Minutes Feb 2008
Minutes of the Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council meeting held in the Castle Arms Hotel, Mey on Wednesday 13 February 2008 at 7.30pm.
Members Present
John Green – Chair
Chris Hobson - Vice Chair
Keith Muir - Treasurer
Irene Hendrie – Secretary
Alex McManus (HC Area Manager's Team)
Alex McManus (HC Area Manager's Team)
Apologies
Eric Green
Wullie Sinclair (member)
Robert Coghill (Highland Councillor)
David Sutherland (Area ward manager)
7 Members of the public attended.
Minutes of the last meeting were adopted.
1 Matters arising from the minutes
Transport questionnaires had been issued to 1,100 residents. The mini bus which had been for sale in Wick was no longer for sale.
A response to the proposed Post Office closures had been forwarded to Postwatch, Post Office Ltd, Peter Peacock, John Thurso and Highland Council.
2 Housing
John Green had met with Ronnie Macrae of the Highland Small Communities Housing Trust. He indicted that much work was needed if funding was to be allocated. He would advertise local surgeries to see if there was demand for affordable housing.
There would be a common housing register from 1st April 2008. There was a perception that people in need of housing often didn’t register with Highland Council as they believed the chances of getting a house were low. There appeared to be little scope for changing the council letting policy to assist local people in finding council housing in the area.
3 Rural transport
A press release would be issued shortly to publicise the transport survey.
4 Dunnet Beach Cleaning
Funding had been approved by SNH - £750 per year for the next three years. Applications were pending with the Dounreay Communities Fund and Highland Council Discretionary Fund. Mary Legg (HC Ranger Service) had also approached the Crown Estate for assistance. Efforts should be made to find permanent funding for regular beach cleans. Will Menzies believed a new source of funding for keeping the environment clean was being launched.
Action: Secretary to continue working with Mary Legg to obtain funding and investigate new sources of funding
5 Gates for core paths
David Barclay, Access Officer has two gate kits that reserved for Duncansby Head and for St John’s Point. Permission was needed for installing the new gate at St Johns Point. Duncansby was a replacement of the existing broken gate
Action: Secretary to obtain permission
6 Action plan
A letter had been sent to every community/voluntary group in the area asking for comment on the most difficult issues affecting their running. The community council hoped to discover common concerns and focus its efforts on trying to address these issues. An action plan could then be drawn up to ensure this work continued in the long term.
7 AOB
· Maps were circulated showing the gritting priorities in Caithnes
Action: Alex Macmanus would forward priority descriptions
· The Fires Service draft proposal for the future of the service would be passed to volunteer firemen for comment.
· A planning appeal for the static caravan in west Mey was being considered and our earlier representations would be included.
· The update on the new Planning Framework was passed to Chris Hobson and the full document was available on the internet.
· The SSSI at John O’ Groats harbour had been amended. John Green to study the changes.
· Spittal Hill Wind Farm ES Non Technical Summary had been received from Highland Council. Comment was invited before 31 March 2008. John Green to study the document
· The landward discretionary budget had all been allocated. A list of the recipients was circulated. Canisbay Youth Club received funding from the Youth Action Fund.
8 Next Meeting
Freswick hall on Wednesday 12 March 2008 at 7.30