BENARTY COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting 7 February 2019
Present: John Purdie, Tom Kinnaird, Brian Menzies, Willie Clarke, Anne Hay, Jim Christie, Jack Colquhoun, PC Smith, Cllr Linda Erskine, Cllr Rosemary Liewald
Also Present: Five members of the public
Apologies: David Moore, Cllr Lea McLelland, Brian Di Placito
Absent: Cllr Lockhart
Chair Welcome
Chair called for order and welcomed all to the meeting. Chair notified the Community Council of the resignation of Jim Carr.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting were read. They were proposed as correct by Jack Colquhoun and seconded by Brian Menzies.
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
Police Report
PC Smith apologised for lack of report at the previous meeting. PC Smith informed the Community Council that there had been 170 calls in the last month and these had resulted in 10 offences being identified. PC Smith said that the detection rate for the month is 45%. Enquiries are ongoing and some crimes have been cleared up. Some stolen vehicles had been found in the Benarty area. A stun gun was taken off the streets and the police are aware of other issues in the area. Cllr Liewald asked about a stun gun, what it looked like. PC Smith was not aware of the ins and outs but did clarify that stun guns do not look like guns as people know them. Willie Clarke asked how many police patrol the area? PC Smith said that it would depend but in general there are two or three units. Willie Clarke asked what area PC Smith covered and the boundaries and if he went to other Community Councils. The answer was the Benarty and Kelty areas and Benarty generally up to Longview, and he also went to Kelty Community Council. Chair thanked PC Smith.
Treasurer Report
Treasurer updated the Community Council. He informed the Community Council that he and other Community Councillors had attended the training sessions provided by Fife Council, and also clarified a point about funding.
Secretary Report
The Secretary updated the Community Council on items in the report given previously.
Fife Councillors Report
Before commencing Chair asked the Councillors to clarify and update the item on the Cowdenbeath Area Committee Agenda about un-adopted roads. Cllr Linda Erskine said that there was a fund available and the Council was looking to use that to repair roads. There was also discussion on the issue of Councillors submitting reports but no firm agreement made.
Cllr Rosemary Liewald said there was a request from the Chair in regard t the Mary Pit centenary and there were people looking into funding to clean up the pit head, and that it was entirely feasible that it could get done by the anniversary date in November.
Willie Clarke asked about the position of the school walks and suggested there should be a Community Council representative on the panel, not just Benarty Community Council but representatives from all over Fife for all areas where this is proposed. Cllr Linda Erskine mentioned that Fife Council wanted to run the scheme for 3 years but she felt this was too long a time and that it should be reviewed on an annual basis. Cllr Rosemary Liewald said that she had walked the route from Lochgelly to Benarty and tried to take photographs to show the true nature of the traffic on the route, some were over the speed limit at the time the walk was taken, which was not rush hour.
Procedural Decisions
Agenda – Place for Public Questions
The Community Council agreed that public questions should be submitted in writing, ten days before each meeting and that they would go on a special section of the Agenda for that purpose. Questions may also be asked at the meeting in the section of the Agenda, Any Other Business.
Minutes
Jack Colquhoun left
The Community Council agreed to return to the old method of disseminating minutes by approving them at the next meeting then submitting the approved minutes to Fife Council and the Library. A member of the public asked about the minutes, stating they had tried to access them at the Library. It was explained that the minutes are handed into the Library and emailed to Fife Council, and that as the procedure had changed this will now happen after they have been approved by the Community Council. Brian Menzies suggested the minutes could also be put on the notice board in the Centre.
Jack Colquhoun returned.
Web Site
The Community Council agreed to switch to a website, with any Administrators given authority deal with matters of the running of the website. Anne Hay said as long as the Administrators aren’t discussing items on behalf of the Community Council. Chair said it had been agreed questions would be submitted and brought to the Community Council and Secretary mentioned that the main items would be dealing with spam, which is more prevalent on web sites than facebook pages.
Live Streaming
Live streaming of meetings was discussed in reference to the short report given to Community Councillors outlining possible costs. A member of the public said GDPR regulations could be broken with broadcasting. Secretary pointed out that the Community Council should be in a position to control any streaming should the Community Council go off record during a meeting. Brian Menzies asked if there was any Fife Council guidance on the matter. Cllr Rosemary Liewald mentioned that Fife Council had started streaming meetings but only a few had been streamed so far. Brian Menzies said that the Community Council should receive guidance from Fife Council on the matter. Secretary mentioned that the decision to live stream meetings should be the prerogative of the Community Council.
Complaint
A complaint was discussed. It was made clear that it would be minuted in the same way as the previous complaint, and Secretary informed the Community Council that future complaints would not be brought to the Community Council but dealt with privately. Cllr Liewald wanted it minuted that Complaints should come to the Community Council. The Community Council voted to uphold the report on the complaint.
Any other Competent Business
A thank you card was received from Citizens of the Year, Stephen and Mary Nardone and this was read out by the Chair. There was no other business and the Chair thanked everyone, informed everyone of the date of the next meeting and closed the meeting.
