Minutes of THE Meeting of Westhill Community Council held in the Community Lounge of Cradlehall Primary School at 7.45Pm on Monday 21 april 2008.  

Present: Catriona Johnson, June Alexander, Brian MacGregor, Craig Ewan, Ken Cox, Neil HornsbyCouncillors : Cllrs. Crawford, Holden, Pedersen (for items 1-10 only) and Prag Residents: Twenty residents were present. 

Apologies: None

 1.         Minutes of meeting held on 17 March  these were accepted. Acceptance of minutes: proposed by the Vice-Chair, seconded by the Secretary.

  3.         Matters arising ·         Maxwell Park: Cllr. Pedersen advised that the HC had said that a soil survey would need to be undertaken before an estimate for drainage could be made. The Secretary advised that arrangements had been made for the commemorative plaque to be reinstated. ·         Dog bins: the Secretary reported that he had again contacted the HC about the provision of bins. ACTION POINT: Secretary to clarify the request that a bin be sited near Culloden Road/Leanach Gdns. junction;   a.. Cradlehall bus shelter: Cllr. Prag reported that the bus shelter could not be moved without great expense, as it was recessed into a wall. The meeting agreed not to take further action. Cllr. Prag also reported that a new shelter for Castlehill had now been provided, and would be installed shortly.  a.. Sports equipment. On the advice of the Councillors present, the meeting agreed to retain in the WCC's accounts, for the time being at least, the £500 earlier earmarked for sports equipment.·         Community Policing: ACTION POINTS: Secretary to contact the police about vandalism in Cradlehall and Woodside (see also item 14 below); Councillors to discuss vandalism in the area at their meeting with the police on 12 May.   5.         Planning:  The Chair advised that an application to develop houses and shops behind the (existing) Cradlehall shops had now been withdrawn. Residents present considered that there were already a sufficient number of shops in that area.  The Secretary reported that a planning appeal for "Rhog" plot, Pinewood, Nairnside had been lodged. ACTION POINT: Secretary to advise HC that the WCC were unaware of any previous correspondence about this application.   6.         Treasurer's report: the Treasurer reported that: £200 had now been spent on the clock for Mr W MacKay; annual interest on the WCC's account had still to be received; and that the current balance stood at £3,772.02 of which £600 had been allocated for the garden project/landscaping adjacent to Cradlehall School. . ACTION POINT: Cllr Holden to advise the WCC about progress with the school entrance refurbishment, to allow the garden project/landscaping work to be suitably scheduled.   7.         WCC website: the Secretary introduced Allan Simpson who gave a short presentation on plans for and progress with redesigning the website. The WCC thanked Allan for his work.   8.         Newsletter: the meeting discussed the value of a newsletter, taking into particular account the significant amount of time involved in producing one and also the information that the website would contain. The WCC decided to consider (instead) preparing a one-page 'flyer', principally to advertise the existence and role of the Community Council.   9.         Gala Day: The meeting noted that an organising committee had now been drawn together, and was due to meet for the first time on 28 April 2008. ACTION POINTS: Chair to ascertain insurance requirements and to advise Smithton primary school about the event.   10.        Castlehill residents' meeting with Tulloch and Peveral:  The Chair outlined the background to the meeting, and explained that the WCC's only role had been to broker the meeting so as to enable the two parties to discuss issues of concern to residents, which the Chair then briefly summarised.  These included residents' objections to the provision and maintenance of a play-park, and funding the maintenance of the (larger) community woodland. ACTION POINTS: Councillors to consider the wider implications of residents' objections to (financing) play-parks; Castlehill residents to consider contacting the HC tree officer for advice on suitable trees for the community woodland; and the WCC to thank Tulloch and Peveral for their input and to invite them to suspend any work on the community wood land until such time as they heard from Castlehill residents.   11.        Correspondence:   The Chair advised that a joint Inverness South/Culloden and Ardersier Ward(s) meeting was scheduled for 7.00pm (for 7.30pm ) on 13 May at the Inshes Church to discuss the proposed link road between the distributor road and the A96.   The Secretary said that HC had written to all Community Councils about their data protection responsibilities, including advice that a more detailed note about CCs' duties in this regard would be circulated shortly.  The Secretary also advised the meeting of details of correspondence received including: ·         HC having launched a public consultation about preparing a Highland-wide local development plan (see: www.highland.gov.uk/developmentplans ); ·         Post-Watch Scotland's latest update; ·         NHS team-up; ·         HC's Ward Forum review (for completion by 30 April); ·         and that Water-Watch Scotland's NW panel were holding a meeting at 5.30pm (for 6.00pm) on 12 May at the Columba Hotel;   The WCC agreed to join the Association of Community Councils, at a membership charge of £15 pa.   On behalf of the WCC, the Chair thanked the Guides for their work in planting the bulbs.   12.        AOCB:   The meeting heard a report that residents at Woodside were likely to be required to finance the maintenance and insurance for a small play-park, which was being built and landscaped by Tulloch, but who had not responded to residents' approaches. Under-age drinking was also reported to be a problem in the area. ACTION POINT: Cllr. Crawford to contact Tulloch (initially) to clarify their responsibilities for that area.   13. Outstanding Action Points, from earlier meetings ·         Response to CC planning questions (see minutes of 18 February 2008) ACTION POINT Mr Ferguson to report his findings back to the Council about the perceived lack of responses Community Councils were encountering from approaches to HC about planning issues.. ·         Nairnside buses (see minutes of 21 January 2008): ACTION POINT: Cllr. Crawford to obtain a timetable for bus routes taking in Nairnside ·         Noticeboards (see minutes of 3 December 2007): ACTION POINT: Minutes Secretary to contact Cllr. Holden about the provision of Notice boards ·         Castlehill play-park/community woodland (see minutes of 17 March):ACTION POINTS Secretary to place a forum on the WCC web-site, inviting suggestions for the (whole) Park's use; Vice-Chair to ascertain the management arrangements for the Farr Community Woodland; and WCC to consider implications of a Community 'buy-out', in consultation with H&IE.   14.  Date and time of next meeting: to be held at 7.45pm, on 21 April.