Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

Community Council Spotlight

Consider matters of interest to Community Councils.

Minutes:

Denholm Community Councillor, Ms Gwen Crew, advised that there had been no meeting in December.   They was one vacancy on the Community Council which would hopefully be filled at their next meeting.   Ms Crew thanked Police Scotland for carrying out speed checks in the village; several motorists driving over the speed limit had been detected.  However, there was still an issue with speeding along Jedburgh Terrace and the Community Council considered that the 30 mph sign should be located further out of the village. A police report might assist with the request for the sign to be moved.  Ms Crew further advised that Main Street, Denholm was to be closed for resurfacing on 23 and 24 January, the alternative route was of concern as the grass verges had not been repaired for a considerable length of time, larger vehicles would be re-routed through a major diversion. Mrs Crew expressed concern at the size of the documents they were receiving for windfarm applications, the last application relating to Pine Burn had been over 600 pages, which did not encourage accessibility by community councils or the public.

 

Hawick Community Councillor, Mrs Marion Short, advised that they had also received the application for Pine Burn windfarm; they were arranging a sub-group meeting to discuss the application and to coordinate a response.    Mrs Short had also attended the flood protection meeting that afternoon and advised that SBC were also promoting, via a leaflet, flood protection products such as door guards and flood sacks for use of residents in flood prone premises.  Mrs Short had also been invited to the commissioning service for Hawick Street Pastors on 28 January. PS Quinn advised that the scheme worked extremely well in Galashiels.  The Street Pastors’ targeted alcohol issues and would assist the Police and make the streets safer in the evening.  Mrs Short further advised that a meeting would take place next week with representative from Amey to discuss Dovemount Place and roundabout.

 

Upper Liddesdale and Hermitage Community Councillor, Mr Robert Scott advised that the Community Council’s first meeting of 2017 would be held on Monday 23 January.  Items on the agenda included co-option of a member and Energiekontor presentation on Pine Burn windfarm.

 

Hobkirk Community Councillor, Mr John Curtis advised that at their last meeting the principal discussion had been on the Pine Burn windfarm application.  There had also been an enthusiastic discussion about the possibility of taking over the former Hobkirk Primary School building and the possible formation of a Community Trust.  The Chairman of the Village Hall Committee would be circulating a questionnaire to residents for their views on the proposal.  Mr Curtis also referred to the continual closure of the A7 by Amey which meant diversions around unsuitable roads.  There were also three areas of the route between Hawick and Langholm which were on the verge of collapse; with a similar problem at The Dunk.  The road condition was affecting tourism and industry.   

 

Upper Teviot and Borthwick Water Community Councillor,  Mr Ian Robson advised that the Community Council had also received the Pine Burn windfarm application and they were concerned at the transport plan.   They also now had three defibrillators and were investigating storage cabinets to house them.  The A7 had also been discussed and it had been noted that maintenance on some of the minor routes had been carried out and this was welcomed.  

 

DECISON

(i)         AGREED to report the issues with the A7 to the next meeting of the A7 Action Group; and

(ii)        NOTED the reports.

 

 

CONTACT US

Scottish Borders Council

Council Headquarters Newtown St. Boswells Melrose TD6 0SA

Tel: 0300 100 1800

Email:

For more Contact Details