Minutes of meeting held on Thursday 14th April 2005 In Castletown Drill Hall at 7:30pm. Present: J. Crowden, D. Swanson, A. Hill, I. Moodie (Village Officer), M. Cormack, I. Calder, G. Calder (Press), W. Swanson. Apologies: E. Geddes, A. Swanson, A. MacDonald (H.C.Councillor). MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING AND MATTERS ARISING FROM THEM. The minutes of the last meeting held on 17th March 2005 were read and agreed as a true record. Trees were planted on Sunday the 3rd of April. There have been pictures in the press. There are still shrubs to plant. 3/VILLAGE OFFICER UPDATE. Wheelie bin at Sand-End has been replaced. Grass cutting has been started. Innes would like more bulbs to be planted at the west entrance to the village. New recycling bins have been installed in the Car Park. They have been placed along the side of Thomson's shop. 4/CASTLEHILL HARBOUR TRUST. 34 people came to the meeting about the Harbour. There are people willing to become trustees and committee members. A.M. is going to find out what is needed to progress this. Action A.M. 5/SCOTTISH WATER: WASTE WATER TREATMENT. Angus Spirit and Chris Matthews from SEPA (Scottish Environmental Protection Agency) were present to talk about bathing water quality in Dunnet Bay; the only designated bathing area in Caithness. 20 samples are taken each year during the bathing season (June to September). The average reading gives a result for the year. In 2004 the guideline was passed. Results of monitoring this year will be available on the SEPA website www.sepa.org.uk There has been a steady improvement in water quality over the last few years with improvements to waste water treatment at Dunnet and in Castletown. Hopefully this will continue to improve with the proposed new treatment plant for Castletown. New Waste Water Treatment Works. New plants and improvements to plants must meet guidelines of 50:1 dilution. SEPA made an early site visit and walkover in Castletown with Scottish Water but have received no application for a consent to discharge license. With a proposed improvement imminent, SEPA would not normally review the existing license. They are awaiting a proposal from Scottish Water Solutions before anything will proceed. 6/WIND FARMS. There has been no further information from DP Energy but J.C. reiterated that they are willing to produce views of how the proposed Durran windfarm will look if they are sent clear photographs with accurate grid references. Caithness Windfarms Information Forum have launched their website: http://www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk 7/CORRESPONDENCE. Letters received were discussed and noted as follows:
Action E.G.
Action ALL Action J.C. 8/AOCB. Items have been removed from the swing park but not returned or replaced. There is not much left, what is the future of the swing park? More flights and changes to the car park cause a shortage of spaces at Inverness Airport. J.C. will write to Highland and Islands Airports Limited Action J.C. Being no further business the date for the next meeting was set for Thursday 12th May 2005 at 7:30pm in the Castletown Drill Hall. The meeting closed at 21:30hrs. |