The Royal Burgh of Selkirk and District Community Council
Chairman / Graham Easton / 31 High Street, Selkirk, TD7 4BZ / 01750 722744Vice-chairman / Dr. Lindsay Neil / 46 Hillside Terrace, Selkirk, TD7 4ND / 01750 720841
Hon. Secretary / Alistair Pattullo / 12 Victoria Crescent, Selkirk, TD7 5DE / 01750 721697
Hon. Treasurer / Tom Combe / 68 Back Row, Selkirk, TD7 4AG / 01750 720921
Minute of Meeting held in the Committee Room, Victoria Hall, Selkirk
On Monday 14th January 2013, at 7.00pm
1) Present: Community Councillors David Bethune, Tommy Combe, Caroline Cruickshank, Wilma Gunn, Bob Kerr, Ian King, John Munro, Lindsay Neil, Alistair Pattullo.
SBC Councillors: Michelle Ballantyne, Vicky Davidson, Gordon Edgar
[Also in attendance: I member of the Press & 6 members of the public]
Vice Chairman Lindsay Neil chaired the meeting and welcomed the public, reminding those present that all comments should be addressed through the Chair, and that all recording devices should be switched off.
2) Apologies: Community Councillors Graham Easton & Jim Gibson, PC Roy Brown
3) The minutes of the meeting held on 10th December 2012 were approved (proposed: B Kerr, seconded I King)
4) Matters arising from the minute not otherwise included on agenda
ref. item 10(a) IK asked Cllr Edgar to arrange for the ‘No Ball Games’ signs to be erected by SBC, as they would then benefit from the Permitted Development Rights available to the Council.IK undertook to confirm the precise locations with the planners.
5) Declarations of interest - none
6) (a) Lothian and Borders Police – Since the last meeting there have been 152 incidents attended by Police in the Selkirk town area, of these there have been 21 crimes recorded, with 12 of these having been solved.
Of the recorded crimes, there have been 6 vandalisms, 4 thefts and 2 assaults. There have also been 2 housebreakings and a housebreaking with intent all in the Ettrickhaugh road area for which two males have been reported. Over the past month there have been 9 youth calls to the Selkirk area, with 4 of these being to the Court lane area and 2 each to Beechbank and Tower Street and one to Raeburn Meadow area.
A request was made for traffic / motoring incidents to be included in the report whenever possible.
(b) SB Wardens – No report. Responding to a question from A Pattullo, G Edgar reported that from 1st April SB Wardens will no longer function and their duties will be taken over by Neighbourhood Services Officers.
7) Planning –
No applications having been received I King took the opportunity to report on the last meeting of the A7 Action Group held on the 11th January at Ewes Village Hall near Langholm. Assurances have been given that the police presence on the A7 should be unaffected by the unification of the Scottish police forces I King confirmed that the police are concerned about the entire length of the A7 including the de-trunked section north of Galashiels
BEAR gave notice of forthcoming works on the A7, including cycleway improvement at Raeburn Place in March and continuation of maintenance works between Selkirk and Boleside. It was confirmed that BEAR is responsible for gulley cleaning on the A7, and SBC has the responsibility for road sweeping.
W Gunn asked about the imbalance in numbers of SBC street cleaning staff between Galashiels and Selkirk claiming that per head of population Galashiels had more cleaners. G Edgar agreed to look at the allocation of cleaning staff between the towns and will report back to the next CC meeting.
8) Reports from SBC Councillors:
Councillor G Edgar reported on the following:
a) BEAR have experienced technical problems in putting white lines on the A7 at Lindean
b) A section of Dunsdale Road will be closed for street lighting repairs
c) Discussions are on-going with regard to the SBC budget for 2013/14.
d) New buses for the 95 & X95 routes will be on display at SBC HQ
Councillor M Ballantyne reported on the following:
a) Has arranged a meeting with L&B Police re evening football for local youngsters.
Councillor V Davidson reported on the following:
a) A new date (27th February) has been announced for the next Eildon Area Committee meeting, at Newtown St Boswells.
I King asked if any progress has been made regarding the future of Broadmeadows Youth Hostel, V Davidson replied that nothing has been agreed yet.
OPEN FORUM (taken at 7.25pm)
a) S Cook had a question regarding the ‘No Ball Games’ signage (which had already been discussed under matters arising), L Neil replied that the final decision on the positioning of the signs was a work in progress.
b) D Purves reported that he had not been able to source the minutes of the December meeting on the website.
c) D Purves asked about the damaged fence at Philiphaugh playing fields, V Davidson replied that the repairs are in hand.
d) Rev. Mary Taylor (member of the Selkirk Fairtrade Group) asked about the possibility of a photo opportunity to promote Selkirk’s contribution to Fairtrade fortnight. It was agreed this might take place at the February meeting.
e) B Kerr asked how much longer the safety fencing around the wall at the Glen Hotel would be in place.
V Davidson replied that the owners have now taken responsibility for the wall and will be proceeding with repairs.
f) W Gunn expressed concern about the state of the Kirkbrae wall adjacent to the A7 and reported that it was in a perilous state and required attention. G Edgar agreed to investigate and report this to the SBC Enforcement Officer.
9) Selkirk Common Good Fund:
a) Has not met since last CC meeting so no report
b) L Neil has received an itemised list of charges to SCGF but is puzzled by some of the information; every transaction has the same date (for 2009), it is not obvious what some of the abbreviations mean, and there may be double counting. L Neil therefore sought approval to raise further FOI requests regarding some of the charges on the list. D Bethune pointed out that care must be taken when framing FOI requests to ensure that the proper information is requested and therefore forthcoming. CC approved the request from L Neil.
(At 7.40pm G Edgar left meeting)
10) Correspondence
a) A letter and leaflets about Community Resilience;
V Davidson said that the Community Resilience initiative had originated with SBC. J Munro reminded the meeting that CC had previously tried to set up a volunteer emergency group but this had run into problems over public liability insurance. M Ballantyne replied that the situation regarding insurance has since changed to facilitate similar groups and suggested that the CC invite the representative from SBC to explain the current position re setting up such a group in Selkirk.
b) A letter from the Flood Protection Scheme inviting the CC to appoint a representative as a member of the Long Philipburn River Restoration Working Group. B Kerr volunteered and was duly approved.
11) Treasurers Report:
T Combe reported that the Community Council Account stands at £2140. 90.
12) Evening Study Groups:
Classes have re-started and are well attended again. The evening study group account stands at £2033.74.
W Gunn asked why there had not been an audited Treasurer’s report at the AGM. T Combe replied that it had been agreed that the report should be submitted in April at the end of the financial year and subsequently acknowledged ‘as approved’ at the AGM in November.
13) Reports from Sub Committees:
a) Selkirk Hill Management Group: No report (no meeting held in January)
14) Reports from Associated Groups: J Munro reported that a group from Plattling will visit Selkirk in April and that the programme for 2013 is currently being prepared.
15) Reports from other community organisations and outside bodies:
Display Case for the Town Hall Model:
L Neil reported that he has been in correspondence with the Abbotsford Trust who intend to display the model for a short time in the Visitor Centre and then make it part of a longer display in the restored house but it would not be part of a permanent exhibition. L Neil asked if the CC would offer to make a financial contribution to the display case. After some discussion it was decided not to make a contribution but to retain CC funds for specific projects in the town, i.e. community planting and hanging baskets. Nonetheless, it was agreed that links between Abbotsford Trust and the town be maintained in order to capitalise on the connection between Walter Scott and Selkirk, whereby tourist links can be promoted and strengthened.
16) AOCB: T Combe acknowledged the praise given to the Christmas lighting at the December meeting and said that this project will continue to be developed and is hopeful that power supply issues can be resolved before next Christmas.
The Meeting closed at 8.20pm.
Next scheduled meeting of the Royal Burgh of Selkirk and District Community Council will be held in the Victoria Halls, Selkirk at 7.00pm on Monday 11th February 2013.
Adoption of minutes:
Proposed: ……………………… Seconded: ……………………..
Signed: …………………………. (chairman) Date: …………………
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