Here are the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2020
BENARTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING THURSDAY 5 MARCH 2020
Present: Margaret Greer, Sheila Ross, Sharon Kinnaird, John Purdie, Tom Kinnaird (Chair), Stuart Colquhoun, Jim Christie, Brian Menzies
Also Present: Sharron Redpath, Frankie Hodge, Christine Heeps, Donna Clark
Apologies: PC Smith, Sarah Jane Ratcliffe, Anne Hay, Brian De Placito, Cllr Lea McLelland, Cllr Linda Erskine, Cllr Rosemary Liewald
Procedural Decisions
Under 13.2 of Standing Orders the Community Council heard this in private
The Community Council discussed the concerns of previous Community Councillors, untruths about children attending Community Council meetings, the concerns Community Councillors had about safety, threats of physical violence and damage to property. The Community Council agreed that there was an organised campaign against the Community Council and against individual councillors and agreed to seek advice and assistance from Democratic Services at Fife Council.
Complaint
Under 13.2 of Standing Orders the Community Council heard this in private
The Community Council heard about two complaints and agreed the outcomes.
The Chair opened up the meeting to the public
Sharron Redpath from Fife Voluntary Action gave advice and information about the possibility of the Community Council becoming a charity and answered questions and concerns from Community Councillors. Sharron left. The Community Council discussed the issue and decided that it would not pursue the option of becoming a charity; the consensus was not to become a charity at this time but to keep it in mind for the future.
Chair Welcome
Chair welcomed all to the meeting.
Minutes of the Previous Meetings
The minutes of the previous meeting were read through. The minutes were proposed as correct by Sharon Kinnaird and seconded by Jack Colquhoun.
Matters Arising
Chair noted the Bells project and the building warrant which was valued at £50,000. Community Council agreed to seek clarification on the value.
Police Report
PC Smith sent his apologies and a report, which was read out and summerised here: During the past month, Police Scotland have received 114 calls to the Benarty area. This led to 12 crime records being created for investigation, 6 of the crime records reported have resulted in 9 detected offences against offenders. The detection rate for all reported offences is 50 %. Road Safety; We have responded to 11 Road traffic matters, 3 of these calls related to collisions. No road traffic offences have been reported during this time. Anti-Social Behaviour; 2 crimes of vandalism have been recorded. 4 offences of threatening and abusive behaviour have been reported during this time. Violent Crime; 3 Assault charges have been recorded, all have been detected person(s) have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Two acquisitive crimes have been reported in relation to theft and theft by housebreaking. PC Darren Black has now joined me, in this time we have presented a short talk to the Companions Group and Benarty Community Centre, where we discussed the role of the Community Team, “arrested” Cllr Lockhart, and displayed some the equipment used for Public Order. Talks are planned at both Primary School with P7 to discuss recent incidents involving the use of social media, where by Child Sexual Exploitation and Bully have been reported to Police.
Schools Update
Sara Jane Ratcliffe sent her apologies and a short report which is given here: The school celebrated world book day today. We asked that children join us in their jammies. This is to make sure the day is inclusive for all as previously there had been higher absence rate of people did not have a costume. Children also had the idea to operate a book swap within their classes. Parents involved with our nursery are holding a fayre in Lochore institute this Sunday (8th March) 12-3. This is to raise funds for a new interactive tv for the nursery. Two local groups have already generously supported us with a contribution of funds towards our TV which we really appreciate. Hopefully our fayre total will get us over the line. Our school parent council are also holding our annual summer fayre. This will take place Sat 6th of June. More information will follow and contributions to our raffle and tombola will be great-fully received. Our Primary 3 children took their first steps in their Sacrament journey this past week when they made their First Reconciliation. This was done with the other schools of our cluster parish and was celebrated in St Joseph’s in Kelty. Last week or Primary 7s enjoyed a trip to The Scottish Parliament. This consolidated their learning of their project ‘Scottish Democracy’. You can find supporting information and photos of all these events on our schools twitter page @StKennethsRCPS please give us a follow.
VE Day 75, Update
Both Secretary and Jim Christy provided brief verbal updates on the VE Day 75, noting that a schedule had been drawn up and things were progressing. Jim mentioned that although the UK government initiated this celebration there was no funding from central government, or Scottish or local governments and the Community had to find all funds by itself.
Secretary Report
Planning
Secretary reported that on 23 February it was received that Fife Council permitted the change of use of 92 Lochleven Road from Class 2 (osteopath surgery) to Class 9 (dwelling house). There had been digging just south of the new houses at Kirkland Farm, which is Ballingry meadow wildlife site. Cllr Liewald had been contacted about it and it was confirmed that landscaping and a path were being created.
Treasurer Report
Treasurer gave an update on the report. Sharon Kinnaird asked if the cemetery gates were finished now. Treasurer responded that he didn’t know, he had tried contacting Fife Council regarding this but had not been successful yet, he will try again. There should be two more payments due. Chair mentioned that the person opening and closing the gates took pride in their work and wanted to continue doing this for the community. Treasurer also explained that the new report layout would be implemented for the new financial year, as this provided the Community Coucnil with more information and a more detailed breakdown of income and expenditure.
Fife Councillors Report
No Fife Councillors were present. The report from Cllr Liewald was passed around.
Public Questions
No public questions were received.
Mossmorran
There was discussion about Mossmorran and the meeting between Fife Council and several local Community Councils in January. It was agreed to seek to put some sort of request to the next meeting of the Community Councils and Fife Councils to arrange for a public consultation across Fife on the future of Mossmorran and if compensation should be sought. Jim Christie left
Community Council Scheme Review
A letter was received from Lochgelly Community Council regarding the review of the Scheme for Establishment of Community Councils in Fife. A lot of the Community Councillors were upset about the letter as were other local groups. Brian Menzies asked if our response could be heard in private out of respect for a local family and this was granted and the item moved to the end of the meeting.
Any other Competent Business
It was brought to the community council the situation regarding the houses near the Cycle track and how they were excluded from consultations. They appeared to be in no man’s land in regard to some issues as residents had been told they were not part of Lochgelly and couldn’t comment on issues and they had also been told they were not part of Benarty and again couldn’t comment on issues. It was agreed to contact Fife Council to ensure the houses were included in Benarty for all matters and shown on maps as being in Benarty. They were shown on some Fife Council maps as being within the Benarty area but not on all of them.
Jim Christie returned. Chair updated everyone on the recent Westfield meeting he had attended, and that there were plans to visit a similar plant in Falkirk. Chair mentioned that it appeared it would take three years to build the incinerator due to changes in contractors. Westfield had also been having problems with intruders but it was mentioned that they were physically unable to put in enough cameras to cover the whole area as the area was so large.
Chair allowed a question from Frankie Hodge. Frankie proceeded to read out parts of the minutes of the last meeting. Chair asked if Frankie had a question. Frankie asked if the minutes would be changed. Secretary said they had been nominated and seconded.
Chair thanked everyone, informed the date of the next meeting, and closed the public part of the meeting to continue discussing an element of the Fife Community Council Scheme Review in private.
Community Council Scheme Review
The Community Council agreed minor changes to the response to the letter from Lochgelly Community Council.
Chair thanked all present and closed the meeting, informing everyone of the date of the next meeting.
