Gargunnock Community Council

Meeting held on 10^th January 2006

Present: Douglas Coupethwaite, John Craigen, Edmund Mansion, Mike Fitches, Iain Gulland, Leona Paget, Neil McRae, Mike Pizey, David Lonsdale.

Apologies: Kate McAlister, Jane Bain, Geoff Peart

Minutes of Last Meeting: Were accepted as true, prop. by Edmond Mansion and seconded by Leona Paget.

Secretary’s Report: John Craigen had received a letter from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers offering to carry out a practical conservation project in or around the village. Since, they say, that they are very interested in improving access to the countryside John will contact them with a view to improving ‘The Beeches’ footpath.

Stirling Council have indicated that they will give £1000 to each Community Council to be spent on a local project. Douglas Coupethwaite asked for any suggestions as to a likely project and added that he thought the funding could be used towards the Pavilion project. This suggestion was accepted by all present. Since we don’t know if the money has to be spent within a deadline it was decided that an e-mail should be sent to find out.

Treasurer’s Report: Edmond Mansion informed us that the Community Council account stands at £444.85 which includes the admin. grant minus the insurance premium. The Futures account stands at £5394.14 including the last two issues of the Gargunnock News which made £200 and £300 respectively. John McLaren is to be congratulated not just for the quality of the magazine but also for its profitability.

Youth Disorder: After a period of quiet in the Village, it was upsetting that the Christmas tree lights had been vandalised and some further damage was done in The Glebe. There was some police activity after the event and to find out more we will need to contact the Community Police Dept. We are not sure who our present Community Policeman is but we believe he covers a very wide area.

Road Safety – A811:  The A811 has been described as one of the most dangerous roads in the UK and Neil McRae has written a piece about it. He came to our meeting tonight to ask for our support by raising this issue with the Council. Neil said that he would like all the villages along the A811 to speak with one voice in an effort to make it safer.

Planning:  Leona Paget reported several planning applications which were not of any particular concern. Leona vets all planning applications on our behalf and points out any that may concern us or need immediate attention.

AOCB:  The storage of aluminium cans at the Community Centre is alright on a short-term basis but we need to consider a long-term storage solution.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm.

The next meeting will be held on Feb 14^th at 7.30pm in the Community Centre.