Venue: Lomond School, Helensburgh
Contact: Melissa Stewart, Area Governance Officer - 01546 604331
No. | Item |
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies
for absence were received from Donald McAllister and Ailsa Cunningham, both of
Argyll & Bute Council. |
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Minutes: The
Minute of the previous meeting held on 13 November 2018 was approved as a
correct record. Arising from item 9 (Any Other Competent Business), Melissa Stewart advised that this work was ongoing and that she had recently been in touch with Stewart Campbell to progress this matter further. |
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Argyll and Bute Council Maintenance Update Verbal update by Ailsa Cunningham, Technical Officer Minutes: Ailsa
Cunningham had intimated her apologies on the morning of the meeting and no
update regarding the budget, or involvement of the Service, was provided. Matt
Offord flagged the boundary concerns previously identified by Friends of
Duchess Woods, commenting that this would be a big issue in terms of the
decision recently made by the Council not to renew the Management Agreement
when it expired. The main issue was in regard to the East boundary as there are
trees and branches which have the potential to cause damage to properties in
this area. Sean McCay
commented that it was important that the Council meet their obligations in
terms of the existing agreement. |
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Friends of Duchess Woods |
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Introduction of Matt Offord, Chair of Friends of Duchess Woods Minutes: Matt
Offord introduced himself to the Group advising that he had been elected Chair
of Friends of Duchess Woods (FODW) at the 2018 AGM. He spoke of his history with FODW having
served 10 years on the Group as a volunteer, including a phase as interim
Chair. He commented that the view
expressed at the recent Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee that the woods
were “nice to have” was disappointing to FODW as their opinion is that this is
an important part of the amenity of the Town. The Chair thanked Matt for his introduction. |
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Update on Recent Activity PDF 73 KB Minutes: The
Committee considered a report which provided an update from Friends of Duchess
Wood (FODW) on their activities since the last meeting took place. Martin
highlighted 3 aspects of the report to the Committee. The first regarding boundaries (noting that
this had been raised earlier); the second regarding recent incidents of
malicious damage and movement of benches; and the third which was an incident
with a boisterous dog resulting in personal injury to a lady. Following
a request for an update on discussions with Persimmons, the Chair advised that
no decision would be made on the way forward until a report had been received
from SEPA. The Council’s Biodiversity
Officer, Marina Curran-Colthart was involved in the
matter and would be invited to attend the next meeting in the hope that she
could provide an update on any long term implications. It
was noted that Luss Estates had not been contacted by
the Council regarding this matter and agreed that Sean McCay’s
details would be passed to Marina. Decision To
endorse the contents of the submitted report and provide contact details for Luss Estates (and a minute of the meeting) to the Council’s
Biodiversity Officer. (Ref: Report by Friends of Duchess Woods Secretary, Martin Grafton) |
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Update on WIAT Funding Verbal Update by Mhairi Gardiner, Development Officer Minutes: Mhairi
Gardiner, Development Officer gave a brief
verbal update on the WIAT advising that she had been liaising with David
Lewin (FODW) regarding Forestry Commission (FC) funding. She had advised David that FC funding was now
fully committed until April 2020 and that this would be the earliest that any
funds utilised could be claimed back. Mhairi
invited the Committee to agree to use around £700 from the Urban Woodland
Management Plan (UWMP) monies to enable a survey to be carried out, advising
that a procurement process would require to be undertaken by the council. She confirmed that the funds used would be
claimed back. Decision The
Committee agreed to authorise the use of approximately £700 for the purposes of
conducting a site survey, noting that the expenditure could be reclaimed from 1st
April 2020. |
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Future of Duchess Woods PDF 202 KB Report by Mhairi Gardiner, Development Officer (to follow) Minutes: Mhairi
Gardiner, Development Officer, tabled a report for consideration of the
Committee. Discussion
followed on the report recommendations with concerns being expressed that there
was no obvious group who may be interested in a community buyout or entering
into a Management Agreement with the landowner.
In terms of gauging interest it was agreed that the engagement event was
worth progressing, subject to being clear about timescales, attendance etc (and an invitation being extended to the MOD). Decision The
Committee agreed: 1.
To note the contents of the
tabled report; 2.
To take the actions outlined in
paragraphs 5.5 to 5.8 of the tabled report; 3.
To take an active role in
publicising the opportunity, engaging with interested parties and supporting
the actions identified at decision 2; 4.
That the MOD be invited to the
engagement event; and 5.
That the Development Officer
would circulate proposals for the event to members of the Committee for
feedback/approval. (Ref: Report by Development Officer, dated January
2019, tabled) |
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Top Dog Event Verbal update by Chair, Councillor Lorna Douglas Minutes: The
Chair provided the Committee with an update on the plans for the Top Dog Event
which would take place on 31 March 2019.
She advised of the plans being put in place and the agencies and
businesses that had offered their support.
Last year’s event had been a success and it was hoped that this year’s
event could build upon that. A gazebo
was required for use on the day and the Chair invited the Committee to ask
around to see if one could be borrowed for the day. Decision It
was agreed that event feedback would be an item on the next agenda. |
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Any Other Competent Business Minutes: Mhairi
Gardiner, Development Officer, advised that she had received contact from a
group who were keen to conducting some monitoring of Red Squirrels in Duchess
Woods. None of the Committee had
encountered any Red Squirrels but it was agreed that Mhairi could pass contact
details onwards to facilitate contact. |
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Date of Next Meeting Minutes: It
was agreed that the next meeting of the DWLNRC would take place on 30th
April 2019 at 10.30am within the Seabank Room,
Helensburgh & Lomond Civic Centre. |