APPIN COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of Annual General Meeting of Appin Community Council held in Appin Village Hall on Thursday 13th June 2013 at 7.30pm
Present: Alison MacCorquodale, Issy Silkowski, Paul Zvegintzov; David Craig; Linda MacLeod; Peter Baker; Cllr Elaine Robertson; PC Stuart Johnston + 7 members of the public
1. Apologies: Cllr Louise Glen-Lee
2. Minutes of last AGM on 7th June 2012 were passed round and were approved and signed.
3. Convenor’s Annual Report (Alison MacCorquodale):
The Community Council has had a busy year. We have had an active year with a wide range of subjects and actions on the agenda summarised below:
Trunk Road/A828
Various proposals regarding the signage, road layout, white lining have been raised over the past year with Transerv and from April with BEAR who are now responsible for the trunk roads, with varying success.
Port Appin and other Council Roads
The Appin Road Depot has once again been said to be closing and Appin Squad moved to Oban – various letters of support have gone from Community Council to Roads Department in Oban in support to keep the Depot open. Complains re surfaces on various council roads were raised. All the council roads are due to be surface dressed this summer.
All Weather Playing Field at Strath of Appin School
This has now been completed and is open for use. Various events have already been held at the pitch. Two local co-ordinators are in post. Congratulations to all those involved in seeing the project up and running for the benefit of the local community as well as the school children.
Car Park at Parish Church / Appin Hall
This is another successful community asset completed this past year. Congratulations to all involved especially David Colthart and Dr McNicol who were both very involved in the success of this project. It is a very welcome community asset and is already being well used especially with the footpath connecting it to the cycle track.
Cycle Track
More interpretation signs have been put in place this past year. The Primary School were involved in a campaign of awareness re dog dirt on the cycle track especially around the school. The upgrade of the approach paths to the Jubilee Bridge were funded and have been completed by Sustrans. Community Councillors attended a meeting with Sustrans who gave update on the cycle track of what they had completed and what they hope to do by 2015 when the funding is due to finish.
Jubilee Bridge
Another success! Although not yet started, funding is now finally in place to start and tenders are being drawn up to go out to contractors, so construction can start as soon as possible. Various events large and small have been held to raise money for the Jubilee Bridge Fund which is being held by the Community Trust i.e. Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, afternoon tea at Drumneill House, etc. A small committee with community council and Community trust members have been meeting over the past year to help take this project forward. Congratulations to them for all their hard work and especially Mike Rayworth without whom this would not have progressed this far.
Others
A defibrillator has been fitted to the outside of Appin Village Hall which was bought from monies from the Medical Fund donated by the Community. This is being checked fortnightly by individuals in the community. A training event took place with our local GPs giving hands-on training to those who attended.
And finally thanks go to our Local Councillors (Elaine Robertson and Duncan MacIntyre) for all their help and support over the past year. As ever very many thanks to Issy Silkowski for all her hard work over the past year keeping us all in touch and up to date with what needs to be done and to Paul who took over from Tina in looking after the books.
Community Council membership is voluntary and unpaid. The needs of the community can best be taken forward by hard work and close co-operation with the whole community. The Community Council does make a continued and sustained difference and progress is due to the efforts of the various individuals to the benefit of the community.
This is my final report as Convenor as I will have completed my two terms as per our Constitution. I would like to thank all those involved in the many projects, events, etc involving the Community Council and thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to represent Appin at many functions/events over that time. I have enjoyed my time as Convenor but feel it is now time to hand over the reins to the new Convenor after the forthcoming election this autumn.
4. Secretary’s Annual Report (Issy Silkowski):
The Community Council have held 6 meetings since our AGM last June. Numbers attending have been between 12-20 people over the year and although it would be good to have more people showing an interest, I believe these are healthier numbers than some other Community Councils.
Correspondence has increased by e-mail with very little coming via snail mail. This results in having to print off large amounts of paperwork which increases our expenditure and saves costs for the senders. It does however make it easier to circulate correspondence around all the members and allows them to keep abreast of what is going on.
From the stats available, the website appears to still be getting well used. In 2012, we were averaging approximately 300 unique visitors per month and visits to the site were around 750 per month. In 2013 so far, this seems to have increased to around 350 visitors and 900 visits to the site. The Noticeboard seems to be the most popular and I feel that this asset is not being used to its full potential. This is something for the new Community Council to consider as it could be a great tool for people to find out what events are on in the area.
The term of the current Community Council is just about up with elections expected around September. Having held this position for 8 years (2 terms) as Secretary, it is time for someone new to take on this task. Appin Community would miss the benefits of a Community Council if it is not supported in the forthcoming elections and I appeal to residents to come forward.
I would like to thank the Local Councillors, in particular Elaine Robertson, for all the assistance through the year. Finally thanks to Alison MacCorquodale, our Convenor, for her valued support in the Community.
5) Treasurer’s Submission of Balance Sheet &Annual Accounts
The Annual Accounts were presented by Paul Zvegintzov and duly signed off as correct by Paul and Alison. They had been audited by Elizabeth MacNeil and the Community Council would like to thank her for doing this.
6) Election of Office Bearers
As elections are due in the Autumn, there was no election of office bearers but those in place have agreed to continue in post until the new term is started.
7) Date of Next Meeting
There is no date for next AGM as this will be agreed by the newly elected Councillors in the Autumn.
A vote of thanks was given to Alison MacCorquodale and Issy Silkowski for all the hard work over the last 8 year.