UPHALL COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of meeting held on 16th May 2007 at 7.30pm in Uphall Community Centre.

Item

/ Description
1 / Present: Callum Arthur (future youth member), Mr D Flight, Mrs H Hinton, Mrs A Milne,
Mr J Moore, Mr J Richardson, Mrs L Thomson
Cllr J Campbell, Cllr A Davidson, Cllr G Morrice, PC K Gray, PC A Elliot
Apologies: Mrs J Baxter, Mrs M Davies, Mr F Graham
2 / MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Proposed by Callum Arthur. Seconded by Mr J Richardson.
Correction to minutes for April - Apologies from Mr D Flight emailed to secretary for April meeting but not recorded in the minutes due to lateness of accessing email.
3 / MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES
i /
Skatepark
Secretary attended a meeting with Keir Stevenson and Alan Ball (from the Sports Development team at West Lothian Council) and Roy Auld from Russell Leisure Ltd, the company based at Newbridge which is supplying the shelter and ballcourt. The work to be done on the ballcourt was discussed and a decision was reached as to where the shelter should be positioned. The work should be completed by the end of July. The Community Council has been asked if they would transfer the funding they have obtained for this project to West Lothian Council. It was agreed that the secretary would make out a cheque for £15100 payable to the council.
Incidents of bad behaviour have been reported at the skatepark – youths urinating, stones being flung at buses, litter, drink and bullying. Secretary to report these incidents to Heather Thomson.
Action: HH
ii /
Planning For People Workshop.
Change of venue for the workshop being held on Saturday 19th May from 9.30am – 4.30pm. The new venue is Low Port Centre, Linlithgow.
iii /
Friends of Earth Workshop – free training
The training session will provide information on the recent PAN 81, the national standards for engagement and consultation processes. The training session will be held on Tuesday 12th June from 5.30 – 9.30pm in Lamb’s House, Burgess Street, Edinburgh. Registration forms have been sent in for Mrs H Hinton, Mrs A Milne, Mr J Moore and Mr J Richardson.
iv /
Uphall/Broxburn Town Centre
Chair (Mr J Moore) has contacted Laura Fleming raising a few issues and concerns about the consultant’s findings.
v /
Overhanging Bushes
The overhanging bushes in St Andrew’s Drive have been reported to the NETs team. An invitation has been made to the Environmental Team to attend our June Meeting.
4 /
POLICE REPORT
During the month of April, 29 crimes were reported with 10 being solved, which is a solvency rate of 34.48%. This is down by 33.17% on this time last year. 17 acts of vandalism have been reported with 5 being solved. Crimes reported were theft, vandalism, an arrest for drunk driving and alcohol being confiscated for underage drinking. 15 youth calls were received, mostly alcohol related and taking place at weekends. Reported youth related calls would appear to have decreased as additional police foot patrols (duties permitting) in the area on Fridays and Saturdays have taken effect.
In an attempt to curb youth related alcohol problems, the Community Police at Broxburn in conjunction with Uphall Community Centre, intend running another Blue Light Disco for S1 to S6 in the coming months. Entry to the disco is conditional on the young person being breathalysed and searched. 50 young people attended the last Blue Light Disco and there were no youth calls during that weekend. Ideally it would be good to have a disco every two months but having a disco is very labour intensive as a substantial police presence is needed.
The problem with youth congregating in Westhall Gardens has ceased for the time being as they have moved to other areas.
PC Andrew Elliot is a Community Policeman based at Linlithgow.
5 /
TREASURER’S REPORT
The balance stands at approximately £15216.75 which includes money for the shelter to be erected in the skatepark and the ballcourt.
6 / CORRESPONDENCE
i / Circulate
-  APRS (Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland) Director’s Report.
-  Put Your West Foot Forward – pocket maps for Uphall and Broxburn.
ii /
Planning Applications
Philipstoun Recycling Plant – Construction and operation of a 2.2h recycling facility, importation of inert material and restoration of site to form public amenity open space at Philipstoun South Bing, Philipstoun. This application has been made by Neil Williams haulage contractors.
After discussing this proposed application, it was agreed that an objection would be submitted by the community council on the grounds of an increase of traffic through the village.
Action: HH
iii /
Put Your West Foot Forward
A pocket map for Uphall and Broxburn has been produced by the ‘Put Your West Foot Forward’ project. This map has been developed to show short walks of 1-2.5 miles which are accessible from the Strathbrock Partnership Centre and Uphall Community Centre. The walks are aimed at those new to walking and offer three levels of walks – very short walks, moderate walks with some inclines and more strenuous walks which tend to be on rougher terrain.
iv / Licensing Board – June Quarterly Meeting
Applications were noted.
v / Uphall Community Centre AGM
Uphall Community Centre will be holding their AGM on Monday 28th May at 7.00pm. To celebrate the success of the centre, each group who uses the centre has been invited to take part in an evening of entertainment and exhibition. Mr J Richardson volunteered to give a short talk on the involvement of the community council in local issues over the past year.
Action: JR
vi / Charter Mark
A representative from our community council has been invited to attend a meeting at West Lothian House on Friday 1st June at 11.00am in connection with the Council’s application for Charter Mark for the services it provides. H Hinton has volunteered to attend.
Action: HH
7 / AOCB
i /
Room for Meetings
Callum has spoken to the members of the youth club about the possibility of the community council using the coffee lounge for their monthly meeting but they are not willing to give up the room. It was suggested that a member of the community council could be invited to talk to members of the youth club regarding this matter.
8 /
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 20th June 2007 at 7.30pm in Uphall Community Centre.

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