Notes of the Benarty Community Council meeting on Thursday 03 March 2022, online, 7:00 PM to 9 PM
No Item
2 Chair Welcome,
Chair welcomed all to the meeting. Present: John Purdie, Tom Kinnaird, Debbie Doyle, Brian De Placito, Brian Menzies, Jack Colquhoun,
4 Apologies; Sarah Jane Ratcliffe , Anne Hay, Margaret Greer,
19 Declaration of Interests,
No declarations were made
5 Minutes of the Previous Meetings
Minutes of the previous meeting were read, proposed as correct by John Purdie and seconded by Brian Menzies
6 Matters Arising
John Purdie noted that the digital banking had not been finalised yet and asked for Debbie Doyle to submit a request in writing. Debbie Doyle said she would and had received written quotes for the jackets. Debbie Doyle spoke to MD at Brag who said there no problem to have conference room and help. Brian Menzies said he also had meetings with Brag Manager and they are keen for different groups to talk to him and give advice to them. The main issue is to get the groups together to see if there is interest.
7 Police Report
Police report was shared and read out by chair. Brian Menzies noticed that Constable Kirk attended the recent Companions Meeting and handed out leaflets and provided a lot of good information.
32 Schools Update
Sarah Jane Ratcliffe sent some information, noting that it was world book day, the children have been doing sponsored reading tasks during the week in order to raise funds to update the school library resources; Sarah Jane Ratcliffe did not know the exact school capacity but noted there was never an issue with the number of children attending. Sarah Jane also touched on a comment made on social media that was replied to, the schools in the area are not ‘Divided by religion’. No-one who is in the catchment area would be turned away from St Kenneths for not being baptised into the faith as it was thought no-one would be turned away from Benarty if they have been. There was also a request for contact details of the Safer Communities Team.
9 Secretary Report
John Purdie noted there was nothing much to report, even planning was quiet, only thing from planning was the withdrawal of an application form a property in Kirktoun Park. Chair said he sent emails to Fife Council re the area in Lochleven Road where there was a planning application for containers, and the erection of a fence, selling of caravans and declaration of resident parking which should have went through planning and has not. The Community Council was to follow this up.
8 Treasurer Report
Jack mentioned the balance hasn’t changed since the last statement, and the online banking has been applied for.
20 Westfield
Chair noted he attends the liaison committee and updated the community council on recent events. They have their funding in place and works are commencing. There is a community interest project and they are looking to connect the Westfield park to the local communities. They are asking about public consultations; an afternoon and then attend a community council meeting for questions. John Purdie noted that most consultations are for the whole day. Brian Menzies said if they had a consultation with the maps and plans for one day and another for people asking questions a week or fortnight later, giving people a chance to think about the plans. The liaison meetings are supposed to have councilors and a planning officer attending, but three meetings in a row have not had their attendance and it was noted in their minutes. All the community councils attend regularly and Hargreaves have been pretty good and pretty transparent. Chair explained that there was no checking on what was being burned. Chair noted that local community benefits would be negotiated once construction was under way.
33 Bells Project
Chair explained that the meadows play park has been shelved, but attached to it was the bells project. The Community Council should write to Fife Council to find about the position of the Bells Project.
10 Councilor Reports,
No reports were received. Chair said he had invited Cllr McLelland to share information.
12 Any other Competent Business
Chair had heard that FOLM had compiled a quote for the £4,700 for an Engineers inspection and report for the pit head. The FOLM had applied for a capital amount to pay for it and the council refused this, saying the council would do it but the council costed it at £10,000. This is not a lot compared to the amount given to the Cycle Track and Rockgelly, both receiving millions. Community Council agreed a Save The Mary Pit campaign as it is a scheduled monument, and to the Community Council becoming a stakeholder in the park. Brian Menzies gave some figures received from a freedom of information act in relation to the Cycle track, and noted that there was a very high amount of visitors during the lockdown year of 2020 but a very small amount of income for the same year. Other years had higher income from similar figures. He said he intended to ask for a complete breakdown of figures and a list of the 166 groups who had accessed the Cycle park. Chair had emailed a complaint about the path at Maryburn, but it could be 2024 before it is fixed. It was noted Pitkinny farm was sold about six months ago apparently bought by forestry Scotland to be planted with trees. If FOLM is shut down what happens to the funds? Debbie noted that they would go to a similar organisation in the community.
36 Micro Grants, No micro grants were received.
Chair thanked everyone and noted the time and date of the next meeting, which was to be in person.
