MEETING
27-04-04

PRESENT
R.Robinson, A.Scobbie, R.Lee, A.Irvine, L.McLean, J.McCarry, D.McCarry.

IN ATTENDANCE
Brian Fearon Clacks Councillor, P.C. Steven Lapsley, Jackie Leeds, Clacks Council.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
The Chairman welcome everybody especially new Community Police Officer Steven Lapsley to the meeting, there were no apologies
.
PC Lapsley`s REPORT
It was with some regret that the Community Council was informed that P.C. Holden had received a promotional move to Alloa also that inspector Malcolm Millar retired and had been replaced by Gordon Millar at Tullibody, and that the Tullibody office will hopefully be manned with 3 officers 24 /7and we were happy to welcome P.C. Steve Lapsley to the meeting with his new and enthusiastic approach to the youth problems in Tullibody
51 undetected crimes and 81 detected crimes in the area over the last month
P.C. Lapsley had noted that the majority of incidents had occurred in the Braes and Banchory area and was going to try and concentrate on these areas, as well as the Tron Shopping Centre. They had made inroads on these youth gatherings last weekend by systematically moving the youths from the Tron, they then move to the new play area at the Delph and then moved on again although this tactic was successful P.C. Lapsley was not wanting to push the youths underground where he could not monitor them for their own safety.
He also took the time to inform us that there was a mobile police office at his disposal which could be put in place at strategic positions in the community to help for easier access for the elderly or isolated parts of the community, ie glenochil, cambus or even the Braes .He was at the precise moment taking an HGV license course to enable him to drive the unit.
P.C.Lapsley also told us about the curfew scheme running in the Clacks area where offenders are put on a curfew and cannot be out and about after a certain hour at night, although he could not name individuals he informed us that any information concerning residents worried about offenders in the community breaking these curfews would be investigated if reported, and cited a case in menstrie when the residents informed of an assault happening concerning 7 youths, 3 out of the 7 youths were lifted for breaking their curfew and were subsequently arrested for a curfew violation and if they continued to violate their curfew could at the worst face 110 days in prison and he hoped that the residents of Tullibody would be as vigilant if known offenders are breaking their curfews .
The £300 vandalism at St Serfs Primary School was quickly detected with the help of the vigilance of the local residents who quickly informed the police of the vandalism as soon as possible
We are happy that the community Wardens scheme will be up and running soon, they are in place and only await their official job description and powers.
The Chairman thanked P.C. Lapsley for his report and wished him success in his new position as Tullibody Community police officer.

JACKIE LEEDS
Jackie was pleased to report that the work at the Delph Pond was under way and she informed the Council that the debris that was left at the site would be cleared and the permanent fencing would be in place as soon as possible.
The rubbish bins and the dog poo bins at newmills will be erected as soon as possible. The new lollipop lady for the Cross was progressing to the interview and police check stage and should be resolved as soon as possible.
Jackie was asked if it was true that the £87 disturbance allowance for those getting new Kitchens was being withheld from those with rent And Council Tax arrears and put towards these arrears she replied she would find out if true or not.
Donna McCarry brought up the dissatisfaction she feels about the cleaning of the close and the general cleanliness of the area around her flat and she feels she herself is fighting a losing battle to keep her close tidy without the backing of the authorities to ensure other tenants pull their weight.
The state of the garages at Newmills was also brought to the meetings attention since some are in a state of neglect. It was also commented that on Friday P.C.Lapsley was policing in the tron area that a large group of youths were congregating at one of the block at Newmills and the police from outside the village had to deal with the situation.

Brian Fearon`s report
In reply to L.Gow question at the last meeting there has been no decision concerning extra cost for traders on the new recycling bins.
The old Tullis grounds are now up for new housing development
It is hoped that the disused Jaeger factory at the outskirt of Alloa and Tullibody will be develop into a recreation facility which the children of the surrounding area will be given access to, thus giving them an incentive to keep off the streets.
The new policy for improving the housing stock i.e. new kitchens and such is still ongoing
L.Mclean asked about the council policy of withholding the £87 redecorating grant from tenants who have had their Kitchens done if the tenants is in rent or council tax arrears and she commented that surely rents were for the upkeep of the housing stock and the Community tax was for services and they should be look on separately and arrears kept separately when using it as a incentive for paying arrears, she was informed that the money was not withheld but was put towards their arrears but it would be looked into if the two are to be looked on seperately.
The Tullibody by pass is still moving along slow but sure
RE- health worries about mobile phone mast at top of the braes in Tullibody the Government guidelines seem to indicate that there is more to worry about the actual mobile phone at the recipients end than the emissions at the transmitter end
Councillor Fearon also reminded us that he and the other councillors in Tullibody are still committed to the installation of CCTV and are hoping for a satisfactory outcome to their efforts towards this goal. He agreed with P.C. Lapsley that they did not want to drive the underage drinking youths of Tullibody underground where no supervision would be possible and hope other methods being brought to the community would help the situation.
The chair thanked Councillor Fearon for his attendance and his report.

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

The minutes were handed out and read they were then Proposed by L.McLean and seconded by A.Scobbie.


MATTERS ARISING

The new Community Wing at Banchory Primary School is going to take 4-5 weeks longer than first thought; there were still some worries about the legality of us running the lets at the wing. Booking for school facilities and lets will be at Lime Tree House.
The Aug meeting will be transferred to Abercrombie School with the letting charge to be waived for the inconvenience.

SECRETARYS CORRESPONDENCE

Letter from NHS forth valley with a list of board membership
Elspeth Awood Euro M.P.
Memo for the next Joint Community meeting
Since Linda’s computer was down no E-Mails

TREASURERS REPORT

The Treasurer was absent so no report this month.

A.O.C.B.

The secretary brought up the issue of the maintenance of the computers she has had difficulty with her Internet connection she phoned both A. littlejohn at the council and Dacoll who have the maintenance contract but was informed that the dell warranty would deal with it their troubles shooters tried to fix it over the phone without any luck and after a considerable waste of time decided to try A.Littlejohn who promptly got the Dacoll engineers to come out between 9.30am-2.00pm mon they came tues then after their efforts blamed the phone line connections but then these were found to be alright so arranged to take away the broken computer A.Littlejohn was to inform Dacoll that a substitute computer was needed and this was to be delivered by Wed the 28th of April.
A.Scobbie who was liaison to the Landscaping group at the Delph pond development informed the meeting that there were going to be more paths to the play area from Westveiw side. He had informed Ian Duguid and Mike Nichol that he was not happy about the spectator side of the new outdoor football and basketball area since it faced the main road going up to the new housing estate and there was a real danger of children chasing their balls on to this road and thought it would be safer if a secondary fence could be erected at the back of the spectator area thus completely enclosing the football area
Jim Preston from Persimmon Homes indicated that they were happy to assist with improvements to the Delph pond area perhaps supplying plants and equipment or such like.
Ian Duguid from the Clackmannan Council Planning Department to contact the Ranger Service to clarify any priority work.

WAR MEMORIAL UPDATE

The chairman stated that Ian Ramsay (clacks council) had a costing done on the project of using natural sandstone paving blocks which would have carved lettered inscriptions, i.e. the rank, name and regiment of each individual serviceman, there would be one sandstone block for each serviceman killed in war and other conflicts, it will cost £10 per letter this will be the costly procedure with the carving of the letters taking up most of the cost of the project which will be between £32K and £35K. The chairman had asked for the area around the memorial to be drained before work starts on the project, Clacks council will check this out as soon as possible as they are busy with the Tullibody bypass at the moment. He will check to see if the new drainage system can be joined to the existing system and if not the paving stones and area surrounding the Haer stone will have to be lifted 6 inches which should not cause a problem also the work to be done to the Haer stone itself which will consist of pinning the main cracks together to stabilise the stone, (cost £1800) also the existing cracks to be filled (cost £2500). The chairman will find out if we can get permission from the families of the most recent casualty of the Iraqi war and the casualty in Ireland to be included in the War Memorial and get back to us with a new estimate.
The Chairman proposed to start off the War Memorial fund by the Community Council donating £500 this was seconded by D.McCarry and supported by the whole council members present.

There being no other business the chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting and closed the meeting.



DATE OF NEXT MEETING 25-05-04