Attendees:              Dinah McDonald               Chair

 

Advisor:                 John Forth                       LLTNPA

 

Apologies:              Cllr Bruce Marshall

 

 

 

Dinah welcomed new Directors of the Trust elected at the recent AGM. They are Jeanette Sloss, Vic Sandall and David Eaglesham. David McKenzie will now process the necessary Director registration with Companies House on-line. David noted that he had already processed the resignations of Dorothy and Russell Bruce.  

 

 

The minutes of the last Trust meeting held on 12 August 2009 were proposed by Ron Cruickshank, seconded by Dinah McDonald and adopted.

 

 

Ø     Ron Cruickshank advised that the newsletter will now be entitled Lochs and Glens.

Ø     Dinah advised that she had attended the area network meeting on 8 September, but not many actions / conclusions had been reached.

 

 

Secretary’s Report

 

Ø     David McKenzie advised that the annual registration with OSCR was now completed.

Ø     David had written to the Bank of Scotland to advise that statements should now be sent to Pearl Brown. The bank had not processed these changes as David was not an authorised signatory on the account. A fresh letter, countersigned by Dinah and Pearl, would be sent.

Ø     Director changes (see above) had been processed via Companies House.

 

Update on membership

 

Ø     David would initiate a review of Trust membership and provide lists to other Board members to assist in renewals / discontinuances and to arrive at an up-to-date list of members.

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

Ø     Pearl advised that the balances on hand were:

 

o       Account 1     -        £1558.09

o       Account 2     -        £6032.66

 

Ø     It was agreed that funds remaining in the Trust accounts but allocated to the Mausoleum would be transferred to the recently opened Argyll Mausoleum Limited account. A cheque for £2247 was therefore agreed to be issued.

 

Ø     The sum of £45 in new members’ fees from the AGM was paid into the accounts.

 

 

Forestry

 

Ø     Dinah reported that the FCS land at Clachaig, which also contained the water supply for the community, was now being offered for sale.

 

Villages in Bloom

 

Ø     It was agreed to add one more flower tub – at Clachaig bus stop. Jeanette Sloss would organise and maintain this and it was agreed that the Trust would provide the sum of £50 towards setting this up.

 

Graham’s Point

 

Ø     Nothing to report

 

 

 

Paths and Access

 

Ø     Dinah reported that SNH funding of £3,000 and Leader Plus funding of £5,000 had now been agreed for the upgrade to the Blairmore / Gairletter path. A decision on a further grant of £1,000 from the National Park was awaited. Planning permission would be required. It was agreed that the planning fee would be paid by the Trust and this would constitute the Trust contribution.

 

Ø     David Eaglesham expressed an interest in the work of the Paths and Access group and Dinah will now ensure he is involved.

 

Mausoleum

 

David McKenzie reported on each of five work streams underway:

 

1.     Legal Documents:

 

a.      The Minute of Agreement had now been approved by all parties and the signature process was underway

b.     The Mausoleum Lease was still held up at the Council and David continues to chase

c.      A new document – the letter confirming the ability to use the access path – had been prepared and was with the Church of Scotland legal department awaiting agreement.

 

2.     Artefacts – nothing to report

 

3.     Fund raising / financials – target date for submitting application for development grant to Heritage Lottery Fund was now end of November. David noted assistance from Hannah Dinneen on this had been invaluable. Argyll Mausoleum Limited (AML) now has its own bank account.

 

4.     Marketing Plan / Visits – Jim Mather MSP visited the site on 18 September and this had produced some good press coverage. Stephen Newsom, conservation architect, and Gavin MacGregor, Glasgow University Archaeological Research Department had visited the site recently. Stephen had identified fire damage in the tower, probably as a result of the 1646 events, and Gavin had identified some carved stones, also in the tower which might help to prove the existence of a pre-1441 building on the site. A draft marketing plan would be required in order to obtain charitable status for AML.

 

5.     Temporary repairs – a specification for temporary works had been prepared by Stephen Newsom, estimates to carry out the repair had been received from Stewart McNee (Dunoon) Limited, agreement to cover the costs of the repairs had been received from the Council and Listed Building Consent for the repairs had been received from the National Park. The repairs would now proceed, subject to weather.

 

Jeanette Sloss expressed an interest in the Mausoleum project and it was agreed that she should join the AML Board as an observer from the Trust. David would ensure Jeanette was invited to Board meetings. 

 

Marine Environment

 

David reported that the feasibility study with AECOM continues. David anticipated that the study would be completed by the end of the year and a date would need to be set for the presentation of results to the community. This would be discussed further at the next Trust meeting. David has a meeting with the newly appointed Director of Innovation at Scottish Water on 13 November and this topic will be discussed.  

 

Post Office / Shop

 

Ø     Ron Cruickshank and John Forth reported that this issue might become more pressing as the post master may bring forward his retirement date.

 

Ø     It was agreed that, before the two feasibility studies are carried out, a strong community commitment to the acquisition and running of a village shop / post office would need to be evidenced and a committee established to make this happen. After discussion, Dinah agreed to call a meeting of all the local community groups on Monday 7 December at 19:00 in Highgate Hall to determine community interest and, if agreed, to form a committee. It was further agreed that this meeting would need a clear agenda and a firm set of questions that would need to be answered.  

 

 

 

A meeting had been called by the National Park with the involvement of the Kilmun Community Council to discuss the status of the plans to make the shore communities into a Conservation Area. After discussion, it was agreed that the Trust would not take a formal position on this matter.

 

 

 

 

None

 

 

The date of the next Trust Board meeting will be on Monday 14 December at 19:30 in Younger Hall, Kilmun.