August 2011

Minutes of Board Meeting held at Uig Hall 15 August 2011

Directors:  Dinah McDonald  Chair 
               David McKenzie   Secretary
               David Eaglesham
               Ron Cruickshank
               Victor Sandall
               Billy King

Advisor:       John Forth, LLTNPA

Guest:         Fraser Smith   

Apologies:   Pearl Brown
                  Cllr Bruce Marshall

Minutes of last meeting

 The minutes of the last Trust meeting held on 24 May 2011 were proposed by Ron Cruickshank, seconded by David Eaglesham and adopted.

Matters arising

 It was noted that the boat / flowers at Blairmore Crescent was overgrown and unsightly. The Trust had made a contribution to the planting. It was agreed that Dinah would approach the landowner to determine if he wanted to clean up the site or to have the boat removed. If it was to be removed, contact would be made with Friends of Graham Point and / or Keep Kirn Beautiful to see if they would like to take over the boat.

Business of the Trust

Secretary’s Report

 The annual return to Companies House is now due – David will arrange on-line.

Update on membership

 There have 2 new members since the last meeting.

Treasurer’s Report

 As Pearl was not present, current balances on account were not available.

 Dinah advised that there had been an audit meeting with the National Park. The planned use of the £800 admin grant was OK; the £1500 grant for Paths will have to be spent by end of August – a meeting to arrange is scheduled for 16 August.

AGM

 The AGM of the Trust will be held on Saturday 3 September at 16:00 to be preceded by refreshments. All Directors plan to attend. The meeting was scheduled for Blairmore Hall (subsequently moved to Highgate Hall).

 Ailsa Close was preparing the annual accounts with assistance from Dinah and Pearl. 

 As required by the Constitution, 5 Directors are required to retire annually, although they can stand again for election. It was agreed that the following Directors would stand down at the AGM:

o David McKenzie
o Ron Cruickshank
o David Eaglesham
o Billy King
o Victor Sandall

All retiring Directors, with the possible exception of Ron Cruickshank, indicated their willingness to stand again for election at the AGM.

Community Development Plan - 2012 

 The current Benmore & Kilmun Community Development Plan runs from 2008 – 2011. A new Community Development Plan needs to be started. It was noted that this would be subject to funding being available.

 The first task prior to preparing a new plan would be to assess performance against the previous plan.

 Possible new projects could include paths extensions, broadband availability, affordable housing, and road safety including pavements on the A880. It may also be appropriate to consider whether new boundaries should be assigned to the Trust, with possible splitting of the communities on either side of the A815.

 It was agreed to write to partner organisations in the areas – Community Council, Hall Committees, Village Trusts, etc – and invite them to an informal discussion on launching a new Community Development Plan. David will action after the AGM.

Liaison with John Forth, LLTNPA

 John advised that the NP was actively pursuing the paths project and the Trust was invited to state what support would be needed in the future. This would be discussed at the next Paths and Access meeting.

 John further advised that a Rural Housing Enabler had been appointed and the project had been launched by Keith Brown MSP in conjunction with the National Park.

 John updated the meeting regarding the launch of the new National Park Plan consultation. Specifically, the Trust was invited to comment on whether any changes were needed in the Community Partnership.

Working Groups / Projects

Lochs’n’Glens Magazine

 Ron advised that this had now been taken over by Lorraine Whitton. Sufficient funding was in place for the moment.

 On behalf of the Board of the Trust, Dinah congratulated Ron on the work that had been done to salvage and revitalise the Magazine.

Paths and Access

 David Eaglesham advised that the next meeting would be on 16 August. The principal action would be to ensure that the enhanced signage, for which a grant had been obtained from the National Park, would be completed on schedule.

Graham’s Point

 The damaged wall has been repaired by the Council but barriers to prevent further damage had not been installed. David agreed to chase.

 Kilmun CC had held an open day at Graham’s Point on 23 July to mark Armed Forces day. It was reported that this had been a great success. The CC planned to rename this event Gala Day and to hold it annually.
 It was reported that the School sports day that was held at Graham’s Point was also a great success.

AOCB

 The Board were advised that Fraser Smith, a local resident, was interested in becoming a Director of the Trust. David proposed the election of Fraser as a Director and Dinah seconded. This was unanimously agreed by the Board. David will process the necessary changes with Companies House.

Future Meetings

 It was noted that the National Park were holding an event entitled Activ8 at Glendaruel on 20 August. 

Date of next meeting

 The date of the next Trust Board meeting will be on Tuesday 27 September 2011 at 19:30 in Blairmore Hall.