Minutes of the Meeting of Ralston Community Council

held on 13 December 2012 in Ralston Community Centre

Present: S McDonald SMc) (Acting Chair in Allan Thompson’s absence) G Burton, (GBu) (Secretary), RKowalskiPresent (RK) (MinuteSecretary),MRobinson (MR) (Treasurer). B Whyte (BW), MFernie (MF), N Macgregor (NM), Ian Reid (IR)

In Attendance: Councillor Jim Sharkey (Clr J Sharkey), Councillor Maureen Sharkey (Clr M Sharkey),Councillor Will Mylet(Clr Mylet), Sgts Gary Driver & Laura Barnes (Strathclyde Police), Yasmin Kahn (Renfrewshire Council) + 8 Local Residents (including Ralston Art Club representatives)

Apologies: Gordon Britton, Allan Thompson

Chairman’s Welcome:

Susan McDonald welcomed all to the meeting. It was announced Gordon Britton will be retiring from the CC due to family commitments. The other Committee members noted his contribution over the years and offered thanks. Cllr J Sharkey also commented on the number of years Gordon had been involved in the CC and it was agreed he will be missed.

Police Report:

Sgts. Gary Diver and Laura Barnes attended the meeting for the first time. They gave updates on crime in the area as follows. Tackling drugs use and supply is a priority, and at this time of year drunk and disorderlybehaviour. There have been a fairlyhighnumber of incidents, as anticipated. This is partly because police are actively looking for people who are lawbreaking in this way. There were 1334 stop and searches in November for alcohol/drugs/weapons. Assault and violent crime was up, with 40 incidents in the ward. House break-ins (especially business premises) and car theft have also increased. A dedicatedteam of officers are working on this.

The police are seeking to tackle the problem of bogus callers with action days. Commercialvehicles are being stopped and questioned and there have been severaldetections. Car theft is another problem, particularly in PaisleyTown Centre car parks near Gilmour St Station.

Presentation by Renfrewshire Council on the RenfrewshireCommunity Plan 2013-2022

The Council is sending staff out to present the plan to communityorganisations, aiming to achievea joinedup, partnership approach. Ms Yasmin Kahn gave a presentation to the CC. The CC has been asked to complete a questionnairegivingfeedbackon the plan.

The Plan has been prepared in light of currenteconomicdifficulties and reforms to the Police, Fire Service, Public Sector and Welfarebenefits. There are a number of themes being consulted on targeting certain desired outcomes and these will be finalised and agreed in April next year. The main aims are:

  • Improved local economy, more jobs, skilled workforce, good transport links
  • Improved health, less alcohol and drug misuse
  • Given children the best start in life
  • Keep residents safe and secure
  • Empower communities
  • Sustainability – improved public transport, cycling etc. reduce waste, maintain parks and green spaces

Individuals and organisations can comment via , 0141 618 7409,

Reports from Local Councillors:

Councillors Maureen and Jim Sharkey:

Cllrs Sharkey provided a written report covering the following areas

  • The new Local Plan (not to be confused withthe Community Plan), which will govern how Renfrewshire land will be developed over next 5 years. This is to be made available to the public for consultation from 14 January 2013. Copies will be available at libraries and on line at . Local residents may be interestedin plans for the land at Honeybog Hill.
  • Ongoing Repairs at RalstonPrimary School – painting of fences and repair of boundary wall. Work to becompleted by January, weatherpermitting. Flooding in playgroundalso to be investigated and roof to be repaired and upgraded.
  • PaisleyCanal Train Line – Clr M Sharkeyattended the officialopening and pleased to see the project reach a successful conclusion
  • Advice was also given on dealing with Cold Callers
  • Barshaw Park – Clrs Sharkey have met with council officers regarding a number of issues in the park which have been raised by constituents
  • Clr M Sharkey also provided information about the number of fire and road traffic incidents dealt with in the ward by the Fire Service in November. There was one accidental vehicle fire, 2 rubbish fires, 2 vehicle collisions and a number of false alarms, mainly due to faulty equipment.

Clr Mylett

Clr Mylett has also been in touch with the Council about the park and still awaits a response to questions about how funds allocated for parkimprovements will be spent. This is likely to be addressed when the Park Manager Joe Waclawski attends the CC meeting in January. Repairs will be carried out on the pathway from Oldhall Roadto the animal area, which was raised at the last CC meeting and the problems with broken glass has been addressed. Ice has been an issue at times in recent cold weather. Water collects in the car parks and has frozen over and staff are looking to deal with this.

Minutes of previous meeting:

Minutes of previous meeting were proposed by BW and seconded by MR.

Matters Arising from Previous Minutes:

Closure of Mill Street during Firework Display – Clr Sharkey confirmed this was a health and safety issue, due to a risk of debris falling in that site.

Letter to Joe Waclawski about the path in BarshawPark – BW confirmed he had written about the desiredrepairs to the path and received a quick, positiveresponse that work would be carried out within 4 weeks.

Restricted Access to Pitches at Ralston Sports Centre- RK reported the CC had received an e mail from a resident complaining that her son and his friends had not been allowed to use the pitches and that staff had been unfriendly. She said the incident in question did occur after she had received a response to her own enquiry about this issue, and she had been assured the problem of inappropriate behaviour by certain boys had been addressed and the pitches would be open again. RK informed the resident of this response and asked her to report back to the CC if she had further concerns.

Ralston Community Games and Paisley Grammar Partnership- SMc has had a meeting with a Community Liaison teacher at the Grammar and they have agreed to create a focus group of around 15 pupils to help plan, prepare and participate in the Games this year. Pupils will be selectedacross all years of the school. SMc will also make contact with St AndrewsAcademy.

Volunteers at ROAR – NM commented that ROAR have a sixth year volunteer attending from the Grammar and this is working well and the members enjoy a young person being there. The volunteer in questionhas also reported to RK that she really enjoys the company of the ROAR members and other volunteers and looks forward to attending.

Newtyle Road potholes – Clr Mylett confirmed he had been told repairs had taken place. However residents in attendancecommented on the inadequacy and poor quality of the work and that this is a safetyissue. Clr Sharkey has written to the Council asking for the whole of the Street to be fixed.

Secretary’s Report:

Emails forwarded to members.

Anne McNaughton, Renfrewshire Council

Subject: Scottish Health Campaigns Network

Subject: Renfrewshire Local Development Plan - Development Plan Scheme 2012

Subject: Renfrewshire Community Council Forum - 19 November 2012 AGM & Ordinary Meeting Agendas

Subject: Message from Scottish Government - Changes to Planning legislation

Ian McAdam, Strathclyde Police

Introduction email.

Kim Cameron, Engage Renfrewshire

Subject: E-bulletin Edition 26

Subject: E-alert Training on 27 November

Subject: Renfrewshire Partnership Change Fund

A Community capacity building fund has been established, with local third sector organisations being invited to bid for funding to develop and potentially pilot new approaches to the care and support that is available for older people and their carers, with a particular focus on using the expertise and knowledge of local organisations and groups to support older people to live as independently as possible in their own homes and communities.

David Low, Renfrewshire Council - Subject : Positive About Youth Awards

Letters/Correspondence received

Councillor Maureen Sharkey - Letter to say that she has discussed with RCC the painting of a pedestrian way in the car park within Barshaw.

Councillor Jim Sharkey - Information from Trading Standards.

Anne McNaugton, Renfrewshire Council - Annual allowance cheque of £566.50.

Alan McNiven, Engage Renfrewshire - Membership

Treasurer’s Report:

MR reported there was £1,172 of carried forward funds in the bank inNovember and we have spent around £10 on a cardandflowers to convey a get well soon message to a CC member. We had £178 left of the admin grant from the Council but after spending money on the hall lets, photocopying, an advertising banner and catering, there is now £26 left.

MR asked if we should consider letting 2 rather than 3 of the “small halls”/partitioned areas at the Community Centre but attendance was high at the meeting and it was agreed 3 were needed. MR has written to the Bank of England asking for the interest on the small War Bond owned by the CC Council to be paid to our current account, following the closure of the depositaccount.

Ralston Community Games

RK reported the 2013 games will be on 7 September and will have a Highland Game theme. There will be Committee meeting in January to start organising things. Marie Mangan has had to retire from the Games Committee due to work and family commitments and she made a huge contribution last year. There is therefore a vacancy to fill if anyone is interested in getting involved.

Presentation by Trading Standards

Faye Wilson and her colleague Nicola from Trading Standards (who arrived during the meeting, as arranged) gave us a talk on Cold Calling, which is a problem causing some concern for Ralston residents over the last few months. They provided the CC with a number of informationleaflets and no cold calling stickers to be distributedto the Community.

This will be an agenda item for the next meeting to discuss how best to take this forward. Faye discussed the advantages and limitations of making an area a Cold Call Control Zone and provided a number of tips on how to deal with the problem:

  • Be aware how clever and cunning the culprits can be. They will appearfriendly and use underhand tactics to gain trust
  • Do not let them in
  • Report all incidents, suspicions – do not be embarrassed if you have been duped
  • Check very carefully before you sign anything. There is generally a 7 day cooling off period during which you are entitled to cancel any contract signed
  • Displaying a No Cold Calling sticker doesn’t stop anyone from knocking on your door – however, if they do so after seeing the sticker, then they clearly are not respectful of your wishes and therefore may not be of the most reputable character
  • Do not keep large amounts of cash in the house. Criminals and fraudsters will spread the qword if they identifysomeone who may be an easytarget
  • Best for a whole street/ area to adopt the no cold caller stickers. Otherwise, if one solitaryperson has them, it can help earmark them as an elderly or vulnerableperson
  • To create a no cold calling zone, you need to get the agreement of everyone in the area and it needs to be confirmed that there is a definite problem in the area in question

A resident commented on the problem with telesales and fact that being a member of the telephonepreference service (TPS) doesn’t always work. Companies have said that TPS doesn’t apply if they are “just doing research”. Trading Standards said they would look into this issue.

RK mentioned the need to be vigilant about security of the mail, as a new cheque book sent to her in the post had been intercepted and an attempt to draw sums from her bank account fraudulently had been made.

Faye also discussed the Trusted Trader schemepromoted by Trading Standards, which offers access to work men who have been recommended and whose prices are fair. She will providefurther information about this.

AOCB:

Anne McNaughton, RenfrewshireSenior Committee Services Officer, had asked that it be minuted that the Accounts were presented at the AGM and approved by members. It wasconfirmed by all CCmemberspresent at tonight’s meeting and the AGM that this had been done. The AGM minutesneed to be corrected and approved.

A presentation was then made by Ralston Arts Club of an originalpainting by Harry Reid of Ralston Sports Centre Pavilion to commemorate the launch of Ralston Community Games. The Art Club also wanted to thank the CC for their contribution to the campaign to get the Art Club back in the Community Centre on a Wednesday.

SMc said that the Sports Centre would like to display the painting in the entrance area and it was agreed by all that this would be an appropriate place to hang the picture, where it could be viewed by the public. The Committee all admired the painting and thanked Harry and the Art Club for their kind gesture.

Date of next meeting:Thursday 10thJanuary 2013 at Ralston Community Centre 7.30pm to 9.00pm

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