October 15th 2015 Minutes
Johnstone Community Council
Minutes of the Johnstone Community Council - Thursday 15th October at 7pm - Johnstone Town Hall
Present
Members: Carole Ewing, Ron Ewing, Linda Flint, Elizabeth Forrest, Daniel Graham, Malcolm Hill, George Kennedy, Sheila King, Denis Lavery, Christina Leon and Janine McKenna.
Councillors: (Ward 7) – John Caldwell, John Hood, Iain McMillan, Stephen McGee
(Ward 8) – Christopher Gilmour, Derek Bibby
T Petrie (Police Scotland), David Higginson (former Treasurer)
1 member of the public was also present
Apologies
Cllr Andy Doig, Wilma Dean, Valerie Reilly, Andrew Steel
Minutes
The minutes of the previous AGM were read and agreed.
Proposed by Elizabeth Forrest
Seconded by George Kennedy.
Matters arising
Councillor McMillan stated that he had been to visit Linstone Housing Association who have since informed building contractors to clear debris left behind in Corseford.
Councillor Hood and Councillor Gilmour are liasing with the family of Piper Carlyle regarding the memorial and the upcoming Remembrance Ceremony. They are looking to have the stone re-dedicated to Piper Carlyle.
Presentation on Community Payback
The Community Sargent presented a breakdown of the crime statistics for Johnstone Town Centre area.
Cllr Caldwell asked about the number of white vans being broken into. The Police are being proactive in this area to be vigilant and are aware of this spike in van crime.
Sheila asked if Police Scotland being centralised is having any impact on Police at a local level and also asked how open to the public the Police actually are.
The public have access to the Police 24/7 via phone, social media, and Monday-Friday in the Police office when it opens in Johnstone Town Hall.
JCC were reminded that is anyone is unable to get to a police office, anyone can call 101 to report matters.
George Kennedy asked how many parking spaces will be needed to accommodate the Police in their new premises. – This is unclear at present.
Planning
Ron Ewing will collate a list of new members. Ron will also email planning applications out in the week following this meeting.
George K – understands the town centre shops are being brought down to single units from the current two storie units.
Cllr Gilmore – repaving is taking place from the square right through the shopping arcade.
George K proposed the use of Floors Street area to be used for the Town Hall’s staff parking to free up the current area for shoppers to use.
Cllr McMillan – announced that the Spateston shops are due to be completed soon (end of October). This project was help up by supply and steel.
There is also a Council consultation open at the moment on the pre-5 centre moving into the refurbished St. Anthony’s and demolishing the old centre.
Cllr Gilmore stated that the Council has been discouraged from building homes due to mortgage changes, in particular the less attractive rates. The time is now right however for the Council to build homes for social rent once again. One of the top questions in surgeries is on housing.
Cllr Hood announced that the Johnstone Castle phase 1& 2 demolitions are taking place in January and that new homes and beginning to be built at the end of next year.
Sub Group Reports
Town Hall Focus Group is now redundant. This is now the Johnstone Community Council Forum.
JCC asked if there was an onus on the Council to keep road signs clear as some of these are being obscured in the town.
Cllr McMillan said that this is up to the Council Roads department and should not be left up to members of the public.
Linda Flint mentioned the ongoing issue noise caused by the Seagulls nesting near Miller Street and John Lang Street.
Cllr Caldwell reminded JCC that Seagulls and all birds are protected by law.
Linda asked if cameras could be installed outside the Johnstone Recycling site to prevent the issue of fly-tipping, help catch those who fly-tip and lead to them being issued with a fixed penalty.
Cllr McMillan stated he would find out if there are cameras there and if these are working.
Sheila King asked what we can do to market Johnstone Community Council and increase awareness.
Several suggestions were made including:
Send out press releases
Deliver/post leaflets
Displays issues on noticeboards in the town
Set up a stand in the Town Hall
Create and manage a JCC Facebook page
Keep the website up to date
The Roads group has not started up again but if any issues do arise in this area, please email Linda Flint for reporting.
Safety Committee
Ron E – Received an email from Cllr Doig regarding the problems with disabled parking spaces. He is looking into the possibility of changing one of the taxi ranks in Johnstone to parking spaces which will include disabled spaces.
Town Centre Strategy Plan
There are ongoing problems in John Lang Street and in Springfield Park around parking on yellow lines and on corners. The Highway Code advises against parking on a corner but this is not an offence and you cannot be prosecuted for doing so. However you can be prosecuted for parking on a double yellow line. JCC requested that the Council paint double yellow lines on all major corners in Johnstone.
Cllr Hood stated that this would have to go through a traffic order process which can be lengthy.
Planning Group
A consultation document has been submitted to the Council including the issue of derelict building on entry to Johnstone from Morrisons.
Play Park and Youth Issues
George K suggested this is removed from future agendas. The refurbishment is now complete and is coming along nicely. It was suggested that this group could take an interest in the Friends of Thomas Shanks Park group set up by Wilma Dean.
Janine Mckenna asked if the Council could improve lighting in Shanks Park as it can be very dark and possibly unsafe as a result.
Cllr McMillan agreed this is something that the Council could look to improve on.
AOCB
The Remembrance Sunday Memorial Service will take place on Sunday 8th November. The Church service is being led by St Margaret’s this year from 10.45am. The service will take place in Johnstone Square thereafter.
Ron E displayed the wreath to be laid on behalf of JCC. Janine Mckenna agreed to lay the wreath on behalf of the Community Council.
Next Meeting
10th December, Marriage Suite, Johnstone Town Hall, 7pm.