Minutes of 9th September 2010 Meeting held at Ralston Community CENTRE
Present :I.Reid (IR) Chairman, B. Whyte (BW) Secretary, R. Hall (RH), M. Robinson (MR), M. O’Connor (MO’C), G. Britton (GB), N. Macgregor (NM), D. MacDonald (DM), S. Austin (SA)
In Attendance; M. Fernie, D. Marshall, E. Sherry, M. Hodgson, Cllr S McDonald (part)
Welcome from Chair
I. Reid welcomed all to the meeting. Any resident present who wished to raise questions or make comment was welcome to do so once agenda business was over.
Apologies: M.Mangan (MM), R.Kowalski (RK), H. Sherry (HS), L.Rigmand (LR),
B.Fairlie (BF), G.Burton (GB), K.Allison (KA), B.Cook (BC), L.MacDonald (LM).
Police Report :No police officers in attendance.
Reports from Local Councillors: Report circulated to those present. Cllr McDonald at another meeting, but in attendance towards the end of our meeting.
Ralston Gardening Project: The Green Gym has been working over the summer to clean up the area at the side of the community centre to create a new garden area for the playgroup and day care centre. Friday 10th Sept. will be a planting day for the playgroup and day care centre to fill the raised beds. An open day will be organised in the spring when the garden is completed.
BarshawPark: Work has been ongoing at the park over the summer: new toilet block opened, flower boxes around the park, fence around the train has been painted. I am meeting with Joe Waclawski (Environmental Services) next week to look at establishing Friends of Barshaw Park.
Ralston Community Sports Centre: I have had a meeting with Renfrewshire Leisure Ltd (RLL) to discuss programming at the facility and to deal with complaints about swearing/ bad behaviour. Local clubs have been meeting to discuss establishing the community sports hub and more access for local young people. RLL will again put a member of staff on the park to monitor behaviour and stamp out this unacceptable behaviour.
The overgrown area is still under the control of the contractor CBC until 3rd October when it will become the responsibility of Education and Leisure Services. I am awaiting confirmation that CBC will stone pick the area and cut the grass.
St Mirren FC: Environmental Services will forward me a programme of what they will be doing with regard to noise testing now that the acoustic fence has been installed. Shona is also trying to access the drainage plans. I will forward both these documents to RRAG as soon as I receive them. Noise testing results will be given to individual residents and it will be up to individuals to share them with RRAG.
Roads department have instructed the installation of a speed bump at the entrance to the car park (Darvel/Bathgo). Discussions re lighting is still ongoing.
Difficult Choices for Difficult Times:The council is seeking views on shaping the future of services in Renfrewshire. All residents are encouraged to contribute to this important consultation through the brochure delivered to all households or online.
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Minutes of the Previous Meeting:The minute was accepted. Proposed by RH, seconded by MR
Matters arising from previous minutes:There still appeared to be a problem with football being played in the car park behind the Community Centre. IR indicated that Cllr. Susan McDonald had been emailed regarding litter bins and signage in the car park indicating No Football Allowed.
It has been established that St Mirren FC are responsible for the maintenance of the ground between Bathgo Ave. residents and St. Mirren FC 1ST Team training area. (Grass pitch)
Signage is now in place at the children’s play area in front of the Community Centre indicating ‘No Dogs’ and the area is intended for children up to 12 yrs old.
Secretary’s Report/Correspondence
Hall Lets for 2010/2011 – Confirmation of Hall Lets received. Under the Council’s letting regulations we require to have three named Fire Marshals, at least one of whom would always be present at our meetings – these are Ian Reid, Rebecca Kowalski and Bill Whyte. In the event of a fire or other emergency the fire marshals would liaise with the Council employee in charge of the building to facilitate evacuation.
RalstonPrimary School – Traffic Problems – Following an approach by school Head Teacher, we wrote to the head of roads to request an assessment of the situation with a view to making improvements. Reply received dated 2 July 2010, essentially saying nothing further can be done (e.g. traffic calming measures or parking exclusion zone) beyond requesting the School Travel Plan Co-ordinator to investigate the matter further with the school. Separately, notification has been received that it is being proposed to make it an offence to stop on the zig-zag lines on either side of school/nursery entrances. There is consultation on the proposals which ends on 13 Sept 2010.
Community Sports Hubs – Renfrewshire Council is holding three events to provide a first view of the proposed designs for these facilities and to seek views and inputs into the proposals – they are in Johnstone 21st Sept, Linwood 22 Sept and the Lagoon Centre 25 Oct. 6pm till 9pm. Confirmation of attendance is requested.
Laptop Computer – Earlier this year I requested a laptop computer from Renfrewshire Council and this has now come into my possession. It is intended to be used for RCC Secretarial business and there are rules concerning its use which we accepted in a document signed by three office bearers. A register of users is required to be kept, and in accepting this equipment we are agreeing to adopt the protocol for safe use of the internet as suggested by Renfrewshire Council.
Planning Applications/Street Traders Licences – No unusual or significant applications.
Treasurer’s Report
Working balance at June meeting was £ 616.92
Cheque still to be cashed 26.97
Anchor Boys cheque cancelled (replaced by
Second cheque for correct amount) 291.45 318.42
935.34
Monies Received since June: Local Area Grant (LAC) 480.00
LAC Travelling Allowance 50.00 530.00
1465.34
Less: LAC Grant expended 480.00
Residual balance £ 985.34
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Ralston Courier-Printing & Distribution
The draft copy had been e-mailed to members and copies were circulated to the meeting. All requests for inclusion had been met. RH will organise getting the Courier printed ready for distribution. An estimated 3000 drops for delivery. It was suggested that each member of the community council deliver in the region of 150 each. RH and BW have agreed to deliver quotas to each member’s home address.
AGM
We are awaiting confirmation of a speaker for the AGM. A decision to serve refreshments at the AGM was taken. SA and MR agreed to organise this.
After nearly 4 years of service BW has intimated to the council his intention to step down as Secretary.. Bill will continue as a community councillor and will give whoever is the new secretary every assistance with the transition.
All office bearers stand down at the AGM, and anyone wishing to stand for any for any office in the Community Council should contact BW as soon as possible. Current office bearers who do not wish to be considered for continuation of their current role should also contact BW as soon as possible.
Renfrewshire Community Council Forum
A volunteer is needed to represent RCC on the Renfrewshire Community Council Forum (RCCF). IR will contact members via email to ascertain interest for this task. The RCCF will meet Nov 13th
REACHING OLDER ADULTS IN RENFREWSHIRE (ROAR)
IR has been in contact with ROAR recently to ascertain interest with regards to volunteering for this initiative within Ralston. ROAR is still in need of volunteers to take this forward. RCC has donated £60 to ROAR for the production of information pamphlets. These will be delivered to local household at a future date. There was some discussion with regard to the most suitable venue for the ROAR lunch club. Some concerns that it could clash with the day care centre activities.
AOCB
(1) Mr Marshall enquired whether there was a published timetable for the repair of Ralston roads. IR intimated that all major roads were inspected on a 3-month basis and repairs were carried out based on those inspections.IR described a 6-month trial that would be carried out by the Roads Dept/ RC. in an attempt to improve communication with the Dept. the Community Council and local residents. Anne McNaughton CC Coordinator was trying to put the trial in place, which would deal with urgent repairs. A volunteer is required to monitor the effectiveness of this trial.
(2) IR spoke about the forthcoming changes to Community Councils. There has been extensive consultation, which is nearing completion. Present Community Councils will need to be re-elected. However any changes will be unlikely to happen before the end of the year. Ralston Community Council will have a maximum of 21 members based on a population less than 5000.
(3) MR asked about age restrictions for using the swing park at the community centre. It was her understanding that the park was intended for the use of younger children but older teenage children were using it as a meeting place. This sparked discussion relating to the lack of youth facilities for teenagers and older local children. It was suggested that this be an agenda item for our next meeting.
(4) Cllr McDonald spoke briefly in connection with ongoing plans for the BMX track in BarshawPark. Cllr McDonald will obtain an update from Environmental Services in relation to this.
Date of next meeting:AGM 7th October 2010 @ 7.30pm
M. O’Connor 9th September 2010