Royal Burgh of Crail and District Community Council. Minutes of meeting held on Monday August 31, pm Crail Town Hall

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1 Royal Burgh of Crail and District Community Council Minutes of meeting held on Monday August 31, pm Crail Town Hall Welcome Jack Jarvis in the chair welcomed all present Present Isobell Hanlin, Bruce Woodcock, Ben Greive, Ronnie Webster, Alan Mowbray, Jack Jarvis, Eileen Wood, Muir Anderson, Victor Reynolds Apologies, Cllr. Elizabeth Riches, Minutes of Last Meeting (29/06/09) Proposed Ben Grieve Seconded Bruce Woodcock Matters Arising Matters Arising are dealt with later in the meeting. Chairman's Report The Crail fair held on the 19 th July was a successful event with over 860 banked for Community activities. In general this was one of the most successful events for many years. All who assisted were thanked for their participation including Alan and Bruce at the BBQ, Ben on ice creams, Ronnie, Gregor, Mike, Ron, John and Stuart at the field activities and Isobell, Eileen, Betty, Ian and Bill on the stalls. All stallholders are thanked for their participation. The Waverleys were again much appreciated for their musical entertainment. Considerable comment has been made locally and in the press over changes to the 95 bus timetable to and from Crail. The reintroduction of the Pinkerton circuit was a useful addition to the route but major concerns have been expressed about the present route through St-andrews to the bus station. Although the service fulfils the need for people to get to the new hospital it is not so helpful for people wanting to shop in the centre of the town since the former route via South Street has been abandoned. Cllr Maccgregor reported that Derek Beveridge, Fife Council, is assessing the situation following the receipt of several letters on the matter. It was noted that the present service had developed following consultation with passengers. A realignment of the 95 service may be possible but it needs to be unified with other services from St Andrews. It was hoped that at least some of the 95 services could be again go via South Street to avoid the walk in to town from the Bus Station. The Sheriff has approved the release of the Tennis Court area for affordable housing but the delay in progressing this matter means that the District valuer will have to re-assess the site since his valuation is now over 3 months old. The funds from the sale will go to the Common Good Fund and it will be possible to draw this money down for a MUGA development although the money is not ring-fenced for that purpose. It is possible to proceed with plans at this present time and we will be making arrangement to consult Fife Council concerning possibilities. Travellers at Kilminning have generated adverse comment because of the untidy state that the area is left in following their departure. The area is not occupied at the moment and is generally tidy thanks to the work of Fife Council officers. Cll Macgregor reported that the Travellers Group on Fife Council has been reconstituted after several years and is looking at the possibility of establishing temporary stop-over site in Fife, although they are not optimistic that any site can be found that will not generate severe local opposition.

2 Street cleaning has been reorganized into local teams so that Crail no longer has a permanent street orderly. The intention is that teams can be directed to hot spots in the East Neuk and resources used effectively. Initial comment suggests that this has resulted in a poorer service to residents in Crail. Teams have not been observed sweeping effectively and time has been spent just collecting isolated deposited litter. The prevailing observation was that Crail looks untidy. Representations have been made concerning the attention to detail by people working in the Cemetery extension. Machines have been used without protective boards causing the grass turf to be damaged. A recent grave has sunk badly because soil consolidation after rain and time had not been taken into account. Cllr Macgregor reported that a new burial service would be taking over responsibility for cemeteries in the meantime representations have been made to address these matters. Peter Anderson has indicated that he will not be planting tubs around the village shortly. Eileen suggested that the schoolchildren might be encouraged to plant some tubs with winter pansies at the end of September. This was to be encouraged and Eileen would bring this to the next PTA meeting. Victor and Jack agreed to assist with the general maintenance of the floral displays in Crail. Peter is to be thanked for all the work that he has done with the floral displays over the last 15 years. Kevin Smith, Fife Council, provided a detailed plans of the proposed 20mph limits in Crail. The main route from St Andrews Road to the West end would remain at 30mph but all other roads to be restricted to 20mph. Repeater signs on both posts and roads will be placed throughout much of the village. Entrances to some areas such as Pinkerton will be highlighted by coloured tarmac. The island at Bank Corner will be replaced by a painted mini roundabout at the junction and crossings are proposed for locations close to Bank corner. The repainting of the toilets at the West End have improved a drab building for which residents are grateful, although it was pointed out that a toilet holder was missing from the ladies Loo. Treasurer's Report Although we still have a few bills to be met for Fair expenses following the deposits from the Fair we now have a current account balance of Secretary's Report Correspondence received 1) Fife Council - List of planning applications. Contrary to some recent reports in the press Cllr Macgregor confirmed that the planning application for a large scale time share development at Craighead had been turned down by the Reporter. Donald Macgregor also indicated that planning applications will now fall into 3 categories with different routeways to decision making in order to speed planning: 1. National e.g. new Forth Crossing

3 2. Major more than 50 houses and retail over 5000 square metres These will go to either Central Planning Committee or Area Committee for determination. 3. Local all smaller developments.. These will be delegated to officers, except where a statutory consultee (e.g.. Community Council) objects or more that 5 objections are registered in these cases the application will go to the Area Committee. Appeals against officer decisions will go to a new Local Review Body. Neighbour notification will be undertaken by Fife Council. i) 18 Nethergate Crail Anstruther Fife KY10 3TY, -Garden Railings No Objection ii) Garden Ground 1 Rumford Change of use of Lifeboat shed to housing. This application was discussed at length but since the proposal did not alter the footprint of the building or its appearance and modifications included access points at the rear and additional windows there appeared few planning issues that could be objected to. The trees were deemed important on this site and should be retained and replaced with like if they were damaged during building work. The site may well have historic artifacts from the likely site of the former Fish Cross believed to be in the area and should be investigated prior to any work. iii) 8 West Braes, Porch Extension No Objection iv) Weston Lea Erection of balcony to Flat No 6 No Objection b) Fife Council East Area meetings. No matters affect Crail c) Newsletter Fife Police- Recent, July, Crime statistics 7 incidents in Crail of which 3 were detected d) Fife Council Street Cleaning Local teams to be responsible for cleaning or assisting street orderlies on some days. e) Fife Council Local Office Energy Coordinator appointment of energy champions 3year project to improve energy efficiency in East Neuk. This is additional to the Fife Council leflet recently delivered and involves Community Councils in the East Neuk. Many houses in the area are inefficient in terms of energy useage and local people are to be recruited in order that energy champions can talk to residents about the possibilities of improving heat efficiency in their homes and sources of grants that are available to implement savings. f) Leaflets i)green Dog Walkers On File. ii) SMP Playground equipment On File iii)elmwood Update. On File iv) Forth Sight- Forth Estuary Forum On File v) Developments at Queen Margarets Hospital On File vi) Crown Estates Scotland Report On File vii) Rural Scotland Newsletter- Good News for Fife Fife Councilor s Report

4 Cllr Macgregor reported on progress of various issues raised at the July meeting. Dog poo bins are being replaced by general purpose bins and those recently reported missing have or will be replaced. The problem with overflowing bins reported after weekends result from early emptying on a Friday and lack of funding for staff to work on a Sunday. Lack of cleaning of Toilets for example on small gardens weekend was noted and it was suggested that special cleaning could be arranged if a timetable of events were submitted to Environmental services. There is currently no cleaner available for the harbour toilets at weekends. It is hoped that a partnership scheme with local hotels to receive money for making toilets available to the public will start in September. The problem of vehicle access for rubbish collection at rural properties have been discussed by Councillors and local residents. Possible strategies for dealing with the matter that did not involve residents having collection sites at the roadside have been discussed. This could for example mean using some smaller vehicles for farm collections or having a non roadside collection area.. Environmental services are being encouraged to interact more fully with their customers. The removal of the glass collection bins at the East Neuk hotel was because no contact now exists between the hotel and environmental services and without this the bins had to be removed. A search for an acceptable site in Crail for a Glass recycling area still goes on, although non glass items may be placed in the bins at the school. No progress as been made to the repairs to the wall at the entrance to Deverons yard at the harbour A.O.C.B. The paint, water based, on the footpath leading from Roome Bay Avenue to the beach has not been removed. The water seepage by the Watchhouse has been fixed for which Fife Council are thanked. The possibility of a partnership arrangement to make the Toilets in The Legion hall available for general use was considered and Jenny Brett needs to be spoken to over the matter. The possibility of a 20p payment machine for the unmanned toilets was suggested. Gravel for the area by the church will be ordered. An isolated occurrence of sewage overflowing from the development on to the road has been observed. Road gullies are blocked by the Church in the Marketgate and behind the Town Hall. A street light has been on for the last two years at the Co-op as has one at the harbour and in the Marketgate opposite the gallery. The Grass at the former children s centre is now 2 foot high and needs cutting. A number of Council properties near Backdykes have been unoccupied for several months. Major items form Community Council meeting could be publicized in Krail magazine.

5 The recent announcement of money for road improvements in Fife failed to note that this was to be spread over several years and only represented a small proportion of the funds needed to secure a decent road network in Fife. The lack of lights and poor stonework at the harbour was reported although it was suggested that this should be reported to the Harbour Master for action Next Meeting Mon September 28th at 7.15pm