Minutes of meeting of 14th April
2009 in Council Chambers
Jan Wilson (Chair), John Golightly (Vice Chair), Emily Armatage (Treasurer), Kathryn McDowall, Margaret Ingle,
Fiona-Frances Adam, Colvin Denholm
Cllr Sheena Richardson, Cllr Ludovic Broun-Lindsay, Cllr Tom Trotter, Craig Finley (EL News), Neil Aitchison (EL Courier), PC Steve Tait, Anna Faulkner (minutes/correspondence secretary)
Jan introduced Carol McKay to
the meeting. She is a local resident and
gave a short talk about herself and said that she feels she now has the time to
help in the community and wanted to be considered for a position on the Comm
Council. She left the room and after a
short discussion it was decided she be invited onto the CC. Jan said she was welcome to stay on at the
meeting.
Approval of the minutes was
proposed by Margaret and seconded by John
5. Matters Arising
5.1 Item 6.6 Fly tipping: Ludovic said he hasn’t spoken to Stuart Pryde. To close off the road will require the
Highways department to initiate the legal work.
He will speak with Stuart. Action
LB-L
5.2 Item 6.8
5.3 Item 8.5 Peachdales: Ludovic spoke with Stuart Pryde and the problems lies
with there being too many cars in this area.
He said that the job will be done but is unlikely to be done in the near
future – will be linked with any other jobs which arise in the same area.
5.4 Item
5.5 Item 8.9 One-way system: Colvin pointed out that it was Bob who mentioned the
one-way system and not Colvin as reported in the minutes.
5.6 Tourism: Jan said that the first day at the doocot
seemed to go well. We are still waiting
on some leaflets from VisitScotland. The
volunteer system is better this year with a few new people on board who are
willing to do extra time if need be.
6. Councillors Corner
6.1 Roads and pavements: John
said that he has been approached by a recent visitor to the town who was
disgusted by the state of repair of the pavements. He has also found it hard getting around as
he has been on crutches lately and it has highlighted for him the dangers of
uneven pavements etc. The CC has been bringing
this subject up for years and still nothing substantial has been done about it.
Sheena said that the council will say that it is all part of the Town Centre
Strategy Plan – apparently a consultation document will be out in the next few
weeks about this very subject.
6.2 Peats the Butcher: Colvin asked if permission had been sought to
close off the lane beside the butchers – this is a right of way. It was thought that this had been done due to
health & safety issues.
6.3 East Lothian Council signs: Colvin also asked how much money is being spent on
producing signs with the new EL logo and also would this entail changing the
logos on all council vehicles? Sheena
said that it has not cost a lot to produce the logo as it was done in-house and
that they are only changing the road signs.
6.4 Potholes: Kathryn reported a large
pothole outside the houses at
Oak Tree Cafe: Pothole appearing again on the roundabout.
6.5 Disabled parking/dropped kerbs: Emily thought that the dropped kerbs should be
indicated more clearly to stop people parking across them. She also pointed out that the disabled bay
beside the bus stop in Market St would be much better utilised outside the
chemist in Market St.
6.6 Road Signage:
Fiona said that a meeting she
was at recently was attended by people from
6.8 Chip shop close:
Jan read out correspondence
she had received from a resident complaining about the amount of disturbance
they experience in the area, especially over the weekends. Drinking, spray-painting, urinating, noise
etc all happens on a regular basis.
Also, over the last weekend the wheelie bins were all stacked one on top
of the other.
6.9 Haddington House: Jan also
reported some vandalism outside the house – the stone ball on top of the plinth
was found lying of the ground – Jan’s nephew took it back to their house for
safekeeping. PC Tait took a note of
these incidents.
6.10 Flood Risks: Jan read from an email Norman Lawrie had sent her about requesting a
report on Flooding in Haddington. Action
SR/TT/LBL
7. Police
Questions
7.1 Abbotsview/Riverside: Colvin reported a large amount of graffiti appearing
in these areas, particularly outside number 9 Abbotsview. PC Tait said he would look into it and asked
that the community be vigilant and report any sightings of this vandalism.
7.2 Crime in town: PC Tait said that there was a
spate of car crime between 13-16 March around the Meadowpark, Victoria Road,
Church Street areas and asked that the public get in touch if they have any
information on this.
7.3 New community officer: PC Tait told
the CC that PC Lyn Keating will be taking over from Stuart. Jan thanked Stuart
for his help over the past few years
8. Honorariums
8.1 It was agreed to pay the
following honorariums:
Community Council Account - £100 to Jan (Chair)
£200
to Emily (Treasurer)
£100
to Emily (Festival Sec.)
Festival Account - £200 to Jan
The
above were proposed by Colvin and seconded by Margaret.
9. Correspondence
Received:
9.1 Various
ELC meeting notices and minutes
9.2
Community Environmental Fund 2009/10: applications to be submitted by 25 May
9.3 Email
from Simon Boak thanking the CC for the £200 we gave him. He said he will put in towards upgrading his
computer.
9.4 Letter
from Stuart Pearson re the
9.5
Association of C.Councils - £15 membership request: Emily to pay Action
EA
Sent out:
9.6 Letter
to Tesco re Cannon
10. Planning Applications
10.1 Bob was
not present at meeting but current applications and his comments had been emailed
to the members. Jan went over some of
them but was not sure if Bob had written in response. She will check with him. Action JW/RO
11. Treasurer’s Report
11.1
HADDINGTON & DISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL A/C as at 14th
April 2009
Last month’s Balance £496.26
Income Expenditure
ELC local priorities £1,950.00 Jan’s Phone exp £28.00
Emily’s phone exp £28.00
Anna secretary’s fee £50.00
Total £2,446.26 £106.00
New balance £2,446.26 - £106.00 = £2,340.26
HADDINGTON
COMMUNITY COUNCIL FESTIVAL A/C as at 14th
April 2009
Last months’ balance £15,858.89
Income Expenditure
Float returned £100.00 Tesco food for info centre
Volunteers £68.78
Craft Fair Income £656.00 Advert for Craft Fair £52.79
Handbook Advert Income £620.00 Stamps £82.08
Donation
to Simon Boak (website) £200.00
Donation
to EL Bird Cage Society £300.00
Ruth
has presented her cheque £8.68
Macro
items for the information centre
(Jan) £71.48
Licence
for Homecoming Event in
Athelstaneford £10.00
£17,234.89 £793.81
12. Community
Warden
None present at
meeting
13. Handbook
13. Jan needs help in checking the pages. Take to the next Festival meeting.
14. Festival
minutes
14.1 Local Priorities – we need to think about what we want to spend the money on.
14.2 Capital Development money – can apply for this if we have a project we want to support
15. AOCB
15.1 Nungate
Cala Committee: Margaret said they have discussed and agreed to go 50/50
with the cost of providing the horse drawn carriage at next year’s Festival.
15.2 John Lockhart Trophy: Emily has received just one entry so far.
16. Date of next Meeting: Tuesday 12th May 2009 (and AGM) in Council Chambers, Town House at 7.00pm.
17. Date of next Festival Meeting: Tuesday 28th April 2009 in Council Chambers, Town House at 7.00pm
18. Outstanding
Matters Arising from previous minutes
2006
14/03
Athelstaneford (Lighting
outside hall): a wall light has been
installed but this is not what the CC had asked for; Emily to email Tom about
this Action EA
Burley’s Wa’s – 12/06 it was reported that the insurance
company has insisted that the area around the
12/04 Old
09/06 Town
House Clock tower lighting – 11/03/08
Jan said that Alan Forsyth has confirmed that some of the wires have
been pecked by the pigeons. Some sort of
covering needs to be sourced to prevent this continuing
12/09 Broken kerb at Co-op
10/10 Uneven slabs at Graeme McGraths
14/11 Mill Wynd/Millfield - fencing
Mill Wynd/West Mills – pathway
2007
09/01 Long Stay parking-disabled parking bays
13/02 Footbridge at
Herdmanflat – broken slabs/tree roots
13/03
Ball Alley – lights
10/04 Estate Agents signs
Abbotsview/
Guttering – High Street
Courier Office – exposed pipe in pavement
Peter Potters – broken drain
12/06 Public
toilets-one-way mirror – 11/12 Tom Trotter has spoken to Tom Shearer
about this: let him know if this hasn’t been done
Nungate Bridge-needing overhaul
11/09 General disrepair of the pavements in town
09/10 Signposts in
Langriggs (gates to vennels)
Gateside commerce park – lowered pavement
Alderston Muir – naming of : 11/12 Jan suggested Bob email Sheena direct regarding this
The Sands-Vehicles parking
on corner of
Local Plan Inquiry –request for a copy of report.
13/11 Highways: invite Brian Cooper and/or Peter Forsyth to some of our meetings
Play area (Longcram/Acreadales): 11/12 reported
Missing drain cover outside Sue Ryder shop: 11/12 reported
11/12 Court Street – paving stones - reported
Herdmanflat
– paving stones - reported
2008
12/02 Monkmains – bollards: 11/03 in hand
Public toilets – condensation: 11/03 under investigation
Neighbourhood Watch Posters: 11/03 ELC can provide
Fly tipping problem – Alderston: 11/03 reported
Hopetoun Drive – speeding
11/03 Old A1: bench
Street lighting: Gifford Gate, Lady Kitty’s, bollards
Dobsons Well – signage
Carlyle Cafe – uneven paving slabs
13/05 Recycle bins –sports centre
Disabled parking bays
The Sands – parking
Chip shop close – name?
10/05 Alleyway off High Street – being used as public convenience
Athelstaneford – bus shelters
Clearing
of river
Traffic
calming –
Beechwood Rd – widen pathway
Bowling Green plaque/doocot – vandalism
Overhanging branches –various locations
Grass cuttings – not being cleared up
Abbots View – broken slabs
14/10 Somnerfield – broken paving slabs/hole in ground
Amisfield Cottages – Slow Down sign
Athelstaneford – hall light
Butts Sheltered Housing – mess in grounds
Corn Exchange – upgrade; toilets and gas heating
11/11 Bus
shelters: Abbotsview,
Court Street – hole in pavement
Pot holes – Seggarsdean, Abbotsview
Athelstaneford – toilet door forced open
Disabled parking bays – sign erected
2009
13/01 Church Street/Langriggs/Nungate Bridge – lighting
Potholes – Oak Tree roundabout, Seggarsdean, Athelstaneford
Salt bins – provision around the town
Athelstaneford – new bin required
Pigeon droppings
Roodlands – new hospital – major delay
10/03 Scaffolding at Town House
Tyne
under
Oak Tree Cafe – bulbs
Hospital Road – lights out
Peachdales – muddy corner
Town Centre – one-way system
14/04 Potholes,
Church Street – drain cover missing
Fortune Ave – signage