Minutes of Meeting of 8 December 2016
at Ralston Community Centre
Present – Paul Masterton (PM), Ian Rae (IR), Alison Scott (AS), May Fernie (MF), Robert Wright (RW), Rebecca Kowalski (RK)
In Attendance - Cllr Will Mylet, David Dougan, Kenneth Spiers (Paisley Daily Express), Mr Morton (Police), Dorothy Rae
Apologies – Bill Whyte, Gail Burton, Susan McDonald, Cllr Maureen Sharkey,
Cllr Jim Sharkey, Cllr Brian Lawson
Welcome - The meeting opened with a welcome from the Chairman.
Police Report – There had been only 4 crimes in Ralston since the previous meeting, and no further thefts from motor vehicles however residents were again reminded to be vigilant in ensuring vehicles were locked and windows closed. The crimes committed were one breach of the peace, one road traffic offence, and two cases of housebreaking. Mr Morton advised that crimes often spike over the Festive period.
Councillors Report – AS noted that she had received some concerns regarding the new street lights that had been installed in Ralston, which had resulted in significant 'dark spots'. Cllr Mylet confirmed this was a known issue across Renfrewshire and resulted from the existing quality of lampposts (height, spacing etc...). Residents were advised to make individual complaints to the Council as this enabled a full log to be kept and individual issues to be followed up.
RW raised the issue of cars parking on the inner lane of the Glasgow Road. The Community Council discussed a proposal to request double yellow lines to be painted however it was felt that this would be unpopular with many residents and was not the best way forward. Cllr Mylet agreed to raise the issue with traffic enforcement offers, and to investigate potential mitigation regarding particular issues with one resident who's parking was causing particular concern.
Cllr Mylet advised that funding for the Coats Memorial church was being considered by the full Council board.
Minutes of Previous Meetings – The November 2016 minutes were proposed by AS and seconded by MF.
Matters Arising – All items arising from the previous minutes were noted to be dealt with elsewhere in the Agenda.
Secretary’s Report – PM noted that Renfrewshire Council were running sessions on Community Budgeting, and asked anyone interested to contact him for further details.
Treasurer’s Report - Balance of £2,467 advised by AS, noting that receipt of the administration grant from Renfrewshire Council of £747 had been received.
Update following meeting with Renfrewshire Leisure
PM advised that he had had to cancel his meeting with Renfrewshire Leisure due to work commitments, but had received an email response from Joyce McKellar in relation to a number of points.
The refurbishment of the Community Centre was going ahead as previously advised. Renfrewshire Leisure had passed the request for installation of a picture rail to the Council, and were confident that this would be agreed as part of the scope to allow future exhibitions to take place locally. It was also noted that the Council had been very positive regarding the Playgroup's plans for a community garden, however it was unlikely that they would provide any funding towards this.
Joyce McKellar confirmed that if the Community Council were able to provide external casing for the existing defibrillator, the Council would install this on the exterior wall. It was agreed that this would be raised with Bill Whyte.
It was noted that all bar 2 groups had been relocated for the period of Community Centre closure.
PM noted that he planned to rearrange the meeting for early January to enable a fuller discussion on the Sports Centre timetable to be arranged.
Any other Business
The Community Council agreed that the next meeting would take place in St Mark's Church at 7:30pm on Wednesday 11 January. It was further agreed that the February meeting would take place on Thursday 9 February in Ralston Primary School.
Mr Dougan raised a newspaper article referring "major building work" proposed to take place at the St Mirren training ground. Cllr Mylet said he was unaware of any detail of this and it was noted that no planning application had been made. PM noted that representatives of St Mirren were scheduled to attend the January meeting and it would be a good opportunity to find out more about this then.
MF provided a short update from the most recent LAC meeting.
RK noted that there had been some budget underspend from the most recent community games and it had been agreed that this would be used towards a short marketing video for advertising the 2017 event. The video would be prepared by Create Paisley, a creative arts youth initiative based in Paisley. RK felt that this could be combined with the Community Council drive to make residents more aware of its role and achievements, and assist with recruiting new members. The Community Council agreed that this was a good idea, and offered their support to the project. IR agreed to pass RK videos from previous games for inclusion.
RW tendered his resignation which was accepted by the Chairman.
Date of Next Meeting – Wednesday 11 January 7.30pm
at St Mark's Church, Corrie Drive, Ralston