Dunning Community Council Meeting 6 February 2023

1. Welcome: The Vice-Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and those present were John Stockley (JS) – Vice-Chair; Ann Myles (AM) – Treasurer; Colin Young (CY) – Secretary; Tony Fitzpatrick (TF), Lori Corbet Mann (LCM), Elliott Boyle (EB), Scott Jeffrey (SJ), Ally Dewar (AD), Councillor Crawford Reid (CR) and members of the public.
2. Apologies: Neil Johnston (NJ), Councillor Steven Carr (SC) and Councillor Keith Allan (KA)
3. Update from Police: No officer were present but members continue to receive the Local Area Commander’s Bulletin by email. TF reported that he had been in contact after the last meeting and it is intended to carry out speed checks at some time in the near future on main roads leading into the village.
4. Minutes of the meeting of 5th December 2022: These were agreed and signed by the Treasurer.
5. Treasurer’s Report: AM presented the monthly report that contained income and expenditure including money for the trail camera and Warm Spaces funding. This report was agreed.
6. Matters arising from the Minutes:
   1. Parking in the centre of Dunning. Councillors are still pursuing PKC officers for action.
   2. Mare/Muir Wood signs. TF reported that it had not been necessary to purchase metal poles as there were suitable trees in the location.
   3. Warm Spaces. This is ongoing and TF has a report later in the agenda.
   4. Website. JS asked that everyone consider what information should be included and this be brought to a later meeting.
   5. Planning concerns. Dealt with.
   6. Carol Singing. Dealt with.
   7. A9 bus shelter. Ongoing.                                                                                                               Action: SC/CR/KA
   8. Speeding. Dealt with.
   9. Over 80s Christmas Lunch. JS asked that everyone involved be thanked for making this event such a success and highlighted the letters and cards that had been sent to the DCC by those enjoying this afternoon.
   10. Christmas Lights. JS thanked SJ and his team for doing a great job bringing light to the darkness of Winter and hoped that they would all be available next time.
   11. Coronation Celebrations. JS suggested that a sub-group of local organisations be formed to pull together ideas for this event.                                                                                                                                     Action: CY     
7. Planning Matters: Nothing to report.
8. Road Matters: On the 16th March Bridgend requires to be clear of parked vehicles for 1 day to allow utility work. CY commented that this road had quite recently been resurfaced and hoped that this would not be destroyed by the utility work.
9. Correspondence: Any items of interest had been circulated to members by email and LCM reported that she had looked in the Communities Map Scotland document and would be attending the webinar to learn more but that it would be a considerable amount of work to input all the information that was required. JS asked that he be sent a copy of the link.                                                                                                                Action: LCM
10. Meetings Attended: NJ had left a report from the Communities Investment Fund (CIF) meeting at which the Scouts had secured funding for essential equipment. While there is still £18,000 still available in Strathearn, the pressure on the PKC budget might mean that this is the last of the CIF money.
11. Councillors’ Reports: CR reported that Westminster had provided the biggest ever block grant to the Holyrood  but that was now being subjected to some ring-fenced funding to Local Authorities. At the same time a considerable amount of the block grant was being ‘diluted’ by inflation and high energy costs. CR also reported that he would continue to press Transport Scotland for safety improvement on the A9. Dunning Primary School had been one of a very few to receive top marks in a recent school assessment wished everyone to share this information.
12. Any other business:
    1. LCM had been asked if the Minutes could be made available earlier than is the present case and it had been established that if they were watermarked ‘DRAFT’ it would be acceptable to PKC. It was also agreed to try and put these on the DCC Facebook page.                                                                     Action: CY
    2. AD reported that Community Service volunteers were now available to do work such as cleaning benches and seats, cutting grass and any other work that only required labour. AD asked if CY could make contact with John Spark to organize matters.                                                                            Action: CY
    3. AD asked about the rugby/football posts in the Rollo Park as it was becoming clear that a number of youngsters would like to play there but that both sets of posts were unsuitable. This could be a project funded through the CIF for setting out the pitch and buying appropriate goalposts. An approach would be made to the Rollo Park Trustees and volunteers to help would be identified. It was also thought that PKC/LiveActive had surplus goalposts and this should be investigated.                                     Action: JS/AD
    4. Village Hall – Elliott Boyle asked about the effectiveness of the heating as it had been very cold for the Over 80s Christmas Lunch as nobody could adjust the heating system. It was agreed to approach LiveActive about this matter.                                                                                                                     Action: CY
    5. EB asked about the facilities in the Village Hall as the drop-down projection screen was broken and that it would be useful to have a dedicated projector for the use of various groups. These would be of great benefit to the DPHS and it was suggested that they apply for CIF funding.                                      Action: EB
    6. TF had been made aware of a ‘near-miss’ between a motorbike and a car at Forteviot level crossing that appeared to be due to restricted visibility and would try to find out who was responsible for such matters.                                                                                                                                                         Action: TF                 
    7. TF had been asked to inquire if disabled had grabs could be installed in the Pavilion but reassured that there was a dedicated disabled toilet already in place. He would report this to the person concerned at the earliest possible time.                                                                                                                         Action: TF                     
    8. Warm Spaces Report. TF informed the meeting that this continued to be a very successful venture, not only with the use of the venues but also with the distribution of 24 Warm Packs to people in the village. While there had been a slow start to the venture a group of people had gained considerable benefit from being brought together and there was the possibility of the Monday Club re-inventing itself in the future with the help of the volunteers already assisting with Warm Spaces and he would continue to report on any progress. JS asked that all the volunteers be thanked for their efforts.                Action: TF
    9. A member of the public asked about the very faded and fragile Neighborhood Watch signs that required attention if they were to be recognized. It was thought that there were at least 2 different types of signs and that Bridge of Earn Watch had been the supplier of these.
    10. A member of the public reported that PKC had sent out the road sweeper on a Saturday but that their efforts had not been very successful as there were so many parked cars on that day. PKC had been contacted but there had been no response to-date. It had been the practice to carry out this work on a Saturday for many years, despite requests for the road sweeper to attend on other days.
    11. Potholes were then mentioned by a number of people and informing PKC of these could be done on their website.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 6th March at 7.30pm in Dunning Church Hall