Scottish Borders Council

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Hawick

Contact: Judith Turnbull Tel No. 01835 826556  Email: Judith.Turnbull@scotborders.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Order of Business.

Minutes:

The Chairman varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

 

2.

Minute. pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Minute of the meeting of the Teviot and Liddesdale Area Forum of 20 January 2015 to be approved. (Copy attached).

Minutes:

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting held on 20 January 2015. 

         

DECISION

AGREED to approve the Minute.

 

3.

Matters Arising from the Minute

Minutes:

With reference to paragraph 4 of the Minute of 20 January 2015, the Neighbourhood Area Manager advised that the leak in the shelter at the Wellogate Cemetery had been repaired without cost to the Neighbourhood Small Scheme budget.   With reference to paragraph 8, the Chairman gave the member of public a written statement, issued from the Leader of the Council, Councillor D Parker, regarding the Great Tapestry of Scotland project.

 

         DECISION

         NOTED.

 

4.

Neighbourhood Small Schemes and Quality of Life. pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Consider report by Service Director Neighbourhood Services. (Copy attached).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

         There had been circulated copies of a report by Service Director Neighbourhood Services seeking approval for the proposed new Quality of Life Scheme from the Area Forum and updating the Forum on previously approved Neighbourhood, Quality of Life and Pay & Display Schemes.  The installation of surface water drainage at Denholm Dene had been requested for consideration from the Quality of Life Scheme.   The Neighbourhood Area Manager advised that there was £2,097 and £1,658 remaining in the small schemes for Hawick & Hermitage Ward and Hawick & Denholm Ward respectively.  The remaining balance for Quality of Life Schemes was now £6.397 in Hawick & Denholm Ward which took into consideration the decision below.

 

         DECISION

(a)      AGREED

(i)      the installation of surface water drainage at Denholm Dene; and       £2,343

 

(ii)    to delegate authority to the Service Director Neighbourhood Services to allocate the remaining funds for the current financial year to Quality of Life and Neighbourhood Small Schemes, subject to consultation with, and approval by a majority of members of the Teviot and Liddesdale and Forum through email.

 

(b)     NOTED

(i)       the updates on previously approved Neighbourhood Small Schemes as detailed in Appendix A to the report;

 

(ii)      the updates on previously approved Neighbourhood Quality of Life Schemes as detailed in Appendix B to the report; and

 

(iii)  the updates on previously approved Pay & Display schemes as detailed in   Appendix C to the report.

 

5.

Police Scotland.

Update report by Police Inspector detailing ongoing work and initiatives in the Teviot and Liddesdale area.

Minutes:

         There had been circulated, at the meeting, copies of a report from Inspector Wood, Police Scotland, which updated the Forum on the performance, activities and issues up to 17 February 2015.  Sergeant Noble was in attendance and highlighted that there had been a 2% increase in reported crime and the solvency rate had reduced by 8.91% compared with  the same period last year.  This was not only in the Teviot and Liddesdale area but throughout the Borders. Sergeant Noble then reported on the Ward Plan Priorities:  In respect of Anti-Social Behaviour, five Fixed Penalty tickets had been issued.  Searches were now carried out if the Police suspected an individual was in possession of a weapon or drugs; in the reporting period there had been eight positive drugs searches.  The police continued to circulate advice to farmers and residents in rural areas on rural theft.  Six road checks had been carried out during the month and three drivers had been warned regarding Anti Social Driving.  Sergeant Noble advised that Community Police Officers were now able to carry out speed checks using a hand held device.  Sergeant Noble continued that there had been a significant increase in the number of calls from the Burnfoot area, a church and a number of local residents had been targeted.  Two people had been arrested and regular patrols would continue in the area.   The builders at the Burnfoot Hub had been advised to clear up the area when they left the site to mitigate against vandalism.  The Forum then discussed dog fouling in detail, including the reluctance in reporting incidents and the use of CCTV to identify culprits. Sergeant Noble confirmed that the Police continued to receive a number of complaints and would continue to target problem areas.  He advised that legislation required that any owner had to be given the opportunity to pick up the dog waste, only if they refused had an offence been committed.  In answer to a question, Sergeant Noble advised that the Police did issue excess car parking tickets and would continue to do so, when resources allowed. 

 

         DECISION

         NOTED the Forum’s concern to the issue of dog fouling.

 

6.

NHS Borders

Minutes:

         The Chairman welcomed Mr Warwick Shaw to the Forum, Mr Shaw was a NHS Borders Executive Board member and would be the NHS representative on the Forum.  Mr Shaw advised that he would regularly attend meetings to update on the Acute Services Strategy.

 

         DECISION

         NOTED.

          

 

7.

Presentation.

 

 

Borders Sports and Leisure – Mr E Jackson, Chief Executive Officer.

 

Minutes:

         BORDERS SPORTS AND LEISURE

Mr Ewan Jackson, Chief Executive Officer was in attendance to give a presentation on the Borders Sports and Leisure Trust.  The Forum were shown a short video clip which highlighted the Trust’s client base and activities they provided.  Mr Jackson then gave a brief introduction to the work of the Trust:  The Trust had been launched in 2003, when sporting facilities transferred from the local authority.  Initially the Trust concentrated on enhancing and maintaining these facilities.  In 2011 they opened the first 3G pitch in the Borders and in 2012 the Borders Tennis Centre opened.  Mr Jackson continued that the Trust now engaged with every single household with children in the area.   The Trust sought to inspire everyone in the Borders to enjoy more active lifestyles, sporting excellence and healthier futures.  In Teviot and Liddesdale area, there were 1,164 pre-school play visits, 16,000 swimming lessons provided and 64,000 physical activity visits per year.  The Trust employed 54 people in the area, the majority in the Teviotdale Leisure Centre.  There were also 354 volunteers assisting in the delivery of sports. £54k had been invested back into the area to secure a healthy future for communities.  The Trust’s challenge was to balance providing a service for the community with sustainability.  The strength of the Trust was that it had knowledgeable staff and an excellent relationship with partners.  Over the next four years the focus would be on the ageing population and promoting physical literacy from children to older members of the community.    In answer to questions, Mr Jackson advised that there was a membership scheme for individuals and families to use the swimming pool.  For talented youngsters, there was funding available through the Athletes’ Support programme.  The Trust had no intention of reducing the Teviotdale Leisure Centre’s opening hours for the next year.  Mr Warwick advised that the NHS were working jointly with SBC to increase the opening hours of the Wilton Pool.  The Chairman thanked Mr Jackson for the informative presentation. 

        

         DECISION

         NOTED. 

 

8.

Scottish Fire &Scottish Fire & Rescue Service. pdf icon PDF 227 KB

Update report by Russell Bell, Station Commander, detailing ongoing work and initiatives in the Teviot and Liddesdale Area.

Minutes:

         There had been circulated, at the meeting, a report from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service which updated the Forum on activity for the month of January 2015.   There had been three house fire occurrences, two open fires, four special services and seven unwanted fire signals. Initiatives being carried out in the area at the moment were: Young Drivers S6 Programme, aimed at educating new/potential drivers; Fire Safety Visits, all year round; Firesharp, face to face education for Primary 6 pupils.  Crucial Crew, a multi-agency event at Tweedbank for Primary 7 pupils; Fire Safety Audits; Fire Case Study and Adult & Child Protection policies ensuring multi agency involvement was provided for the support and protection of higher risk members of the community.   The winter season thematic period was still active.

 

         DECISION

         NOTED.

 

9.

Community Council Spotlight.

Consider matters of interest to Community Councils.

Minutes:

     

9.      Mrs Short, Hawick Community Council reiterated the concern of the community to the dog fouling problem.  Delivery of resilient communities’ leaflets was nearing completion.  However, response had been disappointing; comments received were that the community assisted when required and that Scottish Borders Council should be carrying out the work.  There was a meeting with the Resilient Community Planning on Monday evening to discuss the situation. 

 

10.     Mr Scott, Upper Liddesdale and Hermitage Community Council advised that the notice board issue would hopefully be resolved soon.

 

11.     Mr Griffiths from Hobkirk Community Council advised that there had been an uncontested election to the Community Council, nominations had closed on 9 February.  There had been two service issues relating to phone signals;  BT and Vodafone were resolving.   A falcon bred in the area had won the most prestigious falcon race in the world.

 

12.    Mr Roberts from Denholm Community Council stated that they had also received a poor response to the resilient communities’ scheme.  There was to be an election for the Community Council the next day, Wednesday, 18 February 2015 and this may therefore be the last meeting he attended.

 

13.    Mr Batton from Burnfoot Community Council also reported that the main concern in the Burnfoot area was dog fouling. 

 

         DECISION

NOTED the reports.

 

 

10.

Date of next Teviot and Liddesdale Area Forum Meeting.

Tuesday, 17 March 2015 at 6.30 pm in the Tower Mill, Hawick.

 

Minutes:

 

Agreed that the next meeting be held on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 at 6.30 pm in the Lesser Hall, Town Hall, Hawick.

        

 

 

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Scottish Borders Council

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