NMCC
2010-2011 (1149-1159)
Thursday
25 November 2010
Members:
Prof
Mrs
Mr
Martin Morley [MM] Mrs
Pamela Young [PY]
Mr
Mr
Clerk
to the Community Council: Mrs
Linda Rendall
In attendance ex officio: Councillor
Abbreviations:
AC = Aberdeenshire Council; NMCC = Newmachar Community Council
Apologies were recorded for: Cllr
In attendance as visitor: PC Peter
Milne
Minutes
The minutes of the
previous meeting on 28 October 2010 were accepted as a correct record.
1149 Chairman’s Report
RB paid tribute to
MT as outgoing chairman of NMCC for the past three years during a period of important
changes, noting that he had been willing to act as Secretary as well as
Chairman.
1150 Community
Hall (see minute 1148)
(a) RB said that ‘Leader’
Programme was part of the Scottish Government’s Rural Development Programme to
promote economic and social advance in rural areas and that funding for
projects such as community halls is channelled through Local Action Groups via
Rural Partnerships. RB confirmed that an active Rural Partnership does exist in
Garioch but with restricted objectives concerning youth work. Nevertheless, he had been assured by
(b) RB noted that a
meeting of the Area Committee on 30 November would decide whether to grant a
lease for the land for the hall. GrG
circulated a copy of the report by the Council’s Property and Facilities
management which is to be put forward to the Area Committee meeting together
with the map of the proposed site. GrG
expressed concern over a number of items in the report and hoped his concerns
will be minuted at the meeting on 30 November.
In the meantime, GrG will formally express his concerns to CllrFH and
CllrMF regarding the lack of a defined position for the new hall itself and the
implications this has for future car parking, relationships with the school
buildings and with nearby housing.
(c) It was
recognised that the timing of the application for funding is crucial.
1151 Police Matters
(a) PC Milne advised
on two reported thefts of tail lights from a towing caravan and on one intended
theft from a parked lorry where the trailer cover was cut open. In addition,
there has been one reported incident of vandalism in Newmachar whereby the
bodywork of a vehicle was scratched.
There have been two reported incidents of breach of the peace, one
involving youths in Kingseat and the other relating to a domestic issue.
(b) Road traffic
officers remain pro-active in the area and in particular on
(c) RB thanked PC
Milne for his attendance at the public meeting where progress was made on the
Newmachar Community Awareness initiative.
1152 Community Council Website
It was agreed to
seek the services of a member of the community who has the time, expertise and
commitment to update and develop the Community Council website. Councillors were asked to give consideration
to possible incumbents and to report back to the next meeting.
1153 Co-options
It was agreed that
consideration be given to co-opting additional members on to the Community
Council. In particular, RB will write to
Rev Douglas McNab inviting him to consider joining NMCC and the community
councillors were asked to give consideration to other people who may be
approached. It was agreed that it would
be beneficial to have representation from the Kingseat area.
1154 Report on visit of Mr A Mair
RB reported on the
successful visit of Mr Mair who has confirmed that he would like to maintain
contact with NMCC with a view to arranging a return visit at some point in the
future. CllrFH complimented RB on the
booklet that he produced to commemorate the occasion.
1155 Report of Garioch Forum Meeting
RB outlined issues
raised at a recent meeting of the Garioch Forum. An update on the work of the transport
section of AC was given by Ian Rendall and it was noted that this year there is
a bigger store of salt in preparation for the winter maintenance
programme. Mention was also made of the
commitment of Grampian Police to forging closer links with community councils. It was reported that AC are taking measures
to help community councils generate interest in their work. It is planned to prepare a leaflet about
community councils in general with more specific information to be added by
individual community councils. It would
be up to each community council to arrange distribution. A suggestion was made that it could be
distributed with the Newmachar News,
but this was discouraged. A toolkit is
being produced by AC to enable community councils to evaluate their own
work. AC is to organise an event where
there will be an opportunity for community councillors from different areas to
meet each other and exchange ideas. RB
raised the difficulties over the closure of the school during the evenings due
to the cut in the school janitor’s hours of work. AC is looking to recruit a caretaker but no
appointment has yet been made.
Disruption has been caused to a number of groups due to the continuing
closure of the school in the evenings.
1156 Aberdeenshire Council Matters
Details of the
recent announcement concerning budget cuts were highlighted. There is to be a 2.6% cut in AC’s budget with
£51 million being cut over two years.
Staff redundancies – 900 over the next three years – have been
announced. There are numerous cost
saving efficiencies/cuts identified which are currently being considered. CllrFH indicated that the budget held by the
community grants committee will be cut over a three year period. With an application for a capital grant for
the new community hall being submitted by the beginning of February, it was to
be hoped that funding would be approved.
The administration grant payable to NMCC by AC will be maintained in the
meantime. A detailed report of the
proposed cuts is available on AC’s website.
1157 Planning Issues
An application for the
erection of a dwelling house and garage at Milton of Straloch was noted.
1158 Christmas Lights
RB thanked CllrFH
for his efforts in arranging the erection of the Christmas lights in the
village over the years. CllrFH reported
that he was in receipt of several invoices from Scotia Animations totalling
around £4000. Concern was expressed at
the length of time which had elapsed before NMCC had received the invoices,
which now resulted in such a large bill.
NMCC agreed that CllrFH should approach Scotia Animations and offer to
pay all outstanding invoices immediately in exchange for free installation this
year. MT will contact all local
businesses to request donations to offset the cost of the Christmas lights and
may consider the distribution of collection tins around the village.
1159 Correspondence
The
following items of correspondence were noted:
a) Notification
of road closure – Parkhill crossroads to
b) Acknowledgement
from AC to letter from NMCC regarding closure of
c) Details
of a public meeting on 29 November in
d) Management
of unauthorised gypsy encampments – a new policy can be viewed on AC’s website.
e) Community
councillor magazine.
f) Newsletter
from Association for Protection of Rural
Date
of Next Meeting – Thursday 27 January 2011.