08 02 05
Crathes, Drumoak & Durris Community Council
(CDDCC)
Minutes of Meeting
Tuesday
5 February 2008 – Irvine Arms, Drumoak from 19.30 hours
1. Sederunt
Community
Councillors: Molly Atkinson (Chairman), Jean
Downie, Jenny Watson,
Aberdeenshire
Councillors (Ward 16): Linda Clark
Aberdeenshire Councillors (Ward 18): Peter Bellarby, Graeme Clark
Aberdeenshire Councillors (Area Chairman, K&M): Paul Melling
Members
of the Public: Jill Gow,
For
Grampian Police: Const. Graham Wilson (for item 2)
For Friends
of
For
Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society: Dave
Mitchell, Murray
Apologies: Wendy Agnew, Karen Clark, Ann Ross, Tony Butcher,
2.
Report by Grampian Police
Constable Graham Wilson said that it was very useful to the Police to get public feedback from individuals and from groups such as CDDCC.
Jenny Watson mentioned the slow pace of follow-up to the incident at the Myrebird junction. To follow this up (Action: Const. Wilson)
3.
Presentation by Friends of
Mark Ansell said that he had been invited along to speak about the recent £10,000 Heritage Lottery Fund/BBC Breathing Spaces grant application by FdF. This was for restoration work in the Pitcowdens area. Until the nineteen-sixties, this had been the last working crofter site in the area.
Some clearance and planting had already
been done by FdF. Phase 1 of the project
would chiefly be further clearance. An
envisaged Phase 2 would improve access, particularly for the disabled. The work would be done in partnership with
Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) and with
The HLF response was expected in June and the Project would extend over a twelvemonth.
4. Presentation
by Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society (RDRPS)
Dave Mitchell (Chairman, RDRPS) and Murray Duncan (Committee Member, RDRPS) gave an account of the present situation of the Royal Deeside Railway.
RDRPS had been formed in 1996 and had commenced discussions with the Leys Estate in 1998 about reintroducing the railway over its lands. In response to a question from Paul Melling, Dave Mitchell stated that RDRPS was also closely involved with efforts to reinstate the Aberdeen Ferryhill engine shed as an under-cover, secure location for preserved engine and rolling stock maintenance. It was envisaged that, if this were successful, it would be the location for future such work for RDRPS, amongst others.
Contractors (funded by a grant from the HLF) had commenced work in January on foundations for the station building and platform extension at Milton of Crathes. Completion was now due by 9 April. The Oldmeldrum Station building itself would be transported there and reconstructed during the rest of 2008.
RDRPS had recently initiated the process of seeking a Light Railway Order (LRO) in the Scottish Parliament. This would have the effect of transferring to RDRPS the powers that British Railways once had over the Deeside line, including the ability to construct and operate a level crossing at Birkenbaud and to ban trespassers.
RDRPS had expected some concerns to be expressed by Scottish Water or Scottish Gas (some of whose plant could be affected by railway operation). What had not been expected was opposition from the Aberdeenshire Marr Area planners and Area Committee. Dave Mitchell said that he believed that an unfortunate misinterpretation of a map reference had persuaded the planners that the LRO was some attempt to suborn the terms of Planning Permission. The planners therefore recommended the Area Committee to send a Letter of Objection to the LRO application. They did so, on a 9-2 majority vote.
The RDRPS local solicitor was endeavouring to meet Ewen Wallace to resolve this issue and get the Letter of Objection rescinded.
Jenny Watson praised the hard work of the volunteers in making so much progress. This was not “big boys playing trains”, as it had unfairly been accused of being, but “men’s work”. Nowadays, volunteering was becoming increasingly rare, as people simply expected someone else to do the work or pay the cost. What these volunteers had already achieved, despite the major problems with the Marr Area planning department, was a worthy example. Linda Clark, who had voted at the Marr Area Committee against the sending of a Letter of Objection, echoed this praise.
Dave Mitchell noted that there had been some criticism about the surface of the replacement path provided by RDRPS in place of the former trackbed. The finalisation of the surface, with fine quarry dust, would be done for cost reasons in a single pass, once the whole of the path had been laid and had had the necessary time to bed down.
Murray Duncan said that RDRPS hoped – on or
about 26 April – to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the
introduction to the Deeside Line of the “Sputnik”, the battery-electric train
which had been brought back to Deeside by RDRPS. The intention would be to invite interested
local groups. Molly Atkinson said that
CDDCC would be pleased to be invited.
5.
Minutes of January 2008 meeting
The
minutes of the January 2008 meeting were proposed
by Jenny Watson and seconded by
6.
Matters Arising from Minutes
6.1
Drumoak Youth Project
The recent piece in the P&J had unfortunately brought no response from the public.
6.2 Illuminated Speed Warning signs at Drumoak
The
eastern sign - reported to the Council on 13 December - was still not
functioning. To progress this with Mark
Skilling (Action: Graeme Clark)
6.3
Garden Centre at Mains of Drum
Graeme Clark noted that this planning
application had been approved by the K&M Area Committee and would now go to
the Infrastructure Services Committee.
The Area Committee had insisted that the business remain a Garden
Centre.
6.4 Drumoak Sewage Treatment Plant
No
apparent progress.
7. Planning and Other Issues
7.1
Crathes Housing Development
No news.
7.2 Woodlands Housing Development
No news.
7.3 Proposed Used Car Sales business adjacent
to Drumoak Farm Shop site
The planning
application had not yet been scheduled for consideration by the K&M Area
Committee.
7.4 Replacement of
existing
Graeme Clark reported that this was passed by the K&M Area Committee
7.5 Blairs
Estate housing estate with golf course
Graeme Clark reported (for information only, since out of area for CDDCC) that this had passed by the K&M Area Committee.
7.6 Midhill Windfarm
To include discussion of this on the agenda for
the March meeting of CDDCC (Action:
Molly Atkinson)
8. Access Issues
8.1 Core Path Network
Molly
Atkinson noted that work on the Core Path Network - aimed at circular routes
for settlements of 100+ people and at routes connecting settlements - had
reached the stage of producing a draft list of candidate paths. This would be the basis of later public
consultation. She noted that Aberdeenshire,
partly because of its size, was running behind
To
circulate details of the proposed Drumoak paths (Action: Molly Atkinson)
It was
noted that no paths were proposed for Durris.
It was felt that this was an omission, given the population of Woodlands. It seemed likely, though, that the population
of Kirkton fell below the limit. To
raise this issue with the Core Path work group (Action: Molly Atkinson)
One of
the paths mentioned in the draft list for Drumoak appeared to include the path
along the
To write
an article for the forthcoming Newsletter (copy deadline 25 February) about the
Core Paths Network (Action: Molly
Atkinson)
8.2 Dogs on
To remind dog-owners via the Newsletter to
control their dogs properly (Action:
9. Banking Arrangements for CDDCC
It was resolved that the Royal Bank of Scotland plc be requested to continue to act as bankers to the Crathes, Drumoak and Durris Community Council, operating on its behalf a current account plus a deposit account to contain moneys allocated in respect of the Drumoak Youth Project, as at present.
It was further confirmed that Molly
Atkinson (Chairman) and Jean Downie (Vice-Chairman) should be added as
authorized signatories. To progress the
completion of the necessary forms and evidences to facilitate this (Action:
10. AOCB
10.1 Attendance of K&M Area Committee Chairman
Paul
Melling thanked CDDCC for the opportunity to attend the meeting. He was in the process of visiting all 12 CCs
in K&M and had been interested in the variations he had found between them.
10.2 Weekday for Meetings
It was confirmed
that CDDCC meetings would remain on Tuesdays, at least in the near future.
10.3 House Flooding in
Debbie
Cameron noted that substantial flooding of rear gardens and houses had recently
occurred in the vicinity of 46
The
question of responsibility in such instances was not clear to CDDCC, although
Aberdeenshire Council’s responsibility would certainly include the affected
properties of council tenants. To raise
this issue with Council officers (Action:
Graeme Clark)
10.4 Speed of Cars past Drumoak School
To make
reference to this in the Newsletter (Action:
10.5 Article for Newsletter about CDDCC
To draft
a suitable article (Action:
11. Next Meeting
1930 hours, 3 March 2008, Irvine Arms, Drumoak
JFH 06/02/08
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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) |
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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 |
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Neighbourhood
Watch Co-ordinator – |
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Leanna
MacLarty (Press and Journal) |
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Mark
Ansell |
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Dave
Mitchell |
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Paul
Melling |
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