Minutes of the Lochardil and Drummond Community Council Meeting Held in PE Classroom, Community Wing, Inverness Royal Academy, on Monday 20 March 2017. Present: Maria De La Torre (Chair), Mairi Macdonald (Secretary), Councillor Alasdair Christie, Steve Rowan, John Callaghan , John Darcy, Susan Mathieson Attending: PC Jim Boundy 1. Apologies: Councillor Jean Slater, Councillor Norrie Donald, Councillor Fraser Parr, Colin Craig 2. Minutes of Meeting 13 February 2017 have been previously circulated. Adoption of the minutes proposed by John Darcy, seconded by John Callaghan and unanimously approved. 3. Police Business: PC Jim Boundy attended and gave the Beat Report as follows:
TOTAL CALLS FOR THIS PERIOD 98. Public Protection: 3 domestic incidents, 1 medical matter and 11 missing
persons and 6 vulnerable persons were dealt with by police. Road Safety: Speed gun was deployed on Stratherrick Road near primary
schools no offences detected. Road policing issued FPN for speeding in beat area. 3 RTC’s reported of minor nature. Police presence made outside primary schools. Anti –Social Behaviour: 2 persons arrested for a disturbances on Stratherrick
Road. Separate incidents. Youth cautioned and charged for vandalising room at Northern Lights. Person cautioned and charged for a disturbance at Rossall House. Police dealt with 5 noisy neighbour calls to a repeat address in neighbourhood. Offending address placed on operation notebook which is a ASB initiative. Drug/Alcohol Issues. 3 positive drug stops in area. Persons subject of report pending analysis. Thefts of Dishonesty: Two phones stolen from a insecure van in Burn Road. Enq ongoing.. The vast majority of the calls were advice, alarm activations and calls logged in relation to taxi/licensing applications, medical matters, lost/found property and curfew/bail checks. Due to the dishonesties in the wider Inverness area police wish to advise the public to keep their property locked and to report any suspicious behaviour to the police immediately. Police appeal to the public not to leave items on display in their vehicles. Foot patrols and Mobile patrols will continue to be carried out in the area. It is requested that Persons should report anything suspicious to police via 101 or contacting crime stoppers on 0800 555 111. For emergency calls – 999.
4. Matters arising from Minutes: a) Lochardil Traffic Calming Measures. The secretary reported that she had emailed John Swanson following the last meeting detailing the issues and concerns of the residents and members present at the meeting. John Swanson responded by email and it was noted that amendments had been made resulting in some of the original proposed calming measures being removed. There was a further discussion at tonight’s meeting and as there were concerns about speeding traffic on Stratherrick Road close to the junction with Balnakyle Road it was suggested that with the money saved from the amendments a raised table could be installed on Stratherrick Road close to this junction. The chair also reiterated concerns about speeding on Island Bank Road and it was agreed that the secretary would contact John Swanson and highlight these two issues. It was also suggested that we invite John Swanson to another meeting after the summer to discuss any future plans for traffic calming measures in the area. b) Changes to Bus Routes 6 & 7. The chair reported that she had contacted Mark Whitlock, Managing Director, Stagecoach to clarify the situation with regards to Route 6. Mr Whitlock confirmed that Route 6 would cease to run when their new timetable came into force on 24 April 2017. He indicated that Stagecoach was unsuccessful in securing the tender for that route but he understood that a different company, D & E Coaches would deliver an alternative service. Councillor Christie informed the meeting that the residents in Holm Park were lobbying and writing to Stagecoach regarding this change. The chair reported that several individuals had contacted her regarding the changes and she agreed to respond to them individually and to write back to Mr Whitlock. Councillor Christie indicated that Highland Council would not subsidise routes within the city. 5. Planning Matters and Consultations. The chair reported that information had been emailed out to members previously about the “Places, People and Planning – A consultation on the future of the Scottish Planning System”. The closing date for responses is 4 April 2017. The chair indicated that she was going to contact Tulloch regarding the planned housing at Ness Castle. Although not within our current Community Council area, the potential increase in traffic could impact on residents within our area. It was noted that Highland Council has a review panel which looks out for planning applications before they are approved. 6. Correspondence: a) Culduthel Woods. The chair had received communication related to Culduthel Woods that had been dealt with by Highland Council, but passed on for information. Community Council members discussed it and agreed that for the time being there wasn’t anything further the Community Council could do on the matter of a community initiative. b) Litter Pick-up. Lochardil Scout Group invited us to join them for this year’s Litter pick-up on Monday 8 may 2017. c) Insurance. The secretary had received notification of this year’s insurance. All other correspondence had been previously circulated via email. 7. Treasurer’s Report. The current balance in the account remains at £4437.45. 8. A.O.C.B There was a brief discussion about how to make the best use of some of the money in our budget. Susan Mathieson indicated that the playing fields at Lochardil Primary School were extremely muddy despite work having been completed on the drainage. She noted that recycled tyres had been used to provide
a safe surface in Macdonald Park and wondered if we could make a contribution to Lochardil Primary for a similar surface. John Darcy felt that the condition of the playing fields was a matter for Highland Council , however if we could contribute to something extra for the school that would be of benefit then this would be worth considering. The suggestion of a bench for Macdonald Park was made and it was agreed that members would come up with some suggestions by our next meeting. 9. Dates of future meetings: provisional dates were set for 24 April 2017 and 19 June 2017, with the AGM also being on 19 June. All meetings will be held in PE Classroom, Community wing, Inverness Royal Academy.