April 11th 2013 Minutes
Johnstone Community Council
Minutes of the ordinary meeting of Johnstone Community Council held on Thursday 11th April 2013 at 7.00pm in Cochrane Castle Community Centre.
Present
Members: Elizabeth Cosgrove, Wilma Dean, Linda Flint, Elizabeth Forrest, David Higginson, Pamela Higginson, Malcolm Hill, George Kennedy, Dennis Lavery and Valerie Reilly.
Associate members: Brian Cairns, & Evelyn Cairns also in attendance:-
Councillors (Ward 7) – John Caldwell, John Hood, Iain MacMillan.
(Ward 8) – Derek Bibby, Andy Doig, Christopher Gilmour.
2 members of the public were also present.
1. Apologies
Robert Campbell, Stuart Clark, Daniel McKay and Valerie Reilly.
Cllr McGee.
2. Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and agreed.
Proposed by Wilma Dean
Seconded by George Kennedy
3. Matters Arising
Cllr MacMillan said that he had not been at the previous meeting and therefore he had not made any comments.
4. W.R.C. recycling plant fire.
George Kennedy noted that following the WRC. Recycling plant fire in January he had been invited to attend a high level meeting in Renfrewshire House. The purpose of the meeting had been to discuss the outcomes from the fire and look for a way forward to prevent any further environmental disasters happening at this site.
The meeting, chaired by MSP Hugh Henry, was attended by Government Minister Derek McKay, Chief Executive David Martin, Leader of the Council Mark Macmillan, representatives of the Fire and Police Services, SEPA, the Health & Safety Executive and Railtrack, as well as senior officers from Renfrewshire Council.
The fire, and our concerns, were discussed culminating in an agreement to have all agencies consider the best way forward from this point onwards, this being the only obvious outcome at that time.
GK was still concerned that a further disastrous fire could occur, and had sent a letter to Hugh Henry stating that storage at the site seemed to be as bad as ever. He asked that his written concerns be placed before the First Minister. He had received confirmation from Hugh Henry that this letter had been placed with the First Minister.
This was an important point as in the letter GK had stated that if all agencies fail to prevent any further fire, the responsibility would be lying with The Scottish Government as they had been well warned about the continuing risk to Johnstone Town.
Hugh Henry, who has been totally supportive of our grave concerns and actions before and since the fire, wrote to JCC on April 5th confirming that he is still energetically pursuing all issues relevant to the protection of Johnstone and its people.
Dennis Lavery had been to see the site and agreed that it seemed to be worse than ever.
From the floor, Margaret Lavery asked all councillors to get together and set up a meeting with the owners of WRC.
Cllr Bibby asked what the role of SEPA was. A general discussion followed and it was reiterated that GK’s letter was with the First Minister. It was concluded that there was an apparent lack of legislation to cover this situation and that this applied to all of the authorities involved.
5. Planning Report
Normal routine issues have been noted and dealt with.
Work has commenced at the town hall site, demolition should be complete by June 2013.
6. Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer reported that the current balance stood at £4345.87.
7. Secretary’s Report
GK had had contact from John Workman of the St. James Business Centre in Linwood, inviting a representative of JCC to celebrate with him the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Rootes Car Plant in Linwood. This would take place on Thurs. 2nd May from 9.30am to 12 noon.
He also asked if we could supply any names of ex-Rootes workers, so that he might invite them along.
DL expressed an interest in attending.
GK reported that he had been liaising with Sandra Crichton from Renfrewshire Foodbank to arrange use of the bandstand on Saturday 20th April from 11.30am to 2p.m.
They are carrying out a Trolley Push from Johnstone Rail Station led by Kilbarchan Pipe Band to Houston Square to publicise “ Foodbank “
GK has received a comprehensive reply has been received following a list of questions asked of Calum Kennedy following his presentation about the proposed development of the New Community Plan for Renfrewshire.
The answers had been circulated to JCC prior to the meeting and were open to discussion, but it was felt that it may be better to fully discuss this at the June meeting when members have had more time to absorb the details. This was agreed.
GK had forwarded a police statistical report to all members prior to this meeting and invited comment on this.
Two members of the police force were present, and engaged in discussion of the statistics.
GK reported that the annual insurance was due for renewal and would cost £106. This would now include a mandatory Legal Expenses cost. The purchase of the insurance was approved by those present.
8. Sub-Group Reports
Roads
JCC has received a comprehensive report from the Director of Planning and Transport which has been emailed to members for their information.
GK has attempted to analyse the contents and have discussed this briefly with Scott Allan. Gaps in the perceived roads repairs programme and our visible evidence of the state of roads, road markings, footpaths and gulley cleaning requirements for our town were noted.
Scott Allan has offered to go walkabout with JCC in May.
Work at both Quarry Street and Kilbarchan Road at the Mill has been carried out recently.
ML noted that the state of the pavements beside Dimity Street flats had been reported.
Cllr Doig raised the matter of the state of the white lines throughout the town and that they should be attended to as a matter of Health and Safety.
Cllr Hood noted that a recent job in Hazel Avenue had been done well.
Cllr Bibby noted that extra money had been invested on road repairs but that there was a large backlog. He agreed that a walkabout would be a good idea.
Environmental
It was noted that Renfrewshire Council Roads and Transport Department had been amalgamated with Environmental Services under Shona McDougall.
GK reported on the on-going work to level and grass grounds in Ludovic Square. So far two attempts have failed and a proper survey of needs requires to be carried out, with a detailed instruction given to the workforce.
This should be supervised properly by a competent person with horticultural experience and be followed by a careful snagging inspection on completion.
Currently the ground is rutted deeply with levels impossible to machine cut, and the pigeons are feeding on the grass seed! Considerable money must be being wasted here and this must be addressed.
A walkabout with Robert Steenson, Head of Operations, has resulted in Andrew Dobie, a Community Regulation Manager, being allocated to JCC to help improve liaison. This has worked particularly well and GK has contacted Robert to thank him and ask for this service to continue.
Issues such as litter, and dog fouling where new bins have been provided, as well as wheelie bins being removed promptly from in front of premises have been dealt with, leading to a much improved service.
Warden Services have also been very evident in Johnstone dealing with litter, dog fouling and parking issues.
Play Park & Youth Issues.
GK had visited the Shanks park play park site which had been partially opened for use during the Easter Holiday. The work had been delayed but should be completed be very soon.
It should be noted that this refurbishment is the result of three years of determined fundraising and lobbying by JCC. Our thanks must go out to our partners in this venture, turning a near derelict play park into a super new and safe facility for our younger kids.
Cllr McM recorded his thanks to all concerned, and reported that he had written to Shona McDougall with a view to the possible closure of the parks depot at the gate.
GK had a contact on the 5th April from John Gilfillan who, jointly with Liz
Gould, has a company called Future Aspirations.
John Gilfillan asked to attend the April JCC meeting to discuss his company’s proposals for a consultation process on the development of a youth work service for Johnstone town centre. In view of the already busy agenda, and the short notice given, this request was declined.
GK also expressed the view that before we take this offer any further it must be asked if any of our members would be willing to give their time, and perhaps put their name to a bid to The National Lotteries fund to secure £10000 for this project.
GK noted that it was his understanding that JCC would be required to front this venture including disbursing funds, providing receipts and proving outcomes to comply with the conditions of a lotteries grant.
No-one offered to take on this project on behalf of JCC.
GK noted that the JCC’s Community Clubs would close on Friday 19th April due to a lack of funding. The BLF, who refused our funding bid, have agreed to meet with MSP Stewart Maxwell and JCC to discuss their refusal to grant funds for our project.
WD reported that a phase 3 project for Shanks Park Playpark renewal has commenced, led by our Playpark and Youth Issues sub group. WD had canvassed Johnstone High School with regard to assistance with painting etc. but had had no reply.
9. AOCB
The question of the state of Patons Mill building was raised, but no clear information was forthcoming.
Cllr McM reported that work on the Dawn Homes development was beginning at Corseford. It will result in a development of 55 private houses that would be zoned to Fordbank and St Anthony’s primary schools.
There was some discussion on the state of the alterations to the path behind Johnstone High School.
Cllr D spoke about the application for a hot food shop in McDowall Street. There was discussion about the issues of parking and traffic flow that it raised.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.50pm.
The next meeting will be held at Cochrane Castle Community Centre on Thursday 6th June 2013 at 7.00pm.