Agenda and 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.

Minute of the meeting of 18 February 2016 to be approved (Copy attached).

2.1       There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 18 February 2016.

DECISION

APPROVED for signature by the Chairman.

2.2       With regard to paragraph 6 of the Minute, Councillor Aitchison gave an update on the pre-consultation process held prior to a review of the school estate provision across the Borders.  He reported that the response to the pre-consultation had not been as great as anticipated although the response in Galashiels had been good.   Useful input had been gained in all areas which would be taken forward to inform the review in respect of each of the catchment areas of the nine secondary schools. 

DECISION

NOTED.

Consider report by Service Director Assets and Infrastructure (copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure seeking approval for amendments to the Various Streets, Galashiels Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  The report explained that the previous amendment to the Galashiels TRO had been carried out in 2014.  Since then comments had been received from members of the public and Local Members regarding further changes.  These had been collected into this proposed amendment.  Details of the amendments, which were proposed to aid the movements of vehicles in the town and to facilitate additional provision for taxis, were shown in Appendix A to the report and described in Appendix B to the report.  Statutory consultation on the proposals had been carried out and no adverse comments or objections had been received.

DECISION

AGREED to approve the proposed amendments to The Scottish Borders Council (The Borders Regional Council (Various Streets, Galashiels) (Regulation of Traffic) Order 1990)

Consider report by Service Director Assets and Infrastructure (copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure seeking approval for amendments to the Various Streets, Selkirk Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  It was explained that since the previous amendment in 2008 a number of comments had been received from members of the public and Local Members regarding further changes.  The amendments shown in Appendix A to the report and described in Appendix B to the report were proposed to aid the movements of vehicles in the town, including the formalisation of the existing waiting restriction marked on Scott’s Place which was not included in any previous amendments.  Statutory consultation on the proposals had been carried out and no adverse comments or objections had been received.  Following consultation regarding traffic management issues at Knowepark Primary School, additional amendments were proposed.  Assuming no adverse comments or objections were received during consultation it was proposed to include these in the amendment.  A plan of the proposals and draft schedule were shown in Appendix C to the report.

DECISION

AGREED to approve:-

(a)        the proposed amendments to the Scottish Borders Council (The Burgh of Selkirk (Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting and One-Way Traffic Working) Order 1972); and

(b)       the further amendments to the Scottish Borders Council (The Burgh of Selkirk (Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting and One-Way Traffic Working) Order 1972), shown in Appendix C to the report, assuming no adverse comments or objections were received.

Consider report by Service Director Assets and Infrastructure (copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Assets and Infrastructure seeking approval for amendments to the Various Streets, Melrose Traffic Regulation Order (TRO).  The report explained that since the previous amendment to the TRO in 2008 there had been comments received from members of the public and Local Members regarding further changes.  These had been collected into this proposed amendment.  The amendments were shown in Appendix A to the report and described in Appendix B to the report. They were proposed to aid the movement of vehicles in the town and the loading/unloading of vehicles.  No adverse comments or objections were received during the period of consultation.

DECISION

AGREED to approve the proposed amendments to The Scottish Borders Council (Various Streets, Melrose) Traffic Regulation Order 2008.

MEMBERS

Councillor Davidson left and Councillor Gillespie joined the meeting during the presentation below.  In the absence of a Scottish Borders Council Member from the Selkirkshire Ward the meeting was inquorate and continued on an informal basis.

Presentation by PC Nick Walker.

PC Nick Walker was in attendance to give a presentation on Preventing Rural Acquisitive Crime in the Scottish Borders.  He explained the definition of Rural Crime which was crime that occurred outwith cities and towns with populations of less than 2000.  It included wildlife crime, vandalism/fire raising and theft.  The focus of the presentation was thefts from farms and rural businesses, with machinery/tools, quad bikes, ATVs, tractors, livestock and fuel/oil being commonly targeted.  From a chart giving figures for the past three years PC Walker summarised the extent of the problem in terms of the value stolen, detection rates, and the location of incidents which indicated that the problem was Borders-wide.  In 2014/15, the most recent complete year’s figures available, the total value stolen was over £347,000.  There were currently six ways in which Police Scotland was working with partners to prevent rural acquisitive crime as follows: direct crime prevention advice; media engagement; partnership “walk and talk” events; forensic security marking; rural “no cold caller zones”; and SBAlert messaging system.  PC Walker gave further details of each measure and distributed leaflets with further information.  The rural “no cold caller zones”, scheme was started in Berwickshire in 2011.  There were currently 46 zones involving 4500 residents.  The scheme was owned by the community and facilitated by Police.  The SBAlert messaging system, an emergency community messaging system, was launched in 2014 and involved a partnership between Scottish Borders Council, Police, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Borders and others.  There were currently 3500 members who received messages by email, text or voice message. In particular members of the Area Forum were interested to hear more about the forensic security marking scheme.  Funded by Police and Scottish Borders Council there were 200 SelectaDNA Marking Kits available for farms, delivered by Community Police Officers and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.  The scheme was supported by the National Farmers Union of Scotland.  SelectaDNA was used to mark and protect property, with a unique DNA code being registered on a secure database.  The fact that property was marked in this way would be highlighted in signs displayed on the premises to indicate that the home/business was protected.  In response to questions following the presentation PC Walker explained the process by which a community could set up a “no cold caller zone”.  With regard to the security marking kits he confirmed that these could also be purchased on-line.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation

Presentation by PC Nick Walker.

The Best Bar None (BBN) initiative was a national programme administered by the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, with partners and local co-ordinators contributing to the ambition of the scheme.  The aims were to promote a safer community; promote social responsibility; raise standards in licensed venues and reward well managed venues. PC Walker explained that the scheme was launched in the Scottish Borders in August 2015 at the Queens Head in Kelso.  There were independent assessments carried out in December 2015 and an Awards Event held in March 2016.  The focus of the scheme this year was Galashiels and the central Borders area. Licensed venues could apply to the local scheme, be assessed by trained assessors, gain bronze, silver or gold accreditation and win awards at both local and national level.  The assessment criteria were based around the five key elements of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. The benefits to the community and premises of taking part in the BBN scheme were summarised in the presentation. In addition to supporting the local community and its priorities the scheme made commercial sense for venues and businesses.  A key benefit, exclusive to BBN premises were savings of 10-20% on insurance premiums and enhanced cover options.  The presentation concluded by listing the premises in the Scottish Borders, which had achieved gold and silver awards under the BBN scheme in 2015. 

DECISION

NOTED the presentation

Presentation by Inspector Hodges.

On behalf of the Neighbourhood Area Manager, PC Walker summarised a new refreshed approach being taken to tackle dog-fouling in the Scottish Borders.  In 2014 the Scottish Household Survey rated animal nuisance, such as noise and dog fouling, as the most common problem.  Within the Scottish Borders there had also been an increase in the number of reports of dog fouling. This issue was being looked at by Scottish Borders Council in the wider context of responsible dog ownership.  The ‘Responsible Dog Ownership Strategy and Action Plan’, recently approved by Scottish Borders Council, set out what the Council would do to encourage and promote responsible dog ownership and the Council’s commitment to tackling the antisocial behaviour of irresponsible dog owners.  The approach outlined in the strategy included the objective to reduce the number of dog fouling instances through education, partnership working and enforcement.  Officers had been investigating options to enhance its environmental enforcement activities.  In this connection Council agreed to appoint a private company to carry out focused enforcement activity for a pilot period of twelve months.  As part of the strategy the Council would work with communities on developing local solutions; develop an ‘anti dog-fouling toolkit’ which could be used by local communities; and promote key initiatives such as The Green Dog Walkers.  It was confirmed that material to promote responsible dog ownership, in the form of posters, would be available to Community Councils from the Neighbourhood Services section of the Council.  The Chairman thanked PC Walker for his presentations.

DECISION

NOTED the presentation

9.1      NHS Borders

Chief Officer Social Care and Health, Susan Manion, was in attendance to give an update on behalf of NHS Borders.  Ms Manion reported that on 29 April NHS Borders had held a celebrating excellence in staff event where a number of staff awards had also been given for quality and excellence in the Social Work team.  Currently there was a consultation “Health in your Hands” being carried out with events held across the region.  Comments from the consultation would be considered by the Board in June.  With regard to the Accident and Emergency Department at the Borders General Hospital, although there had been challenges at the beginning of winter recent performance figures had improved with, at the end of April, 97.6% of patients being treated within 4 hours against the national average of 93.1%.  With regard to the national legislation around Health and  Social Care integration Ms Manion reported that in the Scottish Borders the Health and Social Care Joint Board went live on 1 April 2016, with a 3 year strategic plan and budget having been agreed in March.  As part of the joint work going forward the Board would be consulting on the work around new GP contracts for joined-up care.

9.2       Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Galashiels Station Manager, Keith Langley, circulated a report and summarised the main activity with which Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) had been involved in the Eildon area since the last meeting of the Area Forum.  After giving statistics in relation to response and resilience activity Mr Langley highlighted areas of partnership working and prevention and protection activity carried out.  This was key to reducing the number of fires, casualties and losses, thus minimising the economic and social impact of fire on communities.  SFRS staff in all local stations provided home fire safety visits all year round.  All stations were also participating in the British Heart Foundation initiative ‘Call Push Rescue’ and would soon be involved in the Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) project.  To date over 800 members of the public had taken part in the free CPR training provided by stations.  SFRS were working in partnership with TD1 and Community Learning Development to develop and pilot a diversionary project in Galashiels for youths through the summer holidays.  This would run one day a week, include inputs from partner agencies and would result in a recognised award for participants. SFRS Safeguarding Policy and Procedure for Protection of Children and Adults at Risk of Harm was implemented to link into adult and child protection. The policy had created closer ties with Social Services and ensured that those people and families that fire crews identified as at risk were brought to the attention of Social Services.  As summer approached SFRS would focus activities in the areas of country and outdoor safety, fire related anti-social behaviour, holiday safety and derelict property.  The report concluded with reference to the Retained Duty System (RDS).  A national recruitment campaign was on-going for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Dog Friendly Village initiative.

Community Councillor Veronica Lenartowicz introduced herself to the Area Forum and said that she was pleased and excited to give a presentation on the ‘Dog Friendly Newtown’ initiative.  Also present to give further information was Laura Aitken from the organisation Braw Puppy.  Ms Lenartowicz explained that there had been a first phase consultation by way of a community event on Saturday 2 April 2016 in the Community Wing in Newtown St Boswells.  This was attended by over 90 people with 63 dogs.  25 dogs were microchipped at the event. Agencies represented included Braw Puppy, Green Dog Walkers, Keep Scotland Beautiful, and the local Veterinary Practice.  Donations had also been received from local businesses, the Community Council and Scottish Borders Council.  Those attending the event put forward ideas for future activities which included talks and demonstrations, a drop-in advice clinic and classes for puppies and adolescents.  Ms Lenartowicz summarised the next steps which would firstly involve more consultation and involvement of the local community.  The aims would then be to identify priorities and set up active groups and dog classes. Ms Aitken explained more about Braw Puppy and gave details of the types of support that the group could offer through classes, talks and workshops.  The presentation then moved on to address ‘the Poo Problem’. Ms Lenartowicz  identified ways of tackling this issue emphasising the importance of persuasion and education.  She maintained that the approach must be community driven and through pride in the community to work towards a poo-free village.  Measures that had been proved to reduce the problem were ‘poo patrols’ and the ‘ring of shame’ whereby a white circle was sprayed around the deposit to highlight its position and hopefully shame the offending dog owner who failed to pick it up.  In conclusion Ms Lenartowicz  explained that the intention was for the group to become sustainable through fund raising activities and events.  She summarised the vision for the future, the aims being for residents to take control of their community; to have clean streets, paths and verges; and to have lots of fun dog events including annual family fun days.  The Chairman thanked Ms Lenartowicz  and Ms Aitken for their attendance and interesting presentation.

DECISION

NOTED

Mr Luke, of Newton and Eildon Community Council, asked the Council to give consideration to the installation of a defibrillator in a suitable position on the outside of the building in the vicinity of the main entrance at Council Headquarters in Newtown St Boswells.  He pointed out that this could be of potential use for Council staff as well as residents of the surrounding area.  Members agreed that this was a good suggestion that should be taken forward.

DECISION

AGREED to take forward the suggestion and look at the feasibility of placing a defibrillator outside the entrance at Council Headquarters.

Opportunity for members of the public to raise any issues not included on the agenda

There were no open questions.

DECISION

NOTED

Consider future agenda items

The following items were suggested for future meetings:

a)                Scotrail – reliability of signalling/timetabling issues on Borders line;

b)                Community Empowerment Bill - update

DECISION

NOTED

Thursday 8 September 2016. Venue to be confirmed.

The next meeting would be held on Thursday 8 September 2016 at 6.30 pm at the Transport Interchange, Galashiels.