Held on Thursday 22nd January in Castletown Drill Hall at 7:30pm Present J. Crowden [JC], M. Cormack, G. Firth, A. Hill, D. Swanson [DS], I. Moodie (Village Officer) [IM], A. MacDonald (Highland Councillor) [AM], G MacLennan (Northern Constabulary), E. Geddes from 20:45[EG] Apologies A. Swanson, I. Calder. Visitors I Currie [IC], D Flear (Highland Council Area Convenor) [DF], I Hargrave (Highland Council Acting Area Manager) [IH] Minutes of the Last Meeting & Matters Arising The minutes of the last meeting on 11th December 2003 were read and agreed as a true record. Members Grant Firth was accepted as a member of the Community Council representing Castletown Football Club. Fireworks They seem to be on year-round sale now. Today they were described as “the weapon of choice for neds” on Reporting Scotland. JC reiterated that they are the only explosive people can just walk into a shop and buy without any checks. DF suggested having a register of sales, like is required for the sale of meths. The Scottish Executive are promising steps to tackle this nation-wide problem. IC attended the meeting to talk about fireworks and addressed the meeting. She and a friend had organised a petition which got over 300 signatures from people concerned about the mis-use of fireworks. They have been used since weeks before bonfire night at all sorts of unsociable hours, having an effect on pets, young children and old people. The petition got some publicity in the Groat and some shops have stopped selling them. They are not against fireworks but just want control that they are only used responsibly and safely at organised public displays. DF will raise concerns about fireworks on the Community Safety Group as this is something affecting all communities, not just Castletown. Website DS said development of the new website is coming along slowly, but he is looking for any information on Castletown to go on it. The address is www.castletown.info Action DS Submarine decommissioning Some members attended the public meeting held locally. The responses are negative in all areas proposed for the work. As there was no representative from Caithness, AM is now on the consultation committee. AOCB DF advised us to contact Robbie Gunn about the operation of street lights. Action DS David Flear and Ian Hargrave – Question Time DF explained how the function of the council has changed over time: They used to be responsible for areas now covered by CASE, Scottish Water, SEPA and BEAR so their funding is much less. Their job is staff, buildings and services. The funding they do have is now very much ring fenced for particular services – less flexibility in what they spend it on. The council is now more open. Their business is Caithness and they work with partners to develop the area for the benefit of Caithness. The future will bring greater responsibilities for Community Councils JC: Can we have more involvement in village works? E.g. grass cutting standards. DF: The council are working on improving communication to see what communities want. IH: Previously contracts were let on specific work {e.g. cut grass every second Thursday in the afternoon}. Now they are moving towards contracts let on standards {keep grass short through the summer}. JC: Dog Fouling and Dog Wardens There is now a fixed penalty available following a change in the law. DF will get information from Richard Guest on the effectiveness of the extra dog warden the council had. There are some persistent offenders, particularly some people who let dogs out un-supervised. Action DF JC: Housing in the country DF The local area is implementing a Highland Council policy designed to stop ribbon development along roads. There are however times where it is not appropriate. JC: What can we do about availability of housing in Castletown? DF: The local plan was adopted in 2003. There is a definite problem in some areas with availability of land. AM should be able to start a change to it. This could zone some available land if there is no development on land which is already zoned for housing. IH: Housing is currently high on the council agenda, higher than it has been for years. Action AM JC: What can we do to improve the state of the cemetery? It needs a lot done to it and the state of the cemetery is a very emotive subject to some people. We would like to make it look better and work to make it easier to maintain. DF: partnerships have worked in other places so, for example, the Highland Council, Community Council and Castletown Beyond 2000 could work together to improve it. Many things the council is asked for simply won’t get done because they don’t have money for it. Working in a partnership can have much more effect. AM will contact the relevant manager in the council to enquire what can be arranged. Action AM Before they left, JC thanked IH and DF for coming. BPEO Questionnaire JC will pass individual responses to UKAEA before the end of January so they get all opinions instead of a consensus. Action JC AOCB Basketball court DS gave a drawing to AM showing sizes. AM to get a rough price for surfacing. JC & DS to write to council by end of January asking for £2000 from discretionary fund. Action AM Action JC, DS Cash Machine Planning permission was applied for to site a cash machine in the Royal Bank of Scotland. When is it being installed. JC will write to the bank. Action JC Correspondence
Action JC
Action JC
Scottish Access Code DS reported that SNH had just (today) published the proposed Access Code. Last June, many people and groups made similar comments as Castletown & District Community Council about risk and liability. These cannot be changed as we hoped. We suggested using the words ‘at your own risk’ but they can’t for legal reasons. We suggested emphasising that landowners were not liable for people on their land, but they do have a legal duty of care. This may cause the removal of bridges, stiles, etc. rather than risk accidents on them. AM will check status of the path at the beach. Action AM Broadband DS noted that Castletown seems to be missing out on the publicity of local trigger levels for broadband. He encouraged everyone to register interest as Castletown has an easily attainable level of only 150, compared to 200 in Halkirk. Action Everyone Next Meeting Being no further business the date for the next meeting was set for Thursday 19th February 2004 at 7:30pm in the Castletown Drill Hall. The meeting closed at 22:25hrs. |