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Merchiston Community Council meeting Tuesday
October 20th 2009 7pm at Polwarth Parish Church Hall, Polwarth
Terrace. In attendance: Bridget Stevens Chair
MCC Frances Hawarden Treasurer Jenny Mackenzie Minute
taker Robin Morris MCC
Licensing Cllr Gordon Buchan CEC
(Cons) for Election of Office Bearers only Bob Rendall Eric
Liddell Centre Paul Swan CEC,
South Neighbourhood Amie Fulton Resident,
Shandon Local Food Group James Geekie MCC Kay Smith MCC John Lennie MCC Ian Clement MCC
Eva Tombs MCC Ed Bewsher MCC
Helena Scott MCC Beccy Brooks MCC Ann Craig MCC Lucy Turnbull MCC Ian Bouchier Resident Bob Bierley Resident Pamela Gun Resident
Malah Gun Resident Audrey Simon Resident Tricia McLuckie Resident
Elizabeth Baillie Resident
Jeff Middlecote Resident Hilary Middlecote Resident John Forsyth Resident
Steve Gilligan Resident, Friends of John Summers Resident Sam Booth Resident Jim Brenan Resident
Ian Hargreaves Resident Sean Fuller Resident Val Hope Resident Robert Edington Resident Chairman’s welcome Chair welcomed all to the meeting and moved Item 1 of the Business Meeting, Election of Officers to the top of
the agenda, to allow Cllr Buchan to attend a NP meeting. Business Meeting.
Cllr Buchan: There were 16 valid
nominations. These have been validated
and agreed. They are: Ann Royden, Frances Hawarden, Bridget Stevens, Robin Morris,
Elizabeth Lucy Turnbull, Jim Geekie, John Lennie, Alex Orr, Mairianna Clyde, No more than 16 nominations, so
an election was not required. Election of office
bearers: Nominated as Vice-chair: Mairianna Clyde by
Ian Clement, seconded by Bridget Stevens. Secretary: Ann Royden by Robin
Morris, seconded by John Lennie. Treasurer: Frances Hawarden by Bridget Stevens, seconded by Kay Smith. There are three nominated and approved local interest groups: Eric Liddell Centre: represented by Bob Rendall Merchiston and Polwarth Neighbourhood Watch: represented by Ian Doig Shandon Local Food Group: represented by Gavin Corbett There are two associate members: William Mykura, an expert in Transport Studies from Helen Zealley, a retired doctor, who would advise MCC on health issues. Cllr Buchan concluded his duty as returning officer and apologized for
having to leave the meeting. Bridget
Stevens thanked members for the honour of being elected Chair and introduced
the speaker for the evening. 2. Presentation:
Christine Donnelly, Development Manager for Waterways Trust Scotland
(WTS), gave a Presentation – Improving
Access to Ms. Donnelly emphasized that proposals for Harrison Park Green Access
are at present ‘no more than an idea’ and nothing will be implemented without
full community consultation. WTS, which is the charity arm of British Waterways, has carried out a
number of successful projects of a similar nature. In Working with Glasgow City Council, the Trust is teaching water safety
and already almost 2,000 children have participated – there are currently more
deaths by drowning in The plan proposed for Christine Donnelly would be happy to come along and speak to any special
meeting with local residents that MCC might want to organize. Member of the FHP Management Committee, Kay Smith, pointed
out that in the past FHP had asked for improved disabled access from She also said that the long standing issue of poor drainage
in the extreme corner of
3. Apologies for
Absence Cllr Andrew Burns (Lab) Cllr Mark McInnes (Cons) Ian Doig Ann Royden Mairianna Clyde Gavin Corbett (retrospectively) P.C. Alan Hopper 4. Minutes of the last meeting
(20th September) and Matters Arising. Spelling corrections on pages: 3. – Merchiston CC 4. – Clement 5. ‘conversion’ to flats. 6. Cockburn. Minutes approved by Ian Clement, seconded by Kay Smith. Matters Arising. Page 4 re Development Proposal for Slateford Road/Flower Colonies. As agreed, the Chair has written to the CEC Director of Development asking
to see a final version of the plans, but has not received a response. Page 5. Reported harassment of
George Watson students was investigated by PC Hopper and by a local resident
who is a member of GWC staff. The
problem does not appear to have been as serious as first reported. Page 5. Re HMO
notifications: A request was made that
notifications be emailed to CCs one week beforehand as statutory
consultees. (Ward councilors receive a
similar notification.) Cllr Lowrie
committed to reporting back to MCC about this issue at the next meeting. No response from him so far. 4. Sub-groups and responsibilities (See attached proposed list) The Chair noted that there are more than a dozen official committees on
which MCC is represented and around twenty group tasks/responsibilities which
have to be taken care of in order for MCC to function efficiently. All members had been asked to contribute and
a final list would be drawn up shortly.
One new group is proposed to ascertain views on local issues of importance. Lucy Turnbull, Ed Bewsher, Ian Doig and
Helena Scott would be interested in involvement in this group. The Chair said that more contact with constituents would be good. Up to 20 emails are received from the public
each week. In addition to electronic
means, publicity could be given to MCC activity by leafleting the Eric Liddell
lunch club, in libraries, doctors’ surgeries and local churches. The chair requested and received MCC approval for signature to the CEC
constitution. Robin Morris enquired
about the Code of Conduct. This is
provided as a guide for good practice and to ensure good governance and
participation by all members. 5. Chair’s Report (See
attached). Almost £80,000 is still available within the SCNP Community Grants Fund
and a separate amount within the SWNP Fund, with a maximum of £5,000 to be bid
for by appropriate organisations. The
money must be spent within six months. MCC’s
noticeboards project was now complete and a report would be sent to CEC. One item for future consideration could be a disabled access ramp for
the North Merchiston Club. A bid would
be sent via the South West Neighbourhood Partnership (SWNP). There were no Ward Councillor
Reports. MCC ‘deeply regretted’ that there were no reports and no CEC councillors
present. There was no Police Report. (Note –
PC Hopper was in touch later to say he had been off sick) There was no report on Transport.
Plannning &
Licensing An application has been made for a change of use a building in
Leamington Terrace, from a care home to a budget hotel. Ed Bewsher will write a retrospective
confirmation that the letter of objection he wrote was in fact sent on behalf
of MCC. Robin Morris said that it is very important that MCC knows when such
applications are coming to the CEC Planning Committee. The CC needs both early notification and an
indication of how the committee is “minded” to treat the application. Often the community is not aware of
applications until it is almost too late to respond. Individual planning applications are rarely
big enough to attract comment from the local community. If there is concern, the CC needs to be aware
fairly quickly. There are not that many
in which the CC becomes very involved.
But vigilance is always required to ensure prompt response if necessary.
All applications have a code number.
Important to emphasize that all applications are available online. It is easy to find the applications and
decisions on the Weekly List. Members
of the CEC Planning group scan the weekly list and will raise anything of
concern. MCC must however be led by the
representations made to it from the community. In Treasurer’s Report Frances Hawarden presented a predicted budget sheet for 2009-10. Opening cash on hand for October is £890 –
predicted end of year balance is £69. Four months ago free photocopying at local libraries was made available
to CCs for genuine CC business – much appreciated. CC grants are based on per capita formula. Bigger CC areas have bigger grants. The last Christmas event was held at no cost to MCC as some sponsorship
had been received. (This had entailed
quite a bit of work.) The lights were
paid for by CEC. AOB and Public
Question Time 1. Lucy Turnbull has requested that consideration of a pro-forma be
included on the agenda for the next meeting.
The pro-forma would be used to highlight who MCC is engaging with. Jim Geekie noted that he has worked to encourage interest from those in
the Gorgie/Dalry area without success. A
query was raised about the The Chair said that people tend to attend meetings when there is an
issue of local concern to them, relevant to their area. She also noted that MCC can only raise issues
that are more than just one person’s concern.
Kay Smith acknowledged this to be the case, noting that she had obtained
scores of signatures to a petition requesting some sort of CEC sanctions
against messy front gardens. She would
welcome more comments and support. 2. Consultations requiring responses: Commercial Frontages: http://cpol.edinburgh.gov.uk/getdoc_ext.asp?DocId=131435 Closing date for comments – 23rd November. Gardens & Designed Landscapes: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/Council/CEC_have_your_say Closing date for submissions – 25th October (extended to 5th November). Kay Smith requests comments to contribute to the MCC response to the following consultation on High Hedges. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/08/14122714/14 3. Lucy Turnbull asked for consideration of meeting venues to be added
to the next agenda. This would be
discussed at the next Agenda meeting. 4. The Meadows Festival AGM will be held on 12th November at
7.30. 5. The Chair noted that she had written to MP Nigel Griffiths complaining
about his use of her name, without permission, in a letter he had sent to constituents,
and had received an unhelpful response.
7. Next Meeting: This will be held on Tuesday 17th November 2009 at Merchiston Tennis and Bowling Club, Polwarth Terrace. (Robin Morris submits his apology for non-attendance to this meeting in
advance.) |
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