Present:        D McDonald (Chair); John Boyd (sec); Ron Cruickshank; Brian Gillings; Dorothy Bruce; Russell Bruce; David McKenzie

 

In attendance:        Hannah Dinneen (LLTNPA); Ceci Alderton (LLTNPA)

 

Apologies:              Evelyn Boyd; Bruce Marshall; Ron Simon

 

Minutes of previous meeting held on 24 June:

 

·        David McKenzie noted that the amount spent so far on the Mausoleum project was £5,500 not £7,000 (re item 8)

·        With the above correction, the minutes were proposed by John Boyd, seconded by Ron Cruickshank and adopted.

 

Matters arising not covered by agenda:

 

·        None

 

Business of the Trust:

 

·        Secretary’s report – none

 

·        Update on membership – none

 

·        Treasurer’s report – John Boyd reported that the bank account stood at around £9,000, of which around £2,500 was committed to Graham’s Point. A further £600 was being held for the Community Futures project and £270 for the Mausoleum renovation. This left an unrestricted balance of approximately £6000

 

AGM:

 

·        John Boyd confirmed that the AGM would held in Highgate Hall on Sunday 7 September at 14:30

·        Notification to members, with requests for annual subscriptions, would be sent out in the upcoming week

·        It was agreed that no ‘glossy leaflets’ would be produced this year  

·        Light refreshments would be provided; any contribution of home baking would be welcome

·        All directors were requested to be in attendance for the AGM

 

Community Action Plan:

 

·        Dinah McDonald advised that copies of the Community Action Plan had been distributed to all households. An item on this, with a photograph of the launch BBQ, had appeared in the local press

·        Dinah further advised that the Community Profile was almost complete and would be ready by the AGM. It would also be distributed by hand. Additional photographs were being sought; Dorothy and Russell Bruce and Ceci Alderton offered to provide a selection

 

Liaison:

 

·        Forestry – Russell Bruce advised that he had been re-appointed as a Director of the Perth & Argyll Forestry Forum

 

·        Graham’s Point – John Boyd reported on behalf of Evelyn Boyd. The project is ‘ticking along’. New trees are being planted of the corkscrew hazel (Harry Lauder walking stick) variety. The installation of the cycle rack is in progress while the BBQ is still to be installed. Ron Cruickshank offered to contact Scott Campbell to determine if he would be prepared to become involved in the Graham’s Point activities

 

·        Villages in Bloom – John advised that Evelyn was seeking others to be involved in this project. It was suggested that the Church of Scotland in Kilmun might be interested. In the first instance, David McKenzie agreed to write to Mrs Hall at the Church to see if they would take over the maintenance of the flower tubs on the pavement in front of the Church.

 

Working Groups:

 

·        Paths and Access – Dinah reported that the local input of paths had been submitted last week to the National Park. 4 additional paths had been nominated for inclusion in the NP plan. These were:

o       Blairmore / Gairletter

o       Puck’s Glen / Aboretum

o       Scottish Woodland paths / Glen Masson

o       Blairmore High Road / Shore Road

A new Paths Leaflet is currently with the Graphics Designer. In addition, work is continuing with the Council to investigate the feasibility of a path from The Cot House to the Police Station along the Shore Road.

 

·        Mausoleum – David McKenzie reported that not much had happened since the last meeting. The proposal was still that a Company limited by Guarantee with charitable status be set up to manage the renovation and subsequent exploitation of the Mausoleum. It would be expected that the Council, the Church of Scotland, the National Park, Argyll Estates and the Trust would hold Director’s seats on the board of this company. The current road block was getting the agreement of the Council to this approach and therefore opening up the dialogue with the various legal groups involved. David had a meeting with Iain Welsh scheduled on 31 July to try and resolve this.

 

·        Marine Environment – David McKenzie reported that a tentative meeting had been set up for September 4 with Scottish Water, Scottish & Southern Energy and others to explore taking forward a feasibility study for an anaerobic digestion system for processing sewage and other waste for the Shore communities. The Community Energy Company (formerly HICEC) and the Climate Challenge Fund had expressed an initial interest in the project and could potentially fund the required feasibility studies.

 

·        Knotweed – David McKenzie had distributed a copy of the proposal from Musketeers Group Ltd to remove the knotweed from north of Blairmore to the Surgery. Total funding over five years would be in excess of £17,000. It was agreed to explore sources of funding and Hannah Dinneen offered to assist. Potential sources include the National Park, the Forestry Commission and the Council. David will explore and report back.

 

·        Strone Post Office – Ron Cruickshank had explored similar community buy-outs in the Highlands & Islands. The recommended approach was to involve members of the community taking out shares in the project, valued at perhaps £25 each. Each member of the community who purchased shares would be entitled to a vote on running the organisation. Loyalty cards were suggested as a means to encourage local people to purchase from the shop. An initial approach would be to invite the community to pre-purchase shares and to only to proceed with the issuance of shares of a sufficient threshold was reached. It was also agreed that two business plans be prepared – one with and one without a paid shop manager. In the meantime, Ron will investigate the community buy-outs at Gartmore and Tayvallich and report back.

 

Future Meetings:

·        The next area network meeting is on 9 September

·        The Stage 1 National Park consultation ends on 31 July

·        The ‘Everest Exhibition’ photographs will be at the NP headquarters in the upcoming week

·        The Robin Jenkins literary award will be at the Edinburgh Book Festival on 12 August

 

AOCB

 

·        Further to the material distributed at the Board meeting on 24 June, it was agreed that no further action would be taken in respect of the Scottish Development Trusts Association.

 

Date of Next Meeting:

 

·        10 September at Highgate Hall 19:15