Minutes of Meetingon Wednesday 14Th June 2017

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Minutes of Meetingon Wednesday 14th June 2017

held inNether Currie Primary School

Present – Jack Cairns- Jean Cairns - Stewart Campbell -Barbara Chambers

Craig Dunlop (Community Parks Officer) -Mark Hutchison – Ann Ireland

Ian Ireland–Marion Milne.

Mark opened the Meeting by welcoming everyone present.

1. Apologies – Anna Hazel.

1. Minutes of Meeting held on 1st March 2017

Minutes were approved by Barbara Chambers and seconded by Ann Ireland.

1. Matters Arising from1st March2017Meeting.

4a) The posters previously issued to the Friends were to be used to highlight the

problem of litter.

4b) Marion to check if wildflower seeds had been planted in the Orchard.

Unable to identify any ivy that had been cut from the trees.

4. Children’s Report.

P6 and P7 had completed the building of the hedgehog boxes and these had been installed in the Park.

Juniper Green School, P3’s, had used the Park as part of a Nature Project.

No decision yet on the use of the £1,000.00 that had been awarded for winning the National Environmental competition.

1. Craig Dunlop Update.

a)Craig produced a drawing showing a recent pipe survey and where the blockage occurred. Discussion followed and it was agreed that further investigation was required and should go ahead at a cost of approximately £1,300.00.This would involve digging in the soil to check the state of the pipes.

The Friends said that they would try to locate a manhole on the route, that had been difficult to find.

Mark said that the whole flooding problem was a Health and Safety issue as the deep water that collected provided a magnet for children and could have serious consequences if anyone fell into the water.

b)Craig had obtained an estimate on the price of top dressing the path – this was

£6,000.00. The go-ahead on this project was dependent on the results of the further investigation into the drainage.

c)Two new barrel planters had been ordered – compost and heather plants also to

be supplied.

d)A new bee hive and bee colony had been recently installed in the Park.

e)Painting of the three gates into the Children’s Play Area, painting of the bin in

this area and a permanent repair to the damaged brick work at the manhole that

floods were to be followed up by Craig.

f)Craig left a copy of the recent ( 1st June 2017) Green Flag Quality Assessment

carried out by Edinburgh Council. This showed an improvement from 71% to

73% over the past year. This is in the “Excellent “ band. This inspection is carried out by the Council yearly – before the official Green Flag team have their inspection.

g)Mark had seen some official notices regarding depositing of dog poo in the

proper bins and asked Craig if we could be supplied with some. Craig to send copies to Secretary.

There were no further questions for Craig and he was thanked for his attendance and information. He then left the meeting.

6. Membership/Treasurers Report

Ann thanked all of those who had been involved in collecting the Annual

Subscription. We lost 4 members and gained 1 new one. We gained 4 new members

as a result of the Membership Campaign and our present total is therefore 95.

Ian stated that our Bank balance was £7,701.00 of which £6,300.00 was due to the

Council as part of the artificial turf on the football pitch project.

Actual moneyavailable to the Friends was in excess of £1,350.00.

Discussion followed on whether we should continue to charge a £5.00 annual

subscription in view of the fact that we have not organised any events this year. This

being because of the shortage of volunteers/helpers at any event. It was agreed to

leave a decision until nearer the time for collecting the Annual subscription.

1. Membership Campaign.

It had been decided that we would be better using the school children to take our letter home and we therefore contacted Nether Currie Primary School and Currie School. Aproximately 600 letters were sent out for the children to take home.

A disappointingly low return of 4 new members was the result for everyone’s hard work (less that 1%).

It was agreed that the letter should be used as an article in the C and B NEWS.

1. Hedgehog Boxes.

Ian asked if there were any hedgehog boxes available for the Friends as suggested at the last meeting. Marion said she would check but thought that they had all been installed in the Park.

Ian reported that a number of the boxes had been vandalised and others left out in the open. The boxes had been repaired and re-sited in less obvious spots. It was agreed that the Friends could re-locate any boxes that were not in the best positions. It was reported that some of the vandalism had been carried out by pupils at Nether Currie Primary School. It might be useful if the Head Teacher could address the pupils on this matter.

8. AOCB

There being no other Business the Meeting closed at 8.35pm.

9. Date of Next Meeting.

The next Meeting will be held in Nether Currie Primary School on

Wednesday 6th September 2017 at 6.45pm