Dunning Community Council Meeting 1 May 2023

1. Welcome: The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and briefly outlined how the meeting would proceed. Those present were: Neil Johnston (NJ) – Chair, John Stockley (JS) – Vice-Chair, Ann Myles (AM) – Treasurer, Colin Young (CY) – Secretary, Lori Corbet Mann (LCM), Tony Fitzpatrick (TF), Ally Dewar (AD), Councillor Keith Allan (KA), Councillor Steve Carr (SC), Councillor Crawford Reid (CR) and members of the public.
2. Apologies: Scott Jeffrey (SJ)
3. Update from Police: There were no officers present due to shift arrangements and prior commitment. The members continue to receive the Local Area Commander’s Bulletin every week by email.
4. Minutes of the meeting of 3rd April 2023: These were agreed and signed by the Chair.
5. Treasurer’s Report: AM presented the monthly report and reminded everyone that some Warm Spaces funding still remained to be deducted from the Project Account total. The report was agreed.
6. Matters arising from the Minutes:
   1. Community Service Volunteers – AD advised the meeting that this was in-hand and the seats would be cleaned and treated in the near future.
   2. Football posts, etc. – JS reported that he had, hopefully, secured 7-a-side posts but as details still had to be confirmed he would be grateful for this item to be carried forward to next month. KA indicated that he would ask Community Greenspace about the availability of goal posts and report back.                                                            Action: JS/KA
   3. Parking restrictions – KA reported that he would be grateful for the attendance of some members of the CC for a ‘walk-through’ with PKC officers to pinpoint the precise requirements to deal with these problems. It was agreed that members would be available and that KA would make contact with a date and time.                          Action: KA
   4. Duck Race Tickets – A quotation for the production of these had been received from the printer and this amounted to £150 + VAT. This was agreed.                                   Action: NJ
   5. Core Path beside Sewerage Treatment Plant – CY reported that the damage to the embankment had been logged with Scottish Water and a request for funding sources had been sent to Perth & Kinross Countryside Trust. No further information was available but the contacts would be repeated.                                                                          Action: CY
   6. Defibrillator in Phone Box – CY explained that once the code has been given out by the Ambulance Service this defibrillator is no longer seen on their system as a resource that can be deployed. For this reason it is important that only 1 call is made to obtain the code. The exterior condition of the Phone Box was raised and it was agreed to make contact with QTS.                                                                                                           Action: AD
   7. Community Needs Assessment Plan – JS reported that the issue of disabled movement around the village had highlighted the need for dropped kerbs at a number of locations but wished to know who at PKC should be made aware of this situation. KA agreed to pass on the report to the appropriate officer.                                                             Action: JS
   8. Lower Granco sewerage works – done.
   9. Community Consultation with Simon Howie – LCM reported that she had attended a meeting with him to discuss recent and proposed developments. Mr. Howie explained that he would be happy to meet anyone to discuss such matters that might arise and had presented his idea for a wind turbine to supplement the power from the solar array that is to be installed. Mr. Howie also explained that the new sheds were to ‘future-proof’ Findony Farm with versatile buildings for the next generation. The proposed cattle shed had been shelved, power would be installed in some of the sheds for repair work and lighting would be directed away from residents.
   10. Unstable step on Lower Granco footbridge – this might prove difficult to repair but would need to be examined to ensure that it did not become a safety issue.
   11. NJ reported that the LAP grants had been suspended until July 2023 but asked if the Scouts’ application had been lodged before this action.                                          Action: KA
7. Planning Matters:
   1. Proposed dwellinghouse 35 metres east of Gateside Cottage
   2. Utility boxes and escape window at Store, Kirk Wynd
   3. Extension to dwellinghouse at Rossie Law, Townhead
   4. Formation of vehicle access to filed 30 metres south of Thornyhill – this resulted in some debate as to the reason for this new access onto Muckhart Road and the CC will ask the applicant and report back.                                                                                            Action: CY 
8. Road Matters: Nothing to report
9. Correspondence: Circulated to members by email
10. Meetings Attended:
    1. TF reported that he attended the Stronger Communities meeting in Crieff and asked about the use of the remaining Warm Spaces funding. This may be carried over to be used next winter. CIF would be announced later in the year.
    2. TF then told everyone that Little Dunning had received more than 70 applications for stalls this year and the date is Saturday 3rd June from 1pm to 4pm.
    3. AD had attended the most recent meeting of the Pavilion Core Group at which the main issues were ongoing maintenance.
11. Councillors’ Reports:
    1. SC and CR reported that the matter of a bus shelter had been passed to TacTran as the body most likely to be able to agree to the siting of such an item but would not be able to fund this project. Work would need to be done to determine the cost of a suitable base and the funding of such a project.
    2. SC told the meeting about the work to stabilize headstones in the cemetery and informed everyone that a board would be erected with a contact number for anyone who wished to ask any questions. It was commented on that the work had been of a high standard.
12. Any other business:
    1. JS asked about the condition of the wall surround St. Serf’s Church as this was crumbling badly in some places and required attention. This had been previously raised with Councillors as one of the priorities for the community and it was agreed to re-visit this matter and report back.                                                                                   Action: SC/KA/CR
    2. LCM reported that a group of residents had formed up to instigate a Community Buy-Out of the Village Hall but had to form a legally competent organisation before proceeding further.
    3. TF reported that the grass at area used for the Duck Race was no longer being cut by PKC and a number of local residents had paid for this work to be done but were now asking for help in this matter. It was agreed that the members would discuss this and report back at the next meeting.
    4. Dog Fouling – There had been another case of this problem and the Dog Warden had been informed.
    5. AM asked that all members provide raffle prizes for the DCC stall at Little Dunning and that they be as varied as possible.                                                                             Action: ALL
    6. Leaves on Station Road path – a member of the public asked that these be removed as they were making the path very slippery and offered his services to help with this work. Another member of the public also volunteered to help.                                        Action: CY
    7. DCC Project Fund – A question was asked about the source of projects that were funded from this account and it was explained that members of the community or community groups could present a request for funding that would then be considered. On occasions it had been necessary to ask for more details, costings, etc. before making any funds available.
    8. Bank Holidays – It was requested that DCC meetings should not be held on these dates in future and this will be looked at to see if they coincide this year.                          Action: CY

The next meeting will be held on Monday 5th June 20023 at 7.30pm in Dunning Village Hall