DUNPENDER COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting held on 2^nd December 2004

in the Council Chambers, East Linton

Present:                      Mrs J. Priest                                      Mr J. Robson

                                    Ms J Pooley                                       Ms P Stephen

Mr B Craighead                                 Mrs M Alder 

Mrs L Shaw-Stewart                         

In attendance:            Cllr. Broun-Lindsay                                                              

1.0       APOLOGIES:            Mr J Stephenson                   Cllr D Berry

            Ms J Boyd                              Ms A Cosgrove

            PC K Hughes                         PC Bob Leslie                       

Mrs Priest informed the Council that a vacancy has arisen as Ms Crane has resigned from the Council due to pressure of work. Mr Robson will place an advert in the Courier in January to advertise the vacancy.

2.0              MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 4th 2004

Mr Robson pointed out that in section11.0, the statement “a new wet scrubber is in place” is incorrect. It should read, “ the proposed new SO2 wet scrubber has been approved by SEPA and planning application is being prepared, with commissioning in 2007.”

Otherwise it was agreed to be a correct record of the meeting.

3.0     POLICE REPORT

            There was no Police Report tonight.

4.0       MATTERS ARISING

The December issue of Dunpender News will be ready next week, to be delivered by the Councillors.

4.1       Recycling Bins for Whitekirk

Ms Pooley had no progress to report here, as permission from the Church has not yet been received to locate the bins by the village hall.

4.2       Lorries in Whitekirk

(See 10.7) Regarding the increased number of heavy lorries in Whitekirk, Cllr Berry wrote to inform the Council that all legally licensed UK vehicles must be accommodated on all roads. Ms Pooley will now take this up with John Home Robertson.

4.3       Traffic Calming, High Street

Mrs Govan from the School Board has volunteered to join the sub-committee. As mentioned in the previous minute, the issue of traffic calming in the High Street is, however, likely to take a back seat for the time being as other issues have arisen due to the Entrances Exhibition.

4.4       Traffic Calming in Rennie Place

Mr Craighead will continue the survey in Rennie Place.

4.5       Update of constitution/ policy statements

The constitution needs slight alteration – e.g. it needs to agree with the Scheme for Community Councils leaflet and the statement about statutory meetings needs to be changed. This will go on the agenda for the next meeting, as will the environmental and equal opportunity policies.

4.6       Communications/ consultation

Mrs Priest noted that the latest Bass Notes mentions the new North Berwick portal and that it would probably be a good idea to spend money on maintaining the www. eastlinton.org website. It was suggested that this could be put out to tender.

With regard to consultation, Ms Pooley will conduct a survey among East Linton residents in Spring 2005.

4.7              Burial grounds

Mrs Pooley has spoken to Ben Gray regarding the green burial site in Binning Wood. A botanist has confirmed there is nothing of particular botanical significance in the area. Planning permission will be required. A pet burial area was also being considered, but apparently planning for this is more complicated than for a human burial site!

Stuart Pryde has been contacted regarding the idea of a crematorium in Dunbar. It has also been mentioned in Dunpender News and the Council is awaiting feedback from this.

 5.0      TREASURER’S REPORT

Mr Robson reported a current account balance of £7653.60. £5000 of this is an ELC grant for the park. The grants account balance is £6358.13.

Mrs Boyd applied to the Community Environmental Scheme for funding for repairs to the Hailes Castle path. The application was successful and £2185 has been awarded.

Mr Robson reported no outstanding invoices.

6.0        LOCAL PRIORITIES BUDGET

·        Ms Pooley reported that Whitekirk now has new Christmas lights.

·        (see 10.8) The History Society is arranging cleaning of the Chambers paintings and the Council agreed to pay half the cost of this, which will be £375.

·        Mrs Priest asked the Council to think about the idea of buying local paintings  from the East Linton Art Exhibition to hang in the Council Chambers once the existing paintings have been moved to the Library. Lillian Pryde will be consulted regarding this.

·        East Linton Primary has joined the eco schools project and would like recycling bins in the playground. DCC may be asked to help with the cost of these. The school is planning to recycle yellow pages – unfortunately this could not be mentioned in Dunpender News as it had already gone to press.

7.0        PLANNING MATTERS/ HOUSING SUB -COMMITTEE

·        The application for planning permission for the Square has been submitted.

·        The application for the St Andrew’s Church workshops has been refused on the grounds of parking.

·        Ms Pooley reported concerns in Whitekirk because an old wall is being knocked down on the corner, opposite the church. Ms Pooley feels that the wall should be listed, as it is an integral part of the village. The Council agreed that steps should be taken urgently to preserve what is the last remaining wall of the old farm steading. Ms Pooley to write to ELC.

·        The planning sub-committee had a meeting, which was also attended by Barry Turner, a community councillor from Musselburgh. It appears now that the remit of the sub-committee has been broadened to other issues. Ms Stephen will write this up.

8.0       TOWN MAINTENANCE / TOURISM INITIATIVES

8.1 Paths

The path from the A198 to Knowes is coming along well, with the steps down from the A198 having been built. The signposts are in place and just need the tops on.

8.2 Park

The new equipment is now in place. It is very popular and well used. (See 10.1) The Council has received correspondence from the PTA and grateful parents to thank them. The benches are now in place and sand is to be put on the very muddy areas.

8.3 The Square

Mrs Shaw-Stewart informed the Council that she is waiting for quotes from two builders for work on the Square.

8.4 Entrances

The proposed roundabout at Phantassie will be discussed again once Dunpender News has circulated. It is also to be decided whether to leave the old bridge as it is, to prioritise the traffic or have a white line to delineate a walkway. Peter Forsyth will be contacted regarding this.

8.5 Scotland in Bloom

David Affleck has got a grant from the Community Environmental Fund to repair the wall by the Heritage Orchard and for a heritage storyboard to be done by Historic Scotland. The Horticultural Society has planted a lot of bulbs in the Orchard. Wooden troughs for the High Street are also to be made and planted as an alternative to hanging baskets, which are no longer possible as the lamp posts have been removed.

9.0       YOUTH MATTERS

There was no youth report tonight.

10.0     CORRESPONDENCE

10.1          emails PTA and A MacDougall : thank you for new park

10.2          Bass Notes

10.3          Email ELC Transportation re entrances

10.4          Trish Crane resignation letter

10.5          Girl Guiding East Lothian thank you letter

10.6          FOE “What on Earth” Winter 2004

10.7          Cllr Berry re lorries in Whitekirk

10.8          Local History Society : Paintings in Council Chambers

10.9          Scottish Water: Winter Warmer Campaign

10.10      NHS Advisory Group letter

10.11      RAF: Low flying presentations

11.0     OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS

·        Mrs Boyd represented the Council and laid the wreath on Remembrance Sunday.

·        It was noted that Bill Brodie, Honorary Chairman of the Gala Committee died on Monday. He will be sadly missed. Mrs Priest will attend his funeral.

12.0          DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be on Thursday 6th of January 2005 at 7.30pm in the Council Chambers, East Linton.