STRATHKINNESS COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 1st June 2010 in the
Village School.
Present:- Mrs.Mudie[Chair], Mrs.Scott, Slack, Walker and Miss Mitchell. Messrs.Baxter,
D’Angelis, Duncan, Inverarity and Younger. Fife Councillors D. Morrison & F.Melville.
Apologies:- Nil
Mrs Mudie introduced Phil Clarke from Fife Council Transportation Services. who presented
Councillors with the results of a feasibility study in respect of a proposed foot/cycle
path which would link Strathkinness and St.Andrews on the High Road. The study had
been requested by the Community Council in August 2009 as a result of continuing
comments from members of the public that walking or cycling on the High road was
becoming increasingly hazardous due to the speed of traffic and the narrowness of
the carriageway. Various options were investigated including traffic calming and
restricting speeds to a 30 mph limit. This was the cheapest option with costs of
signing and lining estimated at £7000. Another option was to construct a 1.2 m to
1.5 metre wide footpath on the south side of the High Road, by removing the verges,
filling and draining the ditches and install kerbing. This was estimated to cost
around £750,000. It would create a footpath which could be also be used by young
cyclists. The third option was to create a parallel shared user cycleway on land
outwith the existing hedgeway. This strip of land would be from 3 to 5 metres wide
and of similar construction to the cycle path on the Guardbridge to St Andrews road.
The estimated cost of this would be in the region of £806,000, which includes £100,000
for land purchase. An extension of this option would be to create a 2 metre wide
whin dust surfaced path along a similar route. This would mean that less land was
required and construction costs could be reduced to £150,000 or less if a path agreement
could be negotiated with the respective landowners rather than outright purchase
of the land. This final option is an ideal proposition for a Community lead project
with expert advice available from council officers. Balmullo had recently moved to
create a similar route between Balmullo and Leuchars as a community project. After
thorough question and answering session Mrs. Mudie thanked Mr. Clarke for his very
informative presentation. The Community Council would consider the details and the
matter would be discussed at the next meeting in September.
Chair’s Annual Report:- Mrs. Mudie reported that the past year had been interesting
and busy with the numerous consultations on the Fife Structure Plan, The St.Andrews
and East Fife Local Plan and finally the Tayplan, which comes into force in 2012
when North East Fife becomes part of the Dundee City Region for Strategic Development
Planning.
Due to the current recession in house building there had been no development on the
field in the centre of the village, with the developer advising the Council that
there was unlikely to be any progress until the economy recovers.
The village entered the Beautiful Fife Competition for the first time in 2009. The
Floral Display Group did a wonderful job and gained 3 awards including one for Community
Involvement. Our thanks go to Iain Duncan for the organisation of the dedicated band
of helpers and for all their efforts. The community greatly appreciate the huge difference
the project has made to the village.
During this year there has been a major change to Community Policing in the area.
Rather than the Community Police Officer attending monthly Council meetings, he now
convenes a meeting every two months where matters or complaints are minuted for further
action. The main issues raised during the year by residents were traffic speeding
and dog-fouling. The Police are maintaining random speed checks on Main Street and
the High Road resulting in a considerable number of speeding convictions for motorists.
The elimination of dog-fouling has not been so successful, despite the Community
Council taking the initiative and doing a leaflet drop to all villagers highlighting
the health dangers to children, should dog owners fail to clean up after their animals.
Police action on the matter requires the community to be aware and report the erring
owners.
As usual there are ongoing issues like the High Road Cycle / Foot path, the maintenance
of Magus Muir and the community use of Bishop’s Wood. Changes to the bus time table
also seems to cause service and delay problems to regular bus users in the village.
Mrs. Mudie thanked the Councillors for their support and attendance at the meetings,
Secretary Iain Duncan, for his work and Treasurer Lynn Walker for looking after
our finances. A special thanks was due to our elected Fife Councillors Mrs. Melvile
and Mrs. Morrison for all their work on our behalf.
Councillors expressed a vote of thanks to Mrs. Mudie.
Treasurer’s Report:- Mrs. Walker presented the audited accounts for 2009/10 which
showed a funding balance of £136.09. Financial support to the floral display group
had amounted to £700 for the year. A grant of £100 had been made to assist the production
costs of Kirk and Community News sheet. It was noted that the Floral Display Group
Account had a surplus of £1213.24 at 31st March 2010. Councillors approved the accounts
and thanked Mrs.Walker
Election of officials:- The following officials were duly elected to serve for a
further year:
Chair:- Mrs. Mudie.
Vice Chair:- Mr. Younger.
Secretary:- Mr. Duncan.
Treasurer:- Mrs. Walker.
Minutes of the last meeting:- Read and approved.
Matters arising:-
Floral Display Group:- The secretary reported that the plants had been ordered and
that planting should begin after the 19th of June. Any assistance would be welcomed.
The group were hopeful of further financial support from Fife Council locality funding
for the project.
Magus Muir:- The secretary reported that he had discussed the situation with the
Countryside Ranger and sought clarification on the current strategy for dealing with
the site. The Ranger said that he would be happy to assist the Community in any effort
to help maintain the site whilst negotiations continued to appoint a forest ranger.
It was noted that, in the past, RAF Leuchars had assisted with pathway restoration
and it might be worth approaching them in the future.
Strathkinness Traffic Calming:- Councillor Melville noted that Mr. Hughes of Transportation
Services was looking to move the speed warning signs into Main Street. There was
no immediate funding available for any major changes to the current traffic calming
measures.
Community Policing:- Mrs. Mudie urged villagers to make use of the meeting arranged
by the Community Officer and raise any matter that gives them concern.
High Road Path:- Details of the feasibility study to be discussed at the next meeting.
Notice Board:- Awaiting further information.
Correspondence.
Tayplan:- Main issues report.
Fife Council- Licensing Board- application for variation to license for Tavern. No
objections raised.
NHS Fife:- Newsletter
A.O.C.B.
Drainage repairs:- It was noted that drainage repairs had been carried out by Mr.
Taylor at Kellock Lane.
Next meeting- 7th September 2010.
Chair……………………………………………………