December 2015

Minutes of Board Meeting held at Pier Hotel 9 December 2015

 

Directors in Attendance

 

Dinah McDonald               Chair

David McKenzie                Secretary     

Pearl Brown                     Treasurer

Jim Connor

Catherine Rae

Victor Sandall

 

Members in Attendance

 

Cllr Bruce Marshall

 

Apologies

 

Gordon MacDonald

 

Introduction

 

Dinah welcomed Jim Connor to his first Board meeting as a Director, having been elected at the earlier EGM.

 

Minutes of Meeting 3 November 2015

 

The draft minutes of the Trust Board meeting of 3 November 2015 were reviewed. The minutes were proposed by Catherine, seconded by David M and adopted.

 

Matters Arising

 

None

 

Business of the Trust

 

Secretary’s Report

 

The new constitution, which had been adopted at the AGM on 22 September 2015, was required to be further modified by OSCR to comply with certain provisions of Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. A revised constitution, which has been reviewed and approved by OSCR, had been adopted at the EGM held earlier. This will now be registered with Companies House and OSCR. 

 

Update on membership

 

NTR

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

Pearl advised that our bank balances were as follows:

 

Savings Account..........................£4174.44

 

Business Account........................£2187.78

 

Pearl reported as follows:

 

Approximately £500 had been spent on materials for the maintenance of Graham’s Point. A further £150 had been spent on Auditor costs.

 

Dinah advised that Ailsa Close, who had been our auditor for some years, was moving on. Dinah proposed that Moira Sinclair be appointed to perform future audits, to the level that was required for the Trust. This was agreed.

 

Community Action Plan 2013 - 2017 

 

Action Status:

 

Theme 1:

 

Priority 1 – Invasive Species:

 

NTR

 

Theme 2:

 

Priority 1 – Blairmore Village Green

 

A soup & sandwich festive village lunch event will be held on 14 December taking advantage of the marquee that will have been used by the Blairmore Santa event the previous weekend.

 

Theme 3:

 

Priority 3 – Development of potential sites.

 

Communications had been received from Mrs Sheila Whittaker asking for updates on the Trust plans for a feasibility study on site options for sheltered and affordable homes. It was agreed that David M should respond on behalf of the Trust, referring Mrs Whittaker to the community developed and approved Community Action Plan 2013 -2017 and to the on-line minutes of the Trust which clearly record the status of the Trust’s actions and plans.

 

Theme 4:

 

Priority 1: Sewage facilities upgrade

 

David M will be in communication with the office of Michael Russell MSP to fix a date for the meeting to review Scottish Water / SEPA plans for the shore area, including Blairmore.

 

Priority 2 – Broadband Provision

 

NTR

 

Priority 3 – Renewable Energy

 

NTR

 

Liaison

 

Forestry

 

NTR

 

Villages in Bloom

 

NTR

 

Graham’s Point Community Park

 

Dinah thanked Jim Connor on behalf of the Trust for his work on removing the remaining glass from the bus shelter.

 

The work to sandblast and paint the bus shelter following the removal of the glass is delayed. It transpires that, due to a Council error, Listed Building Consent (LBC) had not been obtained. This is now in progress but is expected to take some time.

 

The delay in completing the work could affect the deadline for claiming the necessary funds from the National Park.  However, the Council had agreed to receive the funds before the deadline and to hold these until the work is completed. This is acceptable to the NP.

 

Bruce asked if the Council could provide temporary screening at the shelter until the windows are replaced. Dinah will check.

 

Maintenance of the Willow Tunnel – Pearl will check if NP volunteers could do this in the spring.

 

Working Groups / Projects

 

Paths and Access

 

The Walking Group held a Christmas walk followed by a lunch on 12 December; 25 people attended.

 

Historic Kilmun / Argyll Mausoleum Ltd (AML)

 

Bruce advised:

 

The Council may provide an additional public toilet adjacent to the Visitor Orientation Centre in the Kilmun car park.
The Council may now be able to take some action on the repairs needed for the collegiate tower.

 

AOCB

 

It was agreed that the Trust should nominate Historic Kilmun for a Scottish Civic Trust award – David M to complete the forms.

 

The Trust Board Directors are requested to review the Trust website and advise on any improvements needed.

 

A new round of NP grant applications has commenced. The Admin grant is now restricted to £500, which means that the Trust will need to start fund raising to maintain our financial position. The Project grant will not be applied for this year, as the Trust has no eligible projects.

 

Bruce advised that the PNE, who previously had applied for permission to construct a wind farm at Bachan Burn, had been sold to a Canadian company. It was expected that a fresh planning application will be submitted.

 

 

Date of next meeting

 

The next Board meeting will be on Wednesday 24 February in the Pier Hotel.