Minutes of the meeting of Ralston Community Council

held on Thursday 12th February, 2015 in Ralston Community Centre

Present: Allan Thompson (AT), May Fernie (MF), Susan McDonald (SM), Gail Burton (GB), Cameron McIver (CM), Robert Wright (RW), Alison Scott (AS)Christine Hamilton(CH)

In Attendance: Cllr Mylet, Cllr J Sharkey, Cllr M Sharkey, Ian Rae

Apologies: Bill Whyte (BW)Susan Whyte (SW)

Welcome: AT welcomed everyone to the meeting.AT expressed his sadness and shock at the passing of Ian Reid. Ian was a valued and very active member of the Community Council and he will be sorely missed. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family at this sad time.

Police Report:

No report

Councillors Reports:

Councillor Mylet gave an update (email) on information he had received from Council Officer John, Wallace, Community Resources on issues raised at the previous Community Council meeting

  • In relation to flooding / blocked drains at Lanfine Road, Glasgow Road and Darvel Crescent, a roads inspector will have this checked and I will advise you in due course of any actions required.
  • We have received confirmation from Network Rail that they will be commencing a feasibility study of a replacement rail bridge at Penilee in the coming financial year. This will look at the cost implications and the practicality of removing the current structure and replacing it with a new bridge deck. This feasibility study will determine how likely this project is to progress to detailed design stage.
  • The gateway at the junction of Oldhall / Glasgow Road is designed to act as a physical barrier which highlights to drivers that they are leaving a dual carriageway distribution road and entering a narrow residential street. The gateway has been in place for around 10 years and is designed to allow storage for 2 cars turning into Oldhall whilst giving way to opposing traffic.
  • As you probably know we have a limited budget for traffic calming measures and we receive a significant volume of requests for this type of work. I would suggest that in the first instance I arrange to site our Driver Feedback signs at both these locations and carry out a speed survey over a 7 day period. This would help us determine if traffic calming would be appropriate at these locations. The current waiting list for the signs is around 2 weeks and we would receive the uploaded data 2 weeks after the survey.
  • I have asked my colleague who deals with traffic signals to investigate the traffic signals at the Hawkhead Road junction and determine if they can be adjusted to address the points you have raised. I will contact you again with the findings.
  • In relation to Barshaw Pond we are aware of some issues at the pond area and are in the processing of arranging to have these addressed.

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Cllr J Sharkey

Cllr Sharkey informed the Community Council that he had received an email from Scott Allan who saidthere were no plans to upgrade the rail bridge at Penilee Rd.Cllr Sharkey gave an update on the Council budget.

Key areas were

  • Regeneration of Paisley Town Centre with a focus on iconic buildings like the Russell Institute. £22million funding will be available.
  • Tackling poverty with an increase in the budget for the Poverty Commission from £3million to £6million.
  • Additional £500K to the roads/pavement budget
  • £100K funding to mainstream the funding for the Street StuffDiversionary project. This will release the £100K normally ring fenced at the Local Area Committee
  • £2.9 million for the social work department
  • No increase in charges for hall lets or sports pitches
  • 2 ½ % increase for other council charges
  • 3 ½ % increase in rent for council tax tenants

Cllr M Sharkey

Cllr Sharkey issued a leaflet on Community Resources.

Minutes of Previous Meeting: Proposed by AS and seconded by MF

Matters Arising:

CH agreed to pass on details of local builders re the community centre so AT will now look for a local painter/decorator.

CM will update at the next meeting on the new website for the Community Council

Secretary’s Report:

A new representative is required for the Community Council Forum, CH agreed to attend the next meeting. AT will inform Anne McNaughton that CH will be our new rep.

Licensing application has been received for the shop at Penilee Rd, deadline 4th March. Community Council to ask if hours of opening would be increased before deciding if there would be any objections.

Emails received

Anne McNaughton, Renfrewshire Council

NHS: Clinical Services Review Newsletter and Feedback form (see attached 3)

The CHP would like to hear about how it can help prevent admissions to A&E Wards.

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Emails Received (contd)

Carrie-Ann Mayberry, Renfrewshire Council

Renfrewshire - A Place to Celebrate - Review of the Cultural Strategy Consultation

Fraser Carlin, Head of Planning & Economic Development, Renfrewshire Council

Suggestions for Land Use Change

Dear Community Council
The Planning and Property Policy Board recently authorised the Director of Development & Housing Services to undertake a new Suggestions for Land Use Change exercise which will help in the preparation of the Supplementary Guidance on Housing.
More information on the Suggestions for Land Use exercise can be found on the Council's website at
Hopefully this is of interest to your Community Council, but if you have any further questions then please contact Sharon Marklow, Assistant Manager (Policy) at

Fraser Carlin
Head of Planning & Economic Development
Erin Reid, Youth Employability Hub

Youth Employability)
My name is Erin Reid and I currently work at the Youth Employability Hub in Paisley.
As part of a new project with Renfrewshire Council I am looking for opportunities in all of Renfrewshire’s local communities where young people could be placed as a way of gaining work experience. Most of the young people in this group have barriers to work and are not work ready so this would be really beneficial in helping them gain the skills and qualities essential to the working environment.
I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of any opportunities that are happening in your local area such as charities, community work etc. My number is 0141 618 7763

Treasurers Report:

Bal b/fwd £1,868.24 Out Goings :Christmas Meeting - £25.70 ,Renfrewshire Council Hall Let – £28.52

Income : £Nil

Total to date: £1,814.02

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AOB

MF attended the review of the Cultural Strategy. The strategy will look at the regeneration of Paisley and ways to bring people back into the town centre. It will focus on areas such as promoting heritage, new events and better promotion of current , restaurants , cafes, accommodation and student life . It was highlighted the heritage and culture that Paisley has and the good transport links to encourage people to visit the town. There are also thoughts of applying for City of Culture in 2016/17.

Letter received from Ian McKenzie to say he wished to stand down as a member of the Community Council although he would continue to attend meetings from time to time as an interested resident.

AS asked about the speed cameras monitoring traffic on Roffey Park Rd. This would be carried forward to the next meeting.

Date of next meeting: Thursday 12thMarch2015 , 7.30pm Ralston Community Centre

Honeybog Hill:

Following the Community Council meeting a public meeting was held to update residents on Honeybog Hill.

AT informed residents that an email had been received from Fraser Carlin, Planning Department stating that representatives from Stewart Milne met with Officers from Renfrewshire Council Planning yesterday and intimated that they do not intend to proceed with this scheme as the current land owner has decided not to renew Stewart Milne’s option to purchase the land
The Community Council intends to contact the landowners to ascertain if they are willing to discuss future plans for Honeybog Hill. We will keep you updated.