Issue - meetings

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 22^nd May 2018.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 22^nd May 2018 was approved as a correct record.

Arising from item 5 “Top Dogs Day Out Update” it was noted that a separate meeting had been arranged to take forward arrangements for the planning and marketing of the 2019 event and that the item had not therefore been included on the agenda.

Arising from item 7 “Any Other Competent Business” the Area Governance Officer advised that Louise Connor, Head of Education, had responded to the previous offer from Friends of Duchess Wood (FODW) regarding opportunities to work with local schools in relation to the crowdfunding effort to provide a copy the book “The Lost Words” to all schools in Scotland.  Louise had offered to forward information in an email from FODW to individual Head Teachers for their consideration.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 20^th February 2018

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 20^th February 2018 was approved as a correct record.

Arising from item 7 (c) Grass Cutting – Pony Field, it was noted that there was no response as yet from Mr McCay.  It was noted that Stewart Campbell would chase this up directly.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 21 November 2017.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 21^st November 2017 was approved as a true record subject to the addition of apologies from Johann Urquhart.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 22 August 2017.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 22 August 2017 was approved as a true record subject to amendments at Item 3.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 22 February 2017.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 22 February 2017 was approved as a true record subject to an amendment at the item relating to the Friends of Duchess Wood report which should read “to note and endorse the report”.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Wood Committee meeting held on 22 November 2016.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 22 November 2016 was approved as a true record.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Woods Committee meeting held on 23 August 2016.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 23 August 2016 was approved as a true record.

Matters Arising

The Chair drew attention to the success of the recent Dog event held in the Duchess Wood Sunday 9 October and made the suggestion of a similar event to be scheduled for early in 2017.

Decision:

The Committee agreed that this would be given further discussion at the February 2017 meeting.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Woods Committee meeting held on 18 May 2016.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 18 May 2016 was approved as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Woods Committee meeting held on 16 February 2016.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 16 February 2016 was approved as a true record, subject to an amendment being made at Item 9. Dog issues and training where the words “an increased incidence of” would be removed.

Discussion took place on the format for dissemination of the minutes to the Area CPG meetings, with it being agreed that the Chair would liaise with the Senior Area Committee Assistant to ensure that appropriate signposting is put in place which would allow CPG Members to access reports and additional information if required.  It was also noted that it would be beneficial for members from the Friends of Duchess Wood to attend a future meeting of the Area CPG to discuss awareness raising.

Matters Arising

Page 5; Item 9 Dog Issues and Training

Johanna Urquhart advised that there had been no reports of out of control dogs from either pupils or staff, but this could be because the school had not been using the wood as frequently of late due to the inclement weather.

Morevain Martin provided the Committee with an update on the proposed dog training event.  It was noted that the dog trainer based in Cardross had advised that she would be happy to do an awareness training event.  Discussion took place on a venue for this event with the rugby club car park being identified as a possibility.  Councillor Morton advised that the Council environmental team had indicated that they would be happy to be involved.

The Committee agreed that Councillor Morton, Morevain Martin and Stewart Campbell would form a sub group to progress this idea.

Page 2; Item 4 Engagement with Community

Alastair Macbeth advised that the FODW were keen to work in partnership with Ruth Cairns, Community Learning and Development Youth Worker.  It was agreed that Ruth’s contact information would be passed to the FODW members.

Morevain Martin advised that Ruth Cairns had been working with the Third Sector Interface office to develop a summer programme which would offer volunteering opportunities in the community for young people.  The programme would allow the young people to gain accreditation and to access associated trips.  It was noted that the programme was looking for volunteering opportunities.

The Minute of the previous Duchess Woods Committee meeting held on 17 November  2015.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 17 November 2015 was approved as a true record.

Matters Arising

Page 4; Item 7 Terms of Reference and Membership – Communication with the Media

Alastair Macbeth questioned the need for any articles to be submitted to the local press were still to be pre-approved by the Committee. The Chair clarified that notification to the Committee would suffice.

Alastair Macbeth tabled an amended list of contacts and confirmed that these had been forwarded to Theresa McLetchie. She stated that the list had been saved electronically and requested that she be advised of any further amendments/changes.  

The Minute of the previous Duchess Woods Committee meeting held on 18 August  2015.

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 18 August 2015 was approved. as a true record.

Matters Arising

Alastair Macbeth drew attention to the wording at Page 1, Item 2, Minute of a previous meeting held on 19 May 2015:

7. Development of the Wood

Discussion followed and as the Minute had been agreed at the previous meeting held on 18 August 2015 it was agreed not to amend. The Chair reiterated that the Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve Committee had no role in the provision of instruction in any negotiations relating to land ownership.

Page 3, Item 4 – Funding Update/Development of the Wood.

Charlie Cairns confirmed that he had sourced the arboriculture safety survey reports and passed them to David Lewin (FODW). 

Page 5, Item 7 – Any other business

Charlie Cairns advised that that SNH had produced further literature relating to dog management and he would circulate the link to the Committee.

Page 3, Item 5 – Engagement with Schools/Community

Alastair Macbeth highlighted that these were 2 separate issues and requested that they remain separate.

Decision:

The Committee agreed that for future Agendas, this item would appear as:

Engagement with Schools and Community

The Minute of the previous meeting which was held on 19 May 2015 was approved. as a true record, subject to the following amendment:

7.  Development of the Wood

The Chair agreed upon a further response on behalf of the Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve Committee to Luss Estates that the Committee were happy to move forward in regards Community Ownership.

Action: The Chair would instigate further contact with Luss Estates on this issue.

Matters Arising

The issue of the recent Cross Country run undertaken by the MOD was raised and the Amenity Performance Manager confirmed that he had emailed the MOD in regards seeking prior permission, but, as yet, he had not received a reply.

It was highlighted that the Fairy Tale Wood Committee were seeking Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) status which would enable them to change their structure.