February 2009

Minutes of the meeting of directors on 24th February, 2009 at Uig Hall

1. Present; D MacDonald (chair),  Pearl Brown,  David Mackenzie

2. In attendance; John Forth;  Bruce Marshall; Ron Cruickshank

3. Apologies; Russell Bruce; Dorothy Bruce; Resignation.  Brian Gillings

4. Minutes of previous meeting were approved. Proposed David Mackenzie. Seconded Pearl Brown

5. Matters Arising.  None.

6. Business of the Trust   

Secretary’s Report; Membership; no change. Bruce Marshall suggested we have a recruitment drive for new directors at the a.g.m

Treasurer’s report; We have two bank accounts with balances of £1556.54 and £5536.77 David Mackenzie informed the trust that we would shortly be receiving a cheque for £4,000.00 from Argyll Estates towards the cost of renovating the mausoleum.

7. a) Forestry; R.B. not present to give a report.
b) Graham’s Point. Has been used less recently. Bruce Marshall informed us that the wall near to the car park would be repaired by Amenity Services of Argyll and Bute Council this spring. It was agreed that it would be a good idea to hold the a.g.m. at grahams’ point with a bar-b-que.
c) Village in Bloom;  Bruce Marshall agreed to look after the tubs at the Blairmore signs

8. Working Groups;
 

Paths and Access;  Currently looking for funding for the Gairletter link. Also looking at persuading the owners to make some repairs to the Eachaig ford road.
 

Mausoleum Group.
 

David Mackenzie is hopeful that Argyll Estates will release £4,000.00 of the funding originally promised to Argyll and Bute Council to be used towards the maintenance of the mausoleum - £2,000.00 from the estate of the 9th Duke and £2,000.00 from the estate of the 10th Duke.  David has appointed David Beverage of Macdonald Henderson to draw up a lease and a company with charitable status. Once this is done the Church of Scotland will release £6,000 towards the cost of the renovation. Nick Boyes, the conservator has been asked to advise how we should store the artifices. Hannah Dineen from LLTNP is completing a Heritage Lottery application and also a marketing plan.
 

Sewage.
 

The sub group has decided to ask Fishner Consulting to carry out the feasibility study. David will inform Georgy Davies. CES will then transfer funds to the Trust to pay for the feasibility study. Before they start work Fishner Consulting will meet with the Trust to discuss the project. David expressed his annoyance that none of the technical experts had bothered to take part in the conference call which he had set up to discuss the technical aspects of the project. David is to meet with the new Scottish Water Board member who is to lead ‘innovations’ to discuss the project.
 

Post Office. 
 

John Forth and Ron Cruikshank had been working on the possibilities of a community buy-out of the Strone Post Office. John said he felt it could be a useful project to attract new members to the Trust. He felt that it was a feasible project. Aspects which could be used to ‘sell’ the idea to potential funders would be the idea of a community hub, the possibility of selling locally produced vegetables – including from the greenhouses heated by the anaerobic digestor;. This could attract young and old community members. David agreed this was a good way forward – with locally produced food, and energy. Ron Cruickshank had been looking at suppliers for the shop. The co-operative society supports such community ventures. Several people in the community had expressed an interest in being involved. Ron had also been in touch with Shirley McCall – who co-ordinates community shops throughout Scotland. John reported that Community Futures were supportive of the idea and he had been given time to spend helping to develop the project.

9. Future Meetings.  John informed the group that there is a renewable energy training day on Saturday 25th April in Balloch. Dinah informed the directors of two consultation days being held to discuss ferry transport in Argyll – in Greenock on 23rd February, and Inveraray on 25th March. The  Community Partnership are holding a training session for community groups  - on how to attract and hold onto volunteers on the afternoon of 5th March in Balloch.
 

10. AOCB 
 

Ron Cruickshank reported that the Neighbourhood Watch scheme had stopped  - but was starting up again. Billy King enquired whether it was correct that the slipway at Blairmore had been sold. No one present knew. .

11. Next Meeting;  Tuesday 6th April at 7:15p.m. at  Younger Hall – Bruce Marshall to book the Hall