Apologies Hamish Taylor; Jenny Watson

Ward Councillor Sandy Wallace

Members of the Public Two local residents

Drumoak Primary School Head Mr. P Wilson

The previous meeting minutes were accepted.

Matters Arising

Action Register

The Action Register drafted by M Leigh was welcomed by the committee and will be used to capture key action items in future. These will be attached to the full minutes.

Drumoak Young Peoples Project

Donald Keith gave an update of the progress on the project. The survey has been carried out with 120 responses, of which 107 are positive and 15 less keen. In addition 47 people indicated a willingness to assist in further fundraising. It has been confirmed that £15,000 has been secured from Aberdeenshire Council, with some additional funding available from Shell and BP. Local businesses have expressed interest in supporting the project "in kind".

Paul Wilson strongly supported the project - the facility will be of great benefit to the Primary School.

Various issues need to be resolved including detail location, surface required, boundary design etc. A project committee will need to be formed to work the issues – Jill Hendry agreed to act as convener.

Web Access in Rural Areas

John Hopkins reported that both Peterculter and Banchory were at about 3/4 of their trigger levels for ADSL and that Stonehaven was the site of a "broadband through the mains" trial.  ADSL in most of the CDDCC area was still a distant prospect.  He felt that society would benefit more by getting those with no web access at all onto narrowband, rather than simply concentrating on broadband.

Unsung Heroines

Margaret Tindall passed her thanks to the council following her recent trip to the award ceremony in Edinburgh

Two local residents came to the meeting to express their strong concern relating to the behaviour of some of the local youth, and describing the correspondence sent to the local councilor and the reply received. Physical damage has been caused to property, as well as more general loutish behaviour. Mr. Wilson added that vandalism has also been experienced at the school.

Sandy Wallace stated that he and Mr. Munro (Area Manager) had made a visit with the local police, who are aware of the names of some of the individuals involved. Regretfully, no action can be taken unless the police are given specific information. The Neighbourhood Watch scheme may be able to provide a degree of help but not all areas are covered by the scheme, and so it was suggested that contact be made by the existing co-ordinator to some of the residents in the non-covered areas with a view to establishing a 100% Drumoak Watch scheme.

There may also be a role for the planning department who can re-assess specific areas for lighting, pathway routes and so on.

Meantime, it was strongly suggested to the local residents that are suffering from this problem that they immediately contact the police. It was recognised by the Community Council that this is difficult due to the fear of subsequent intimidation.

Park Quarry

The Chap Quarries "Dust Report" has been received. Ron Stark has agreed to review the document prepared by WSP Environmental. Due to various delays and no reply to letters previously written by Donald Keith to Mr. Cree, it was agreed that we would submit our review of the Dust Report to Mr. Ingram (Council Health Safety & Environment) by 11 April 2003. CDDCC members are asked to review and comment on Ron's draft ASAP. In addition, Sandy Wallace is to chase up the matter within the Council

Brodie Countryfare

It was noted that Banchory Traders are starting to get more involved in the issue. Donald Keith reported he had taken a drive down Coupers Road with a Traffic Police Officer, who provided a commentary on the road – this will be available for our use at the enquiry.

Woodlands Housing

Letter received from Woodhill House re the proposed housing development – David Hirst agreed to stay engaged with this application – next step is the public enquiry.

Letter from Council inviting us to Planning Seminar/Workshop 24^th May. It was agreed this would be of benefit and Jill Gow will write to confirm 3-4 attendees , names TBA.

Consultation document received for Scottish Outdoor Access Code. John Hopkins will summarise and issue for discussion at our next meeting.

Document received re designation of Dee tributaries as "Special Areas for Conservation". John Hopkins to circulate details and send to school.

Letter re Marr Area Plan

The addition of a sign to the Post Office on the main Deeside Road was discussed. Although Margaret Tindall has agreed to contribute, and funds are available from CDDCC, it was agreed the current cost estimate is too high and Sandy Wallace agreed to discuss with Council and revert to Jill Hendry.

A flyer to join the help group "Planning Aid" was received – it was agreed that we should join - John Hopkins to address. John also noted that the accounts for last year are to be restated due to an over conservative assessment of liabilities arising from the Drumoak Path.