Minutes of meeting of 8th January
2008 in Council Chambers
Minutes of meeting of 11th December 2007 at Council Chambers
Minutes of meeting of 13th November 2007 at Council Chambers
Minutes of meeting of 9th October 2007 at Council Chambers
Minutes of meeting of 11th September 2007 at Council Chambers
Minutes of meeting of 12th June 2007 at Council Chambers
Jan Wilson (Chair), John Golightly (Vice Chair), Emily Armatage (Treasurer), Irene Pow (Secretary) Norman Lawrie, Colvin Denholm, David Motherwell, Effie Renton, Fiona-Frances Adam, Nico de Freitas, Graeme MacGregor,
Kathryn McDowall, Janet Brent, Dave Brunton
Kirsty Gibbins (Courier), Craig Finley (EL News), Anna Faulkner (minute secretary)
3. Major Items for
AOCB - none
4.
Minutes of Tuesday 11th December
Approval of the
minutes was proposed by Effie and seconded by John.
5. Matters Arising
5.1 Item 5.6 Play-area (Acredales): Effie had a meeting with Dave Kerr who said they have a plan of action with a suitable area in mind for a play area. He asked Effie to get together a group of residents in the area for their input.
Action
ER
5.2 Item 6.2 Water leak/Court St: Colvin thinks that the leak at the B of S has been sorted.
5.3 Item 6.5 Shed at Langriggs: Emily said that this has been resolved.
5.4 Item 9.8 George Hotel: There was hope that this would be open before
Christmas; this is obviously not the case.
Norman thought that we should write to Paul Zochowski to ask on progress
of the Development Brief. Nico said he
has spoken to the people working within the hotel and they have said that the
plan now is to open in January. It was
decided that we write to Paul to find out how the development brief is
progressing. Action IP
5.5 Item 11.3 Heritage Forum
meeting (Dec): Norman attended this. Response is due by 29th Feb. This to be discussed at the next Festival
Meeting. Action
NL
5.6 Item 12.2 Christmas Eve
(sweets): Jan
thanked all those who helped make this a success. Colvin thought that it may be better not to do this on Christmas
Eve – he suggested the Sunday before as lots of kids were getting ready for bed
when they went round. Jan also thanked
Dave Brunton for his help in organising the erection of the lights.
5.7 Item from O/S items:
Clock tower lights: David Motherwell asked what was happening with this – has been ongoing
for a long time now. Jan said that ELC
have said they would take on the maintenance . Jan said she would speak to Lilian about this and find out which
department we should contact. Jan will
then email the information to Irene.
Action JW/IP
6. Councillors Corner – no councillors were present at the meeting therefore Jan
said that any items should be emailed direct to the councillors this month.
6.1 Cllr
Trotter had sent an email via Anna to say the following points:
1)
The hall lights at
Athelstaneford have been actioned and will be in place soon.
2)
The footpaths at
Herdmanflat area are to be fixed in February
3)
Still awaiting a
response regarding the bridge at Begbie and will keep the CC posted
4)
The footpaths in and
around the town centre have been surveyed and work is carried out as needed
6.2 Athelstaneford Hall lights: Emily said
that a light has been attached to the outside of the building, instead of along
the footpath (which was requested). It
has been attached to the hall electricity supply, is far too bright and is on a
timer to come on at 4pm and turn off at midnight. Emily said there have been numerous complaints from the residents
therefore it was suggested she email Tom direct. Action
EA
7. Police Questions
7.1 No
police were present at the meeting but Jan asked if there were any items
councillors wanted them to take to the next CAPP meeting. Three items mentioned were 1) traffic
jumping the lights at Ideal Garage, 2) anti-social behaviour outside some of
the Pubs at closing time, 3) the ongoing problem around the provision of
methadone in the local chemists. Some
discussion ensued around item 3) and it was suggested that councillors email
their views to Jan before the next CAPP meeting. Action
Councillors
8. Tourism
8.1 Effie reported that a sub-committee meeting was held on 7th January
8.2 History
Leaflet: meeting with Norman and David M re this
8.3 Doocot: will open on 21st March until the 27th September. Effie having a meeting with the Pest Control officer on Friday. Jan is writing a letter to all the Volunteers – a meeting is to be held for them all at the Maitlandfield on 4th Feb at 7pm. An advert with the opening times etc will be posted on the website and on posters around the town.
8.4 Signage:
Effie will contact Jonathan Jones regarding the signage for the doocot. Nico said he has emailed Clare and Susan re
this but not received a reply as yet.
8.5 East Lothian Life magazine: we may be able to advertise here – Effie to contact Pauline Jaffray.
8.6 Council buses: Effie said they are going to write to David Berry to ask if these could be used as tourist buses (apparently there are 22 of them). Action JW
8.7 Walking Leaflets: Nick Morgan to check how many are left.
8.8 Tourism Forum AGM: to be held on the last
Thursday of January.
8.9 Motor tryke tours: Colvin has a
contact who may be interested in
this. To look into it further.
8.10 Reinstating the pigeons: David M wants
the birds to be allowed back into the doocot.
Some discussion was held and the general feeling was that this would be
fine if ELC would agree to clean it out every few years. A vote was held, 4 voted for the birds to
come back, 3 voted against. Therefore
as there were more abstaining the motion was carried. Irene to write to ELC. Action
IP
9. Planning – Norman passed out copies of his report
9.1 Nursery
application (Meadowpark): Some discussion was held over this application which
effectively doubles the number of children the nursery can look after. The plans were looked over and it was
thought that our only concern lies with the parking and traffic congestion in
this area. Norman will write outlining
our concerns. Action NL
9.2 24A
Sidegate: Nico and Fiona gave an
outline of their dealings regarding this property. Fiona had enquired (before considering putting in an offer) as to
whether planning permission would be granted to develop this site. She was told in no uncertain terms that
permission would not be forthcoming.
Nico has also tried to buy this site and been unsuccessful. His objections to this development relate to
its proximity to the hotel and the detriment to the area. Nico left the room in order for the matter
to be discussed. It was agreed that we
object on the grounds that it detracts from the surrounding area. Norman will action. Nico returned to the meeting. Action
NL
10. Treasurer’s Report
10.1 Emily
handed out the current balance sheet:-
HADDINGTON & DISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL A/C as at 8th
January 2008
Last month’s Balance £1,501.15
Income Expenditure
Interest £1.46 Jan’s Phone exp £28.00
Emily’s phone exp £28.00
Anna Secretary’s fee £50.00
Total £1,502.61 £106.00
New balance £1,502.61
- £106.00 = £1,396.61
HADDINGTON
COMMUNITY COUNCIL FESTIVAL A/C as at 8th
January 2008
Last month’s balance £12,517.61
Income Expenditure
Interest £21.64 Tax £4.32
Repayment for engraving J/L cup £22.50 Simon Boak £200.00
Float returned (Fun Day) £120.00 Planning Aid Scotland £25.00
Income from Fun Day £1,074.95 Food for Fun Day £9.87
Refund Macro £30.53 £1,105.48 Advert for Fun Day £49.94
Grant Braes Refund £1,000.00 Jan
Stamps £30.00
Handbook Payments £600.00 T/H fish bar payment for
Santa sweets £143.00
Total Income £15,387.23 Total Expenditure
£462.13
New balance £15,387.23 -
£462.13 = £14,925.10
Money for Santa run
Comm Council cheque £143.00 Used
£20.00 Tesco token for 4 tins of sweets
Nico cash £39.52
Invoice from Fish Bar £182.52 Colvin will know how many boxes
the T/H fish bar paid for,
36 boxes also they paid the VAT
There are two entries I do
not agree with; Jan’s £20 cheque and Handbook payment. I have been to the bank and it is being
looked into. I also have the mandate
from the bank for a 3rd signature for Irene to sign.
10.2 Simon Boak:
Jan suggested we ask him to a
meeting to take some photos – would give him some recognition of his hard work
and also promote the website. This was
agreed.
11. Correspondence
Received:
11.1 Copy of Homefront (Newsletter for tenants of ELC)
11.2 Copy of Speaking Out (East Lothian Involvement Group for mental health services)
11.3 Reply
from Community Service re cleaning the Tyne: Irene read out the reply which said that the Comm Svce team would be
delighted to carry out this work and will monitor the river over the next
months as the cleaning would normally be undertaken during the summer months
when the river is generally running at a lower level.
11.4 Jan had an email from Wayne Blyth regarding with information which he thought would be of interest on our Website. This relates to Sean Connery’s time spent in Haddington. It was decided that this would be of interest and inclusion to the website was agreed.
12. Local Priorities
12.1 Christmas
lights: Jan said a meeting needs to
be held to find out what lights are needed.
Some complaints were received about the lights this year – some were
never lit, particularly in Market Street.
Effie asked that the press put something in the paper to explain that some
of the street lights were not working and were reported to ELC before Christmas
– these were not fixed and therefore the Christmas lights would not work as
they are linked to the street lighting.
This was out-with our control and there was nothing we could do about
it. It was also reported that all the
old wiring needs to be replaced, along with the junction boxes – this to be
funded from the LP budget.
13. Craft Fair – Saturday 23rd Feb. Set up Friday 22nd at 3pm. Help required.
14. AOCB
14.1 Haddington Garden Trust: Jan said that Roger Kirby asked if he could attend one of our meetings – he would like to give a short talk about their plans and thank the CC for the recent donation. Agreed.
14.2 Affordable
Housing Policy 2007: Norman has a
draft copy of this. Needs to be
responded to. After a short discussion
it was decided Norman write and say we have no further comments but that we
would like to be kept informed each year on how many affordable houses have
actually been provided. Action NL
15. Date of next Meeting: Tuesday 12h February 2008 in Council Chambers, Town House at 7.00pm.
16. Date of next Festival Meeting: Tuesday 22nd January 2008 in Town House (Bar Lounge) at 7.00pm
17. 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 George Hotel be boarded up in
light of a recent incident relating to a fire extinguisher being let off
12/04 Old
Bowling Green – name plaque: Sheena has
tried to find out where the original sign is.
Suggested that a new one be made if old one can’t be found (09/07)
09/06 Town House Clock tower lighting – Jan has contacted Halliday’s on numerous occasions and the lighting has still to be sorted. 13/2 Jan has had no reply to her email and Irene had no reply to a letter she sent to them last Autumn. It was decided that Irene should write again. 08/05 and 12/06 Still no reply Action IP
13/06 Hopetoun Drive – speed bumps: a request has been made to have a speed check
carried out here
12/09 Broken kerb at Coop
10/10 Uneven slabs at Graeme McGraths
14/11 Mill Wynd/Millfield - fencing
Mill Wynd/West Mills – pathway
Dunbar Road – pavement a mess
2007
09/01 Long Stay parking-disabled parking bays
13/02 Footbridge at Riverside Drive
Lighting – Sidegate and Mackays
St Ann’s Place – large puddle
Herdmanflat – broken slabs/tree roots
13/03 Nungate Bridge – light filters
Abbey Bridge – broken mirror
Ball Alley – lights
10/04 Estate Agents signs
Abbotsview/Riverside Drive – wall/broken slabs
Newton
Port/Market St junction – broken sign in pavement
Guttering – High Street
Courier Office – exposed pipe in pavement
Peter Potters – broken drain
08/05 White brig – slats missing-Tom has passed
this on to relevant department (12/06)
Pathway at sluice
Herdmanflat
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
Rugby Club-upgrading & fencing off pitch
Nungate Bridge-needing overhaul
Oak Tree Café-untidy-needing cleared
11/09 General disrepair of the pavements in town
Gifford Road – speed bumps
Oxfam Shop – selling new goods
09/10 Signposts in Newton Port facing the wrong way
Langriggs (gates to vennels)
Gateside commerce park – lowered pavement
Alderston Muir – naming of : 11/12 Jan suggested Bob email Sheena direct regarding this
Church Street –Parking overlapping pavement
Alderston Muir – fence blocking access to Alderston Muir
The Sands-Vehicles parking on corner of Church Street and The Sands
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
Pencaitland
Road – election poster: 11/12 reported
11/12 Court Street – paving stones - reported
Herdmanflat – paving stones - reported