approved
(Copies of Agendas and Minutes of the Community Council are held at Fife Council’s Local Office, St Mary’s Place and the Town Library, Church Square. Those from mid-1998 on are online at http://www.louisxiv.demon.co.uk/standrewscc/)
Chair: Donald Macgregor
Mr James Docherty withdrew due to illness.
A ballot was held and as a result Ian Hamilton and Laurel Aguilar were co-opted. All who put themselves forward or expressed an interest were thanked, and encouraged to stand in the full community council elections in 2004.
Community councillors: Laurel Aguilar, Ken Crichton, Richard Douglas, Ken Fraser, Ian Goudie, Joe Lamb, Pete Lindsay, Dennis Macdonald, Murdo Macdonald, Donald Macgregor, Gordon Pay, Joe Peterson, Frank Riddell, Ewen Sparks, Archie Strachan, Cynthia Tero, Penny Uprichard.
Students Association: Derek Macleod.
Fife Councillors: Sheila Hill, Jane Ann Liston, Frances Melville, Bill Sangster.
Apologies: George Davidson, Chris Lesurf.
Accepted
None
4.1.1. Traffic Calming at DRH Not happy with the consultation process or the proposals, but felt the feedback to the University and Transportation Service from the second public meeting was very useful.
4.1.2. Gateway Wrote to the University and Scottish Enterprise Fife over concerns at the Gateway building remaining empty. Enquired about plans to use it as a visitor orientation centre. She has received a positive-sounding response from Joe Noble at SEF, though there were no solid facts he could give out.
4.1.3. Traffic Calming by Lawhead School Calming measures will be installed at Little Carron and other ‘safe routes’ to the school. A 20mph limit not practical, as it would need extreme ‘calming’ measures.
4.1.4. Hospital Meeting to announce progress is proposed for the end of June.
4.1.5. Housekeeping at the St Mary’s Place Office plans counter; Donald Macgregor noted that it was very difficult to find any plans due to the lack of order and number of old plans. It was suggested that rather than heaped in a pile in the public area plans be kept behind the desk where they could be kept in good order and handed out on request.
4.1.6. Green waste kerbside collection New brown wheelie bin being issued for fortnightly collection over summer, monthly in winter. Not all streets in centre will receive them though to avoid exacerbating the existing problems over wheelie bins. Green waste will be composted at a central point for recycling and to reduce landfill taxes.
Ian Goudie was worried that the bins will be of full size, making them difficult to manage for some, awkward to store and unlikely to be filled except by keen gardeners. Many households would benefit from smaller bins, he felt.
4.2.1. Younger Gardens She is meeting with residents and in touch with Kingdom Housing regarding the reported problems in this area.
4.2.3. Pedestrian Crossing at Largo Road Transportation Service expect to be able to install this in the next financial year.
4.2.4. Craigtoun Road Development Bus Circle Ian Goudie asked about reports that a bus turning circle is to be installed. Cllr Hill had not heard of anything, but would be pleased if there was. Ian Goudie pointed out that this provision was part of the planning consent as a required part of the development. He was concerned that it seems the public purse is now to meet the requirement rather than the developer. He asked why such conditions are not monitored for compliance nor enforced by the council.
4.3.1. Fly-Posting Attended a demonstration of ‘anti-fly-posting ‘ paint for street furniture. Sellotape etc will not adhere so posters drop off in a few minutes.
4.3.2. Refuse Collection There are new yellow bins appearing Fife-wide for commercial waste. These will only be provided to those businesses which can keep them on-premises. Those that can’t will have to pay for bags.
He has spoken to officials about the collection schedule in the centre of town.
4.3.3. Street Furniture etc He’s working on the problem of defects in street lighting, and especially street crossing lights. There are also a number of missing bollards and some cases of graffiti he’d like dealt with. However he would like to see more paint about town in the form of renewed street marking, white lines etc, some of which are very worn. He is also looking into holes in the roads.
4.3.4. Access to North Castle Street Combining aspects of the previous two items there are now parking restrictions (double yellow lines) at North Castle Street where the bin lorry had been blocked on occasion by parked cars. Other parking controls recently introduced is specific disabled parking at Kirkhill.
4.3.5. Abbey Court More paint needed here, but on the houses.
4.3.6. Weeds The weed-spraying programme is underway.
4.3.7. Bank of Scotland, Queens Gardens He criticised the design of the disabled access ramp, believing it to pose a hazard for those with vision problems. Joe Lamb, from his experience of poor vision, commented that there were a number of other examples of such hazards about town.
4.3.8. Post Office Closure He understands there is funding £10k investment to improve facilities at surrounding branches. Penny Uprichard asked about an appeal against the Post Office decision – she believes there may be a poorly-advertised appeal system. Ken Crichton, as a former sub-postmaster, pointed out that it is actually up to the shop keeper whether they want to continue to run a sub-postoffice.
4.3.10. Kinnessburn He’s investigating the possibilities of a partial clearance of the weeds at least, pending a SEPA decision on dredging to alleviate flood risk.
4.3.11. College Street Ken Fraser drew attention to the fact that College Street is a cycle route but is entirely unmarked and habitually blocked by an A board at the Market Street end. Would a white line separating cycle and pedestrian be possible?
4.3.12. West Port Murdo Macdonald, despite his reluctance to see a reduction in parking places in the centre, called for the removal of the last parking space inside West Port on the north side of South Street. Vehicles parking here block the turning circle.
4.3.13. Murray Park/Place Again on parking Murdo Macdonald observed that some parking spaces here are angled wrongly for the direction of flow of traffic. He suggested they should be repainted.
4.3.14. Dog Waste Joe Lamb related an incident where a dog was allowed to foul a public place then the owner drove off without cleaning up. Though the car number was taken as this is a civil not criminal matter so Police cannot trace and provide information on the number; other authorities such as Environmental Health do not have authority to access the registration information. Cllr Sangster will take up this anomaly.
4.4.1. Pipeland Park There is currently a problem with the amount of glass being smashed here; Community Services are clearing every other day, and will increase to every day during holidays, but cannot sustain this level of action for extended periods. She has asked the police to ‘Hotspot’ this and get the community officers involved to remind users that glass in a play area is not good for anyone.
4.4.2. Kinnessburn Fence As well as the wire netting needing replaces it seems that a car has crashed into the fence at one point, damaging posts and rails. Transportation Service are to deal with this.
4.4.3. Adult Services Committee She has a new portfolio in the new council. Adult Services covers what used to be referred to as Recreation and Housing. She sees getting affordable housing for St Andrews as a priority that she can work for on this committee. Ken Crichton pointed out that simple affordability was not enough too solve problems in St Andrews if it only lasted for a few years then disappeared into the full price market; what was needed was housing to be affordable in perpetuity. Cllr Liston replied that the strategy is for St Andrews to be declared a ‘pressured area’, suspending right-to-buy for new tenants; once borrowing restraints are removed new council houses can be built without having to be sold at a loss, as under the present system.
4.4.4. New School Debate At the first full Fife Council meeting there was a motion proposed by East Fife councillors to bring forward two new secondary schools, one for West Fife, the other for the Tay Bridgehead. This was unsuccessful, after an unpleasant debate that heard a number of prejudices aired by members of various parties over the alleged ‘privilege’ of East Fife. Despite this there will be a review of education strategy, as this is required of Fife by the Scottish Executive. She noted that one of the reasons for the education problems in Fife was the lack of any strategy for many years, and the lack of review in the light of changing populations of the few policies that did exist. It is expected that the review will report around Christmas.
Joe Lamb thought there might be a down side to a new school in the bridge head area; if fewer kids come in to Madras local businesses might be affected.
4.5.1. Common Good Fund As a result of a financial report accompanying a recent application Archie Strachan reported his serious concerns at learning that the fund faces a deficit if there is any break in income from Children’s Library rent, due to payments on the Byre Theatre loan that Fife Council forces through combined with the general drop in investment income from the fund’s capital.
Murdo Macdonald reminded the meeting of promises from Fife Council at the time of the loan. As Chair at the time he was told on several occasions that CGF income would be maintained even if the library left the town hall premises.
Cllr Frances Melville agreed to arrange a meeting with Finance Service, the fund administrators, other relevant officials and Community Council representatives.
Planning convenor Ian Goudie apologised for the lack of a written report, due to pressure of work. Applications of concern:
Stanley Smith House object to a University proposal to erect a gate which will block a well-used right of way between South Street and St Mary’s Place.
12 Church Street object to internally illuminated sign of a teller machine, as this lies within the conservation area.
123 Market Street it is intended to comment on the preservation of an entranceway mosaic on repositioning of a door.
Town Library a proposed glazed area to be removed; planning committee preferred the original separation of the library and adjacent building.
Computer Science Building, North Haugh Dr Goudie then went on to give a detail report of the planning committee’s concerns over the proposals for the Computer Science Building redevelopment on the North Haugh.
The proposed location would severely limit options for a rail link in to town. Should not the putative line be protected in the same way as the putative green belt, both required in the Fife Structure Plan by the Scottish Executive. There are problems with one proposed route for the rail link, running between the A91 and the Gateway centre, problems with level and location of a station. If this application goes ahead the only other option would be to terminate any rail line west of town damaging hopes for an integrated transport system.
Appearance: very much alarmed by suggestions from planning officials that appearance should match the widely unpopular look of the Bio-Molecular Sciences building and that future development should strive to make the rest of the North Haugh match it or hide the older buildings behind newer, higher ones of a BMS-like appearance. The suggestions of higher buildings on the North Haugh are themselves of concern.
After discussion of these and related matters the meeting agreed support for the planning committee’s position and Dr Goudie’s comments on the proposal.
Community Council agreed to ‘sponsor’ her publication of The Story of the Societies of St Andrews. (Prop Donald Macgregor, 2nd Penny Uprichard, none against) and recommend to the 200 Club that a grant of up to £100 be considered.
General Purposes committee or Publications to sort out details with Mrs Willsher.
General Purposes/Publications
No one able to attend this meeting in Glasgow.
All noted
Launch at the Botanic Gardens.
Joe Peterson
Agreed on a show of hands (7:2) to make a membership donation of £20.
No one able to attend this meeting in Glasgow either.
Joe Lamb not entirely happy with the outcome, feeling the state of the centre is shabby and shoddy.
Cllr Jane Ann Liston suggested that these sorts of problems could also be brought to light by formal complaints to the Leisure Centre itself, of which she understood that none had been received, and through the East Sands Consultative Committee on which Cynthia Tero is a representative.
Writes to let us know he hopes to visit every community council in NE Fife over the next few months to learn of local issues first hand, as he did when first elected.
Noted
Noted
Last years accounts approved – £2861.31 grant for this year.
8.3.2. Keyholders:
Cupboard in Fife Council Office, St Mary’s Place: Ian Goudie, Murdo Macdonald, Pete Lindsay
Wooden Notice board, Town Hall, South Street: Pete Lindsay (2)
Metal Notice board, Logies Lane: Pete Lindsay, Frank Riddell (several spares)
9.1.1. General Purposes
9.1.1.7 Parking Strategy Meeting Pete Lindsay reported that a lack of confidence in the consultants was apparent among many who attended this meeting. Poor preparation: dubious figures for ‘typical’ parking charges were cited and withdrawn when widely challenged. However as Transportation Service officials were present too people persevered with the focus group sessions and put various points on the future of parking in St Andrews.
9.1.1.9. Common Good Fund Also resolved to ask for more information, perhaps a regular summary of the state of the CGF and awards made, from Fife Council via our representatives.
None
Former NE Fife Local Government Area vs Edinburgh. Friday 25 July. We are invited to supply two members of the NEF team as usual. Ewen Sparks, Joe Peterson and Murdo Macdonald all willing. To sort it out among themselves.