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Minutes of Meeting of Cleish & Blairadam Community Council
7:30pm, 22nd April 2024 – Keltybridge Tabernacle Hall
Present:
- Fran Principe-Gillespie
- Margaret Traylor
- Charles MacLaren
- Sean Gordon
- Cllr Willie Robertson
Apologies:
- Fred Whalley
- Cllr Neil Freshwater
- Cllr Richard Watters
- Cllr Dave Cuthbert
- PC Samson
Previous CC Meeting
Matters Arising
None
Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
Crime Prevention & Police Report
Vandalism of Road Signs
The police are aware of road signs in Cleish being vandalised and have shared the information with other officers in the Kinross area to bring to their attention during routine patrols.
Crime Update
20/03/24 – Vandalism (Bus Stop, Benarty Road) – Subject to a live investigation
Traffic Update
Community officers are aware of regular areas where there are complaints about speeding in and around Cleish and Blairadam. These have all been added to their speeding matrix and they will continue to make efforts to carry out speed checks across the area during their patrols.
Community Pay-Back
Cllr W. Robertson agreed to contact the Justice Department to see about getting offenders to remove the graffiti as part of their Community Pay-Back Orders.
Correspondence
Concerns were raised to community councillors by two separate residents regarding speeding vehicles traveling through the Lochran settlement. This concern has been raised with PKC in the past, and the suggestion was made that Lochran should be designated as a settlement and have a 40mph speed limit on that section of the road, however it is understood that PKC is resistant to this idea due to the cost of installing the necessary signage.
Reports were also received of multiple instances of speeding through Gairney Bridge, with cars and vans witnessed travelling above 60mph past the vehicle activated speed signage at the start of the 40mph zone!
On-going concerns expressed about speeding in Keltybridge, with vehicles regularly seen travelling in excess of the 20mph speed limit.
Broadband Update
Blairadam Area
The final phase to connect the remaining 13 properties in the Blairadam area is progressing well, with 6 of the remaining properties already connected. Openreach has committed to complete the remaining work by September this year. When this work is complete Cleish and Blairadam will be one of the best-connected rural areas in Scotland!
Drainage
Cleish
At the previous CC meeting a drainage issue was identified in Cleish main street where a recently repaired gully has stopped draining water and is now flooding, and causing further problems as the road around the gully is eroding. This issue has still not been resolved.
Keltybridge
The gully at the foot of the Dullomuir Farm Road has been repaired by PKC, and now drains correctly. A problem remains in relation to drainage water rising up from below the road at this junction, however this problem is on a private road – although the water does then flow onto and across the public road at times.
Financial Update
Financial balance is £494.51
Planning
Under the new guidance, an objection by the Community Council automatically refers an application to the Planning Committee; otherwise, it requires 6 objections from separate households to refer an application.
Awaiting Decision
- 24/00513/FLL – Extension to dwellinghouse, 4 Middleton Park Keltybridge Kelty KY4 0GZ
- 24/00248/PNA – Erection of an agricultural storage building, Ardgairney Farm Kinross KY13 0LG
- 24/00130/PNA – Erection of an agricultural building, Land 140 Metres South East Of Bonny Brae Cleish Kinross KY13 0LS Cleish
Approved
- 24/00095/LAW – Alterations to dwellinghouse, erection of garage and formation of driveway (proposed), 6 Blairadam Grove Keltybridge Kelty KY4 0JU
- 23/02039/PAA – Erection of an agricultural building, The Willows Blairforge Kelty KY4 0JD
- 23/01655/FLL – Change of use, alterations, and extension to ancillary accommodation to form dwellinghouse, The Flat 6 Main Street Keltybridge Kelty KY4 0JH
Keltybridge
It was noted that the conditions of planning consent for Numbers 29 & 31 Keltybridge have not yet been fulfilled. Specifically in relation to the restoration and re-wilding of the area of land to the North of 31 Keltybridge where a condition was included in the planning consent.
The CC agreed to again write to PKC Planning Enforcement to request that they investigate why the developer has not complied with the conditions in the planning consent.
Windfarm Related
It became apparent at the CC meeting that many of the discussions around the impact of the proposed windfarms have not included details on how these windfarms will be connected to the National Grid to enable them to export the power to be generated. The CC will monitor this and share any information which is available regarding proposed routes of any interconnection power lines.
Tree Felling at Nivingston House
A number of residents of Cleish area have raised concerns to the Community Council about the amount of tree felling which has been occurring at Nivingston House. The Community Council agreed to raise these concerns with Perth & Kinross council, and to investigate any appropriate action given the significance of this building within the landscape, the proximity to a conservation area.
Planning Enforcement
Several concerns were raised in relation to the enforcement of planning decisions, and in particular the lack of enforcement of the planning violations at Blairforge which appears to be leading to the unconstrained growth of a settlement where there are increasing numbers of structures without planning consent.
In addition, concerns were raised about the perceived lack of equal treatment of residents by Perth & Kinross Planning Enforcement. The commonly held view being that Planning Enforcement discriminate against lawful settlements by aggressively pursuing “soft” targets for planning violations while allowing more “difficult” cases like Blairforge to go unchallenged. Such an approach makes a mockery of the planning process in Perth and Kinross where individuals are apparently able to ignore planning regulations with impunity.
Cllr Willie Robertson has referred the Perth and Kinross Planning Enforcement Service to the Council’s Scrutiny Committee.
Local Place Plan
As noted in previous CC meetings, the CC would like to explore the possibility of creating a Local Place Plan for Cleish & Blairadam, to reflect the views of the community on how they would like the community to develop over the coming years. The Local Place Plan is the most effective way that a local community can express their vision for the future of their local area as the council is required to take into account any existing Local Place Plan when looking at planning applications.
The Local Place Plan for Cleish and Blairadam would need to be submitted by September 2024 to be considered as part of the next PKC Local Development Plan which will run from 2027 to 2037.
The Cleish and Blairadam Community Council plan to canvas the local community in the coming months to gauge interest in developing a Local Place Plan for Cleish and Blairadam, and in the meantime if you have an interest in helping develop or contributing to this plan please reach out to the CC at: cleishandblairadamcc@gmail.com
Village Updates
Cleish
Concerns were raised about the condition of the road at the junction of the B996 & B9097 where the kerbs at the edge of the road are displaced, and the white line Give Way markings at the junction are almost completely missing, making it very difficult for traffic to judge where the Give Way line is in darkness.
There is an on-going problem in relation to the lack of visibility at the motorway exits at Junction 5 of the M90 as these meet the B9097. The construction of the pedestrian fencing on the motorway overpass obscures any traffic approaching from the right on both the Southbound and Northbound exits from the M90. This means that traffic at these exit junctions needs to edge out into the B9097 to be able to see approaching traffic from the right, and as a result there have been several near misses at these junctions.
A question was raised about the future of the carpark in Cleish, as this is a vital resource for the village, however it is owned by Cleish church which is expected to be part of a sales process in early course. The CC will contact the Church of Scotland to ensure that the community’s interest in the car park is known and considered in any disposal of the church and associated land.
Keltybridge
Keltybridge is seeing continued problems with vehicles parking on the pavements and causing a safety concern where pedestrians (particularly those with prams or baby buggies) are being forced onto the road because the pavement is obstructed.
This problem is particularly concerning in relation to access to the Tabernacle Hall driveway, as this is where the village’s defibrillator is located, and vehicles parked on the opposite side of the road can inhibit vehicular access to the Tabernacle Hall.
Cllr Robertson suggested that the CC investigates the possibility of having double yellow lines added to parts of the road through Keltybridge to help prevent this dangerous and inconsiderate parking.
After 22 years of service Margaret Traylor announced her intention to step down from the Community Council and was warmly thanked for her dedicated service to the community over the years!
The CC will look at co-opting a new member to take on the role of Treasurer.
Wind Farm Community Benefits Survey Results
There are good examples from around Scotland where groups of Community Councils have come together to collaborate and to negotiate a better deal for the community, and the Cleish & Blairadam Community Council would like to explore this option.
The CC recently surveyed all the households in the Cleish & Blairadam area to determine the local resident’s attitudes to wind power in general, and to seek their agreement to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to allow the CC to collaborate with adjacent community councils to maximise the community benefit from any nearby wind farm developments.
Of those residents who responded, the overwhelming majority was in favour of the CC signing the MoU and pursuing the opportunity to cooperate with the nearby Community Councils, so it was agreed to sign the MoU.
As this collaboration proceeds the CC will continue to give the local residents the ability to feedback before any significant decisions are made.
Next CC Meeting
The next Community Council Meeting on Monday July 4th, at 7:30pm in The Village Hall in Cleish.
Cleish and Blairadam Community Council 