Benarty Community Council
Minutes of Meeting 1 November 2018, Benarty Centre, 7 PM
Present: John Purdie, Tom Kinnaird, Jim Christie, David Moore, Jim Carr, Brian Menzies, Willie Clarke, Brian Di Placito, Jack Colquhoun
Also Present: Stephen Nardone, PC Smith
Absent: Cllr Lockhart, Cllr McLelland, Cllr Liewald
2 Chair Welcome
Chair Welcomed all to the meeting.
4 Apologies
Apologies were submitted by Anne Hay and Cllr Erskine.
5 Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the September meeting and the inaugural meeting were read. The September minutes were proposed as correct by Jim Carr and seconded by Willie Clarke. The inaugural meeting minutes of October were proposed as correct by Jack Colquhoun and seconded by Jim Christie.
6 Matters Arising
There were no matters arising
7 Police Report
PC Smith delivered a report collated up to 1 November, for the previous month. There were 171 calls resulting in 22 records, and 18 detections. At present there was a 60% clean up rate. The main issue was the break in at the Willie Clarke Centre and this was still under investigation and progressing. There were 16 road traffic matters. There were no drug arrests but information was in hand and warrants were being looked at.
PC Smith and Jim Carr left the meeting.
16 Armistice Day
Stephen Nardone presented information on the Armistice Day service. He had arranged and organised everything but there was one concern seeing that the event was on a Sunday there would be no School children present, however he had spoken to teachers at St Kenneth’s and they were going to speak to parents on the subject. Jim Carr was expected to say a few words, there was a piper arranged for the lament after the service. Cadets, piper and bugler had been arranged. A minister would speak and a priest will also attend. Stephen mentioned about the re dedication of the memorial, which has been discussed over the years, and informed the community council that it would take a little longer than anticipated to perform so it was an item which would be looked at later. The Community Council was to let either Stephen or Dougie Smith know who would lay a wreath on behalf of the Community Council and they would organise it. Stevie mentioned that he would be in touch with the Treasurer re payment. Willie Clarke brought up the question of signatories for the cheques and if the matter had been handed over yet. Willie was informed that it had been agreed Mary Nardone would assist by continuing to write cheques until the banks had completed the process of change over, and that current Community Councillor David Moore was also a signatory.
17 Citizen of the Year
It was agreed to collate and distribute the forms for the Citizens of the year for nominations as soon as possible, and the venue would be booked for the event for the New Year.
9 Secretary Report
Secretary submitted a short verbal report on a few items. One was the railway consultation. It was agreed that if Lochgelly Train Station was upgraded it would help the Benarty area too. It was pointed out that the documents with the consultation spoke of over 2,000 houses being built in Lochgelly, and it was concluded the only place they could be built was by encroaching upon Benarty. Brian Menzies mentioned that there was discussion years ago about moving the train station, but nothing came of it.
Fife Council had invited one member of each community council to an event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armistice Day and volunteers were asked if they would be willing to attend. No one was available and it was considered that the timing of 4 PM was a main factor in this as it was an odd time.
A photographer from the Central Fife Times entered, took some pictures for publicity purposes and left. Jim Carr returned.
The Build a Wall project was discussed. The Community Council was notified of it during the week and it was brought to the Community Council to inform them that this was ongoing. A varying discussion took place including the Build A Wall Groups plan to approach Lochore Meadows Group on having the wall built within the Meadows. It was asked What the Fife Councillors position on this was? Jim Carr asked if this was a discussion on Face book and was informed that the group had been active on face book for a few months developing the idea of build a wall.
The email to Cllr Liewald regarding the weekend funeral price rises was discussed and it was agreed that it was a bad idea and that the Community Council should pursue the matter until the price rise is rescinded. The agreed email is below for reference.
Dear Rosemary
Further to your email of Tuesday 2 October this was brought to the inaugural meeting of Benarty Community Council on 25 October and it was decided and agreed to continue the campaign to have the 50% price rise rescinded. We will pursue this firstly through Fife Council, and then if there is no success we will contact other Community Councils across Fife to see if they will support and join this cause, and also involve the press with the campaign.
The price rise is wrong. Not only the size of increase but the reasons for increase. Fife Council have also admitted in writing a botching of this increase by saying it was supposed to have been implemented at the start of the financial year but delayed because of a ‘busy period’.
I have quoted a pertinent part of your email below;
“He (Alan Paul) explained that the increase at weekends cover a number of areas. Firstly the fact that a higher weekend rate must be paid to staff who cover the work at weekends . This applies to all Fife Council Staff for unplanned weekend emergency work , and secondly the hope and advise that families will not opt to choose a weekend burial.”
The above quote is concerning. The first point contradicts Fife Councils statement to MSP Alex Rowley that said “relatively few funerals that take place in Fife at weekends.” How can ‘relatively few funerals’ excuse a 50% rise? I put it that the price rise was not to cover wages of staff.
The words that are in bold clearly say that the price rise was implemented to put people off having weekend burials. This is a form of price skimming and the fact that Fife Councillors voted for this in February is disgraceful. Fife Council joint administration are trying to make prices of weekend funerals so high people are put off having them.
There are also some concerns about your email in relation to families going to Bereavement Services over weekend funerals which was highlighted at the Community Council meeting. It was considered wholly inappropriate for bereaved families at an extremely vulnerable time in their lives. Part of the service funeral directors provide is to take care of matters that could add to the grief they are experiencing, and Fife Council should not be trying to bypass Funeral Directors purely on a financial matter; this comes across as distasteful and disrespectful. Fife Council should not be interfering in the work of Funeral Directors.
Benarty Community Council repeats the request to remove this scandalous price increase on funerals (although not cremations which also makes it a discriminatory pricing). Benarty Community Council hopes that the Fife Council joint administration realise their error in this price rise and cancel it, refunding anyone who has paid it.
We hope to hear your response soon.
Regards
John Purdie
Secretary
Benarty Community Council
18 Recognition of Previous Chair and Treasurer
The recognition of the previous Chair and Treasurer was discussed. It was agreed that recognition for the service Stephen and Mary Nardone have given was correct and a decision was made on it.
19 Procedural Decisions
Frequency of Meetings
It was agreed to stick with the current schedule at present but review it in September 2019.
Submission of Documents
Fife Councillors/Community Councillors/Secretary/Treasurer. It was agreed that documents by all and any parties should be submitted 10 days prior the meeting date so they can be collated for submission to Community Councillors seven days prior to the meeting.
Documents to Community Councillors
It was agreed documents to be delivered to Community Councillors seven days prior to a meeting.
How much information do Community Councillors want?
It was agreed to be at Secretary discretion but felt that more information and detailed minutes benefited both the community and the community councillors.
Time for Community Councillors to read and respond to items
It was agreed that items can and will crop up at the last minute but where possible Community Councillors should have plenty of time to read and digest individual subjects.
Time taken on Subjects during Meetings
It was agreed to stick to a timetable for Agenda items. Time taken by Councillor reports was mentioned in particular and it was also mentioned that similar situations arose in other Community Councils across Fife. The attendance of Fife Councillors was broached, seeing as there was no Fife Councillor in attendance either at this meeting or the inaugural meeting where there was required to be one in attendance. It was noted that Cllrs Liewald and Erskine attended regularly but Cllr Lockhart had not attended since the January meeting and Cllr McLelland had not attended since the meeting directly after the Local Government elections. It was asked to write to these Councillors for information on their attendance.
Secretary Duties
The secretary duties and remuneration were agreed. Previously the Secretary was given an allowance of £50 per quarter but it was agreed to be remunerated as and when required (with receipts) rather than a set amount.
Treasurer Duties
Treasurer duties were agreed. It was also agreed to give Treasurer Remuneration on an as and when needed basis for expenses such as printing (with receipts).
Community Councillor Behaviour, Powers and Authority
Community councillors were given the authority to deal with matters with members of the public in Benarty on a discretionary basis but were advised to notify an office bearer of items to avoid any duplication of work.
Access to Facebook page and Email
An offer was given to allow any community councillor who wished to be an admin on the facebook page and access the email address. The latter was to allow smaller items to be seen by community councillors so they can be dealt with and agreed prior to meetings.
Constitution
It was agreed to leave the constitution until the matter of the boundaries is concluded.
Standing Orders
It was agreed to adopt the standing orders as recommended by the Sub Group. These will be distributed to Community Councillors.
Re opening up sub group
The sub group was left dormant until the matter of the boundaries was dealt with then it could be looked at again.
Re authorising Boundaries Group
The boundaries group was re authorised and an update was requested. An email from Eileen Rowland to Annabelle Ewing MSP was read out before being handed to the Boundaries Group.
Additional items: it was discussed about having people attend the Community Council and give updates on local matters, such as housing, health, education. It was noted that these would be Fife Council Officers and it can be difficult to have them attend evening meetings and they are not required to.
12 Any other Competent Business
There was no other business. Chair thanked everyone, informed everyone of the next meeting date then closed the meeting.
Date of Next Meeting Thursday 6 December 2018 7 PM
