UPPER TEVIOTDALE & BORTHWICK WATER COMMUNITY COUNCIL

 

Minutes of the Community Council Meeting of 10th January held in Teviothead Village Hall at 7.30pm

 

Present:           CCllrs Francombe (Chair), Douglas, Friell, Hepburn, Pennington (Treasurer) Powell.

In Attendance: SBC Cllrs Turnbull, Smith and Patterson, Mr Godfrey (Sec), Mr Laidlaw, Mrs Hutchinson, Mr & Mrs Shallis, Mr Friell and Mr Warwick

 

1                     Apologies: PC Murray (Police), CCllrs Robson, Stephenson and Wilson

 

 

2                     Minutes of Previous Meeting:

 

CCllr Freill stated that she was not happy with the wording of the minutes and that they did not reflect fully what had been said. The previous minutes would be amended – see attached amendment. Proposed by CCllr Hepburn and seconded by CCllr Pennington.

 

3                     Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes:

 

None

 

4                     Borthwick Water Community Development Trust (CDT)

 

At this point the Chairman stood down and SBC Cllr Turnbull took the chair.

 

Cllr Turunbull proposed that the way forward would be to hold a meeting with 3 members from the CDT and 3 members of the CC, and then a joint statement could be produced and attached to the minutes as a private amendment, this should take place within the next 10 days and that he (Cllr Turnbull) would be happy to act as chair.

 

CDT Chairman Mr Shallis agreed that this was a fine idea but the 20 residents who had requested a Special Meeting in the first place wanted the subject aired in public and that he (Mr Shallis) could not speak on their behalf but he knew that they would be disappointed if a Special Meeting was not held.

 

CCllr Friel said that she had received an email (Aug 2010) from the CC Chairman Francombe informing her that he would not be attending any more CDT meetings. CCllr Friel believes that a transparent, open meeting should be held, where questions can be asked.

 

Cllr Turnbull then asked CC Chairman Francombe to state why he was not happy with attending the CDT meetings.

 

CC Chairman Francombe started to relate how he felt, he stated that after attending a meeting of the CDT alarm bells rang when the CDT Chairman elected himself as the CDT Treasurer also. At this point Mr Shallis interrupted and said that there should be a Special Meeting not on the agenda of an ordinary CC Meeting.

 

CCllr Friel agreed and stated that the Special Meeting was postponed due to bad weather and a new date should be arranged.

 

CC Chairman Francombe agreed to a new date for a special meeting.

CCllr Friel asked that the Special Meeting be held at Roberton.

SBC Cllr Turnbull stated that he had no problem with that.

 

Proposed date Thursday 20th January 2011 at 7.30pm Roberton Memorial Hall

Fallback date Thursday 27th January 2011 at 7.30pm Roberton Memorial Hall

 

It was agreed that the CDT Chairman Mr Shallis would inform the 20 signatories on the list who had requested the Special Meeting. CC Secretary Mr Godfrey would inform all Community Councillors.

 

At this point SBC Cllr Turnbull stood down and CC Chairman Francombe took the chair.

 

5                     Police Report

 

PC Murray sent his report via email as he was still on holiday until the 20th January.

 

Since the last meeting the weather had changed dramatically with snow and frost causing havoc on the roads. The weather affects the criminal element so there were no major incidents to report except two that happened before the bad weather.

At St Leonards park (Hawick Mair) two horses had their rugs stolen from their backs.

Also at St Leonards farm a metal gate was removed from its hinges and placed in the middle of the field, the horses escaped but were later traced and returned safe and well. The two incidents are not thought to be linked. Traffic collisions and vehicles being stuck in the snow reached record levels during the snowy period but thankfully there were no serious incidents.

 

6                     Treasurers Report

 

The Treasurer reported that there had been very little movement within the account since the last meetings - £41 had been spent on repairing the noticeboard on the Hawick Moor. The account stood at £1800 at the moment.

 

7                     A7 Action Group Report

 

CCllr Douglas reported that the January meeting had been cancelled due to the bad weather but that he urged that if there were any problems or issues to phone the helpline or speak with him direct.

 

8                     SBC Cllrs Report

 

SBC Cllr Smith explained his reasons for agreeing to pass the planning application for the Log Cabin at Craik. Under Condition no 4 the applicant has 28 days from 10th January 2011 to submit plans for the renovations and landscaping and 12 weeks to complete. If within that timescale the proposed actions have not been carried out then the cabin can be removed by enforcement. Cllr Smith had been advised by the planning officer that if it went to an enquiry as to why it was allowed in the first place it could take until April 2012 and the five year deadline also expires in April 2012. Cllr Smith felt that as the full scheme had not been implemented then the applicant was unlikely to spend money on renovating the cabin as an example.

 

SBC Cllr Patterson reported that he has been mainly dealing with incidents regarding the bad weather particularly the state of the roads at Newcastleton. Costs could be as much as £2 million to repair.

 

SBC Cllr Turnbull had also been helping people due to the bad weather but had also attended a meeting in Wooler regarding the Flodden 500 Celebrations in 2013, he would keep us posted.

 

9                     Wind Farm Update

 

CCllr Francombe stated that the CC had not received any application forms from SCF. CCllr Douglas said that SCF had been asking how this was progressing and would ask them to send some forms. Mr Godfrey (Sec) said that there was already a list of names. CCllr Francombe said he thought there were enough names to fill the panel. CCllr Friel felt that there was a need to advertise and stated that nothing had appeared on the website or in the Borthwick News. CCllr Francombe added that the information had been handed out at the Teviothead and Roberton Shows plus had appeared on all the notice boards. CCllr Friel felt a short paragraph would be useful and asked CCllr Douglas to send a copy for the Borthwick News.  Mr Godfrey asked that the format not be changed from the original wording.

CCllr Douglas added that the committee for selection had been chosen and also the method of selection and that he had nothing else to report.

 

 

 

 

10                 Correspondence

 

Please see attached list.

 

CCllr Friell agreed that the planning application for Woodburn Cottage at Roberton had been passed to CCllr Robson. CCllr Friell also added that the application for a 4 bedroom,2 storey modern dwelling at Craik had no real objection from the only neighbour although they were not happy, their only request was that their privacy be maintained and that the builders do not cut down the hedge.

 

11                 Date of Next Meeting

 

The next meeting will be on Monday 7th March at Roberton Memorial Hall at 7.30pm

 

After the meeting it was agreed that a float of £30 would be kept for Petty Cash (for heating etc) by CCllr Francombe and CCllr Pennington.

 

 

 

 

CORRESPONDENCE:

 

·         SBC P/A NW Woodburn Farm Cottages, Roberton

·         Brochure “Greenbarnes Ltd” (Signs)

·         SBC Annual Report 2010 Safer Communities

·         SBC Warden up-date

·         SBC Finalised Local Plan Amendment

·         SBC Meetings (Pinks)

·         SB Safer Communities White Ribbon Campaign

·         SBC Area Committees (Whites)

·         SBC Hot Spot Campaign (home insulations)

·         SBC Voluntary Sector Conversation

·         SBC Budget Meetings

·         SG ASCC Stakeholder Survey

·         NHS Hospital Participation Graph

·         Police Community Commitment

·         SBC Scrutiny Panelwork Programme 2011

·         SEPA View

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amendment to item 4 Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes

 

From the Upper Teviotdale & Borthwick Water Community Council Meeting Minutes dated 1st November 2010

 

The wording will be changed to:

 

The Chairman briefed the CC with regard to the connections with the CDT and that SBC Authority had advised distancing the CC from the CDT. He had therefore advised Mr Shallis, CDT Chairman, that he would not be attending the Directors meetings any more, but that Mr Shallis was most welcome to attend the CC meetings. The decision to opt for mothball with regard to Roberton School by the CC had been noted at the SBC meeting for the final decision.

 

CCllr Friel then asked two questions regarding the CDT situation:

 

1.       Why the CC was severing (CCllr Friel’s word) all ties with the CDT.

 

CCllr Francombe had declined to answer, saying this meeting was not the place but that he would discuss his reasons with Mr Shallis should he contact him.

 

2.       The name of the SBC Authority

Claire Malster