Tel: 01463 790282 (Chair)

MINUTES OFMEETING ON15 MARCH 2017

1 / Members present: I Williams,D MacDonald, I Brill, L Williams, R Campbell, C Darling, E Campbell, G Spalding
In Attendance: Cllr R Balfour, Cllr T Robertson, Ms M-J Prentice, PC Boundy
Apologies: Cllr K Stephen
2 / Minutes of Previous Meeting
Proposed: R Campbell Seconded: D McDonald
3 / Matters Arising
Defibrillator: Themoney for this has been confirmed and it is to be sited outside the Village Hall building.
Inverness City Development Plans: These are currently out for consultation. LW to look at these and feedback.
BCC Web-site and Facebook: These have now been updated.
BVT: there has been some discussion relating to areas of the woodland to be cleared. This has now been decided and 3 people identified to clear them.
4 / Police Report
Jan – March 2017: Whilst crime rates remain very low in the area, there was an attempt to break into anelectric payment box in the Snooker Club within the Hall. This has been looked into and steps taken to strengthen security.
5 / Report from Highland Councillors
Inverness Prison: Consultation on the new site for Inverness prison is to take place on 30 March, 2-7pm at Inshes Church.
Councillors are now in period of purda pending Highland Council elections in May.
7 / Report from Chairman
IW has been invited to join the “Next Door” community web-site which acts as an information and notices forum. BCC members were asked to look at the site and feed back comments.
BCA: the main point of discussion at the last meeting was the disturbance at the Village Hall and car park early one Sunday morning. A fire extinguisher was let off and tables broken. These have now been repaired and paid for and flowers sent to the neighbour who complained about the incident. However, an anonymous letter was subsequently sent to the Ward Manager, which was passed on to the police. A letter from the President of the BCA was sent to all residents affected, who appear satisfied that the incident was dealt with and steps being taken to prevent any further problems. Rules regarding the holding of functions in the hall have now been implemented, with stewards and security required if these are for youngsters. Any functions held since this have been incident-free.
BCA: It has now been agreed that BCA is going for charitable status. As BVT already has this status there was some discussion regarding the possibility of merging the organisations. As they currently have different remits requiring different expertise, it was felt that whilst this may be something to consider in the future, it was not appropriate now.
Balloch Gala: to be held the first Saturday in June. It was felt it might be helpful to have a joint information stand at this for the BCA, BVT and BCC to explain their relevant roles to the community as it is quite confusing having 3 community organisations with similar names. IW to follow this up.
8 / Treasurer’s Report
Funds remain healthy
9 / Secretary’s Correspondence
None
10 / Any Other Business
Playpark:
£28,265 of funds have been received or pledged to date. Asthe lease from Highland Council is still outstanding the deadline to bid for WREN funds cannot be met and that opportunity will be lost.
The Playpark committee have now been told by Highland Council that they will need their own solicitor (at a cost of circa £1,500) and that the Highland Council has increased their legal fees. As the match funding approved by BCC for the WREN bid is no longer required, there was a request for BCC to pay the legal fees instead. It was agreed that these would be covered for the first year, but there is an expectation that any ongoing funding required in future years would have to be met by the Playpark.
GS is to follow up with TESCO the opportunity to benefit from their in store “token” collections for community groups.
House behind Co-op: the Highland Council’s Tree Officer has now been to look at this garden and confirmed that the trees are not dangerous and therefore no immediate action will be taken.
Stratton Development: Concern was raised at the number of mature trees that have already been felled along this section of Barn Church Road, and the potential for the loss of more nature trees. This is to be raised with the relevant Highland Council officers.
11 / Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday April 19th 2017. Apologies have been received for this meeting from I Brill, R Campbell, G Spalding.