Tel: 01463 790282 (Chairman)

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ON 20 MAY 2015

1 / Members present:I Williams, I Brill, L Williams, R Campbell
In attendance: PC Dave Elliott, Cllr R Balfour
Apologies, M Unwin, Cllr K Stephen,Cllr C Caddick, R Fraser, E Fraser, C Darling
2 / Minutes of last AGM – 22 Oct 2014
Proposed: I Brill Seconded: I Williams
3 / Re-election of Officers
All officers re-elected unanimously as follows:
Chair – I Williams.
Secretary – L Williams.
Treasurer – I Brill.
4 / Annual Accounts
Annual accounts were agreed and ratified unanimously by Balloch Community Council
5 / Minutes of April Meeting
Approved: IW Seconded: IB
6 / Matters Arising
A bin is now in place and being used at the Community Woodland.
Claire Darling has now set up a facebook page for the Balloch Community Council
MJ Prentice request for wild flower meadow by the well: IW contacted the Baptist church authorities to see if they would be interested in supporting this project. At present they do not have the capacity do get involved in projects of this kind, but as part of their involvement in the community they have joined the Balloch Village Trust.
7 / Police Report
There continues to be low crime levels in the area, with most offences relating to road traffic.
8 / Highland Councillors Report
Cllr RBalfour: Electoral boundary changes are still under discussion.
Cllr K Stephen: Some time ago a request for broken bits of fence round the field next to the hall was passed on. Committee members checked this after the meeting and it appears to be still outstanding.
Request to identify any bad sections of road to feed into the planned programme of road maintenance. None were identified at the meeting.
9 / Chair’s Report
Woodland: circa 20 people turned up for a training day on 17 May, which concentrated on footpath building and related surveying techniques, with the added bonus of the Balloch woodland being surveyed as part of the training.
There has been a request from BVT for financial help to rent a wood chipper at a cost of £160 for the week-end. BCC agreed to contribute 50% of this.
Garden waste is again being dumpedin the community woodland. IW has spoken to the people we understand to be responsible and was pleased that one has now joined the BVT
Village Fete: to be held on Sat 13 June 12:00 – 16:00hrs.
10 / Treasurers Report
BCC finances continue to be healthy.
11 / Secretary’s Correspondence
A96 Dualling: there are to be further consultation exhibitions as part of the next stage of this project. However, as the section from Inverness to Nairn is at a more advanced stage of development, this section will not be covered at these events.
Road Maintenance – Culloden Road. Further to the request at the last meeting re maintenance of the section of Culloden Road opposite the vet surgery, LW has been in correspondence with the Highland Council. It has been confirmed that this portion or road has not been adopted (apparently at the original request of residents) and is unlikely to be so. However, it is possible that some funding (not 100%) may be found through the Council’s discretionary fund. As an initial step Cllr K Stephen has asked the Council’s community service team to provide a quote for the work, providing a basis for further discussion.
Highland Council Planning Policy for Onshore Wind Energy: LW attended the consultation event for the BCC. As a result of changes in National Policy, Highland Council is required to review their policy to ensure the twoare in agreement. This has limited relevance to the BCC area as this is covered by various exclusion zones, which means that no wind farms could be put developed in our area. Therefore no formal BCC response has been submitted for this.
12 / AOB
Playpark: RC gave us an update on this – an application has been submitted under the BVT umbrella to the Awards for All for £10k to pay for a feasibility study and project management.
A query was raised re whether current insurance was adequate for work being carried out in the woodland. BCC are covered, but it was unclear if BVT are. IW to pursue this and also to update. BCC formal representation on the BVT.
13 / Next Meeting
Wednesday17 June at 1930 hrs.
IB has given apologies for next meeting.

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