Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council
Agenda February 2000
There will be a meeting of the Community Council at 7pm Monday 7th February in the Burgh Chambers of the Town Hall. There will be a 10 minute break at about 8pm.
0. Young St Andrews Citizen of the Year Award
Trophy, certificates and award to two Young Citizens:- Jane Pitman and Allan Donaldson
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Contributions from Members of the Public
(for anyone who wishes to address the meeting on a matter relevant to St Andrews. Please contact the Secretary or Chair at or before the meeting)
2.1. General
2.1.1. Police
2.1.2. Magnus Jardine-Brown of the University History Society on a University plan to build a Psychology building on the site of St John's House gardens.
2.2. Fife Councillors
3. Minutes of previous meeting.
(Read for corrections of substance - harangue the Secretary for minor (spelling etc) mistakes outwith the meeting)
4. Matters arising from previous meetings
4.1. Friend of St Andrews
Discussion of Keith McCartney's proposal last month. (Appendix D)
4.2. Open Exploitation
(Appendix B)
Recommendation: Simple Lottery, with booklet held as a 2ndry project if the lottery proves impractical.
Later note - Maries Cassells tells me the Pilgrim Foundation is planning something very similar to the lottery. She should be able to expand on this at this meeting - PL
4.3. Building for Health Seminar
(Jan 6.3.1.) Chris Lesurf, Archie Strachan, Lindsay Murray, Pete Lindsay attended, also Fife Cllrs Sheila Hill, Jane Ann Liston and Frances Melville. Total attendance about 100. Report by Chris Lesurf in Appendix E.
4.4. Zebra Crossings
(Jan 2.2.1.) It was decided to discuss these again this month.
4.5. Lighting in Kinburn Park
(Jan 4.2) Jim Hooton of Community Services replied to our letter promising immediate repair to a faulty light at the toilet block, that Property Services will report on lighting levels in the park and funds applied for should additional lighting be required. There would be a site meeting in the park involving Jim Hooton and Locality Manager Kate Hughes. He will keep us informed.
5. New Business
(New items of business should be passed to the Secretary in time for inclusion in the agenda otherwise they will be taken under 8. AOCB)
6. Officers' Reports
6.1. Chair
6.2. Treasurer
(Appendix A)
6.3. Secretary
6.3.1. Buses - letters were written to Fife Council (no reply) and Stagecoach (who sent proofs of the new timetables as well as a reply) after last month's meeting. The situation has now stabilised, with timetables becoming generally available for the 94/95/96 services to Dundee in the week before this meeting.
Stagecoach would like to send a representative to speak to us on bus services generally.
6.3.2. Operation Heartstart - are holding a Road Show training session in mouth-to-mouth breathing and heart massage 7pm Wed 15 March at Madras Kilrymont. Are any of our members interested in attending?
7. Committee Reports
7.1. General Purposes
7.2. Golf
7.3. Health, Education & Welfare
7.4. Millennium
Appendix C
7.5. Planning
7.6. Publicity
7.7. Recreation
7.8. Youth
8. Any Other Competent Business
Appendix A - Treasurer's Report
7th February 2000
a1. State of Funds as at 1st February 2000:-
Administration Account £2588.67
General Account £947.56
Millennium Account £2799.00
Youth Com. Account £50.00
St. Andrews Day Account £411.58
Sen. Cit. Xmas Party £1323.46
Bandstand Concerts Acc. £764.56
Upper Arlington Acc. £216.41
Coat of Arms Account £160.35
Total Balance £9,266.59
a2. Coat of Arms Sub-Committee - The Convenor will report.
a3. Expense Claim Forms - These may be had from the Treasurer.
a4. Invoices - Councillors are requested to submit council business invoices to the Treasurer as soon as possible so that payment may be made promptly.
Appendix B - 'Open Exploitation' working group minutes
17/1/00 7.30pm Local Office
Joe Peterson, David Kinnen, Ken Crichton, Steve Durrant, Pete Lindsay, Murdo Macdonald, Lindsay Murray.
MM mentioned problems at previous Opens - 'merchandise' not being sold etc.
Discussed a number of possibilities for the booklet idea, especially with a core of guides to pubs & restaurants interspersed with covenant forms etc for worthy causes - pier, Pilgrim Trust etc. Some concern that other bodies (Tourist Board, Merchants’ Assoc, in previous Opens golf magazines) might be producing similar, and that the historical guides suggested while interesting might not be enough of a selling point. Steve Durrant offered use of the "Alternative Prospectus" reviews as a basis, and printing contacts.
Secondly a number of variations on a lottery were considered. It was thought that this could be quite effective on the basis of Lindsay Murray's experience at an Open in the 80s.
Those with experience of selling lottery tickets pointed out that named projects would sell tickets better than a general 'for the benefit of St Andrews'. Suggestions include Pier Project, Millennium Garden, but obviously the final line-up would have to by decided by CC.
A variation of the lottery would be a prize draw on some Open-related matter - aggregate score of the winner, total official attendance etc. but it was felt that this would be very much more work to run properly than a simple lottery.
DSK pointed out that a lottery would need registration/licence, PL to contact Fife Council for details.
Lottery needs worthwhile prizes, especially the headline prize. JP volunteered to take on prize-raising from local businesses.
Those present noted that all were either quite heavily committed or out of town around the time of the Open which could be a problem for co-ordination. However thought that not everyone who expressed an interest at CC got written down (oops - PL) so there may be someone available. Check at next CC meeting when we present this report.
Draft Timetable - some items could be taken earlier
Jan check conditions for running lottery
Feb report to CC, get ok for lottery project
Mar get firm costs (tickets etc)
Apr decide if sufficient prizes available to go ahead.
CC decide worthy causes to benefit [deadline, could be done earlier]
print tickets
May arrange sellers, access to Open? Pub crawling (selling, honest)
Jul Open, prize draw [can we get a celeb?]
Recommendation to CC: Simple Lottery, with booklet held as a 2ndry project if the lottery proves impractical.
NB if there are the people prepared to work on them other projects could still be investigated.
(Later: Fife Council Law & Admin inform me that a licence to run a lottery would cost £35 statutory fee for the calendar year, renewable for £17.50 statutory fee in January - PL)
Appendix C - Report Of The Millennium Committee For 7/2/00
C1. Greyfriars Garden Site. Letters have been sent to various local bodies inquiring whether they would be likely to contribute funds to make up the necessary purchase price. Few replies have as yet been received.
C2. Competition For Schools. The Committee discussed at some length the competition to encourage Millennium schemes for the benefit of the town, as put forward by Mrs. Lesurf before Christmas. A much modified version is now being proposed. The idea now is that a short list of Millennium projects should be drawn up (perhaps including those which have been discussed already). There should then be a competition for local schools, to be concluded by the end of May, to design a leaflet to publicise these projects. the prize to be used to buy equipment for the wining school (the amount is still to be discussed). Arrangements would be made to have the winning leaflet distributed round the town. The second stage of the proposal, to take effect in the second half of the year, would be another competition for schools, to devise methods of raising money for the chosen project(s). The Committee would now like to recommend this proposal to the Council for its approval.
Appendix D - Friendship of St Andrews
Submission to January 2000 meeting by Keith McCartney.
For centuries the Burgh Council of the Royal Burgh of St Andrews had the right to grant the freedom of the city to those whom it felt were worthy of the honour. Over that period of time many distinguished individuals, such as Benjamin Franklin in 1759 and Bobby Jones in 1958, were given this honour which came from the whole community through their elected representatives
With the demise of the Burgh Council in the mid 1970's the ability of the citizens of St Andrews to offer the freedom of the city to those they felt worthy of it ceased.
In the time which has elapsed since then I am sure there have been a number of people who St Andrews would have wished to honour through the presentation of the Burgess Ticket but it has not been within the power of the Community Council to do so.
In this millennial year I would therefore like to propose that a new honour be created which it would be in the power of the Community Council to bestow on behalf of the people of St Andrews with the creation of the title Friend of St Andrews.
The reason for suggesting this title goes back to the words of Bobby Jones when he was presented with the freedom of the city in 1958. He said
"There are two very important words in the English language that are very much misused and abused. They are 'friend' and 'friendship'. When I say to a person 'I am your friend' I have said about the ultimate. When I say 'You are my friend' I am assuming too much, for it is a possibility that you do not want to accept my friendship. When l have said as much about you, and you have done so much for me, I think that when I say 'You are my friends' then, under these circumstances, I am, at the same time affirming my affection and regard for you and expressing my complete faith in you and my trust in the sincerity of your friendship. Therefore when I say to you now 'Greetings, my friends at St Andrews' I know I am not presuming because of what has passed between us."
Names suggested for the honour could come before the Community Council for consideration and those upon whom the title is bestowed be invited to a ceremony in the Burgh Chamber, or larger venue if felt appropriate, where the Chairman of the Community Council would make a speech explaining why the honour was being given before presenting a framed copy of the Community Council coat-of-arms matriculation certificate with, attached to the back of the frame, a document stating to whom the honour was being given, why, and the date followed by the signature of the Chairman.
The person honoured could then be invited to sign the Friendship Roll, a successor to the Burgh Council's Burgess Roll, which I would suggest, should be a hard cover book embossed with the Community Council coat-of-arms and the words Friendship Roll containing lined paper. This would be countersigned and dated by the Chairman and remain in the Council's possession as a record of those honoured.
The person honoured would then make a response and the ceremony end with them leaving in the company of the Chair and office bearers.
In closing may I commend this proposal to you and thank you for giving it your consideration.
Keith McCartney
Appendix E - Building for Health Seminar
The Local Health Care Co-operative (LHCC) seminar was very amiable and useful acquaintances may have been made, including some with members of the public. Several members of NHS staff described their positions and many aims and ideas were shared. Some hope was left in the air that they might lead to positive action, for example, better access to information and more influence on the local running of the NHS.
My suggestions included
a) having a free phone line. In a personal letter to Cathy Adamson (Planning Director of Fife's Primary Care Trust) I have suggested that the answering service should first mention the opportunity to make comments through Fife Health Council (FHC). I also intend to write to FHC and ask whether they had a representative at Saturday's seminar because I did not meet any there.
b) having a competition for schoolchildren to design an advert in the form of a web page, poster, leaflet or poem (which I had already suggested here). This was well received in my discussion group so I propose that we liaise with the LHCC. The range of topics could include the 3 projects the Millennium Committee agreed to promote (the harbour/pier, the fountain in the Market Place and the seating room in Greyfriars Gdn), my idea of dividing St. Andrews residents into 10 age groups to take part in a competition for Millennium Projects (StAMPs - one of which would receive a prize to continue into 2001)) and subjects relating to the LHCC.
The seminar ended with a promise from Cathy Adamson that she would produce a report within a week and that further seminars would be arranged to encourage efficient feedback and productive initiative.
Chris Lesurf
St Andrews Pothole Watch!
List: Potholes (40mm/1.5in) in the road, damaged pavements (20mm/.75in), missing or damaged toby covers, blocked drains, floods, defective streetlights etc.
Identify the location (number of closest streetlight for instance).
Hand to Cllr Jane Ann Liston or to Fife Roads Service.
Defect Location
Secretary - additional
6.3.3. St Andrews Day Holiday
Keith McCartney writes
"'In early January I wrote to the leaders of the main Christian denominations in Scotland - Presbyterian, Roman Catholic and Episcopalian - inviting them, in this millennial year, to support the Community Council's campaign to have St Andrew's Day declared a public holiday. I am delighted to report that so far positive replies have been received from Cardinal Thomas Winning and Bishop Richard Holloway (copies attached) and am sure the Community Council will be encouraged by the support of such prominent churchmen.
From correspondence with Iain Smith MSP I understand that he is very much in favour of St Andrew's Day becoming a national holiday but, as a Minister, is unable to put the motion before parliament himself and has arranged for fellow MSP Keith Raffan to table the motion.
In closing may I wish the Community Council every success in their efforts to have St Andrew's Day declared a national holiday and suggest that to further garner support the Secretary write to the letters page of all the Scottish daily newspapers explaining the background to and purpose of the campaign inviting readers to write to their MSP supporting it."
(And I suggest that as Mr McCartney felt able to write to the churches he can write to the newspapers in similar vein - Pete)
6.3.4. Data Protection Registration
Some months ago we discussed registration of the Community Council under the Data Protection Act. Having looked into this I believe that we have no need to do so under current legislation.
a) The preparation of documents and correspondence on computer (word processing) does not count as data processing as the act defines it.
b) The keeping of lists of name address, phone etc for contact or mailing purposes is specifically exempt and does not need to be registered.
These seem to cover all our computer use. If any member uses a computer for community council business in a way that uses personal data not covered above I'd be grateful if they would contact me so I can review the situation.
There is likely to be a new Data Protection act soon which will change the situation.
6.3.5. Iain Smith MSP
For information: Ian Smith has written enquiring about dates of our meetings with a view to attending one:
"I am keen not only to meet the members of the council, but also to discuss with you any local issues in the area where I may be able to offer assistance".
6.3.6. France at Home
For information: This French organisation which arranges markets of French traders around the UK faxed me about the possibility of organising a 'French Market' in St Andrews. As we are not the licensing authority I've passed the request on via Cllr Jane Ann Liston to Jim McLeish of Economic Development who is getting more details with an eye on the Street Fairs.
6.3.7. Correspondence
In
|
Date |
Who | What | Where |
|
10/1/00 |
Stagecoach Fife | X59 service revision | F |
|
12/1/00 |
Students' Assoc | Kinburn Park Lighting (copy) | F |
|
13/1/00 |
Fife Env Trust | Small Projects Scheme | F |
|
15/1/00 |
Fife Enterprise | Bow Butts renovation plans | F (& planning) |
|
19/1/00 |
Queen Margaet Uni Coll, Edin | West Sands sign plan | F (& planning) |
|
24/1/00 |
Stagecoach Fife | X59 service revision more | F |
|
24/1/00 |
Rance at Home | French Market in St Andrews | F (copy to FC) |
|
26/1/00 |
Heartstart | Roadshow | F |
|
26/1/00 |
Locality Manager | Meeting with Planning | F |
|
27/1/00 |
Social Work | Respite Consultation in NEF | HEW - CL |
|
27/1/00 |
Community Services | Kinburn Park Lighting | |
|
27/1/00 |
Trading Standards | Metrication | F |
|
1/2/00 |
SEPA | Newsletter | F |
|
1/2/00 |
Law & Admin | Lottery info | F |
|
1/2/00 |
Home Safety Forum | Agenda 7/2/00 | F |
|
1/2/00 |
Caritas Data | Guide to Charities/Funding publication - promo lit | F |
|
2/2/00 |
Entrust | Changes to landfill legislation | F |
|
2/2/00 |
APRS | Countryside Survey - 2 copies | to planning? |
|
5/2/00 |
Iain Smith MSP | Visit to cc - dates of meetings? | F |
|
5/2/00 |
EA Local Services | Agenda 9/2/00 | F |
|
6/2/00 |
K McCartney | St Andrews Day | F |
|
6/2/00 |
NEF Local Healthcare Co-op | Seminar report | F |
Out
|
Date |
To | Subject: | Method |
|
16/1/00 |
Comm Svcs, Chief Exec, Students' Assoc | Lighting Kinburn Park | Fax *3 |
|
16/1/00 |
Stagecoach | Timetable Changes | Fax *3 |
|
16/1/00 |
Local Office | Room bookings | Letter |
|
18/1/00 |
Buses | Transportation Service | Fax *3 |
|
20/1/00 |
Law & Admin | Lottery licence | Fax |
|
27/1/00 |
Paton | Arms licensing - AM | letter |
|
27/1/00 |
White | Arms Licensing - AM | letter |
|
6/2/00 |
D. Masters | West Sands sign plan | |
|
6/2/00 |
Iain Smith MSP | CC dates |