1

Minutes of the Helmsdale and District Community Council Meeting held in the Community Centre

Thursday 3rd February 2011

Present Evelyn MacKenzie (Chairman) Elizabeth Fraser (Vice Chairman) Edward MacKay (Vice Chairman) Garry MacMillan (Treasurer) Ann Houghton (Secretary) Stan Amey Malcolm Bromley Margaret Cairns Annie Cowie Rosemary Findlay Roz Shorrock Lorna Smith Christine Sutherland Pete Carson (Local Development Officer) Cllr Deirdre Mackay Apologies were made from Malcolm Bromley and Margaret Cairns for non attendance at the December meeting. Police Report The police representative this month was PC Richard Douglas. He reported that there had been 33 incidents reported this month but only 2 crimes both had been dealt with. There had been and incident not connected with Helmsdale where a suspect was taken off a train at Helmsdale Station. The A9 had been closed at some point due to the bad weather but only for a short time. PC Douglas was asked how a decision was made to close a road. He said it was consultation between the Council and Police on the grounds and reports of road safety. Roz Shorrock commented that the Strath Road had been closed long after it was safely cleared and that was because the road closed signs had not been removed. PC Douglas said that it was probably because someone had forgotten to take the signs down which didn’t often happen it was just an oversight on a very busy day. PC Douglas asked if there were any issues for the police. Garry MacMillan raised the matter of parking at the harbour. PC Douglas said that as long as the lorries were parked within the lorry parking area there was no problem. PC Douglas could understand that lorries had to park up due to tacograph limitations. The police had been in touch with the Highland Council on the parking at the harbour and had been informed that the HC was looking into the matter of realigning the white parking lines at the harbour. Elizabeth Fraser asked if the secretary had sent a recorded delivery to the department concerned as agreed at the last meeting. The secretary had not sent the recorded letter and explained that by the time she had found out who dealt with the matter it was easier to speak to Mr Simon Young and define what the problem was. Mr Young had agreed to investigate and confer with colleagues and advise the

2

secretary by post on the final outcome. He had said in the meantime he could not see any problems as the matter had been reported to him also by the police. If work was to be done it would be in the summer. PC Douglas said that this was his under standing too. Elizabeth Fraser wanted the recorded delivery sent to make sure there was written correspondence on the matter. Approval of the Minutes The Minutes of the last meeting were approved as a true record. They were proposed by Garry MacMillan and seconded by Christine Sutherland. Matters arising from the Minutes The Chairman and secretary had both received a letter from the Energy Saving Trust to say that due to the stronger that expected response the Highland Council has asked the Trust to suspend the marketing and promotion of Act now – warm up your winter campaign. All the other services would remain unaffected and the suspension only applied to the free insulation. The Chairman had telephoned the advice line soon after Alan Grants attendance at the meeting and could not get through. Roz Shorrock too was very disappointed with the reception she received when calling the advice line and found the call centre operators very unhelpful. Pete Carson had quite the opposite reception and found the staff very polite and helpful. The secretary too had found them helpful and on receipt of the letter had telephoned Alan Grant who confirmed the scheme had only been suspended for a while and 71 residents in Helmsdale had already applied and been accepted onto the scheme. Elizabeth Fraser wished to clarify the persistent problem at the War Memorial. The problem is that the clock face facing the river rusts up on a regular basis. Elizabeth Fraser- the sand placed near the church for use in the bad weather had been dropped off and then removed because there had been a complaint by a local that it blocked the footpath. Roz Shorrock – have we had any answer as to why the trains were taken off the Thurso link and used on the Glasgow line. Evelyn had written to Jamie Stone but as yet had received no reply. This could be because of the disruption of mail in the bad weather. The secretary read out an email from Stephen MacKenzie of Brora Police. It read as follows Myself and my colleague went to Golf Road after we left the meeting tonight and once again we see no issues with the vehicle that is parked there. The problem as I see it is vehicles are travelling at higher speeds that the speed limit then they are causing a danger. If this is the case then the issue would obviously be with speeding and not parking and would need to be dealt with as such. I hope that all makes sense and if the Community Council feels that there is an issue with speeders, then please let me know and we will have checks/enforcement carried out in the area. Also if there is any relevant times please advise of same.

3

Malcolm Bromley advised that he had previously had problems at that part of the road and the Chairman pointed out that this was why it was raised at the last meeting. Treasurer’s Report Community Council Account £614.19 Christmas Light Account £801.27 Elizabeth Fraser handed over a donation envelope, for the Christmas Light fund, from McColls which she received in December. Gordonbush Windfarm The Chairman and Pete Carson had attended meetings to sort out funding. The Chairman asked if Pete would give a report on how he saw things progressing. There have been two meetings of the joint community group (Rogart, Golspie, Brora and Helmsdale) with Scottish Community Foundation (SCF). Scottish Southern Energy (SSE) has not attended these meetings. The discussions have mainly centred around whether or not the Communities would prefer a ‘one pot’ fund, where all the money from SSE will be put into one pot and all the community groups will submit applications to a Panel set up from the Communities (three from each Community) or a percentage share-out at the start of each year. At these meetings Helmsdale has always pushed for a percentage share out so that each Community would be given their agreed percentage of the total at the start of the year and that community would decide what to spend that money on. However as this would mean each community would have to administer and control their own fund – within the guidelines set down by SSE – the other three Communities, who do not yet have a Development Officer, felt that is was unfair to expect volunteers to give up yet more time and they would prefer one pot with SCF doing all the admin work. The Community Council unanimously agreed that Helmsdale would prefer a share out at the start of each year. That will be taken back to the next meeting with SCF, it was suggested that SSE, should be asked to attend the next meeting. The chairman handed out to each member of the CC present a copy of a paper on the ‘Benefits of a single joint fund and a single joint Panel’ for them to peruse. It was agreed unfair to accept this until information was available on the alternative ‘Shared percentage’ scheme. Comments and questions from the CC What is the projected amount – Pete £144,000 maybe more index linked Stan Amey which index link – Pete RPI (Retail Price Index) Evelyn MacKenzie said that Helmsdale Community has always been known to be fighters for what they are entitled to and has shown great strength and knowledge in deciding where any fund could be spent wisely for the benefit of the whole community. Helmsdale has the experience from prior Community Grants.

4

Stan Amey it should be left to the Community to decide on how to spend the money as it knows the main priorities and the panel may not agree. Malcolm Bromley - how far down the line are we talking about receiving funding – Pete – as early as April. Pete – had thought that instead of S.C.F , V.E.G.A.S. who are a charitable company could do the admin for the other Communities – but S.S.E insist that SCF do it the local secretarial work, such as booking meeting venues, minutes etc could be done by VEGAS. Pete thought costs could be in the area of £800 per annum. Stan Amey – is the decision of the Panel final. Pete – yes there is no appeal but anyone can reapply. Rosemary – how is the CC’s group made up? Pete – it is suggested 3 from each community made up from 2 nominated by the CC and 1 from Community but has to be decided later in the day. Development Group Report Open Day – an Open Day is planned for Saturday 19th February 1.30pm until 3.30pm. It will be held in the Community Centre Hall. The idea is that there will be tables with someone from each project available to chat to attendees and also the Members of the Helmsdale and District Development Group (HDDG) will be there. This is hopefully to avoid any “nobody asked me “or “nobody told me” at a later date. There are to be advertisements in the local paper and notices in the shops, Service Point, Community Centre and Notice Boards. Mike Ellis’s Course has now been adopted by Open College Network and this Course is now on their syllabus. It is the only course in Scotland. Pete had walked some of the paths in the village with Annie Cowie and Margaret Cairns together with Matt Dent. Malcolm Bromley asked if they had gone down the St Johns Well Path? Pete said they had been down there it had been checked with Archaeological Society and is not a protected well. Pete also raised the matter of registering interest on pieces of land in the area which at some point the Community may wish to purchase on the Right to Buy scheme. Stan Amey enquired what this entailed? Pete- It means when a piece of land comes up for sale if the community has registered and interest in that land then they have to be notified that this is up for sale there is no commitment to buy it is just a registered interest. Elizabeth Fraser’s father was the District Clerk and he had on his wall a list of who owned which pieces of land. She iterated again the appalling mess with documents all over the place when the last registry was vacated. She thought some of the documents were lodged with Mr Bob Humble. It was suggested that the papers may now be lodged in Edinburgh. It was agreed that Pete and Elizabeth liaise on this matter.

5

Ward Forum The Chairman is unable to attend a Ward Forum meeting on 8th February in Dronish and asked if anyone could attend. Cllr Mackay would be at the meeting and has promised to raise a few items on behalf of the CC. As Winter Maintenance will be the subject of the Forum it was agreed Cllr Mackay would raise the issues of poor state of the road from Kinbrace to Altnaharra, The close of the depot in Helmsdale and the wastage of time and money for workmen to travel to Brora and back to pick up for meetings (when telephone could be used) and to pick up vehicles that could be parked in Helmsdale. Elizabeth Fraser confirmed that no-one was criticising the workmen just the bad organisation by management. It was agreed the secretary would write a letter to Mr Garry Coutts the Chairman of NHS Highland in Inverness to enquire what are the guidelines concerning calling ambulances. This arose because of concerns by the CC and the community over the number of accidents where there is no medical help other than to call and ambulance. Minor accidents are to go to Golspie but what does constitute a minor accident. A lady fell in the Community Centre and broke some bones her husband had to transport her to Golspie who then referred her to Raigmore. This was the second accident I the village. Another lady fell and cut her head she was advised to call and ambulance. The CC feel that as used to be the case the first instance should be that a doctor examine the patient and then correct diagnosis would be obtained. The concerns are that an ambulance is called when not necessary diverting it from other calls that may need an ambulance. The CC would like to know who should decide what is minor or major injury and should a patient be moved? Christine Sutherland asked who could decide if the patient was concussed? Dr Woodall had transport that held equipment to deal with accidents what happened to that? Malcolm Bromley said could not accidents attend the surgery on the daily appointment system set up where some appointments available to book on the day? Garry MacMillan had to wait over a week for an appointment. Edward had heard that patients from Brora had to attend Helmsdale because there were no appointments available in Brora. Community Council Elections The Community Council elections are due in May. There is a new directive from the Highland Council and it may be that the elections will be held later in the year. The secretary will speak with Phil Tomalin the Ward Manger and get clarification on the matter. Councillors Report Highland Council budget review – the Service Point and Library have been retained Timespan funding will be reduced by 15% Classroom assistants – the matter is still under review and a suggestion that £10,000 be drawn from each ward budget to cover the cost is to be submitted. The Chairman

6

thought that this would lead to loss of teachers. We were told that the elderly and young would not be affected by cuts. The rowing club has been awarded £4700 from the Ward Budget to support start up costs. Highland Council/NHS – radical shift I provision and delivery of Services for Older People. There is a computer Recycling Scheme for voluntary organisations Mike Willmot the Cllr has met with officers from Planning to see what could be done to progress a meeting has been arranged, for 18th February, between Mr Willmot, the planners and Nick Lindsay (Roads). Armistice Day – Officers and men from HMS Sutherland attended parades in Dornoch, Golspie and Brora. There was an evening reception and meal in Golspie and in consultation with the British Legion Cllr Mackay attended and took Mr Sandy Cowie as her guest. Broadband – Race to Infinity seems to be the best option but requires 75% of population to sign up. Cllr Mackay consulted the Chairman about sand needed for a lady in Kinbrace. The Ward Forum in Dornoch will be attended by Campbell Stewart the Area Manager and Cllr Mackay will raise questions on behalf of the CC especially raising the concerns over the closure of the depot. Pavement Clearing – the small plough is shared with Brora. Golspie and Dronish share another. They are too big for some of the pavements. In addition the grit froze due to the extremely low temperatures. To cope with the severity of the weather TECS would have required double the number of machines. A suggestion has been made that use of Community Service people to clear pavements and maybe the younger members of the community to help clear for older generation. The CC all agreed that this would be a good idea. Perhaps this could be pursued through the High School on the Rural Skills project. This is the second severe winter – is it part of a 10 year cycle or part of a longer term trend? It has to be carefully assessed as could mean significant investment in plant. Cllr Mackay said that only 3 years ago the winters had been so mild that some Cllrs wanted to look at reducing the winter maintenance budget. A.O.B. Ann Houghton – New bus routes were being discussed by Stage Coach and one of the suggestions is that the on the Thurso to Inverness route Tain could be missed out to save journey time. Some members of the community thought this would be good because of the difficulty in catching a bus back from Inverness for passengers north of Tain. Due to the numbers of passengers for Tain, who do have a regular service apart from the X99, it can be difficult to get a seat on the bus required from Inverness. Rosemary Findlay –The Glebe Road sign that was taken down from a house that was being harled has not been replaced. Secretary to report There is large pothole in the road outside the school – secretary will report There is concern that the payment facility machine for the Service Point has not arrived yet. Secretary to enquire.

7

Stan – could we show some appreciation of the retiring Postmistress? It was agreed that perhaps plants for the garden would be nice. Secretary to action Elizabeth Fraser – Has received complaints about the Post Office being closed in the bad weather The Community Council wanted to give a big thank you to Garry and Edward and the Lights Committee for the hard work on the Christmas Light display and the whole of the CC members agreed. Elizbeth:There are still a lot of unresolved matters which includes, audiology and chest clinic being moved from Golspie Hospital, the marking of yellow lines in the village, and the Old Distillery Site to name a few. Would like to confirm that a letter would be written to Garry Coutts at NHS Highland. Evelyn MacKenzie – There are now to be at least twelve heavy logging lorries a day using the road through Kinbrace and still there is no safe path for pedestrians. A path had been promised a long time ago and funding had been allocated but as yet there is no path. A path would be required to run from the school to the level crossing for the sake of safety in the village. There was not business from the public. The meeting closed at 9.45pm The next meeting will be on Thursday 3rd March at 7.30pm in the Community Centre.