Minutes of Executive Committee Meeting

held on 18th February, 2005, at 13.00 hours at Port-na-Con

 

Present:                      Eddie Meyer (Chairman), Lesley Black (Secretary/Treasurer)

In attendance:           Francis Keith (Cllr.), Mary-Ann Douglas, Sergio Blanco

Apologies:                  Andrew Marsham, David Inglis (Northern Constabulary)

 

Agenda

 

1.                  Minutes of Committee Meeting, Monday, 28th January, 2005

 

Minutes of Committee Meeting, Monday, 28th January were circulated.

Matters arising: Item 5 (Annual General Meeting) should also include that the meeting was open to all persons in the Durness parish who wished to attend.

 

2.                  Letters / mails sent

 

31.01.   Donnie Morrison                      Storm damage to caravan

31.01.   Cathie MacKay                                   Storm damage to caravan

01.02.   J. MacKenzie-Hillcoat, LGC     Cattle Grid, Skip

03.02.   Campbell Stewart                     Skip, Road Sign, Cattle Grid

04.02.   PC David Inglis                        Laid speed limit, etc.

12.02.   All Laid etc.                             Invite to AGM

 

3.                  Letters / mails received

 

08.02.   Joyce Morrison                        Caravan

08.02.   J. MacKenzie-Hillcoat, LGC     Cattle Grid, Skip

14.02.   Cathie MacKay                                   Caravan

17.02.   PC David Inglis                        Laid speed limit, etc.

 

4.                  Laid Speed Limit and Road Safety

 

Our local Police Officer, David Inglis, who sent apologies for not attending the meeting, had stated in his letter that there was little chance of having an enforced speed limit through Laid as there were none of the set criteria in place, i. e., there were no schools, no shops, no major traffic flow. He will, however, visit the village in the Spring to monitor traffic volume and speeds.

Cllr. Keith suggested that we request the Council to erect ‘Drive Carefully’ signs at each end of the village, but it was probable that these would be at our expense. He was doubtful this would slow down local traffic.

Sergio Blanco asked if the gritter lorry could be asked to slow down since, when they pass quickly through the village, they go so fast the grit is thrown against his house walls and window; he is concerned the glass will be broken by the grit.

Cllr. Keith responded that the gritter should go slowly enough for the grit to be spread ON the road, not alongside it!

 

5.                  Skip / Storm damage

 

At the time of the meeting there had been no response from the Council to the Residents’ Associations letter requesting a skip be placed in Laid to allow the removal of caravans etc. that have been damaged during the storm on 12th January, 2005.

Cllr. Keith said he would follow this through with Campbell Stewart of the Council’s TEC Division, but he also stated that if we chase this up before we have the full permission of those persons likely to require the skip, it may arrive too soon and be seen to be there without use.

 

 

It was noted that PC Inglis had mentioned that damaged property perceived to be a danger to the public (i. e. flying metal work etc.) must be removed as soon as possible. If necessary the Police would become involved.

Wm. Campbell had agreed with Eddie, that he would cut up, free of charge, the old ambulance chassis, outside Jean and Frankie Morrison’s house, and any other large pieces of metal that were required.

Charles Smith was to be asked again if he would agree that his old trailer be included, but this was considered unlikely.

Donny and Joyce Morrison had agreed to their damaged caravan to be taken away, subject to it not being too expensive.

Cathie MacKay’s letter to the Residents’ Association stated that she required written estimates for the removal of her damaged caravan, meanwhile she was not prepared to do anything with it.

All present thought this was dangerous since it is a very serious condition, and after the gale last Saturday night, even more damage has occurred.

Sergio Blanco asked Cllr. Keith if the Council could take it away, even if it meant sending Ms MacKay the bill.

Cllr. Keith thought this unlikely since the caravan was on private land, although he did concede there was a possibility if the Police became concerned.

Apparently Kenny MacRae has agreed to lift the rubbish/damaged caravans etc. with his machinery for a nominal fee.

Eddie to get him to agree the fee and then go to Ms MacKay and others.

 

Half an hour after this meeting Cllr. Keith informed Eddie that the skip will be arriving during the next week and that it will be free of charge for this exercise.

 

Subject to the fee for K. MacRae the costs of removal of the debris will be nominal and should be well below the estimates already sought by Ms MacKay.

 

 

6.                  Annual General Meeting

 

A draft agenda was presented to the meeting for approval. Based on previous years, with a few additions it was agreed.

 

7.                  Membership fees

 

Only one person had so far not sent their fee or reason for not re-joining. This meant there were 13 persons now in the Residents’ Association.

 

8.                  Laid Postal Address

 

The Council, finally, had written to the secretary agreeing to the proposed change to the Laid Address. We now had to wait for the Royal Mail to advise us of our next move.

 

9.                  Laid Road Sign

 

At the time of the meeting the Council had not responded to Eddie’s letter requesting the sign be replaced or repainted.

 

During his conversation with Council Officers after this meeting Cllr. Keith was informed the ‘Laid’ sign was to be replaced and should be installed within the next 4 weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10.              Laid Fire Hydrants

 

The Secretary presented a copy of a letter sent to the Water Authority by the Highlands and Islands Fire Authority stating that Laid could not have fire hydrants since there is neither enough water pressure or large enough diameter of pipework to enable hydrants to be installed.

 

In the event of an incident the ‘Fire Brigade would look for adequate open water supplies in the vicinity suitable for fire fighting’. (Therefore if you are not close to ‘open water supplies’ you could have a problem!). There was some discussion on this important issue and the question was raised ‘why can there not be a pump installed to produce the required pressure?’.

Previously it had been assumed there was no electricity supply, but apparently there is. As the Water Authority knew before they started the works that this was a requirement of the community, why did they not include this in their schedule?

Cllr. Keith suggested John Thurso be contacted about this, and Eddie and Lesley will compose a letter to this effect within the next few weeks.

Cllr. Keith also stated that the Chairman of the Durness Community Council was unhappy that the Fire Authority had not responded to this issue directly with them since it had been raised initially by the Community Council and so far they had not been informed of the outcome. Indeed, this group only knows about it through the copy of the letter being sent to the Secretary of the Laid Grazings Committee. There had been no direct communication from with the Water Authority or the Fire Brigade to either Laid Grazings Committee or the Residents’ Association.

 

11.              Laid Grazings Committee

 

It was known that the Laid Grazings Committee was to hold a meeting soon, but no date had yet been set.

Eddie mentioned that although he was a member of the Laid Grazings Committee he had not been informed of all the last meetings (neither had Andrew Marsham, also a committee member) and he thought it was likely to be held once he had returned to Germany so that he could not be present.

Mary-Ann Douglas stated she thought that was an unfair comment, as how could the Grazings Committee know when Eddie was likely to be here or not.

The Residents’ Association Annual General Meeting: So that a conflict of dates could be avoided Eddie had written to them to advise them of our AGM so they are well aware prior to their own meeting, due soon.

Hood Stones: Formal permission for the go ahead of the ‘Hood Stones / Wheelhouse ‘ walk was requested prior to pressing the Council’s Footpaths Officer to return and continue his assessment of the planned route etc. Subject to agreements all round, there was always a possibility that we could convince Morrisons (currently undertaking the Water Authority work) that they could cut out / tarmac a car park for the walkers as a gesture of good will to the community.

Cattle Grid/Skip: The remaining outstanding issues with the Grazings Committee would be going to their next meeting.

Laid Notice Board Keys: Andrew Marsham had tried to have more keys cut for the Notice Board, but without success. Kenny MacRae (who supplied the Notice Board) will get some more cut.

 

12.              Laid Phone Lines

 

The Secretary showed a copy of a letter sent to BT about the difficulties we have all being experiencing with the telephone lines, and asked what they could do about it. So far they seem little inclined to do anything, and if necessary it is hoped pressure could be brought to bear from other sources (John Thurso, Jamie Stone, Ofcom etc.).

 

 

 

 

13.              Shoot 2005

 

This will be Saturday, 2nd April at the Gualin Gun Club ground.

Lesley was asked if Port-na-Con was able to undertake supply of soup and sandwiches, but as there are no facilities on site she declined.

It was agreed that Hugh Morrison be requested to attend with his ‘Burger’ van.

 

 

 

 

14.              Any Other Business

 

 

Items on Notice Board:      Notices on the Community Notice Board need renewing. Lesley will deal with this.

 

Gualin Gun Club:               A donation has yet to be sent to the Gualin Gun Club, but as all the books are with the Auditor, it will have to wait until they are returned.

 

Games Shoot:                    The Durness Highland Gathering has requested the Residents’ Association to run the ‘shoot’ at the games.

                                        Basically this means a responsible person, e. g. Eddie, who is willing to take on the responsibility and organise insurance etc. will run the event. Eddie has agreed to do this and any income excess will come to the Residents’ Association. Insurance is in hand and will come into force on 1st April and last until the end of the year. Cost of this is met by the income from the shooting events.

                                        Eddie acknowledged that there had been some criticism that the only fund raising event for the Residents’ Association was the Shoot, and he was happy to receive suggestions for other events that could especially be held in Laid.

Thinking caps on, everyone!

 

Land Buyout:                    An item in the ‘Press and Journal’ on Monday, 14th February 2005, title: Residents’ group marks its milestone with new walk and fishing centre, highlighted that an estate buy- out, costing about £450,000, was possible even with only £18 in the bank.

Apparently a group in Assynt, the Lochinver-based Culag Community Woodland Trust, have successfully bid for a local estate and it was suggested the Residents’ Association might like to consider the same approach. However, before we could go anywhere there has to be a feasibility study and whilst one was believed to have been started through the Laid Grazings Group its conclusion had been held up by the Land Court Case last year and to date no further mention has been made of it.

The cost of running an estate can far outweigh any income unless an outside developer, for example, can offer sustainable development suitable for the estate. Insurance alone, can be crippling. Some further discussion ensued, but no decision was made.

 

 

Date of Next Meeting – this will be decided at the Annual General Meeting by the New Committee.

 

There being no other business the meeting was closed at 14:30 hours.