Minutes of Meeting of St Boswells Parish Community Council held on Thursday 31st May 2007

St Boswells Parish Community Council

Present:
Cllrs A.Reed (chairman) G.Mitchell, D.Dawson, A.Drummond, C.Ellershaw, J.Grieve, R.Lawrie, G.Sinclair, R.Wild.
SBC Cllr. A.Scott
P.C. D.Begg (Lothian & Borders Police)
8 members of the public.

Apologies : M.Murray, D.Oliver, I.Skinner.

Minutes of the Last Meeting
The minutes of the last meeting on 26th April 2007 were accepted.

Police Report :
Last month there had been 3 calls regarding youngsters on bikes causing disturbance and 1 call regarding a youth on a moped. There had been a report of one theft from a car parked near the golf club, when a lady’s handbag had been stolen. Police had no leads on this incident. R.Wild asked whether a call had been received from Mrs Melrose regarding a cow which had broken out after cattle had been frightened and stampeded by children. PC Begg was not aware of this but agreed to check. PC Begg will not be able to attend the June meeting of the Community Council but will try to arrange for another officer to attend.

Matters Arising
(a)West Croft Trust: G.Sinclair reported that all frontagers had been informed that the former minister, Mr. Neill, is no longer involved. He has also written to the Kirk Session to request that a new minister, when appointed, should be informed of the continuing responsibility. The chairman, A.Reed, read out a letter from the Session Clerk, Mrs Lucy Smith, stating that the minister is not automatically a trustee of the West Croft Trust. This appears to differ from an earlier opinion provided to G. Sinclair by the Church of Scotland Legal Department. The chairman pointed out that the Community Council could not take any action in this matter, and was simply in the position of an observer.
(b) Path at Laret Burn: the chairman read out a letter from Mr. McCorquodale stating that the field across which the track passes is now used for pasturing a bull, and therefore he did not wish to facilitate public access. Although public access could not be prevented , the risks were pointed out.
(c) Seat at Crystal Well: no progress as yet because the supervisor responsible has been on holiday, but we expect to hear in early June what will be done.
(d) Waste bins ( response from A. MacLeod ): none provided yet at Jenny Moores Road as the road has not yet been adopted by SBC. The need for bins at The Croft is on a request list.

Correspondence and publications.
(a) Notification of various SBC meetings, all of which had already taken place.
(b) Letter from Clerk of St. Boswells Kirk Session ( read out by chairman, as minuted above.)
(c) E-mail from A.MacLeod regarding waste bins ( minuted above).
(d) Letter from Mr.Donald Fairgrieve regarding access road to houses on The Green. Since the access from the A68 was closed because of the pedestrian crossing point, all access is now along the road leading from the B6404. This is now regularly used by 11 cars belonging to the householders, by the council service vehicles, and increasingly by cars coming on to The Green for car boot sales and to park when attending cricket matches. The annual fair brings heavier vehicles and caravans. Because of this increased traffic the road is now badly broken up with potholes. It is not clear who has responsibility for maintenance. R Lawrie urged that the Community Council should try to help.
A.Reed will contact C.Ovens and/or J Frater at SBC.
Ownership of the road needs to be determined. R.Wild agreed to investigate.
(e) The Fair leaflet : The revised draft was still not satisfactory – the following information needs to be clearly set out: dates and times when entry is permitted and when departures must be made; dates and times when skips & portaloos are installed ( not before Tuesday 17th July) and removed ( as soon as possible after 12.00 noon on Thursday 19th July ). We would prefer the refuse skip at the south end of The Green to be halfway along the south side. The errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation should be corrected.
(f) SBC website: this will provide a service to Community Councils ( details to be circulated ). A.Drummond asked whether a link to the St Boswells site run by C. Denoon could be created.
(g) The chairman read out a letter from Mr.& Mrs.George Oliver to the site managers of the Jenny Moores Road development. A small area of land at the corner of Weirgate Avenue has not yet been tidied up and weeds are seeding into surrounding gardens. Mr & Mrs Oliver asked for the weeds to be cleared.
(h) The chairman read out a letter from Mr.C.Stewart of Mertoun Estate Farms regarding the poplar trees near Mertoun Bridge. Many of these trees have reached maturity, so the estate has taken advice regarding the risks to people and to the bridge. In conjunction with Forestry Commission, a felling and replanting programme is planned, to ensure progressive regeneration. There may have to be access restrictions during this work. ( Letter to be posted on the noticeboard).
(i) Planning Aid : we have renewed our subscription to this body ( see minutes of last meeting.) The AGM will be on 14th June 2007, 6.00 – 8.00 pm at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow. The speaker will be Cala Homes planning manager.
(j) Notification of low flying exercises between 4th and 15th June 2007.
(k) The SBC meeting regarding the Structure Plan Alterations, postponed from 19th April, will now be on Tuesday 19th June 2007 at 6.30 pm. R.Wild, C.Ellershaw and D.Dawson agreed to attend.

Playpark in Weirgate Avenue.
Andrea Gillan reported on progress. Billy Birse has been able to promise 2 picnic tables and 3 planters; a donation of topsoil has been promised by a local builder; the Milestone garden centre has advised on a planting scheme, and will supply plants at a discount, including hedging to provide privacy for neighbouring gardens. Andrea will organise a planting evening ( date to be notified). J Hogg has ordered ( on 1st May ) play equipment ( assault course & climbing frame) at cost of £6600, and hopes to have it installed by the end of June. There will still be money available for waste bins. Picnic tables made for The Green some time ago are still in storage; it may be possible to have some of these allocated. SBC will be contacted regarding the self –closing gates, and also be asked to cut the grass more often.
On 5th May Andrea sent out letters to local businesses. So far £450 has been received and passed to R.Wild. The quiz night on 25th May raised £257 and this together with another £45 has been passed to R.Wild. It is expected that this total of £752 will be matched by another £700 from SBC. A family disco may be arranged and the nursery may arrange a sponsored walk around the village.
R.Wild is assisting with an application to “Awards for All” for National Lottery funding.
Andrea was asked if she would agree to be co-opted on to the Community Council.
This was formally proposed by A.Reed, seconded by D.Dawson, and agreed unanimously by the meeting.

Treasurer’s Report
A £ 755 grant from SBC has been received ( our funds at the time came just below the limit above which no grant is given ). Including the monies now received from Andrea Gillan ( to be used for the play park), the balance is £2300.11.

SBC Councillor’s Report
Because the newly elected council has been in office for only a short time, no report was presented. Cllr. Scott said that both he and Cllr. J. Brown planned to attend St.Boswells Parish Community Council meetings on a regular basis, and Cllr. Wyse hoped to be able to attend from time to time.

Planning Matters.
(a) Barnsdale, removal of garages : no objection from Community Council.
(b) Chinese Restaurant painting scheme: we have asked for clarification on colours chosen by applicant, and for advice from SBC as to what is recommended for conservation areas.

AOB
(a) Roy Lawrie informed the meeting that SBC Cllr. Jim Brown has agreed to be a Trustee of the Village Hall ( the constitution requires the trustees to include a local councillor.)
(b) I.Skinner had asked for the paths behind Hamilton Place to be cleared of overhanging bushes. The path from Inchdarnie Crescent to Main Street also needs to be done.
(c) The paved areas at St Modans Road/ Weirgate Avenue could be used for parking, if a dropped kerb was provided. A proportion of the space could be reserved for disabled drivers resident in the area.
(d) Could a dog waste bin be provided in Inchdarnie ?
(e) At some point on Springfield Terrace there is not enough room for wheelchairs to use the pavement because of overhanging branches. A.Reed will contact the garden proprietors.
(f) There was a request for a paved footpath from the end of Charlesfield Road to the village.

Date of Next Meeting: Thursday 28th June 2007 at 7.30pm in the Lesser Village Hall.

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WELCOME.