07 06 05
Crathes, Drumoak & Durris Community Council
(CDDCC)
Minutes of Meeting
Tuesday 5 June 2007 - Irvine Arms,
Drumoak from 19.30 hours
1. Sederunt
Community
Councillors:
Ward 16 Councillors: Linda Clark, Karen Clark, Jill Webster
Ward 18 Councillors: Peter
Bellarby, Graeme Clark
Members
of Public: Rev. Jim Scott, Jenny Watson, Don Keith, Rev. Ken Gordon
Apologies:
Molly Atkinson, Jean Downie, Debbie Cameron
2. Minutes of May 2007 Meeting
Proposed:
Tony Butcher Seconded: Keith Whitehead
3. Newly-Elected Aberdeenshire
Councillors
David Morrish welcomed the newly-elected
Aberdeenshire Councillors attending the meeting and congratulated them on their
election. He felt that it would be
useful to have an open discussion about what the Councillors both expected and
wanted from CDDCC and what CDDCC both expected and wanted from the new
Councillors.
Linda Clark asked what input CDDCC received from
young people. David Morrish briefly
summarised the Drumoak Youth Project, which was now being carried forward by
Debbie Cameron, Caroline Cruickshank and Pat McConnachie, assisted by CDDCC. A questionnaire had recently been delivered
last Sunday to all households in Drumoak, to determine what facilities the
community wanted. Some replies had
already been received. A letter had also
been sent to potential suppliers.
David Morrish also referred to instances of low
level vandalism in Drumoak, something that DYP and the fencing requested of
Aberdeenshire Council were each intended to help tackle. He noted that there had still been no
response on the latter from Willie Munro.
Graeme Clark asked what police presence there was in
Drumoak - particularly of foot patrols.
David Morrish said that the police - in the person of Lorna Heppolette -
had recently attended perhaps one in two CDDCC meetings. The police had given presentations to CDDCC, emphasising
the role of information-led policing and stressing their shortage of resources
- which meant that normally there were just two patrol cars, at any one time, to
cover the whole of their area as far as Braemar
Graeme Clark asked what was the position on speed
limits. David Morrish said that Drumoak
had a 40 mph limit, Kirkton of Durris had a 50 mph limit and Crathes might yet
have a 40 mph limit, as a consequence of the proposed new housing.
David Morrish noted that Planning was always and
issue for CDDCC. Graeme Clark said that
he presumed that current issues included
David Morrish pointed out that the “Eco” Village was
not the subject of a planning application and repeated his request for
Councillors’ views. No comment was
forthcoming.
John Hopkins asked whether the Councillors’
interpretation was that they could not express an opinion on anything that
might - at any stage in the future - potentially become part of a planning
application. If so, there seemed little
point in any conversation.
David Morrish asked which Strategic Options the
Councillors had favoured at the workshops organised by Piers Blaxter. Peter Bellarby said that he had not had the
opportunity to take part in such a workshop.
Jill Webster said that because they had been organised in groups at the
workshop, she would not give an individual opinion.
John Hopkins said that CDDCC was particularly
resentful about being told by the Council and its officers “it is too early to
discuss this (particular) issue”, followed almost immediately by “it’s too late
to discuss this (same) issue”. CDDCC had
been largely excluded from meaningful consultation in such cases, which
included the Woodlands and - more particularly - Crathes Housing development
plans, as well as the development of Drumoak.
This was at odds with the statutory right of a Community Council to be
consulted, as well as with more recent developments in local planning emanating
from the Scottish Executive.
David Morrish summarised the discussion by saying
that CDDCC was keen to exchange views with the Council and simply wished to
know how to achieve this.
Don Keith raised the particular issue of the sewage
treatment plant upgrade in Drumoak. As
he understood it, the expansion of the plant was a pre-condition to the
construction and occupation of the houses built by Stewart Milne in
Drumoak. Why then had construction and
occupation gone ahead without any such upgrade being done? Who was responsible?
Graeme Clark said that he would find out from
Douglas Grey what had happened (Action: Graeme Clark)
Jill Webster said that the planning process was not
perfect and that the Councillors therefore wanted the Community Council’s input
on this.
4. Drumoak Youth Project
(see
section 3, paragraph 2, above).
5.
Planning Issues
David
Morrish noted that there had been no recent further developments, except for
minor issues.
John
Hopkins asked what had happened at that day’s Area Committee in respect of the
Currackstane house proposal. Graeme
Clark responded that a site visit was to be conducted.
6. Access
Issues
David
Morrish noted that there had been no recent further developments.
There was
a general discussion about increased quantities of canine faeces on the
7.
Fly-Tipping
Graeme
Clark asked whether fly-tipping had increased along the
8. Park
Quarry Liaison Meeting
To
progress matters via Stephen Marshall (Action:
9.
Bike Ride (Rescheduled)
It was agreed that the Bike Ride would be
rescheduled for 15 September. To produce
a poster (Action:
It was noted that the deadline for the Autumn Newsletter was 22 August, with an expected publication date of 2 September.
10. Co-option of Members
The state of membership of CDDCC was reviewed.
The DYP Project Representatives were
recognised as not being full members, but instead having a remit specific to
the Drumoak Youth Project.
The co-option of Jenny Watson was proposed by John Hopkins, seconded by David Morrish and agreed by CDDCC.
To approach Sandy Wallace to see whether he would be agreeable to co-option (Action: David Morrish)
11.
July Meeting
It was agreed that, because of holidays, the July meeting of CDDCC would - as in other recent years - not take place.
12.
Any Other Business
12.1 Newsletter
Don Keith, speaking as Editor of the Newsletter, said that the recent reader survey had revealed a very high level of interest in articles from CDDCC. He appealed for more such copy for the future.
Jim Scott praised the quality of the Newsletter and the dedication that went into its production and distribution.
12.2
Gypsies/Travellers
It was noted that an encampment of
gypsies/travellers had recently appeared on the
The issue of requiring them to move to an
authorised site was discussed. It was
noted that Aberdeenshire only had one such site, which was in
12.3
Recycling/Waste Issues
A brief discussion took place, with particular reference to the lack of facilities for dealing with cardboard packaging. Jill Webster noted that recycling policy needed to be reviewed.
To write to Norman Wright, accepting the
offer in his recent letter, of attendance by one of his team at a forthcoming meeting,
for a discussion of recycling and fortnightly collection and related issues (Action: John Hopkins)
12.4
St Ternan’s Fair
Linda Clark drew attention to the forthcoming St. Ternan’s Fair (9 June) and associated activities, particularly the quiz night (15 June)
12.5 Minute Secretary
It was agreed that John Hopkins would continue to take the minutes, under the present arrangements, until the end of 2007 (Action: John Hopkins)
13 Correspondence
13.1 Follow-up on Scottish Water letter
To follow-up with Steve Scott the issue of
the amount of water currently flowing in the
13.2 Marr Area Plan presentation
To attend the meeting on 15 June in Aboyne to
discuss the Marr Area Plan 2007 - 2010, and to bid for CDDCC to be one of the
three communities to be supported for a detailed local planning exercise (Action: David Morrish OR Keith Whitehead)
13.3 Revised Scheme for Establishment of
Community Councils
Agreed that any revision to CDDCC’s Constitution should not take place at least until after the effects of the new planning legislation are fully comprehended.
13.4 Marr Area Committee Agenda, Reports and
Minutes
To ask that the regular email announcing
availability of agendas/reports be sent to the CDDCC Secretary (Action: John Hopkins)
13.5 Neighbour Notifications
To write to Aberdeenshire Council asking
that they put in place a system to monitor the adequacy of Neighbour
Notifications for Planning Applications (Action:
John Hopkins)
13.6 Follow-up on Dust Storm at Park Quarry, May
6
To write to Environmental Health and to
Planning about this and its ensuing correspondence (Action: John Hopkins)
13.7 Bus Route 204
To contact David O’Donnell to see whether there would be a consensus in Woodlands for a diversion of bus route 204 via Woodlands, rather than running straight along the South Deeside Road (Action: David Morrish)
14. Next Meeting
19.30 hours on 7th August at Irvine Arms
JFH 06/06/07
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Distribution |
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Email |
Post |
by hand |
other |
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CDDCC Councillors (excl.
Jenny Watson) |
Jenny Watson |
Park
Shop (via John Hopkins) |
Website
www.durris.net (also for previous
minutes) |
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Cllrs. Linda Clark, Karen
Clark, Jill Webster (Ward 16) |
Crathes Hall Notice Board (via David Humble) |
Drumoak
Post Office (via John Hopkins) |
Neighbourhood
Watch Co-ordinator – representative not known |
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Cllrs. Peter Bellarby, Graeme Clark, Mike Sullivan, Wendy Agnew (Ward
18) |
Banchory
Public Library |
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Mr W Munro, Area Manager, Kincardine & Mearns |
Community Police Officer (Drumoak/Durris/Crathes), c/o Banchory Police
Office |
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Mr L Allen, Area Manager, Marr |
Drumoak Public Hall Notice Board (via Ian Pirie) |
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Rev.
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Drumoak Church Hall Notice Board (via Morag Keith) |
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Durris Hall Notice Board
(via Sheila Watt) |
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