Whalsay Community Council

Transcription

1 Whalsay Community Council Minute of Meeting of the Council on Tuesday 9 th May, 2017 at Whalsay School Secondary Department Meeting Room Present: CCllr David Hughson (DH) CCllr Brian Marshall (BM) CCllr Jackie Leslie (JL) CClr William Polson (WP) Attending - Craig Robertson,Exec.Man.,Ferry Ops (CR) P.C. Simon Findlay (SF) Roselyn Fraser (RF) Apologies S.I.C.Cllr Steven Coutts CCllr John Dally Minute Taker The meeting started at: 7.00 pm - CCllr David Hughson in the Chair. Moira Dally Agenda Item Narrative Action & Owner Approval of Previous Minute The Minute of the meeting held on Tuesday 21 st March, 2017 was approved by Brian Marshall, seconded by William Polson and signed by the Chair David Hughson. Ferry concerns Craig Robertson (CR) Executive Manager, Ferry Ops. Attended the meeting at the request of the CC. to address various ferry/harbour concerns. In his introduction he stated that as an SIC employee he could not enter into any political debate/conversation due to the upcoming Election (Pre-election Purdah) - CR when asked confirmed that the Hendra crew were not paid at weekends. On the lack of working vending machines CR said that there was a current review of all Clix VM s. No new machines until the review is complete, and that repairs were costly - 5,000. Income generated from January 2016 until present day 9000 or 500 a month. Replacements cost 2,500. BM asked if both saloons on Linga could be open at the same time, currently only one side would be open. CR to CR ask the crew if this would be possible. CR confirmed that SIC did own the Symbister Harbour toilets, and confirmed the programme of refurbishment of Bressay/Gutcher/Laxo buildings. SIC have been able to tap

2 in to DDA Money providing disabled access. As the site here is not level it would need to be dug out/back filled which would add thousands to the cost. No money meantime for Symbister. WiFi signal improved at Laxo. CR said that the public payphone had been removed from Laxo. 225 had been spent on two replacement phones. DH asked if this was due to vandalism and if so had the Police been informed. CR unsure. DH asked about the ferry timetable. CR stated that Colin Manson, Resources Manager, had responsibility for this. CR noted the WCC, and the public concerns over the lack of weekend sailings, which had gone from 19 to 11. CR stated that there would be no cuts to ferry budgets but conceded that cost neutral no growth is a challenge, and he also agreed that the current service was detrimental to the Isle. Multiple bookings problems were discussed WP sited a problem that his family had in booking the ferry and wondered if the system didn t always work. CR aware of the incident in question. The Booking Office is now open Sundays. PDMS is the Company whose booking system the SIC use, which is currently working on changes to the online ferry booking programme, which will enable ANPR (automatic number plate recognition). BM asked about whether any booking changes would be brought to the Cc first but CR said no, that we would need to trust the supplier. CR was asked about a book and pay system but he thought that there would be nervousness around that as compensation entitlement would come in to play due to delays etc. If terms and conditions change the service may reserve the right to charge folk for multiple bookings. DH said that he would be prepared to speak with folks that double booked. New ticket machines allowing contactless payments, to be introduced within the next 2 3 months. CR did not agree with WP that the ferry service was at saturation point, with 18 spaces available on the Linda and 12 on the Hendra, two of these being for emergency vehicles. If any blue lights turn up the last vehicles gets off. CR urged the CC s to speak with their newly elected Councillors re their ferry concerns. BM asked about the practice of only 1 ferry running on the Wednesday after Up Helly Aa, stating that all schools now seem to have to take that day as a holiday but folks can t get off the Isle. CR said that it was historical and referred to

3 the service cuts made in DH said that crew were usually helpful and that at times went beyond the call of duty. CR said when the booking office was local, double bookings were dealt with at source most likely. CR informed the meeting that the Linga, built in 2002 wasn t due for replacement until 2034, but with three replacement engines at 105,000 each and out of date technology she would be the next ferry to be replaced. Life extension costs of m, half the cost of a new boat was not a viable proposition. Planning would be taken forward by Michael Craigie, consulting with the Community on their needs. He stated that the replacement vessel would be a 22 car ferry but had no specs to hand. CR stated that there would be an infrastructure spend of 2m over the next 2 years to ferry link spans to make them fit for purpose. The telemetry on the linkspans was redundant technology with Gutcher/Belmont first to change. This means that to bring equipment to full EU standards it is effectively a programme of new builds. WP said that since the 1997 survey report that Infrastructure Services had only been patching up. Ports and Harbours structure surveys ongoing above/below water line, with approach road and car park surveys also being undertaken. Cllr WP stated that bringing a 70 ft vessel to the pier was a massive problem and that the pier moved when the ferry came in. CR said that 2.3m finding costs were being spent on the Whalsay service. Currently 7,000 had been spent on upgrading signage, also improved communications through the website and Facebook links. Cllr DH thanked CR for attending the meeting. Matters Arising Skip Hire A big success with over 4 ton of waste collected. DH said that it was great community effort. The next skip to be booked for the end of June, sometime between the 19 th 23 rd. Fly Tipping Nothing further to report. NIDF(North Isles Digital Forum Meeting) JD had previously reported back on this.

4 Roads The poor state of some of the roads on Whalsay was discussed and the feeling was that the new CCls should be brought up to speed re concerns. Speed Limits was requested to contact Neil Hutchison re the Criteria (Roads Act 1985) that constituted a 30mph zone, Ccllrs looking particularly at the corner/summit at Marrister. PC Simon Findlay(SF) said that there was a flashing solar powered sign in Mid Yell. Core Funding Now received. Community Development Funding 3,000 received to help with the Symbister Hall heating upgrade. Kirk Yard It was noted that the extension road had had some work done to it, reducing the size of some of the pot holes. The CC was asked by SIC about the ownership of this piece of road. Brough Phone Box informed the Ccllrs that she now had a local name and number to contact, re the damaged box. Voar Redd Up RF told the meeting that this was now complete. to issue funding cheques. Agenda Correspondence Visit by PC Simon Findlay DH welcomed PC Findlay, who informed the meeting that he was enjoying his time on Shetland. He covers a very wide area ranging from Unst, Fetlar, Yell, Whalsay, Brae, Hillswick, North Roe and areas in between. Ccllrs had not been previously aware of the extent of his patch. His message was that if people thought there was something suspicious going on, then they should be calling 101 to report, or getting in touch with CRIMESTOPPERS, to justify more police time, on the Isle. BM said folks should be proactive regarding speed limits. A number of Thank You Letters were received following successful local funding allocations by the CC. Marie Mair, on behalf of the Hanseatic Booth requested funding to help with the annual building insurance. The request was put on

5 A.O.C.B. Date of Next Meeting hold for the meantime. was asked to investigate if the Booth Committee had shopped around for alternative insurance prices. Fixed Links V Tunnels Cclrs felt the time was right to get the Norwegian tunnel proposal/associated paperwork including the recent Scottish Government response regarding options of fixed links V ferries out in to the media. requested to contact Shetland Times/Councillors/Prospective MP s. The James Arthur Trust RF asked CClrs to investigate how people access the James Arthur Trust, which is overseen by Solicitors Tait and Peterson. The Trust was set up to provide loans to benefit agriculture in Whalsay. Houll Loch BM informed the meeting that the dog fouling bin at the Loch was long overdue to be emptied by the Council. requested to contact Environmental Health. RF had noted that during the course of the Voar Redd Up it wasn t just at the Loch that fouling seemed to be a problem. Date fixed for Tuesday 20 th June, 7 pm. (The meeting ended at: 10:00 pm) This minute is DRAFT until approved by the Council at the next meeting