BELHELVIE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

APPROVEDMINUTES OF MEETING-19September 2016 @Balmedie School

Chair: David Watson (not in attendance) ;Secretary: Vacant; Vice Chair: Alan Smith (in Chair);InterimTreasurer : Alan SmithPlanning : David Wallace

Minute Taker: David Wallace

Members Present: A.Smith ;D.Wallace; Drew Robertson; Ian Edwards ; Christine Murray; Scott Wilkinson ;

Apologies:D.Watson ;P.Mann ; R.Miller.

FormartineArea Councillors Present: Allan Hendry ;CryleShand

Apologies;Jim Gifford

Visitors: Vattenfall Delegation of Natalie Ghazi ; Dalila Benchabane ; Steve Jones ; Rory Davidson.

The Vice-Chairman welcomed all present to the meeting, asked that all mobile phones be put on ‘silent’ and that all matters be addressed through the chair; also that any declarations of interest in agenda items be made known.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest

  • No declarations noted.

Police Matters (again no Police attendance at the meeting and no report provided).

  • Cllr. Alan Hendry reported that he had chased up Police involvement in these meetings and was told that Police absence was due to lack of resources .This was also stated as the reason for the lack of a report for the past 3 months.

Minutes of Meeting from 18 July 2016

  • Minutes for the previous meeting were reviewed with no further comment then proposed for approval by D.Robertsonand seconded S.Wilkinson.

Matters arising from the previous minutes

  • D.Watsonprovided a clarification to the July meeting meeting in reference to the Better Balmedie Group’s request for a new Operations Site .

“D.Watson asked if a site adjacent to the proposed Sensory Garden to the rear of the derelict Tarts & Crafts site within the magnificent 7 woodland area would be acceptable to the BBG for their Operational Base. Allan Jeffrey replied, in the first instance, that this was their initial preferred site but an enquiry to an Aberdeenshire Council Planner did not support this idea. When asked who the Planner in question was Mr.Jeffrey did not respond.”

Cllr.Hendry also sought to clarify an apparent mis-conception held by members of the BBG that he had blocked BBG’s desire to relocate to the Congregational Church site as this was not either within his gift or authority. He noted that this was his “personal view” and he clearly stated that in the BCC July meeting. This was supported by all the BCC members present at the July meeting.

Cllr.Hendry also sought to dispel the BBG’s view that they had been evicted from their present site at the rear of the Leisure centre by readinga copy of BBG’s minutes of meeting 20/10/14 which clearly outlined the terms of their sub-lease and the need for the BBG to vacate the area in April 2016.This date was later extended by the Balmedie Leisure Centre until the end of October 2016. Therefore it is somewhat disingenuous for the BBG to maintain they had been “suddenly evicted” from their present site without reasonable notice.

Treasurer’s Report

  • A.Smithprovided a Statement of Account from RBS dated 1/9/2016 which was £4,152.23. Further to 4 payments made since then of (in total) £1,250 to the respective Village Tidy Schemes and the agreed allocated contribution to the Leisure Centre of £1,500 the Current Balance will be£1,402.23.

Planning

  • D.Wallacereported on the all the Planning Applications made in our area since the last meeting and any decisions reached on any Applications made previous to this.
  • No actions were raised in regard to the reported items.

Landfill Projects

  • An additional £3,688.55 has been approved by EB Scotland & Taylors Environmental to erect a new safety fence around the Potterton Football pitch.
  • The refurbishment of the Football Pitch & Play Parks at both Potterton and Belhelvie along with the 2x7-a-side grass football pitches at Balmedie beach has now been completed with only the surrounding areas to be worked.
  • Funding has also been approved for the following projects;

-Refurbish the “Magnificent 7” woodland area at the north end of Balmedie along with the development of a picnic area with disabled access.(£43,185)

-Wildflower areas in Potterton and Belhelvie (£12,000 each)

-An e-mail to Elaine Brown in reference to the 10% contribution to the Leisure Centre was sent by D.Watson.

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  • NOTE; If any local group have an environmental project for which they would like to put forward for funding, please contact Belhelvie Community Council at the e-mail address provided at the bottom of this page or alternatively call the BCC Chairman on 01358 742118.
  • Correspondence
  • Belhelvie village litter complaint letter from Mr.Paul Collier to Clair Young at Aberdeenshire Council was reviewed and responded to by D.Watson.(5/9/16). No action will be taken by the BCC in this regard.
  • D.Watsoncontacted Elaine Brown to get the correspondence received by Wishart McBride redirected.
  • Elaine Brown to convene a meeting with BBG (22/8/16) on their Ops.Base site. We await our invitation.
  • Edna Booth flooding at 7 & 8 Hareness Terrace, Blackdog complaint letters to Aberdeenshire Council was read out to the meeting. ). D.Watson to compile and send a response letter.

Any Other Connected Business

  • Aberdeen Bay Offshore Windfarm.

Another short presentation of the project was provided by Natalie Ghazi, Local Liaison Officer with Vattenfall(supported byProject EngineerDalilaBenchabane and the Onshore Project and Construction managers from Murphy’s ; Steve Jones and Rory Davidson ) which addressed the concerns raised at our previous meeting related to Noise Pollution from the Sub-station, potential sight screening by trees taking advantage of the natural site elevations, road management issues, weight and width restrictions of the current roads and potential Asbestos issues.

They also provided a DRAFT timeline for the Onshore Construction work which indicated a mobilisation date of 17 October,2016 and a site establishment/access road/lay down area completion date of 16 November. Nine trucks/day is the expected heavy traffic volume during this period.

Natalie Ghazi committed to maintain communications with the Blackdog Residents Group and to attend future BCC meetings to ensure all concerns were addressed and the questions raised answered. She also stated that a Community Benefit Scheme would be established .

Dimentions of the Offshore Turbines were also provided; Height 191mtrs, Blade Diameter 164 mtrs.

WesterHatton LandfillThe security fence boundry surrounding the dis-used landfill site was in a state of disrepair and in need of attention . Cllr Hendry contacted the Landfill Operator and they committed to repair the fence.

  • Cllr.Hendry provided an update on the revised traffic arrangements in and around the area in relation to the AWPR work which were due to be in placein the near future.
  • A.Smithreiterated that any input for the next issue of the Belhelvie Banter must be provided before October 28.
  • Cllr Hendry confirmed that the missing fence down at the Balmedie Beach Sand Bothy playparkhad been replaced and that the trip hazard on the path from theBalmedie Garage to the Balmedie Leisure Centre would be repaired shortly by Aberdeenshire Council.
  • It was reported that the demolition of the derelict Tarts & Crafts building has been delayed. It was agreed that this needs to be followed up as the present state of the building was a safety concern. Cllr.Hendry again agreed to action this.
  • Concern was expressed around the construction progress of the Balmedie Congregational Churchand the current mess that the site was presently in. Completion is now almost one year late and recent progress has been noted as extremely slow. In addition the adjoining pavement on Rowan Drive has been dug up and closed-off for over 4 weeks now which is an unacceptable length of time considering how busy that walkway is normally.

D.Wallace undertook to write to both Rev.Andy Cowie and the Aberdeenshire Council highlighting our safety and progress concerns along with requesting that the site be tidied up with immediate effect.

  • Meeting closed at 21:30

Next Belhelvie Community Council meeting – Monday 17thOctober 2016

At Belhelvie Community Hall (Bowling Club) at 7.30pm

All Visitors Welcome

Future Meetings dates are as follows;

Month / Date / Venue
May / 16th May 2016 / Balmedie Primary School
June / 20th June 2016 / Balmedie Primary School
July / 18th July 2016 / Belhelvie Community Hall
August / 15th August 2016 / Balmedie Primary School
September / 19th September 2016 / Balmedie Primary School
October / 17th October 2016 / Belhelvie Community Hall
November / 21st November 2016 / Balmedie Primary School
December / 19th December 2016 / Balmedie Primary School

New E-Mail address for correspondence is;

Formartine Area Community Website is ;

Belhelvie Community Council – Minutes of Meeting