Draft Minutes: meeting 5 February 2008

Garve and District Community Council:

DRAFT MINUTES of meeting held in Garve Village Hall on 5 February 2008

Present: Marion Taylor, Alex Mackenzie, Sheree Grant, Sue Tarr, Donald Northwood, Jim Ruggles- Brise, Helen Grainge, Jean Hollingdale and 15 members of the public

Apologies: Uisdean Menzies, John Urquhart, Lady Eliza Leslie Melville.

The meeting was opened by the chairperson and it was agreed that before we concluded the business we would hear from Transerve who had been invited to explain their role in maintaining our roads. They went on to explain how the grass cutting, fencing, road repairs, gritting and land management was undertaken. Several question were answered and clarification on a number of issues that have been discussed at previous meetings. Transerve were thanked for attending and answering questions.

Approval of the draft minutes from the last meeting was put and Sue Tarr said there was an error in the statement about her reading out her resignation. She was asked what was meant and she said that she had not read out her resignation; both the Chair and Secretary asked what she wanted in its place as other members thought that was what she had done. After a short discussion it was agreed that this paragraph would be removed and replaced with, "that she had read out a letter". Sue then said that the last minutes had not been approved either, another member said that they had but with corrections; the Secretary said that these corrections had not been implemented yet but were approved at the last meeting and would be distributed to members when completed. He further pointed out that on a number of occasions he had asked all members including Sue to contact him if there were any errors or correction they felt needed to be done; members could contact him by e-mail, letter, telephone call or even visiting his home so there should be no reason for not communicating. One member said that she had not seen a copy of the minutes before the News and Views had been delivered. The Secretary explained that copies of the minutes had been distributed before publication by both e-mail and post and could not be held responsible for any delays and if the member had an e-mail address let him have it so they could go on the distribution list.

Matter arising: Network Rail and Scot Rail had been asked to investigate the foot bridge at Achanalt Station; the Secretary reported that Network Rail accept that the bridge is theirs but the land on either side is private. Scot Rail has said that the land around the area is split between themselves and Network Rail. He could further confirm that the area in front of the station is to be clean up following the repairs to the area.

Jim Ruggles-Brise reported that he had spoken with the owner of the filling station at Achnasheen who has said that he will be making an effort to tidy the site also the area around his shop. To-date nothing has been done and the area around the recycle bins has attracted some household rubbish and an old TV.

The recycle points in Garve were discussed and the Highland Council would be looking to move the site to the area adjacent to the school. They had commented that our suggestion of using the old goods yard was dependant on Network Rail and they did not hold out much hope for this to happen. There had also been another problem with a site in the district which the Highland Council had addressed.

Planning Issues: There was no issues relating to the Community, however the Highland Council had written to say they wanted to send all notices in the future by electronic means. This would be difficult as many in the Community could not get proper access to Broadband services.

Treasures report: It was reported that there are no outstanding accounts and that the accounts show main account £2103.82, Senior Citizens £565.24 and War Memorial £106.37.

Correspondence: APT Alert Bulletin, noted. Highland & Islands Equality Forum, noted. Garve Primary School thank you card for the donation, noted. Wester Ross CC Progress report, noted. Scottish Government Broadband e-mail, noted. Correspondence from NHS Highland, noted. Network Rail Contact address, noted. Highland and Island Fire and Rescue Service letter, noted. Letter from Richard Clements Highland Council, noted. Wester Loch Ewe CC Minutes, noted. Letter from Lloyd Gudgeon, noted. Highland Council re planning meetings, noted. Shieldaig CC minutes, noted. Ward Forum Action Notes, noted. Letter from Karrie Doswell, noted. Wicksteed playscapes information, noted. Edd Tarr said that Sue Tarr had received a letter from the School thanking her for the help in producing the calendar.

Any other Business: Jean Bailey spoke on an idea for fund raising, this being that as there was some really nice gardens in Garve perhaps we could organise an open garden day so the public could walk around the village and visit gardens. The Community Council thought this was a good idea and perhaps this could be linked with people starting and finishing at the village hall where they could buy tea and cakes. Jean was asked if she would like to progress this idea and if any other members wanted to help to contact her. Another suggestion was for people to fill a coffee jar with money and perhaps this could be launched at the village hall by holding a coffee/ tea party.

The question of the News and Views was raised and the Secretary explained that the last issue was produced as a temporary measure. Jackie West had volunteered to produce the publication but had been taken ill and was in hospital at the time of production.

It did not help that the photocopy machine had needed to be repaired so it had been left to the Secretary to produce it at his office. It was agreed to hold a meeting and the date was set for the 19 February 2008 in the Garve Village Hall at 19:00.

A member of the public asked about cars driving in poor light with no headlights; it was explained that all motorist are by law required to drive on dipped head lights in poor conditions or low visibility and it had been noted that a number of people fail to drive with their lights on.

Ronnie Ross brought to the attention of the Community Council a letter Gill Ross, the Post Mistress at Achnasheen, had received from her manager regarding the help she had given to the Postman. It seems that a member of the public had made an official complaint to the Post office management when Gill out of a sense of community spirit had assisted the local postman to deliver post, when he experiencing personal problems due to the loss of his mother, and not getting a day off due to staff shortages within the post office. All members of the Community Council voiced their support for Gill Ross and the postman concerned and were appalled that a member of the public should be so un-charitable at such a time of need and while they all accepted the Post Office has responsibilities, we are a small community and should look to be helping and supporting each other.

The meeting was brought to a close with the Chairperson thanking everyone for attending; the next meeting was set for the 1 April 2008 in Achnasheen Village Hall at 7:30 pm.