Draft Minutes for Fossoway and District Community Council (FDCC) meeting

Tuesday 1st November 2022, Carnbo Village Hall

Attending: Community Councillors (CCllrs) Sarah Bruce-Jones, Trudy Duffy, Nicola Marchant and Graham Pye; Perth & Kinross (P&K) Councillor (Cllr) David Cuthbert; Nine Members of the Public (MoP).

Apologies: Cllrs Neil Freshwater, William Robertson and Richard Watters; CCllrs Angus Cheape and Faiza Hansraj-Jackson; Assoc. CCllr Carol Farquar.

Declarations of interest: None

Police report

• Since 4th October 2022 there have been 18 calls to the police from the Fossoway area and two crimes recorded on police systems.
• Police Scotland has issued guidance in relation to housebreakings and security advice as we come into the winter months: https://www.scotland.police.uk/advice-and-information/your-home/your-house/
• Police Scotland has also seen a rise in frauds via different messaging platforms whereby the suspect contacts the victim pretending to be a family member and asking for money because their phone is broken.
• The community policing team held “Coffee with a Cop” on Saturday 15th Oct in the Crook of Devon Church Hall. There were several people from the community passing by with questions. Police Scotland and the CC will repeat this but a regular feature is difficult to fit in with work schedules.

• “Pop-up Copper”-

  • These are cardboard cutouts of police to be used as a deterrent to speeding . If communities would like one they need one lead person who will take it out every morning and in at night. The cardboard cut-outs need to be strengthened with some wood, and the structure needs to be chained to a lamp post or similar.
  • CCllr Bruce-Jones reported that there has been a good response to this idea from both Drum and Rumbling Bridge residents.
  • Each community needs to fund raise for their own cut-out: the cost is just under £100 plus the cost of wood, a padlock and chain. The CC could combine the orders to reduce delivery costs.
  • Cllr Cuthbert has spoken to a senior Police Officer and suggested that it would make sense for the Police to hold a stock of these and lend them to Communities.
• From the Commander’s Report: At some point between the hours of 5am on Thursday 6th and 4pm on Sunday 9th October, a Santa Cruz Mountain Bike, a Trek Hybrid E-bike and an Orbea Hybrid E-bike were stolen from a property in Mossend Green, Powmill.

Minutes of the previous meeting: The minutes of the previous meeting were reviewed and signed off.

Matters Arising

• Fossoway Area Transport

  • CCllr Duffy attended the Kinross-shire Transport Forum Group meeting, chaired by Cllr Cuthbert. We are very fortunate to have two bus experts on this group. The north-south route is now well serviced in Kinross; it is east to west we need to improve; the 202 extended to Loch Leven Community Campus, timetables that suit commuters, bus service on A91 and to Glenfarg. Cllr Cuthbert explains that the contracts are being negotiated for next year, with tender documents being prepared now. The Group has prepared two new documents which have input to the process. Currently school bus and public transport are separate contracts but it seems like there could be gains by combining the two.

• Road Safety in FDCC Area (Including A977 Mitigation and Carnbo)

  • PKC have provided the CC with a list of outstanding work in Kinross-shire. Rather than attempting to prioritise these items individually, CCllr Marchant proposed that we decide what things are important – safety, infrastructure (e.g. footpaths to bus stops, safe crossing points, etc.) and apply these criteria to all the jobs. This would help to create fairer relative priorities with other communities in Kinross-shire.
  • A Carnbo resident pointed out that there are no paths in Carnbo from one end to the other.
  • A MoP expressed concern that won’t be enough money to carry out all these schemes, and this was already a concern for members of the CC, however Cllr Robertson had assured CCllr Duffy Trudy that the money for all these things is already in place and ring-fenced.
  • There was discussion about the need for a pedestrian crossing in Carnbo, but opinions varied about it whether it should be like the one in Blairingone that stays on red if the approaching vehicle is exceeding the speed limit.

• Noise disturbance linked to play areas at Fossoway Primary School

  • There are plans to schedule another meeting to discuss next steps and progress. All relevant local stakeholders will be invited. There is no date for this meeting yet.
  • Head teacher Paula reported back to this CC that the basketball hoop has been taken down. We now wait to see if this helps.

• Community Speed watch

  • The CC has applied to the Community Investment Fund to purchase speed-measuring equipment. More volunteers are needed to make effective use of this. When this scheme was operated in the past it did have some effect on driver behaviour. A team of three people are needed to operate the equipment.
  • CCllr Marchant pointed out that this will help create an evidence base that could encourage the Police to attend.

• Road Adoptions

  • Cllr Cuthbert has consulted PKC’s highways department and the question about Drum is now resolved.
• Access to Cash in Kinross-shire

• CCllr Marchant has received the following feedback from Bank of Scotland:

  • Bank of Scotland ran a three month pilot of Community Banker at the start of the year in Millbridge Hall. They attended on a weekly basis for 12 sessions offering banking support (basic account enquiries, education and support of other banking channels) and supporting some businesses. Thirty one customers used the service; nine used the service more than once. The service was also run in three other Scottish locations, but Kinross was suspended as it received the fewest customers. Perhaps it wasn’t publicised well enough.
  • The mobile branch visits fortnightly for three hours with a colleague to support customers with cash and banking queries. Around 200 customers used it in 2021, nine of which are regular users, with the majority of users also using our Perth branch.
• We conclude that we’re not going to get one bank to establish a physical branch again, so CCllr Marchant is now working on establishing a combined bank instead.
• Ditch Management Scheme Drum
• The CC had previously asked PKC if they could coordinate ditch clearance across all the villages, but no reply as yet. Scottish Water has suggested that they may help with funding if a co-ordinated scheme could be established.
• CCllr Bruce-Jones reported that there has been some positive response from land owners in Drum with regards to a co-ordinated plan in Drum, but not so much in other areas.
• Crook and Drum Growing Together
• The group received a grant from the Nature Restoration Fund. Last weekend the orchard area was tidied up and native bulbs planted with a group of 10 volunteers and three children Fruit trees will go in in February/ March.

• Blairingone War Memorial

  • It appears that this could be about to happen!

Consultations

• There are four open consultations for the public to comment on:

  • Cycling Framework for Active Travel: Cycling framework for active travel - Scottish Government - Citizen Space (consult.gov.scot) Closes 19th Dec 2022
  • Your Police 2022-2023: https://consult.scotland.police.uk/strategy-insight-and-innovation/your-police-2022-2023/ Closes 31st March 2023
  • Scottish Government - Small Landholdings Modernisation: https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/small-landholdings-modernisation/ Closes 14th January 2023
  • PKC Corporate Plan and Budget 2023-2024 https://consult.pkc.gov.uk/corporate-democratic-services/corp-plan-budget-2023-24/consultation/ Closes 20th November 2022

New Business

• Prior to the re-election of the CC members CCllr Duffy collected application forms from all the current members and sent them in to PKC together. Unfortunately CCllr Cheape’s form wasn’t entered in the election and thus he is no longer a CC Member. It’s not clear where his form was mislaid, but CCllr Duffy apologised to Angus for the loss. At the next meeting of this CC, Angus will be appointed as an Associate Member, and as soon as possible he will be co-opted back onto the CC.

Community Council Business - Meetings attended

• CCllr Marchant attended Kinross-shire and Glenfarg Stronger Communities on 1st November. Broke not Broken advised of the PKC Cost of Living Fund that organisations can apply for to run activities in local spaces, such as coffee and a chat craft events. In addition to getting members of our communities together this can also provide a cosy space during the winter. An application form is available at: https://www.pkc.gov.uk/costoflivingfund

A copy of the timetable for the Advice Hub in Kinross was also shared and will be posted on our Facebook page and Community Notice Boards.

The PKC Planning representative advised that they would start to engage with communities on LDP3 in May-July 2023 and that CCs should receive communication regarding this shortly. The CC stressed that this is an opportunity for communities to influence the future direction of developments.

• The next Kinross-shire area committee meeting will be at the end of this month, the full agenda is not yet available but road safety will be included.
• CCllr Duffy attended the Kinross-shire transport Forum group meeting – see above.

P&K Councillors’ Reports

Cllr Cuthbert: There is a £25M black hole in the budget. Discussions are beginning now. A Poverty Action Task Force has just been formed by PKC, Cllr Cuthbert is a member.

Planning Applications

• 22/01542/FLL Extensions to dwelling house and formation of decking at Devonbank, Crook of Devon, Kinross KY13 0UL. No CC comment.
• 22/01599/FLL Extension to dwelling house at High Station, Rumbling Bridge, Kinross, KY13 0PT. No CC comment
• 22/01577/FLL Siting of 2 storage containers at Land 50 metres south-west of Cairnwell, Drum. No CC comment

Planning Decision

• 22/01482/FLL Extensions to dwelling house, erection of porch and formation of raised decking at Ivybank, Drum, Kinross KY13 0UN. The application was refused, the CC had not commented.

At the last meeting of this CC, Cllr Cuthbert informed us about a new rule recently passed by the Council, which would direct planning applications to the Planning Committee if there was an objection from a CC. This rule is not yet active, as it has to be approved by the Scottish Government as a change to delegation rules. The rule will also only apply to material planning objections.

Matters arising with no update since last meeting: Fossoway and District Community Council Benefit Fund, Rumbling Bridge Gorge Bridge, Crook Moss, Community Development Trust (CDT)

Correspondence: PKC’s Leadership Team, including the Chief Executive, will hold their regular meeting in Kinross in December. The CC has been invited to attend – CCllr Marchant will accept the invitation.

AOCB: A MoP reported that Seamab School’s car park has large floodlights which appear to be on all the time, which is wasting power and affecting other properties. The CC will write to the School.

A MoP asked the CC if they were aware of how the equivalent to the Government Energy Bill Relief payment for consumers who don’t have mains gas will be paid. After the meeting it was found that the Government’s intention is that £100 will be paid via the consumer’s electricity bill. No timing for this payment has yet been announced.

Draft Agenda for Next CC Meeting: Declarations of Interest, Community Policing, Minutes of last meeting. Matters arising: Access to Cash in Kinross, Community Development Trust, Fossoway Area Transport, A977 Mitigation, Crook Moss, Carnbo Speeding, Speedwatch, Community Council Business, PKC Councillors’ Reports, Planning, Correspondence, AOCB

Next Meeting: Tuesday 6th December 7.30pm at Powmill Moubray Hall. All welcome!

More information on the FDCC and meeting dates are available here: https://www.fossoway.org/community-council/

Correspondence October 2022