Tel: 01463 790282 (Chair)

MINUTES OF MEETING ON15 JUNE2016

1 / Members present:, C Darling, E Campbell, I Brill, L Williams, R Campbell, D McDonald
In attendance: Mrs T Fletcher
Apologies: I. Williams, G Spalding, Cllr K Stephens, Cllr K Gowan, PC D Elliot
2 / Meeting Chaired by D McDonald
Minutes of previous meeting:
Proposed: E Campbell Seconded:R Campbell
Thank You to BCC and BVT:
Mrs Fletcher was in attendance specifically to thank the BCC and BVT for clearing away pallets that had been in the community woodland near her property and were becoming a health hazard. BCC were very appreciative of this acknowledgement of the work that had been done.
Matters arising:
Culloden Road Repairs: Funding of £600 from the Ward Discretionary Budget (payable to BCC) has been confirmed, which the BCC has agreed to match. Once this money is in the BCC bank account IB to pay the total of £1,200 to Mr Kidd for these repairs.
Stratton Development: concerns were raised at the lack of school provision for this development, and Councillors were to be asked if they had had any response to BCC Chair’s correspondence from the Highland Council Planning Department. As no Councillors were present at this meeting, this is still outstanding.
Playpark: The lease for land for this is now in hand. Consultation for alternative layouts for this were carried out both at the Balloch Gala and at Balloch Primary School, with a clear favourite identified. This has now been referred back to Mr I Reed, the Highland Council Playpark Manager for assessment. The total project cost for this would be £40k and RC is now proceeding with funding applications and potential sponsors. It is proposed that the Playpark would be taken forward by a sub-committee of the BVT and a meeting is to be arranged to set this up.
4 / Police Report.
None
5 / Report from Highland Councillors.
None
6 / Report from Chairman.
None
7 / Treasurer’s Report
BCC remains solvent
8 / Secretary’s Correspondence
Scottish Fire and Rescue Strategic Plan: consultation on this is open until 9 August. Letter has been circulated to BCC members.
Highland Democracy: A Commission on Highland Democracy is to be launched in June (ref Highland Council news release 16 may 2016) to investigate the current state of democracy in the region and whether this is what is wanted / needed to best enable public participation in decisions about public services.
Linked to this agenda, concerns have been raised by other Community Councils through the Community Council Forum, that whilst the CCs have been set up as the official bodies to represent the interests of residents, they are NOT being included in consultations on budget cuts, but new “citizen’s panels” are being proposed. A meeting of the CC Forum is to be held on Monday 18 July to discuss this. EW, LW and IW to attend on behalf of BCC.
9 / AOB
BVT:Some discussion was had as to whether BCC could take over the organisation of the Cherry Park Christmas event. Suggestions included a possible sub-group that included BCC, BVT and possibly other members. It was also suggested that a change of day might be helpful – possibly a Saturday afternoon, as week-day evenings were difficult for families with small children. Further consideration to be given to this.
BCC Web-site: BCC minutes are not currently appearing on the web-site. CD to ensure all 2016 minutes are uploaded. LW to send CD a list of current BCC members.
Apologies for Sept Meeting: Both L Williams and D McDonald have given apologies for the next BCC meeting.
10 / Next Meetings:
Wednesday21 September 2016 at 7:30pm.
Meeting Dates for 2016: 19 Oct, 16 Nov.