The minutes of the August meeting were approved by KA and seconded by JM.

3.     Police Report

No Police were present at the meeting.

DB said he would chase up the statistics from the August meeting. KW agreed to circulate the template for the statistics.

Action: DB to contact the Police for the August statistics and KW to circulate statistics template to all Community Council members.

DB stated the Police should not attend the next meeting, as it is the Community Council AGM and elections.

JM reported the Police had turned up outside St. Charles School for a few days after the last meeting and they were proactive.

4.     Councillor’s Report

JMacK reported some action had been taken at the play park on Hotspur Street. JMacK said the bark under the play equipment has been replaced. However, hard tarmac had been poured into the holes in the rubber surface under the swings. This needs to come out and be repaired with rubber. JMacK confirmed the missing play equipment will be replaced and that there is going to be an ongoing issue with graffiti, which had been removed and has now returned.

JMacK said the Veteran’s Association had contacted him, asking if more could be done in relation to Lieutenant Jock Young. JMacK said Hillhead High School, Jock Young’s school, plan to work with the Kohima Educational Trust and raise £300 for a scholarship. This will allow a student from the Naga area of India to go to school for three years.

JMacK reported that at the Canal Area Committee meeting yesterday refuse collection had been discussed. In the period, 1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011 there had been 43 complaints about domestic refuge, 32 complaints about bulk uplift and 156 complaints about the blue bin collection. JMacK said he feels the figures under estimate the amount of dissatisfaction. JM said she was not getting notifications about these meetings, JMacK said he would check this out.

Action: JMacK to check why JM is not receiving information about the Canal Area Committee meetings.

KD asked whether the recent changes to refuse collection affects the bottle banks on the street. JMacK said street bins have a different cycle to households. LE reported the back doors of tenement closes were still not getting closed.

KA asked JMacK about the railings at the top of Fergus Drive/Kelvinside Gardens East. JMacK said they had been removed due to vandalism.

PB asked about the gap site on Wilton Street. JMacK reported that Mr Ali’s company had gone into liquidation. However, before going into voluntary liquidation he had signed over the assets to a relative. JMacK said the Procurator Fiscal is not prepared to say where they are with the investigation, they are still considering the case.

PB raised the issue of the pavement on Queen Margaret Drive. JMacK said the Roads Department had said on the last visit that it was not sufficiently dangerous to repair.

PB said the students have now returned and due to insufficient litterbins on Oban Drive, rubbish is being dropped on the ground. JMacK said he would investigate.

Action: JMacK to investigate the number of litterbins on Oban Drive.

JA reported that the AA is planning to carry out a pothole survey in October.

KWi said Glasgow City Council (GCC) along with Strathclyde Partnership for Transport intend to introduce a Statutory Quality Partnership Scheme for all bus companies operating on the major routes within Glasgow. This partnership will provide high quality low emission buses, bus priority measures along the routes and provide a frequent, reliable and high quality bus service. KWi said in the Community Council area, this would be implemented on Great Western Road and Maryhill Road.

5.     Planning Officer’s Report

JM said she had provided GB with a draft for the planning page on the website.

JM reported that Planning Aid do not offer a general course, but have one for Planning Officers, so she has signed up for this course.

JM said there was nothing of interest on the planning lists.

6.     Discussion on forthcoming Election

DB said the October meeting was the Community Council’s AGM and election of Community Council members. There are 13 places on the North Kelvin Community Council and PB reported that nomination forms had been received from eight residents, so there is no need for a secret ballot. DB encouraged the visitors to consider standing.

It has been advertised in the press that the AGM is taking place on 19 October, so it was agreed to reverse the decision from the previous meeting. PB to contact Stewart Burns at the Community Council Resource Centre (CCRC), to confirm details of the AGM. KW said she would confirm in writing the letting for the 19 October.

Action: PB to confirm details of the AGM with the CCRC and KW to confirm the room booking.

It was noted the term for a Community Council member is now four years instead of two. It was also noted that a Treasurer’s report would be needed for the AGM, which JMacK said would need to be audited.

7.     Information – website

GB said planning information would be going up on the website soon and asked that any responses re planning were forwarded to him, so he can upload everything collectively.

DB thanked GB for all his work over the last two years. GB reiterated that he was happy to continue to work on the website for a few months until a handover can take place.

8.     Treasurer’s Report

KW reported the account balance is £1,213.25.

KW said the direct debit had been transferred to Glasgow Life and this had caused problems, but she had contacted them and it is in hand.

KW said the bank account had been changed and it is now a Treasurer’s Account, which is part of Business Accounting. KW said the charges are explained in a brochure, which she did not receive. KW said she would get the brochure and check, as it looks like there might be charges, despite what they said previously.

Action: KW to get the brochure about the new account and check the situation with charges.

9.     Correspondence

PB said there would be a consultation on a Local Development Plan for Glasgow, KWi said this was City Plan 3. KWi suggested the Community Council might want to invite representatives for City Plan 3 to a Community Council meeting.

PB reported at the Community Council Discussion Forum meeting on 10 September there had been a discussion on the Licensing Board system. PB agreed to circulate the agenda for the next meeting in October to all Community Council members.

Action: PB to circulate agenda for next Community Council Discussion Forum meeting.

10.  AOCB

How to make meetings more productive and conduct Community Council business between meetings –

DB suggested referring to the constitution, which will now have changed, with the changes. JM said circulation of information that will allow the meetings to run more smoothly, will not break the constitution –

• Police have agreed to prepare statistics in advance
• NKCC members to do reports in advance. It was agreed not to require this from JMacK and KWi

KW said their needs to be agreement on best practice of discussion/decisions between meetings, as it is different by email than in person. DB stated extending deadlines is possible, as with the one-way system. JM said in relation to planning, if you note interest then you have three weeks to respond.

It was agreed their needs to be a deadline for Community Council members to reply by email, everyone needs to respond and responses need to be circulated to all. It was stated the decision taken by email should be noted in the minutes of the next meeting. DB stated the trial agreement with the agenda and certain reports is not working, so he has concerns about adding additional tasks.

Advertising of AGM –

It was agreed word of mouth was a good way to promote the AGM, as it had worked well for the August meeting. PB said the Community Council had to advertise the AGM in both Hillhead and Maryhill libraries. JA said she would be happy to put posters up in the local area. It was agreed to advertise the AGM as a brainstorming session for the community, an opportunity for them to say what issues matter to them. DB agreed to design a poster for the AGM.

Action: DB to design poster advertising the AGM.

PB said he had reported the issue of the name of the Community Council to the CCRC again and they said the name would be changed to North Kelvin rather than Kelvin North.

PB thanked GB, SH and JA for their work over the last two years. DB also thanked KD.

JMacK submitted apologies for the next meeting.

 

Next meeting: AGM and Election – 19 October 2011 @ 6.30pm, St. Charles School

North Kelvin Community Council Minutes
 
Wednesday 17 August 2011 at 6:30pm
St. Charles School

Present: Ken Andrew (KA) (Vice-Chair); Janet Andrews (JA); Gordon Barnes (GB) (Website); Peter Blackshaw (PB) (Secretary); Kevin Edgar (KE); Councillor Jim MacKechnie (JMacK); Jane Morgan (JM) (Planning Officer); Kate Wooding (KW) (Treasurer); Kirsty Davidson (KD) (Minute Secretary)

In attendance: Marie Breckenridge (MB), Head Teacher, St. Charles School; 44 members of the public; two representatives from the Canal Community Policing Team

Apologies: Dave Beavan (DB) (Chair); Liz Edgar (LE); Susie Hallas (SH); Douglas Peacock (DP)

1.     Introduction and Welcome

KA welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked the members of the public for coming. KA asked the Community Council members to introduce themselves.

2.     Discussion on One Way System

KA explained that the consultation period ends on Friday, but Glasgow City Council (GCC) are not minded to go ahead with the planned One Way System, due to the level of response received. JM said an informal consultation had taken place and then a formal consultation, which does not require GCC to send out letters as notices on lampposts are considered consultation.

KA reiterated that as the One Way System to all intents and purposes has been shelved, this is an opportunity to move forward with the help of the community, to make suggestions to GCC for a resolution to the problem.

MB stated that she had not requested the One Way System. MB said she sends out monthly newsletters to the parents reminding them not to park in front of driveways, to be courteous etc and she has even called in individual parents. MB said her main concern was for the children’s safety. MB explained that she had inherited the informal One Way System. MB said she wants to find a solution to the problem.

A number of the members of the public were angry that they had not been consulted during the informal consultation process. Some residents did not receive letters when they should have done and other residents, in areas such as Oban Drive, were not consulted at all. A number of the members of the public felt the responsibility should lie with the parents rather than the local community. KA said the One Way System was not a fair solution to the problem, which only occurs at two points in the day.

There was a lengthy discussion about possible solutions to the problem and the following suggestions were made –

• Parents could park down at the courts or on Kelvinside Drive and walk children up to school (plenty of spaces at start/end of school) – KA stated that this was just pushing the problem onto another area
• Walking Bus (it was felt this would only work in the mornings)
• Informal One Way System (not everyone has been made aware of this in the past e.g. residents in Fergus Drive and Oban Drive)
• Delivery drivers being asked to deliver to the School after 9am
• Zigzags outside the school (like at Glasgow Airport)
• Parents to drop children off, but not park (it was felt this would only work in the mornings)
• Teachers park down at the courts, to free up space by the school
• Legally enforceable zigzags – JM stated this was a permanent solution for a temporary problem
• Digital signs at the bottom of Wilton Street/Wilton Court stating that there is no entry at certain times
• See how the new Hillhead Primary School on Gibson Street is dealing with dropping off and picking up children
• Bottom of Kelvnside Drive – introduce a crossing, make the area wider, introduce zigzags
• Park on Queen Margaret Drive and walk children to school via the 60 Steps

The Police representatives had to leave at this point, so JA mentioned that speed was a real issue and that traffic calming would be welcomed. The representatives said they would speak to their Sergeant and try and arrange to come down to the school in the next few weeks to speak to parents.

JMacK said it had been a good discussion, with lots of useful ideas, though legislation might not allow all solutions to be implemented. JMacK stated that there was certainly a problem, but it was untenable for GCC to proceed with the traffic order due to the large number of rejections. JMacK said GCC had listened to what the community had to say, JA said the community had done a great job.

3.     Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

The minutes of the June meeting were approved by GB and seconded by KW.

KA said he had written objecting to the new HMO application for Clouston Street and had been sent confirmation of receipt.

KW said she still had not received a clear answer in relation to where the money will go from the sale of the North Kelvin Meadow site.

Action: KW to follow-up further.

4.     Police Report

The Police had to leave during the discussion about the One Way System, but KW said they would email the statistics. KW also said that they might be able to populate the template.

5.     Councillor’s Report

JMacK reported that a Landscape Officer had visited the former school site on Oban Drive and that the trees on the eastern boundary have been retained as required.

JMacK said he had been informed that the play area on Hotspur Street was in a poor condition. JMacK reported that a site visit had taken place yesterday and the bark would be replaced in two weeks, the Graffiti Squad will be brought in and missing equipment will be pursued.

JA noted the railings have been removed from around the green space at the top of Fergus Drive/Kelvinside Gardens East.

Action: JMacK to investigate the removal of the railings.

KA reported fly tipping on Clouston Street. KA said it was building rubble that had been left lying for at least three weeks.

Action: JMacK to arrange to get the rubble uplifted.

KW said that one of the 10 people unable to attend the meeting had reported a wall coming down further along Kelvinside Gardens from the school. JMacK said this was now the responsibility of Queens Cross Housing Association, not GCC.

JM reported that she had received a letter about the wheeled bin collection moving to fortnightly. However, JM stated that GCC had run out of the purple bins, which should be used to relieve the pressure of the new arrangements.

JA asked for refuse collection to be on the agenda for the September meeting. JM said conducting Community Council business by email should also be on the agenda. It was agreed that conduction Community Council business by email was the first priority, to ensure there was something in place before the AGM in October.

Action: PB to add refuse collection and conducting Community Council business by email to the agenda.

JA suggested having a Community Council logo for use on notices, KA agreed to design a logo.

Action: KA to produce Community Council logo.

6.     Planning Officer’s Report

JM said there was nothing of interest on the planning lists. JM confirmed that the North Kelvin Meadow development was still on the pre-application list. JMacK said a planning application was expected soon.

JM said she would follow up with Alan Russell (AR) about the training offered by Planning Aid and whether GCC would pay.

Action: JM to contact AR about Planning Aid training.

7.     Information – website

GB said he still needed to work with JM on putting more planning detail on the website e.g. links to information about the planning process and detail about our comments/responses to planning applications.

GB said he would be happy for the website handover to take place over a few months after the AGM in October. KA thanked GB for all his work on the website.

JA said she had found some photos which she would pass to GB for the website.

8.     Treasurer’s Report

KW reported the account balance is £1,213.25.

JM said the Community Council might want to spend some money on advertising the informal One Way System.

KW said the AGM was scheduled to take place during the October week holiday. It was agreed to hold the AGM on Wednesday 26 October and to book a larger room.

Action: KW to book room for 26 October.

It was also agreed to add publicising the AGM to the agenda for the September meeting.

Action: PB to add publicising the AGM to the agenda.

9.     Correspondence

PB reported there had been a new application for a HMO at the Murano Street Student Village.

PB reported at a recent Community Council Forum meeting there had been a discussion about changes to refuse collection from 21 August. Main door properties refuse collection will move to fortnightly, there will be no impact to tenements. There will also be an introduction of purple bins for glass and brown bins for garden waste. PB said there are long term plans to require tenement residents to put their bins out the front and to keep bulk uplift items in the back court rather than out the front.

10.  AOCB

GB said he had attended the 60 Steps AGM and they would be happy to come along to a Community Council meeting to encourage more engagement with the Community Council and local community. It was agreed to put the invite on hold until after the AGM in October.

KD raised the issue of responding to the One Way System consultation. KA agreed to write a letter of objection to the One Way System on behalf of the Community Council. JM agreed to summarise points from the minutes into a draft letter to GCC. KD agreed to circulate the draft minutes as soon as possible.

Action: KA to write objection letter, JM to write draft letter to GCC and KD to turnaround draft minutes as soon as possible.

Next meeting: 21 September 2011 @ 6.30pm, St. Charles School