Monimail Community Council Minutes of meeting, 14th December 2009 1.
Present : K. Connolly; D. Dallas; B. Forrest; J. Gordon; H. Grant; D. Hamilton; L. Harvie; H. Laidlaw; P. Laidlaw; G. MacLean; K. MacLean; T. Morton; B. Robertson; J. Rotheram; E. Sheerins; J. Sheerins; D. Smiles; G. Smith; H. Van-Koten; J.Vaughan; K. Vaughan; C Hayes - Eco-Consultancy.co.uk Colin Gilbert – Fife Council; Chris Smith - Fife Council Planning
2.
Apologies :
3.
Minutes of Previous Meeting : accepted
4.
Matters Arising Letham Toll : BEAR Scotland : Nothing to report Whinney Park : Colin Gilbert has spoken with Drainage this afternoon and they state it is not Fife Council responsibility! Water is coming from the farm so the Farmer will be contacted to see what he is going to do to address this. It was questioned that it is surely Fife Council responsibility to ensure roads are safe and this is not when the water freezes over! Surely if there is a culvert under the road then it is Council Responsibility? Colin Gilbert will go back with these thoughts. Monimail Cemetry : Work on the collapsed Grave still to be done. The drains have still not been done and the verge area is a mess due to recent flooding - C.Gilbert to check this. Bow Road Sewage : Anne-Marie Dewar of Scottish Water was unable to attend the meeting however she has confirmed that the Letham Waste Water Treatment Works is currently at capacity. It is hoped she can attend the February meeting Tree Preservation Order : Nothing to report Bow of Fife Speed – There have been THREE accidents in this area since the last meeting. Vehicle activated “slow down” signs are to be erected by the end of the Financial year. Well Tree Area Ownership : Nothing to report
5.
Core Path Network Crispin Hayes of Eco-Consultancy.co.uk addressed the meeting - he is acting as a Consultant on behalf of the NHTT. There is a desire within the Transport Group of the NHTT to take the Core Paths Project (also taking the Bell Ingram report from 2004) forward with a view to bringing all paths in the area up to a standard for use. There are various strategic routes being looked at, such as Collessie to Ladybank however feedback is sought for routes such as Monimail to Letham, Letham to Fernie etc. It typical requires £35-50,000 per km to construct pathways and up to 3km has been viewed as possible routes. The path from Monimail to the School would be a priority and this route is earmarked for discussion with landowners. 90% of the respondents to the NHTT survey wanted some improvements in paths and a network to be established (80 households responded to this question) as well as 50% looking for improved road crossings. The question of cycle paths to Ladybank was raised however Network Rail are currently trying to enforce that crossings are closed to the public so this could pose serious problems. Who will maintain the paths? They will be constructed to take account of water course etc, NHTT would have to take care of maintenance for 3 years then the council would undertake an upkeep agreement (trimming etc). There is no guarantee of FC taking this on however it would be part of the negotiations and they are keen on this type of project.
6.
Planning Bow of Fife – alterations to a property were approved over a year ago however there were no neighbour notifications issued to any neighbours. There was a notice posted on a telegraph pole however the property address on this notice was incorrect. Planning have been contacted on numerous occasions over the last few months however there has been no response made to the queries. Not included in the application was the building of a large shed at the rear of the property and also a smaller one at the front – An Enforcement Officer has been requested to look into this and Chris Smith assured the he would look at this case tomorrow. Satellite Dishes / Conservation Area : There is one at the front of a rented property where the tenants were unaware that Letham was a Conservation Area. This was brought to the CC attention 6 months ago and since then both the tenants and the property owner have been made aware of the fact that the dish does not comply with Planning Regulations and requires to be moved. Chris Smith confirmed what the CC had been told in an email from Planning that Satellite Dishes, although permitted within a Conservation Area, must not be within the view of public roads. This has not been done so it is now to be referred to an Enforcement Officer along with the others at Letham Toll. Local Plan – The Trimlands : The Rotherams’ Survey has come back 32 for, 27 against and 4 no preference. As such it was agreed that the CC support the proposal, however stating that absolutely no other alterations be made to the Village Envelope.
A. Arbuckle, L. Barron, M. Grossert