Minutes of the Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council meeting held in the Northern Sands Hotel, Dunnet on Wednesday 14 March 2007 at 7.30pm.
Present
John Green – Chair
Chris Hobson - Vice Chair
Irene Hendrie - Secretary
Eric Green
William Sinclair
6 members of the public
Apologies
Keith Muir – Treasurer
Sgt George Murray - Northern Constab
1 John Green opened the meeting and welcomed members of the community in attendance.
2 Minutes of the last meeting had been circulated to council members and were adopted by the meeting. Proposed William Sinclair Seconded Eric Green
3 Matters arising from the minutes.
Richard Guest (HC) had forwarded a copy of the traffic survey undertaken in East Mey during August and September 2006. In summary he did not consider the volume of traffic nor the average speed to be excessive and the meeting was in agreement. Irene Hendrie would write to him again to request that warning signs be put in place alerting road users to the presence of horses. Chris Hobson had contacted David Barclay Access Officer regarding the issue and would be pursuing the matter with the access forum.
HGV traffic from Gills ferry was still using the road through Canisbay village. Richard Guest was in favour of a weight restriction being imposed on the Freswick to West Canisbay road and would progress this when resources were available. He would also conduct a traffic survey in the area.
Keith Muir had suggested several website domain names for the community council to consider.
Planning had not yet replied to a query on the change of status from PP2 to PP3 on an area of land near west side Dunnet. The consultation documents on Lieurary Wind Farm had been requested but not yet received. Irene Hendrie would also request the consultation on Stroupster Wind farm. A community council in Skye had undertaken a postal ballot in order to determine the views of the community on a similar development. Eric Green proposed that a postal ballot would be needed on the Stroupster appeal with funding being sought form the developer.
Ronnie Macrae had forwarded a questionnaire and mailing list for the affordable housing survey. Irene Hendrie to send him a note of the amendments required.
4 Planning Agricultural buildings did not follow the usual planning process and consultation was not required.
Taken from the weekly planning list the application to erect a house at Upper Warse should be looked at in more detail. Irene Hendrie to obtain the consultation.
The consultation for the outline planning application 07/00034/OUTCA for two dwelling houses in Scarfskerry had been circulated to the members. They agreed that there was nothing contentious about the proposal and would make no representation.
The community council did not have a copy of the Local Plan. Although much of it was available on the Highland Council website the map itself would be useful. John Green would take his own copy to future meetings.
A member of the public asked if the community council had guidelines to follow to ensure it dealt with planning matters in a uniform and quality assured way. Although no such guide existed, the Highland Council document ‘Planning Matters’ helped community councils to understand their role in planning and development. The community council’s constitution ensured that they represented the community fairly when submitting comments on planning applications.
5 Post Office Services Peter Peacock MSP had written to all community councils asking for their comments on post office services. Each member of the council would complete a copy of the questionnaire for their particular area before the next meeting.
6 Fire Service The Fire Service had sent a copy of its strategy document and asked for comments. Eric Green would arrange for the survey to be completed before the next meeting. The Fire Service based in John O Groats was retained ie no longer a voluntary unit and it was hoped that the station would be upgraded in the future.
7 Traffic in Dunnet: A member of the public was concerned about the amount of traffic speeding through the village particularly in the evening and about the number of drivers using mobile phones. Irene Hendrie would contact Northern Constabulary about these concerns.
8 Dunnet Church Gates The gates to Dunnet churchyard were damaged and in need of repair. The sign warning the public that some headstones were dangerous was no longer visible. John Green would contact Richard Guest regarding this.
9 Next Meeting The next meeting Wednesday 11 April 2007 at 7.30pm could be held in the Seaview Hotel, John O Groats. John Green to confirm this.
March 2007