HELMSDALE

A ND D ISTRICT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

th Minutes of the mee;ng held on Thursday 7 J uly 2011 PRESENT: Evelyn Mackenzie (Chairman), Malcolm Bromley, (Vice C hairman), Edward MacKay (Vice C hairman), Penny K ane, (Secretary), Garry Macmillan (Treasurer), Stan Amey, P ete C arson, Annie C owie, Ann Houghton, Roz Shorrock, L orna Smith, C hrisGne Sutherland, C ouncillor D eirdre Mackay, Guest speaker: J acqui Aitken APOLOGIES Elizabeth Fraser, ( Vice C hairman). nd 1. Approval of Minutes: of MeeGng held on 2 J une 2011. Add C hrisGne Sutherland to apologies, amend item 10 to read Stan and Edward currently working with C olin Anderson and amend spelling to K essock Bridge. P roposed by Garry, seconded by Roz. 2. Guest Speaker, J acqui Aitken, P roject Manager Timespan H eritage C entre: Jacqui explained the new Timespan project Museum without W alls. Timespan has been successful in geYng parGal funding for this new project which has been set up to commemorate the H ighland C learances in the Strath of K ildonan. Visitors have in the past not had enough informaGon about the Strath and Timespan are now producing a hand held device which they can listen to while driving down the Strath. They also have a growing genealogy database. This work will mainly be done over the next 12 months. The trail people will follow could also be followed anywhere in the world by using an APP. The informaGon gathering is to involve the whole community. I t is hoped that the community will come up with ideas for commemoraGve events, for example joint parades, ceilidhs or pipe bands with C anada. All ideas welcome. J acqui and her team are making sure that all landowners, locals etc happy with the plans. There is an open evening in Timespan on th Tuesday 12 J uly at 7.30pm. There will be talks and tea. There will also be workshops, an opportunity for lm making. The work will be done with recognised Clearance H istorians and is about the present as well as the past. W ork will also look at the capacity in the village to cope with increased numbers of visitors as this is a great opportunity for the village. 3. Police report: window broken last week at Timespan and a few speeding motorists. 4. Ma_ers arising: a le_er has been received from Mr C ou_s regarding the First Aid and Accident guidelines. The decision to change the previous guidelines was made a`er collaboraGon between the NHS and the Government. A useful website is: www.nhs.uk/ condiGons/accidents-and-rst-aid/Pages/IntroducGon.aspx 5. Councillors report: Funding: Trying to harmonise C ommunity C ouncil funding, by head of populaGon. Helmsdale funding reduced by 200, however if this is insucient can be topped up. Cycling prociency: The schools do the training, the police do the test at the end. The current situaGon for geYng disabled children to school maintained Home C are now have a full rota and is se_ling down School path/Sire Road: all now with TEC Services 6. Treasurers report: C urrent account: 1780.91. C hristmas L ights account: 459. 26. P lus donaGon from NISA The school received a donaGon for books, which was spent on giving each child a new dicGonary. A le_er of thanks has been received from the school and the children

made a big card. The shed has arrived and is installed, electricity to be wired in. D avid Booth has been very helpful and has donated wood, paint etc. Fund raising for C hristmas L ights: 500 booklets being printed for distribuGon by posGes. There will be a collecGon box in the C ommunity C entre; possibly a bingo evening. Evelyn suggested bag-packing at a supermarket. 7. Windfarm Benet P anel: P anel: P ete C arson, Evelyn Mackenzie and Mike Ellis. At the last meeGng it was agreed that Andy Sutherland should be the third person, however Andy did not want to do this. Mike was selected as he has worked hard for H elmsdale on many fronts including coppicing, the coppicing course and the allotments. H e has been on the radio recently boosGng H elmsdales reputaGon 8. Development Group report: The new housing stock will be a community asset and not council house stock. Across Scotland there have been 5 Gmes more money requested than is available. However the feedback has been that our applicaGon is a very good one. Moving the play park: Stans proposal sGll to be agreed however 89% of the respondents agreed to the Simpsons C rescent. Statement from Stan Amey: rd On Friday 3 J une 2011, P ate C arson and I met with J ohn MacHardy (Housing Development Manager) and Ronnie MacRae (Small C ommunity H ousing Trust) to discuss the condiGons under which I would agree to the request that I donate a porGon of Ba_ery P ark for relocaGon of the exisGng Rockview P lace play park faciliGes and also provide addiGonal equipment items. Pete C arson informed them that a poll had been conducted within the community which resulted in an overwhelming preference for the Ba_ery P ark L ocaGon (of the two possible areas potenGally designated). I presented two documents for informaGon purposes. The rst, the current status of Ba_ery P ark subsequent to having received outline planning permission for part-site development of nine houses, awarded in April 1991. The second, a dra` discussion proposal relaGng to the condiGons under which the ownership of part of the P ark would be freely transferred to the H ighland C ouncil for relocaGon of the present playpark area. All present agreed that the two documents, read in conjuncGon, represented a fair, pracGcal and realisGcally achievable method of relocaGng the exisGng playpark area, thereby facilitaGng early access to the land zoned for aordable housing. Messrs MacHardy and MacRae stressed that they were required to review and discuss the documents with other members/departments of the H ighland C ouncil before any commitments could be announced. I t would, therefore, be premature to embark upon further debate of dra` only documents at the present Gme. ApplicaGons for W indfarm money need to have a referee to possibly validate the request in the rst instance. Evelyn MacKenzie or P ete C arson will stand as referee for any local applicants as this is just a formality. Denis Macleod wants to work on a wall going from the statue to the ice house, which will carry plaques with the names of all emigrants from the clearances A Wall of D escendants. P ete to discuss with Edward All projects need a project group to manage them, we can only move

forward by pulling together Need to get our applicaGons for funding in before the rst panel meeGng in August 9. Any Other Business: The public toilets are in serious need of repair or demoliGon. W ith the projected increase of visitors to H elmsdale this needs urgent a_enGon. The H ighland C omfort Scheme means that instead of public toilets faciliGes in exisGng buildings could be used (e.g. C ommunity C entre or The Bridge H otel etc). The recycling bins next to the toilet block are unsightly and need moving to somewhere less in the public eye. Edwards and P ete looking in to this. Also the bins are too small or not empGed o`en enough. In addiGon the car park is someGmes blocked by large commercial vehicles so no one else can park there. D eirdre will contact the appropriate people re the above. The ca_le grids down the Strath are loose and need inspecGon The seat at the cemetery is broken and needs repair. D eirdre to invesGgate The H ighland C ouncil will no longer accept cheques as payment, only debit cards or cash. This is very inconvenient for paying by post and also at the service point as there is sGll no ATM there. The car park half way down Golf Road is being used for y-Gpping. Edward requests a sign banning the pracGce and staGng it is a car park. st The MOD has sent a warning about military ying acGvity from 10th-21 J uly NHS H ighlights paper available from P enny on request ConsultaGon on H ighlands Statutorily P rotected Species (dra`) Supplementary Guidance is available: www.highland.gov.uk/yourenvironment/planning/ developmentplans/developmentplanpolicyguidance/default.htm There seems to be some discrepancies in criteria for transport to get children to school. Evelyn to invesGgate further. Trains: the 5pm express is now stopping at K inbrace, however the 9.30am on is not which makes it very dicult for those with no car to get to H elmsdale for morning appointments. Evelyn will give Roz contact details Jean Sargent thanked the community for their support for Timespans recent project on The Streets W here W e L ive and for all the support for fund-raising events. The recent Duck Race did very well. The C ouncil thanked P ete Townsend for his conGnuing excellent work and commitment. The meeGng closed at 20.35. th The next meeGng will be on Thursday 4 August 2011 at 19.30 in the C ommunity C entre