Approved Minutes of January 2026

Apologies:

D Doyle, L Michie, Cllr L Erskine

1.

Welcome

a)       The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and wished everyone a happy and prosperous new year.

b)       He also welcomed F Hodge to the meeting, who confirmed that he would like to be become a member of the Community Council, where he had served in the past.  The BCC agreed unanimously to elect F Hodge as a full member of the Community Council.  C Howe to notify Fife Council, provide the form for F Hodge to sign and provide F Hodge with relevant paperwork.

c)        The Chair also reported that, since the last meeting, the Secretary had received a certificate from the Provost of Fife in recognition of her achievements and commitment to Fife.  The certificate was for being a finalist in the Inspirational Volunteer Award category.  The BCC congratulated the Secretary.

C Howe

5 February

2.

Apologies

See above.

3.

Declarations of Interests

No declarations of interest were made.

4.

Minutes of Last Meeting

a)       Proposed by C Howe, seconded by W Watson.

b)       J Purdie pointed out that the minutes had not been posted to the BCC’s website for some time nor on FB. This needs to be rectified.

D Doyle

5 February

5.

Matters Arising

Catchment Survey: Progress report still required.

Proposed Double Yellow Lines at Benarty Primary School: It was agreed that Keith Johnston from Fife Council be invited to the next BCC meeting.

Visitor Levy Consultation: The background to this minute was explained for the benefit of those who were not at the last meeting.  After further discussion SJR, LR and FH were all in favour of the levy, bringing the vote to 7:3 in favour of the levy.  J Purdie reported that the deadline for responses had been extended to 30 January.  Secretary to respond on behalf of the BCC.

All other matters arising were covered by the agenda.

C Howe

C Howe

C Howe

5 February

5 February

30 January

6.

Reports

a)       Chair: Covered under Item 1.  The Chair asked for this agenda item to be removed from future agendas.

b)       Secretary: The Secretary presented her report that had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

i.        Ore Energy Park: The Chair, Secretary and J Purdie reported on a constructive meeting that had been held with representatives of Lochgelly CC on 7^th January about this proposal.  Both CCs views were aligned in terms of who should be included in the community benefits package, ie CCs only as per other energy project community benefit packages; and how the split of the benefits needs to reflect the areas most affected, ie Benarty and Lochgelly to have the greatest share because the turbines and BESS are wholly within their boundaries.  C Howe had agreed to write on behalf of both CCs to the consultants on these issues.  Once a reply has been received, the idea was for a steering group of all affected CCs to be set up. Both CCs were also agreed that the proposal should be opposed, given the height of the turbines and the fact that they would be lit up at night as a signal to air traffic.  The BCC agreed with the recommended stance on benefits and also to oppose the project when it goes for planning permission to Fife Council.

ii.        LPP Projects: The Secretary reported on the meeting she had had with a Fife Council officer who has volunteered to do some work to help progress the projects within the LPP.  This was a very welcome development.

iii.        Pharmacy Survey:  The Secretary reported on the latest survey that had been received and circulated to BCC members for completion.  The survey was also passed to D Doyle to put online for members of the public to complete if they wished.

iv.        Floral Grant:  The Secretary also reported that she had been notified of a potential Floral Grant and that she had asked for more information on the grant and the process for applying.  Even if the BCC do not apply, it may be of interest to other groups in the area such as the Horticultural Society and FoLM.

v.        Correspondence: The BCC noted the correspondence that had been received, as noted in Annex A to the Secretary’s report.  The latest hot topic for the Fife-wide Community Council group seemed to be complaints about the poor level of service they are receiving from Fife Council and there appeared to be moves afoot to write a joint letter of complaint.  The Secretary reported that she had not responded to any of the emails received on this, because Benarty has a good working relationship with officers in Fife Council.  The BCC agreed that Benarty should not be party to any joint letter.

c)        Treasurer:  The meeting noted the written Treasurer’s report.  The Treasurer reported that she had finally received receipts for items from the Company School of Dance which left a small balance on this earmarked funding.  It was agreed that the balance should be offered back to Foundation Scotland.

d)       Police: No Police report had been received.  It was agreed that the Secretary write to the Police to complaint about the lack of reports and their timeliness.

e)       Schools:

i.        St Kenneth’s: It was agreed that the Secretary write to the Headteacher of St Kenneth’s to remind her that the school has a seat on the BCC and to ask for monthly updates from the school.

ii.        Benarty:  L Reid gave a report on Benarty Primary School.

·     There was no movement yet on traffic calming issues at the school.  It is hoped that these can be addressed when an officer from the Transportation Dept attends a BCC meeting, if not before.

·     The school has received a prestigious sports award.  L Reid to provide details to C Howe for the Newsletter.

·     The school has plans for Burns Night; Discos and another play this year, which will be “Shrek” and performed at the Lochgelly Centre.

f)         Local Councillors: Nothing to report.

C Howe

C Howe/

J Purdie

C Howe / S J Ratcliffe

C Howe

C Howe

L Reid

5 February

Once Planning Application Has Been Submitted

5 February

5 February

5 February

13 February

7.

Any Other Business

a)       Ore Energy Park Scoping Report: J Purdie reported some issues that were included in this document, such as the project had now been allocated to Kelty by Fife Planners when it should, and was, originally assigned to Benarty.  It was also from this document that it was spotted about the turbines being lit up at night.  J Purdie also reported that items relevant to Benarty seem to have been ignored, whereas items from areas much further away had been included, such as listed buildings and stones of archaeological importance. It was agreed that the Secretary write to both Fife Planning Department and Wind Estate (UK) Ltd to point these errors out.  The scoping report had not been printed out and copied for the meeting because it was in excess of 100 pages.  It was agreed to circulate it to the BCC.  Anyone who spots anything else should flag it up for the BCC and for inclusion in the letters.

b)       Firework Control Zones: The BCC discussed the results of the poll on whether fireworks should be banned from Benarty or not.  The poll was conducted from 12 to 31 December to make sure that it included the new year celebrations.  The number of residents participating was considered to be good for online polls. The poll revealed that 63% of respondents were in favour of an outright ban across Benarty.  31% were opposed to any ban and 6% thought that fireworks should be banned from Lochore Meadows Country Park.  In view of the overwhelming result in favour of an outright ban, it was agreed to take this forward with Fife Council.  J Purdie commented that Cllr Barrett had done some work on this and suggested contacting him for assistance.  J Purdie to provide contact details. Secretary to also reply to A Ewing MSP on the results and to contact the resident who originally raised the issue to give an update.

c)        Recycling Bins at Bus Turning Circle, Ballingry: W Watson reported on a few incidents of recycling bins moving in the wind, possibly because they had not been secured properly, and damage being caused to vehicles parked in the area.  W Watson had video footage of the bins careering from their parked area, down through the bus turning circle and onto the main road – one incident narrowly avoiding a bus on Ballingry Road.  The footage also shows one bin smashing into a parked car. W Watson agreed to share the videos on the BCC’s group chat. The BCC noted the danger to the public that these incidents represented and agreed to write to Fife Council asking for the bins to be re-sited or secured properly, with a barrier around them.  The BCC also discussed a case of fly-tipping at the bins, which had been caught on a resident’s doorcam.  The resident happened to be a Local Councillor and she took action for the rubbish to be uplifted by the same company who were responsible for dumping it.  The BCC considered that we should not need to rely on personal doorcams to pick up these issues and agreed that the letter to Fife Council should include a request for CCTV to be installed to monitor the area.  This would also pick up any movement of the bins.

C Howe

J Purdie

All

C Howe

C Howe

J Purdie

C Howe

W Watson

C Howe

C Howe

5 February

23 January

30 January

5 February

5 February

15 January

5 February

15 January

5 February

5 February

8..

Date of Next Meeting:

Thursday 5^th February 2026, 7pm, Benarty Centre

ALL

5 February