Crathes, Drumoak & Durris Community Council (CDDCC)

Minutes of 2006 Annual General Meeting

 

12 December 2006 at Drumoak Church Hall from 19.30 hours

 

 

Community Councillors: David Morrish (Chairman), Jean Downie, Molly Atkinson, Keith Whitehead, Tony Butcher, John Hopkins.

 

Aberdeenshire Councillor: Sandy Wallace

 

Members of the public: Geoffrey Atkinson, Rev. Jim Scott, Janet Dean, Philip Dean, William Downie, Teresa Waugh, Ron Stark, Sandra Stark

 

Representatives of Grampian Police:  Const. Graham Wilson, Const. Claire Pirie

 

Apologies: Jill Gow, Ann Ross

 

1.      Chairman’s Report.

 

The report was distributed to those present.  David Morrish summarised the main points of his report, reproduced here:-

 

1.1 Community Councillors during 2006

 

Chairman, David Morrish (Crathes); Vice Chairman, Molly Atkinson (Drumoak); Secretary Jean Downie (Durris); Treasurer, John Hopkins (Durris); Keith Whitehead (Crathes); Ann Ross (Crathes); Jill Gow (Drumoak); Tony Butcher (Crathes)

                                               

The following sub-committees had been constituted:

 

Planning - Molly Atkinson (Drumoak), Keith Whitehead (Crathes), Jean Downie (Durris)

Project - Molly Atkinson and (co-opted) Donald Keith and William Downie

                                               

Resignations during the year: None

 

1.2 Priorities for 2006

 

1.21 Education & Youth

 

Drumoak School

 

This year the community council has had less involvement with any specific activity to do with the school other than to follow the funding progress of alternative primary school arrangements through local councillor Sandy Wallace.

 

Drumoak Youth Project 

 

This year further progress on this project has been limited by lack of someone to take on the project.  Latterly three Drumoak volunteers have assumed that responsibility.  Hopefully this will now lead to movement in 2007 as funding is available.

 

1.22 Planning

 

Mineral Extraction

There remains an undercurrent of local concern with regard to mineral extraction. CDDCC members represent local interest through the Liaison Committee.  Recent meetings have raised awareness with Aberdeen Council and Chap about wind-blown sand and noise concerns.

 

Aggregate extraction continues at the Milton of Crathes and local concerns relating to the compatibility of this activity with the Deeside Way access continue.  This is despite reporting the issue to the council and their subsequent risk analysis which apparently showed there was no problem.  This will need to be further addressed in 2007.

 

Drumoak

CDDCC has continued throughout the year to do its best to reflect known local opinion and concerns in its responses to planning applications.  During 2006 these have been limited to input on sporadic development applications rather than the central Drumoak housing development.

 

Crathes

In contrast to Drumoak, planning issues in Crathes have centred on the main proposal for housing development in the centre of the ‘village’.  Activity thus far has related to addressing the Development Brief which was completed recently and approved by the Marr Area Committee.  The community council’s efforts will be to stay connected with the next steps of the planning process and draw the planners into real discussion around the wider impact for the village, the roads and environment. This will mostly be done by a Crathes sub-group.

 

Durris

Although there have been a number of sporadic development applications that have had CDDCC input, the focus now is on the two new development areas at Woodlands and Kirkton. A sub group has also been formed for Durris to help influence and address the impact of these developments on the communities.  In 2007 it is hoped that these sub-groups will share their thoughts and tactics.

 

Development of Wind Farm at Mid-Hill.

In 2005, CDDCC agreed to an arrangement whereby the wind farm developers Natural Power made a ‘planning gain’ cash offer to local CCs which has been accepted by Aberdeenshire Council Planning Services.  Under the scheme CDDCC will receive ca. £5K/annum.

 

1.23 Roads & Access

 

Deeside Way

Work on the Deeside Way this year saw Drumoak and Crathes being connected up. This was celebrated by a community council cycle ride. Next year we can hope for a much bigger event organised by CDDCC in the same vein.

 

There are still matters of signs and safety, especially at the Crathes crossing of the A957 and the Milton. CDDCC will pursue these in 2007.

 

Other Access Issues

CDDCC continues to field concerns with access rights and refer to the appropriate authorities. In this respect CDDCC has links with the Aberdeenshire Local Outdoor Access Forum.

 

 

1.3 Other Activities

 

CDDCC has also fielded comments from the community on topics such as disorder, fly-tipping, speeding motorists and crime.  These comments are discussed and passed on to the appropriate parties such as the police.

 

Community Council members have also been able to improve their knowledge in the field of planning and local politics by attending some of the plethora of events associated with but by no means limited to:-

 

·         Local Community Planning Groups for Marr and K&M

·         Planning Aid for Scotland

·         Community Council Forums for Marr and K&M.

 

 

1.4 Charitable Donations

 

Because of its economical operation, CDDCC spends little money on itself.  At the end of the year it was once again in a position to consider modest charitable donations to local bodies from its own funds.  Charitable donations were made to the Drumoak & Durris Church (to subsidise the Newsletter, including making it available in Crathes), to a local toddler group, to help with looking at renovating the old Durris bridge and for Elsick Mounth signs.

 

 

It remains for me to thank each and every member of the 2006 Community Council and our local councillors who have supported me in my role as chairman this year. As always, there is more to do!

 

All the best to those in Crathes, Drumoak and Durris for Christmas and the new year.

 

 

2.   Grampian Police

 

Two representatives of Grampian Police (Constables Graham Wilson and Claire Pirie) joined the meeting.  As they were on response duty, David Morrish invited them to make their contribution without delay - notwithstanding the fact that it was not strictly AGM business.

 

Const. Graham Wilson introduced himself by saying that he had served some 20 years in the police.  This consisted of 13 years in Kincardineshire and around 6 in plain-clothes work in Aberdeen City prior to his recent move to Banchory.  Const. Claire Pirie was a recent recruit to the police and was currently operating under his supervision and guidance.

 

He described the modern trend of policing, which was a move towards intelligence-led policing and away from local beat patrolling.  This meant that resources could be targeted, but also meant a reduction in day-to-day personal contact with the public.  This made the police more dependent upon receiving relevant telephone reports.

 

A call centre had been set up for the whole of the Grampian Police area.  This was staffed by civilians, but still located in the North-East.  It used the telephone number 0845 600 5 700.  Incoming calls were categorised for action as follows:-

 

  • Category 1 – emergency response required
  • Category 2 – response required, although non-emergency
  • Category 3 – non-emergency, follow-up action required
  • Category 4 – non-emergency, follow-up action required

 

Most car crashes and domestic altercations fell into categories 1 and 2.

 

Depending on the balance of resources and workload, categories 3 and 4 might not be actioned for several days.

 

In addition to this call centre, there were also the regional “Crimestoppers” telephone number (0800 555 111) and the emergency number 999.  Less-urgent calls on 999 could, at the operator’s discretion, be dealt with via the call centre.  Equally, category 1 calls could be actioned via the 999 process.

 

In response to questions from the floor, Const. Wilson stated that his one response car covered the whole of Deeside from Braemar to the outskirts of Aberdeen.  Patrolling was mostly in villages and towns, rather than rural areas.  Upon occasion, the Westhill and/or Stonehaven cars might provide response for Deeside, when not otherwise occupied.  The traffic police were separate from this part of the police organisation and were based in Stonehaven.  Increasingly, police stations were no longer staffed, although Banchory police station had a clerkess dealing with the public from 0800 to 1600 hours on weekdays.

 

It was noted that some people had been discouraged from reporting vandalism etc. to the 0845 600 5 700 call centre by their insistence on knowing the name and address of the person making the report.  Const. Wilson said that, in such circumstances, people should say that they wished to make an anonymous report and that they had been told by him that reports were essential to the proper working of intelligence-led policing.

 

There being no further questions, David Morrish thanked the constables, who then left.

 

 

3. Treasurer’s Report

 

John Hopkins distributed copies of the Treasurer’s Report.  He said it was made up of two parts, one for CDDCC and the second for the Drumoak Youth Project (DYP), for which CDDCC continues to act as fundholder.

 

The CDDCC and DYP accounts for 2006 were proposed for acceptance by Tony Butcher and seconded by Molly Atkinson.  They were formally adopted and signed by John Hopkins and counter-signed by David Morrish.

 

 

4. Office-Holders

 

David Morrish noted that there had been no turnover of members during 2006 and asked whether office-holders and members were prepared to continue to serve in 2007.  The responses were as follows:-

 

  • Keith Whitehead – content to continue as member
  • Jean Downie - content to continue as member, but would prefer to step down as Secretary, as she had several family weddings in 2007 (she agreed to continue in post for the immediate future, in order that Jill Gow and Ann Ross might be canvassed as potential replacements)
  • Molly Atkinson - content to continue as Vice-Chairman and Access representative
  • Tony Butcher - content to continue as member
  • John Hopkins - content to continue as Treasurer and website editor
  • David Morrish – expressed a preference to step down as Chairman (after two years in post), but was persuaded to continue on the understanding that Tony Butcher would consider standing from 2008, once his golf captaincy commitments were complete

 

 

 

5.      Priorities for Action in 2007

 

David Morrish asked for input from the meeting as to what should be CDDCC’s priorities for 2007.  The following items were proposed:-

 

  • complete the DYP multi-purpose ballcourt
  • encourage reporting to police call centre 0845 600 5 700
  • generate greater interest from Drumoak (including a targeting of the owners of the new housing)
  • ensure that Planning Gain monies for the expected Planning Application for Housing at Crathes are appropriately identified and applied
  • stop Aberdeenshire Council ignoring CDDCC
  • contribute to green issues by lobbying Aberdeenshire Council for street lights to be extinguished between (say) 0100 and 0500
  • campaign for road safety and appropriate speed limits
  • obtain better publicity in the local press, by recycling website and newsletter material

 

 

6.      2007 Meetings of CDDCC

Meetings would be on the first Tuesday of each month (other than in January) at the Irvine Arms, Drumoak at 19.30 hours.

 

·        9 January 2007 (second Tuesday)

·        6 February 2007

·        6 March 2007

·        3 April 2007

·        1 May 2007

·        5 June 2007

·        3 July 2007

·        7 August 2007

·        4 September 2007

·        2 October 2007

·        6 November 2007

·        4 December 2007

The AGM was declared closed.  Wine and cheese were then served.

 

 

JFH

12 December 2006

 

Distribution

email

post

by hand

other

CDDCC Councillors

 

Councillor Jenny Watson

Durris Hall Notice Board (via Sarah Hopkins)

Website www.durris.net (also for previous minutes)

Councillor Sandy Wallace

Crathes Hall Notice Board (via David Humble)

Drumoak Post Office (via John Hopkins)

Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator – new appointee not known

Mr W Munro, Area Manager, Kincardine & Mearns

Banchory Public Library

 

Park Shop (via John Hopkins)

 

Mr L Allen, Area Manager, Marr

Community Police Officer (Drumoak/Durris/Crathes), c/o Banchory Police Office

 

 

Rev. Jim Scott, Durris Manse, Durris

Drumoak Public Hall Notice Board (via Ian Pirie)

 

 

 

Drumoak Church Hall Notice Board (via Morag Keith)