NMCC 2005 (569- 583)

 

PARISH OF NEW MACHAR COMMUNITY COUNCIL

 

Minutes of a Meeting of the Council held on

Thursday, 25th August 2005

 

Members:

 

Mr Fergus Hood                 (Chairman) [FH]     Mr Alexander Buchan                   [AB]

Mr Mike Taylor                   (Secretary)  [MT]     Mr Robert Loughridge                  [RL]

Mrs Fiona Duncan               (Treasurer) [FD]     Mrs Moira Lee                              [ML]

Prof Roy Bridges            (Minute Sec.)  [RB]      Mr Graham Geddes                   [GraG]

Mr Gordon Murray                               [GM]

 

In attendance ex officio:  Councillor Dr Martin Ford [CllrF]

 

Abbreviations: AC = Aberdeenshire Council;  NMCC = Newmachar Community Council

 

Apologies were recorded for: Prof. Bridges

 

In attendance as visitor(s): PC Fiona Barron

 

Minutes

      The Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd June were accepted as a correct record.

 

569.     Police Matters (See Minute 563)

            GraG was concerned about abandoned cars in the village.  PC Barron said that unless     causing an obstruction the car cannot be moved until the registered keeper has been            found. Often a car has been sold on and not reregistered.  Traffic officer Vanessa    Campbell based at Ellon can be contacted re issues like this and should have more         time     to deal with such matters.

            AB queried complete closure of roads on 24th July when road works were happening      only during working hours. CllrF will find out if necessary for full period i.e. 24 hours;        he reported it may be difficult to know what stage the repairs may be at on a daily basis          and it may not be safe to open the road some nights and not others, causing confusion.

 

570.     First Responder Scheme  (See Minute 549)

            MT reported there was currently £3,000 in bank, including £1,000 from NMCC. This   makes enough for the scheme to start, with some in the pipeline, though more will be             needed. A formal opening meeting on the first Monday in September will appoint a -   formal committee and on 13th September  set up a constitution.  Training is planned             for the first weekend in November.  Eight  people have signed up. Eight more possibly    could sign up with more hopefuls, with a final number of about twenty now        anticipated.  By the end of year  the scheme should be up and running.

 

571.     Community Hall  (See Minute 558)

            GraG reported on a successful Fun Day which had been a huge load of work to                          organise at four weeks’ notice. 43 letters of appeal to businesses evoked seventeen                                   responses with funds or sponsorship.  Thanks were expressed to Joanne Golder for                     advice.  A general discussion on the future campaign ensued.

 

572.     Youth Project  (See Minute 553)

            Plumbing work had caused delays and other works were needed.  So was more fund-                   raising.  The long-term sick leave of Ewan Smith left only one social worker to help.

 

573.     Flower Tubs (See Minute 567)

            CllrF promised to find out why the provision of flowers by AC was late this year.  GM               thought other villages were better provided than Newmachar. The Gardening Club was                         to be invited to the next meeting.

 

574.     Community Planning (See Minute 565)

            It was agreed that FH and RB should formulate a response to AC’s questionnaire and     send it in if the next meeting agreed.

 

575.     Village Street Map (See Minute 522)

            The map’s purpose, problems over Ordnance Survey copyright and possible sites were    discussed.

 

576.     Newsletter

            Responding to a query, the Newsletter team had said that they believed it sensible to      have a reserve of funds enough to cover the costs of producing one issue, viz. about       £700.  FH believed the reserve should be twice as large before the Newsletter profits      were put at the disposal of the Hall fund or any other purpose.

 

577.     Website (See Minute 555)

            There had been some delays before management of the website could be handed over      to David Jolly.  Costs of running it under the new arrangement were not yet known.

 

578.     Garioch Forum Matters

            (i) FH & GraG agreed to attend the 6th October meeting on planning gain and   flooding issues.  There was some discussion of whether NMCC could learn more             about Kingseat planning gain issues by inviting Stuart Robinson to a meeting.  CllrF             advised that this would not forward the process of getting money for the Hall Fund        and explained that planning gain works must fit in with the Aberdeenshire Local Plan           to mitigate the effects of a development.  AB suggested more consultation on the   ALP      rather than briefings would be desirable.

            (ii) FH would read the ASCC paper on the Planning White Paper.  CllrF reported         that      AC did not support the campaign for a third-party right of appeal in planning           enquiries except in certain limited circumstances.

 

579.     New Bus Route and other AC Business

            (i) CllrF reported that from October there would be a new Newmachar to Inverurie        and return weekly service via Kinmuck.

            (ii) CllrF reported more work was to be done on the War Memorial.

 

 

580.     Aberdeenshire Local Plan

            CllrF reported that the Reporter recommends one change – that the area between the    Manse and the village be zoned for housing.  AC’s Infrastructure Services Committee       would discuss the recommendations on 6th October.

581.     Road Safety

            (i) New Street lighting would be installed in the centre of the Village.

            (ii) New traffic calming measures would be introduced as well as 20mph restrictions in    the south east part of the Village.

            (iii) A pedestrian count had confirmed that the pelican crossing was still the       appropriate type of crossing for Newmachar.

            (iv) A speed camera survey would take place on the 28th August and the results passed     to NESTRANS.

            (iv) There was concern that cars parked outside the Library ignored the white lines          which were designed to ensure disabled access.

 

582.     Planning Applications

            Dog Boarding Kennels and small changes to plans for eight of the Kingseat houses were   noted.

 

583.     Correspondence

            The following communications were noted: from AC notifying the reinstatement of       paper copies of planning applications; NHS Grampian’s ‘Health Fit’ brochures; AC’s       new letting and other charges tariff; AC’s Sports Council’s newsletter; Area boundary         changes notified for 2007; the newsletter of the Association for the Protection of Rural             Scotland.

           

           

There being no further business, the meeting was declared closed at 2115

 

The date of the next meeting was agreed as 22nd September 2005