North Kelvin Community Council Minutes

Wednesday 16 September 2009 at 6.30pm

St. Charles School

Present: Mark Adams (MA) (Chair); Janet Andrews (JA); Dave Beavan (DB) (Website & Library); Kevin Edgar (KE) (Treasurer); Dorothy Gow (DG); Susie Hallas (SH); Councillor Jim MacKechnie (JM); Kirsty Davidson (KD) (Minute Secretary)

In attendance: Ken Andrew (KA); Gordon Barnes (GB); Karen Chung (KC) (Treasurer, North Kelvin Meadow Campaign); Jane Morgan (JM); Emma Nicol (EN); Douglas Peacock (DP) (Chairman, North Kelvin Meadow Campaign); Kate Wooding (KW); Graham White (GW)

Apologies: Eddie Devlin (ED); Liz Edgar (LE); PC Gerard Christie (GC)

Welcome

MA thanked everyone for attending the last meeting before the Community Council elections and his last meeting as Chair and a member of the Community Council.

Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising

MA reported there were two minor corrections to the draft minutes previously circulated. After making these changes, the minutes of the August meeting were approved by MA and seconded by SH.

Police Report

GC had sent his apologies, so no report was given.

Councillor’s Report

JM reported that he had looked into the issue of street sweeping on Lothian Gardens raised at the last meeting. JM said there is an issue with parked cars on Lothian Gardens, so a manual brush should be used to sweep the street once a week, but it transpires this has not been happening. JM said he had visited the street today and it had been cleaned, he said if the problem reoccurs then he will look into the matter again.

JM said he had investigated the problem with accumulated rubbish at 93 Oban Drive and it turns out there were four missing bin lids, so the bins were full of water. As a result the bin men had only been taking rubbish from the bins with lids. JM has arranged for the accumulated rubbish to be uplifted and the area to be serviced in an appropriate manner.

JM said he had again looked into the bin men leaving close doors unlocked up Oban Drive. JM reported that the supervisor had spoken to the squad responsible and vigorous action would be taken if this happens again. KE said the doors had been left open this morning.

Action: JM to take a note of KE’s address and report back to the supervisor.

JM said he had spoken to the Road Section about Oban Passage and work has now commenced with the resurfacing, with a completion date of 2 October.

Treasurer’s Report

KE reported the account balance is £921.62, with three cheques outstanding.

Information – website

DB said the website figures are going from strength to strength. The page views for the previous few months were – 774 May; 859 June; 904 July and 1290 August. DB noted that visitors to the website are interested in the previous minutes and particular issues such as Aspire or the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign.

Communications and correspondence

MA said the only correspondence he had received was information about the upcoming Community Council elections. Community Council members confirmed they had received this information and DB said it was up on the website as well.

HMO Petition

GW provided an update on the HMO petition issue discussed at the previous meeting. The petition went live on the Scottish Parliament website on 3 September and will close on 25 September. GW said all Councillors and MSP’s had been written to, but not many had responded, JM confirmed there was no reason why Councillors cannot sign the petition.

JM said he gets notified of every HMO licence request and contacts planning to see if there is planning consent. If there is no planning consent then he asks for an investigation to be carried out.

GW said he was happy to sign up on behalf of other people if they do not have access to a computer, as this is permitted.

North Kelvin Meadow Campaign Presentation

MA welcomed KC and DP to the meeting.

DP explained that the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign had started a year ago to campaign for the former Clouston Street playing fields to be turned into a green space rather than have the land sold off for flats. DP said the local community have got together to clean up the litter on the derelict site and construct and plant raised beds. DP said they had also put a door on the old brick storehouse, so it can be used to store tools.

DP said community spirit had been created and there was a lot of support for the cause. The issue has been raised in Holyrood and the online petition has 700 signatures and continues to increase everyday. There are 200 members of the Campaign including two Canal ward councillors and four MSP’s.

DP acknowledges the upgrading of the North Kelvinside football pitches is linked to the sale of the former Clouston Street playing fields, but wishes this was not the case, and each site could be considered independently on its own merits. MA explained that the upgrading of the pitches is not just about football; there will be other things on site such as a running track, gym, community meeting room etc.

JM explained that Sport Scotland have stipulated that the local area must be provided with sports facilities. Plans were made to locate this at Clouston Street, but ultimately this could not go ahead. If a sports facility is not built on this site, then there must be a compensatory sports facility nearby, which is the case in this situation. The Clouston Street land is to be sold, with a portion of the proceeds going towards upgrading the North Kelvinside football pitches.

JM said the Council made the decision to sell the former Clouston Street playing fields site in July 2008, before the North Kelvin Meadow Campaign was established. JM said they had the right idea, but it is the wrong site, as there would be legal repercussions if the decision to sell the site were not followed through.

JM said the Council were currently in the process of exchanging missives and the next step would be for the developer to conduct exploratory drilling on site.

AOCB

JM thanked MA, saying he had done a great job and would be sadly missed, everyone agreed.

JA said the Bigman Festival was taking place on Sunday from 11am-4pm at Maryhill Locks.

Next meeting: Elections – 21 October 2009 @ 6.30pm, St. Charles School