There will be a meeting of the community council at 7pm Monday 10th January in the Burgh Chambers of the Town Hall, Queen’s Gardens. There will be a short break at about 8pm during which the 200 Club draw will be made.
(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 late 1997 on are at http://www.louisxiv.demon.co.uk/standrewscc/)
Read for accuracy in matters of substance – harangue the secretary for minor errors (spelling etc) outwith the meeting.
For anyone wishing to address the meeting on a matter relevant to St Andrews. Please contact the Secretary or Chair before the meeting. Priority will be given to those who have been invited to speak or have given advance notice.
Ben Young was, until recently, employed as a researcher for the SCF.
Tom E Jones to speak about the bill being presented to the Scottish Parliament in January, which proposes abolishing prescription charges in Scotland; the rationale behind the bill to the council; and asking for support in a letter to Iain Smith MSP asking him to promote the bill in parliament.
Appendix A: 13/12/04
Appendix B: 20/12/04
Appendix C: Outline notes in response to the questions raised by Fife Council in the draft consultation document (circulated to community councillors with the October 04 papers). Response deadline 4/2/05.
Appendix D: Outline notes in response to the draft “Agreement” circulated last month [December 7.3]. Response deadline 4/2/05.
[December 3.1.] Appendix E: letter to Keith Winter, Head of Development Services, informing him of our concerns, and his reply.
[December 6.3] Following discussions with Fife Council Law & Admin and an on-site meeting (20/12) with Neil Brown of Law & Admin the plan is to move our notice board to the east end of the frontage of 78 South St, assuming the new occupiers of the premises are agreeable – PL.
[October 8.3.3.] Chris Bell, Lead Officer Local Transport Plan (East), gives date details:
The document will be presented at East Area Services Committee on 27 January 2005 seeking approval to consult with key stakeholders (all Community Councils, Business Associations, Residents Associations, etc, etc) between 1st February and 31st March 2005. There is also consultation planned on the Structure Plan, St Andrews & East Fife Local Plan and the Local Transport Strategy (LTS) during Feb, Mar, April time which we will link into, where possible – this will involve the general public.
The East Area Transport Plan is basically a technical appendix of the LTS along with ATPs for Central and West. All documents will be submitted to the Scottish Executive in early summer 2005.
[December 6.2.] Pete Lindsay & Bruce Ryan attended and will report.
Appendix F: Iain Smith MSP asks our position, and provides a link to UNESCO for further information on this scheme: http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm
Appendix G: Invitation from St Andrews World Class
Who will be our representative?
Provisional: Chris Lesurf may wish to raise this, but is investigating whether it applies to Scotland.
Appendix H: Ken Cochrane asks to extend permission to use of our Arms on his multimedia cds. Proceeds to the Harbour Trust, Preservation Trust, etc.
Is a charity which provides support and counselling for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and their families across East Fife. They have opened an office in Cupar and are offering information sessions on the work of the project. Crisis support 01383-626-716, general enquiries 01383-739-084, safespace@btinternet.com.
Reverend Marie-Louise Moffett, of Queen’s Gardens, Chair of Pilgrim’s Care (“Christian care for the Elderly of St Andrews and District”) writes:
... to seek the Council’s advice and support for our Charity’s aim to provide high quality continuing care for the elderly locally. I enclose a leaflet outlining the history of Pilgrim Care from its inception to our current proposals to develop new facilities in collaboration with the Auchlochan Trust.
The Directors of Pilgrim Care, who are all members of St. Andrews churches, are eager to see the project make progress, and would therefore welcome an opportunity to present our ideas to the Community Council. We are concerned about the continuing needs of elderly people in the community and we wish to develop the Charity’s aims in ways which are sympathetic to the Council’s views on future Structure Plans for the St. Andrews area.
I should be pleased to know if there is suitable date and time when a group from Pilgrim Care could discuss our proposals with members of the Community Council.
Appendix I: Invite us to meetings on the Trust and the Fife Coastal Path. 7.30pm Tuesday 22 Feb, Madras College, Kilrymont Rd. They’d appreciate names of likely attendees. (December 7.2.3).
Appendix J: details and reasoning from Fife Council.
Appendix K: Fife Council are introducing an events strategy to raise quality of event provision and provide promotion across Fife. A copy of the information to Event Organisers and a draft event information form have been sent to us. Anyone involved in organising or publicising events should contact: Linda Thomson, Events Co-ordinator, Fife Council Community Services, Rothesay House, Glenrothes KY7 5LT for further details.
Appendix L: foreword from the report.
Winter 2004: Fife among top recyclers; Environmental action gets results; Does your house meet the tolerable standard; Working time regulations; Air quality; Strength to strength (kerbside collections for paper recycling); From sees to success; Kingdom FM at Dunfermline recycling centre; Health and Safety topic based inspections; Good food hygiene at Christmas; Fines for (dog) fouling; Food safety assurance; Cooksafe system; Food poisoning outbreak exercise. More information on most of these is at www.fifedirect.org.uk/
This is describes as a leak investigation “Find & Fix” programme, expected to take 7 months and fix an estimated 1300 leaks in Fife (out of 17,550 in Scotland). An information leaflet on reasons why and effects of the work, will be circulated to those in affected areas (example copy available). Further details of the programme from Susan Rowe, Scottish Water Business & Community Liaison, susan.rowe@ scottishwater.co.uk, 01592-614098.
Annual Newsletter: effects of changes to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme; Grants: analysis and review; Ladybank forest project; Anstruther Harbour pontoons; Biodiversity and conservation; Birnie / Gaddon Loch; Craigiehall Den footpath; Newburgh arts centre; Kirkcaldy Merchants House restoration; Fife eco-schools.
Marine Conservation Society newsletter, winter 04: Flash floods pose pollution risk for bathers; Beachwatch 2004; Scottish Water fined for sewage pollution; Seal adoptions; Recycling. There are also inserts on: The Good Fish Guide (eating ‘eco-friendly’ fish); Adopt a Turtle project; Adopt a Beach – volunteer for, or organise, surveys and clean-ups.
Crown Estate winter 04 newsletter: Aqua-culture planning control consultation; Salmon safeguard measures; Marine briefing sheet; Marine stewardship fund; Northern Lighthouse Board; EU protected name (PGI) status for ‘Scottish farmed salmon’; Environmental regulations web-site www.netregs.gov.uk; Renewables update: Offshore wind & Wave and tidal; Shellfish Rent Review; Moorings rent review; Visit to Norwegian aqua-culture industry: regulation and other observations.
Cards received will be circulated at the meeting.
Cards were sent to: Police, Local Office, Local Office Caretaker, Planning (Cupar), Law & Admin (Cupar), Dougie Miller, Rosemary Dewar & The Citizen, Community Services (Cupar), and a couple of others I’ve forgotten now.
[November 8.3.1.] Thanks were sent, as last year, to Jim Hooton, Local Head of Community Services, for the flowers over the summer and the less obvious day to day work all year.
Patras book (Dec 8.3.3.)
University observance of St Andrew’s Day (Dec 10.4)
Please notify Chair of AOCB items before the start of the meeting or at the break. Hint: Given that the end of the meeting is often taken in something of a rush, unless items are urgent it might be better to submit them for next meeting’s New Business.
Minutes by Bruce Ryan
Bette Christie, George Davidson, Richard Douglas, Ian Goudie (chair), Pete Lindsay, Bruce Ryan (minutes)
Comes into force on 1st January 2005. In Scotland, public bodies (which may include CCs [PL to ascertain]) will be obliged to provide any information they possess which has been requested, unless it will cost more than £600 (@ £15 per hour) to find it. This applies to all records (not just computer records) still in existence at the time the request is made. There are severe penalties for destroying information after it has been requested.
Committee opinion sought on Iain Smith MSP’s letter about St Andrews becoming a UNESCO world heritage site. PL to forward URL of UNESCO web-site providing information on this scheme.
Much discussion on these: the committee agreed to minute the following points:
Market Street
St Mary’s Place
| 1 | 16 Hutcheson Court | change of use to 6-person HMO | NC |
| 2 | Kinburn Castle | change of use from dwelling-house to 2-person office | NC |
| 3 | 72 Crawford Gardens | extension of front porch | NC |
| 4 | Kinkell House | erection of toilet block | NC |
| 5 | 48 Allan Robertson Drive | open space to be enclosed into garden | OBJ (PU to be asked to write this) |
| 6 | 57 Hepburn Gardens | extension to dwelling-house, including demolition of outbuilding and existing extension | NC |
| 7 | 60 Hay Fleming Avenue | conservatory extension | NC |
| 8 | 79 Bridge Street | erect 2-storey dwelling-house | IG to research Committee’s previous responses to applications involving this piece of land and respond similarly |
| 9 | 177-179 South Street | install retractable awning | NC |
| 10 | 24 Fordyce Court | open space to be enclosed into domestic garden, extension to dwelling-house | OBJ (PU to be asked to write this) |
| 11 | 79-81 Bridge Street | dwelling-house to become 6-person HMO | NC |
| 12 | West Port Court, Bridge Street | Flat 5 to become 3-person HMO Flat 6 to become 3-person HMO Flat 8 to become 4-person HMO Flat 9 to become 3-person HMO Flat 10 to become 3-person HMO Flat 11 to become 4-person HMO Flat 14 to become 3-person HMO | all NC |
| 13 | 23 Allan Robertson Drive | erect garage | NC |
| 14 | 47 South Street | dwelling-house to become 4-person HMO | NC |
| 15 | 35 Spottiswoode Gardens | conservatory and dormer extension | NC |
| 16 | 1 Kennedy Gardens | install new gate piers and gate | NC |
| 17 | 20 Brewster Place | install velux rooming lights | NC |
| 18 | 17A Queens Gardens | dwelling-house to become 5-person HMO | NC |
| 19 | 17 Queens Gardens | dwelling-house to become 3-person HMO | NC |
20 December (if meeting room available. PL/IG to ascertain)
Minutes by Penny Uprichard
Present: I. Goudie P. Lindsay G. Davidson B. Christie P. Uprichard
| 1. | 34 Lade Braes | extension to dwelling-house | N.C. |
| 2. | Kinburn Castle, Scottish Information Commissioner | resurfacing of driveway and parking surface for disabled access | N.C. |
| 3. | St. Andrews Hospital | general discussion of application |
Outline notes for a response, by Pete Lindsay
The complaints procedure is intended to regularise how complaints against community councils are handled. At present they are dealt with by one officer (in each area?) in Law & Admin as an administrative matter.
Community Council’s original comments on the need for these procedures can be seen in February 2003 Agenda Appendix H. At that time we accepted the principle of appropriate review; an escalation/appeal procedure of two steps plus external arbiter; suggested an emphasis on conciliation rather than punishment.
Responses are to the specific Issues questions raised by Fife Council in the consultation draft of the complaints procedure.
We accept the basic principle that community council actions should be subject to appropriate review.
[Do we have anything to mention here? I’m only aware of a couple of problems, which were resolved without a formal procedure – PL]
Stage 1: complaint to Community Council itself. If not resolved satisfactorily:
Stage 2: complaint to Fife Council
Stage 3: appeal to independent third party
Yes, of course complaining to the ‘offending’ CC might put someone off. If it makes a complainant happier to go to Fife Council who then pass it directly to the community council it does not change the principle of the first stage being reconsideration by a community council – it makes no difference how the complaint reaches community council.
A question that hasn’t been considered yet is that of anonymous complaint. It seems likely that this would be one sort of complaint directed through Fife Council. Should community councils be obliged to respond to possibly mischief-making anonymous denunciations?
What sorts of complaint should be considered by the formal procedures? It was strongly suggested at the seminar that only matters of breaches of the Scheme and its conduct provisions should be valid complaints – specifically not decisions of a community council, to reduce opportunities for harassment of community councils over, say, planning objections.
Probably, with heavy support from appropriate officials. Obviously the councillors should not represent the area of the community council nor the complainant. There is also an obvious area of difficulty if Fife Council itself is somehow involved.
[The seminar saw an interesting polarisation – some wanted Fife Councillors to have no part in Stage 2, other felt the same about officials! I’ll be interested to hear what the meeting has to say on this – PL]
[There was quite a lot of discussion about this at the seminar. Everyone thought this was a good idea, but no obvious candidates for the rôle emerged. The Local Government Ombudsman was a popular suggestion, but the follies of CCs are probably outwith his remit. Other suggestions were to consult the ASCC and CoSLA for suggestions and accounts of practice elsewhere. -PL]
If a matter is formal enough to raise as a complaint it should be in writing. A form should be no more than guidance as to what information is required for a complaint and the advice to print or type the complaint for legibility.
Yes.
I’m disturbed the question is thought necessary. I am more disturbed that, the question having been put, complaints against individual community councillors and their individual right of appeal are not mentioned. If there is not an equal right of appeal I would have grave doubts about the validity of the complaints procedure. Indeed if a one-sided procedure were introduced I would have grave doubts about the wisdom of continuing as a community councillor.
In our original response to the earliest proposals for a complaints procedure we suggested that a conciliation approach was to be preferred to a crime and punishment view of complaints. It is disappointing to see the latter view has prevailed. The problem with punishment is: who is actually punished?
It is difficult to see how withholding a grant, which will take effect in the next year (unless an immediate claw-back is implemented), or suspending a council, can be seen as having any other effect than punishing the community as much as the community council. Does a community deserve to suffer by its community council having insufficient funds to undertake activities and make grants for the benefit of the community? Does the community deserve to be unrepresented for a while if the incumbent community council is suspended?
For minor sins, perhaps more of omission than deliberate commission, advice and a gentle reminder would be appropriate: “Don’t do that, do this!”.
For serious or repeated infringements, a (written) warning: “Don’t do that or you’re out of here”.
And for irredeemable lapses: dissolution “You ARE out of here” and immediate election for a replacement council, which probably requires disqualification for the ousted council though there are matters of justice to consider for any who objected to whatever course has brought this calamity about, so that the community is not punished by reduced representation, if it can be avoided.
Again, I’d rather there was a lower level of guidance and conciliation before we go into punishment mode. As above I have some doubts about the benefit of suspension to the community or community council. Individual suspension would not affect larger community councils perhaps, but could be crippling to the smaller. If a community councillor cannot take part in community council for any extended period of time it should be open to the community council to fill the vacancy through the normal means, which really implies disqualification is preferable to suspension.
— advice on this one please! – PL
Outline points for a response, by Pete Lindsay.
At the Seminar in December almost everyone who spoke regarded the title of the document as sounding rather too prescriptive, despite the para from the Introduction which states:
There is provision for over 100 Community Councils covering all parts of Fife, all as diverse and individual as the communities they serve. Some will find parts of this agreement more relevant than others, it is not intended as a rule book but to offer a benchmark for best practice.
[My emphasis] A number of other terms rather than agreement were suggested. Personally I’d go for “Guidelines” as better fit to the suggested purpose of the booklet.
Community Councils will be invited to participate in the Council’s decision making processes in a variety of ways; questionnaires, public meetings, joint working groups, Local Forums etc. as appropriate. Timescales will, as far as possible, be reasonable to allow Community Councils to participate and respond fully – six weeks notice will be given wherever possible. There may be occasions where Community Councils are asked to respond at short notice e.g. planning applications
Welcome the target of six weeks notice, it will certainly help those community councils on monthly meeting cycles.
A Consultation Diary will be available on the Fife Direct web-site giving information on Council consultation exercises including the issues to be consulted upon, the dates of the exercises, methods to be used and relevant contact numbers.
While welcoming this in principle and recognising that the non-technical departments of Fife Council have no control over the state of the web site, a calendar hidden in the bowels of Fife Direct, accessible only by the correct search term incantation, won’t be useful to many.
As a general point, which could be repeated at each mention of the Fife Direct web site: Fife Direct urgently needs some form of short links system or to use an external 3rd party system when giving URL references, e.g. http://makeashorterlink.com/ so we are not faced with 3 and four line URLs when we ask Fife Council for direct links.
All Community Councils will be sent a weekly list of all planning applications for the appropriate area. Community Councils should be given the option of receiving the weekly list by email if they so request.
Given that Fife Councillors can already receive these by email there is no reason why CCs should not. It would be nice if Development Service (or more likely their software) would learn to use lower case rather than irritating-to-read blocks of upper case.
(Planning committee may want to comment on other points in this section.)
A list of the dates of Council Committee meetings will be sent to Community Councils annually
A (short) URL for a meeting diary on Fife Direct would be useful for many.
Resources
information on equipment available for hire or loan from Fife Council and other organisations, and details of how to access it, charges etc
A request that we receive increasingly frequently is for projection equipment – perhaps something could be made available for each locality, if not each major meeting facility. While an overhead projector will probably do it is quite noticeable, these days, that “ordinary people” have computer facilities and presentation software such as Powerpoint or Keynote themselves and hope to be able to use it via computer-attached projectors rather than messing about with printing transparencies.
Communication and Responding to Community Councils
Community Councils can use the Council’s Comments, Complaints and Compliments Procedure as a route into the Council – information is available at all public contact points including local offices and is also available online at www.fifedirect.org.uk
While community councils are only to be blessed with a Complaints Procedure...
A contact sheet detailing the addresses and telephone numbers of the Services referred to in this document is available at www.fifedirect.org.uk
Please give a direct URLs for such references, or guaranteed one hit keywords for searching for this and other material available through Fife Direct. Having to find the URL to give out will be Good Practice, ensuring the document is actually there.
To Keith Winter, Head of Development Services, Fife Council.
While the community council appreciate that the question of small premises for business/light industrial use in St Andrews should be covered in the forthcoming Local Plan, and look forward to seeing the draft for this and many other issues, I have been asked to pass on to Fife Council our current, urgent concern.
Small business premises are an issue that has crept up the agenda over the last two or three years, particularly since a well-meaning suggestion that the Bassaguard area should be turned over to housing (to meet another of St Andrews’ problems, affordable housing) brought to our attention the lack of small business units in town. Since then several traditionally ‘industrial’ areas – former timber / woodworking businesses, garages and motor mechanics’ premises, for example – have gone to (not particularly affordable) housing. Meanwhile Bassaguard languishes, as far as we can make out, for lack of funding or initiative or something, despite the efforts of Cllr Sheila Black. The Largo Road business site, undeveloped since the last local plan, is now subject to a planning application for a non-business use.
Only last month community council heard of a small business, run from the proprietor’s home garage, that has grown from being little more than a hobby to the extent that he is now coming under pressure for running a business in a domestic property. Quite rightly so. But community council has a lot of sympathy for him as he has nowhere appropriate to go in St Andrews.
Community council feels that the matter of small Business/Industrial Premises in St Andrews is urgent, needing attention in a shorter timescale than the local plan and a more active, and perhaps more imaginative, approach to the problem from Fife Council.
And his response
Many thanks for your email on behalf of the Community Council relating to small business/industrial premises in St Andrews.
I very much appreciate the tone of your email and can confirm that this is an issue which Development Services is acutely aware of.
I have asked my colleague Robin Presswood, Development Manager (Business & Strategy) to look into the shortage of business land and premises in St Andrews as a matter of urgency. Robin takes responsibility for Local Plans and the Council’s former Economic Development function including the provision of business land and property.
Having reviewed the current position, we are of the view that Bassaguard is inappropriate as a location for industrial and commercial premises, as it is located in a residential area, has very poor quality accommodation, and access for HGV’s is extremely problematic.
The new consultation draft St Andrews and East Fife Local Plan will be published towards the end of February, and we are recommending to the Environment & Development Committee and the East Fife Area Development Committee that consultation take place on a new site for a business park aimed at the sort of businesses that you have identified. In addition it is proposed that a science park will be zoned as part of the University’s western expansion.
In order to contribute financially to the provision of the Business Park, it is proposed that Bassaguard be re-zoned for residential use, with the hope that the capital receipt generated can help fund the creation of a Business Park.
I have asked Robin to prepare a draft report for submission to an appropriate committee once consultation on the draft Local Plan is concluded.
I would therefore imagine that a clear way forward for St Andrews can be agreed during 2005.
I know that you will be consulted as part of the St Andrews and East Fife Local Plan, but would be happy to arrange for a member of staff to meet you to discuss these matters in more detail if this would be helpful.
From Iain Smith MSP
You may be aware that a Member of the Scottish Parliament has submitted a Motion proposing that St Andrews should become a UNESCO World Heritage Site (see http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm for more information on World Heritage Site Status).
The full text of the Motion submitted to the Scottish Parliament (www.scottish.parliament.uk) is as follows:
St Andrews World Heritage Site Status – That the Parliament supports a campaign to encourage the UK Government to obtain World Heritage Site status from UNESCO for St Andrews; recognises that St Andrews is the home of golf, the world’s fastest-growing sport and that it is also the historic ecclesiastical capital of Scotland; believes that its cultural and educational contributions, in particular Scotland’s oldest university, should be formally acknowledged; notes that St Andrews is regarded worldwide as unique, not only for its medieval town centre, but also for its captivating and award-winning natural features, and considers that the Scottish Executive should support St Andrews as an eminently-suitable Scottish candidate for the UK Tentative List.
I am unaware if the MSP consulted with you for your views about this issue before submitting the Motion but, before I decide whether to support it, I would be interested in any comments or concerns you may have about the implications of World Heritage Status and whether would you support this for St Andrews?
I feel it is important to register the opinions of relevant organisations over this issue and ensure that we have a proper consultation before any call or decision is made to change the status of St Andrews.
From Mike Robinson, Head of Local Services, Fife Council
Firstly, can I repeat our thanks for allowing St Andrews World Class to make a presentation at your meeting on 1st November. Lindsay and I found your comments interesting, stimulating and challenging!
You will recall that during the presentation we did ask you to consider how the Community Council would like to be involved in developing St Andrews World Class in the future, and I would formally like to extend an invitation for a representative to attend future meetings of the Project Group.
The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 13th January 2005 at 2pm at St Andrews Links Trust, Pilmour House, St Andrews.
If you wish any further information or would like to discuss this informally then I or one of my colleagues would be more than happy to provide further more detailed background information but, as indicated above, you are more than welcome to send a representative along, without commitment to all future meetings.
Kenneth Cochran writes
In recent years the St Andrews Community Council has been kind enough to grant permission for me to use the new coat of arms on my website (www.saint-andrews.co.uk) and also on a multimedia CD-ROM of the town.
I’m pleased to say that the website has proved very popular and the multimedia CD-ROM has enjoyed modest world-wide distribution. Proceeds from the website’s screen saver of the town have in the past year raised £126.23 towards the preservation of the harbour and the new harbour bridge, and a total of some 160 CD-ROMS have been donated to the St Andrews Preservation Trust where they sell for £8 each, with 100% of the proceeds being retained by the trust.
My plans for future multimedia developments involve an updated version of the CD-ROM and production of a video about St Andrews to be released on DVD in the late spring.
May I request further permission from the community council to continue to use the coat of arms in these productions also including the new video? Appropriate acknowledgement to the community council will of course be given.
From Tim Havard, Project Officer Fife Coast & Countryside Trust.
I am writing to explain a little about Fife Coast and Countryside Trust (FCCT) and to invite you to come along to one of our informal presentations about the Trust.
FCCT was set up in 2001 as a registered charity by Fife Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Enterprise Fife and Kingdom of Fife Tourist Board.
The Trusts aim is to provide an innovative approach to the co-ordination, development and marketing of key areas of the Fife countryside. The Trusts first priority is the Coastal Fringe and in particular the Fife Coastal Path (FCP).
FCCT amongst other things is currently involved in delivering a number of European Union funded projects. One of these, the Nave Nortrail project, seeks to link coastal communities along the North Sea. We are in the process of gathering information, making contacts and building links in order to set up a Coastal Partnership, which will represent the communities and key agencies along the FCP.
In order to explain to the local coastal communities what the Trust is trying to achieve, we have arranged three presentations for February 22nd 23rd and for March 1st. We have tried to choose venues that are geographically disparate and at such dates and times to enable maximum attendance and accommodate the busy schedule of most individuals. The enclosed confirmation form contains details of venues and times. Please fill in the tear off section and return (in the self-addressed envelope) to FCCT, alternatively you can fax on 01333 592598.
We are looking forward to explaining to members of the Community Councils and other special interest groups, exactly what plans the Trust has for the FCP. Just as importantly, this allows us to hear what local communities see as their priorities for their section of the FCP. Together, we can discuss our common goals and explore how we can promote and develop the FCP in your community. Please find enclosed an information pack, which gives further information about the Trust. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01333-592429.
Letter from Fraser Thompson, Head of Environmental Services, to Community Council Chair Donald Macgregor.
You may already be aware that Fife Council’s Environment and Development Committee approved the introduction of a £10 charge for Special Uplifts of household waste from 1 January 2005. The Special Uplift service is provided for the collection of bulky household waste such as redundant furniture and excess garden waste. The £10 charge applies to the first three requests in any one year rising to £40 for every request thereafter.
The decision of the Committee to implement this charge follows approval of a waste strategy designed to reduce the amount of waste dumped in landfill sites and to encourage waste reduction, reuse and recycling. Other examples of the strategy in action are the recently implemented kerbside collection services for paper and garden waste, improvements and additions to our network of Recycling Centres and the provision of new local Recycling Points. Whilst these actions have been successful in improving Fife’s recycling performance from around 2% three years ago to around 25% for the first half of this year, they will not be enough to meet strict new landfill diversion targets demanded by European and national legislation.
To avoid the risk of financial penalties that could run into millions of pounds per year if we fail to meet the landfill diversion targets, members of the Environment and Development Committee recognised that more needed to be done. Action had to be taken to reduce demand for the Special Uplift service which has been growing at over 10% per year and which resulted in an estimated 12,000 tonnes of potentially reusable or recyclable waste being landfilled last year. The charging system being introduced in January is designed to encourage householders to take their bulky waste to one of our ten Recycling Centres where it will be accepted free of charge and where most of it will be set aside for reuse, recycling or composting.
We realise that the decision to charge for Special Uplifts may be unpopular but the Committee had to balance this against the risk of fines for exceeding landfill targets and an increasing difficulty in funding the ever-growing demand for the service.
A number of other landfill diversion projects are planned for next year. This includes the provision of a further 30,000 households with a kerbside green waste collection service, a trial for the weekly kerbside collection of mixed dry recyclates, and an options appraisal of the technologies available to treat mixed food and garden waste. Further initiatives will be rolled out in future years to ensure that the recent improvements in recycling performance are maintained and to reduce the risk of substantial penalties for failing to meet landfill diversion targets.
I hope you find this explanation of our waste strategy proposals for next year helpful but should you require further information please do not hesitate to contact your local Environmental Services office.
From Linda Thomson, Events Co-ordinator, Fife Council Community Services
Events are an important part of the Fife economy and the provision of a varied and attractive calendar of well organised and promoted events can positively enhance the quality of life, impact on the local economy, promote civic pride and raise the profile of an area.
Fife Council is taking a pro-active role in developing a strategy that will benefit both the residents of and visitors to Fife. The Events Strategy will work towards raising the quality of event provision and provide a co-ordinated approach to the promotion of events in Fife.
The priorities are to:
Fife Council is introducing a new events publication to promote Fife and in order to ensure this publication meets the needs and expectations of both event organisers and audiences, we are offering you the opportunity to shape the development of this publication. Your contribution will help inform how the final publication will look, the information it will contain, the layout and how often it is produced.
In addition, we would ask you to provide details of your event(s) to ensure we have updated information to include in the first publication (late spring 2005) and on the FifeDirect Website.
Your support with this request is very much appreciated and we look forward to working with event organisers in Fife to raise our profile both nationally and internationally.
Foreword from the full report, by Carolyn Anderson
2003/04 has been no less challenging and busy for the organisation than the previous year. Most of the pressures we find ourselves under are external pressures from changing legislation relevant to the service we provide and our legal status as an organisation, however, we carry on providing the best possible service to our users.
Projects have finished and some have continued. The Rural Outreach Project came to a close with a valuable report being made available to other organisations working in rural areas. The Follow-on Project received further funding to carry on the very valuable support for service users who move from refuge into the community.
Our refuge spaces remain filled and ongoing support is given to all service users who are resident in refuge. Our Children and Young People Service has grown and expanded from its fairly new start this time last year.
We also have had changes in personnel, with some of our staff changing post within the organisation as well as new staff coming on board. These changes have included unpaid workers becoming paid workers as well as paid workers moving on to work outside the organisation, but remaining as unpaid workers with the organisation. This all shows the dedication that the members of East Fife Women’s Aid have to carry on providing the best possible service for all women, children and young people fleeing domestic abuse who come to us for help.
| Date | from | subject |
|---|---|---|
| 07/12/2004 | Friends of the Botanics | December newsletter |
| 10/12/2004 | University | DRH Neighbourhood consult - note of 23/11 |
| 10/12/2004 | Scot Exec Inquiry Reporters Unit | 4 Playfair Ter appeal |
| 11/12/2004 | Elspeth Attwool MEP | Xmas greetings |
| 11/12/2004 | East Area Services Committee | Agenda 15/14 |
| 13/12/2004 | Environmental Services | Newsletter winter 2004 |
| 13/12/2004 | Police | Community Newsletter Dec 04 |
| 13/12/2004 | Fife Environment Trust | Newsletter 2004 |
| 13/12/2004 | Marine Conservation Society | Strandline Newsletter winter 04 |
| 13/12/2004 | Crown Estate | Scottish Marine Newsletter winter 04 |
| 13/12/2004 | Local office | Christmas Card |
| 14/12/2004 | Volunteer Centre Fife | Christmas Bulletin 2004 |
| 14/12/2004 | Iain Smith MSP | St Andrews Heritage Status |
| 15/12/2004 | Safe Space | Support for survivors of child abuse |
| 15/12/2004 | Ken Cochran | Arms use |
| 16/12/2004 | Community Services | Events Organisers Consultation |
| 16/12/2004 | East Fife Women's Aid | Annual report 03/04 |
| 17/12/2004 | Community Services | Event Organisers Consultation |
| 20/12/2004 | University | Xmas card |
| 03/01/2005 | Flora Selwyn | SAiF Jan/Feb 05 |
| 05/01/2005 | Environmental Services | Special Uplift Charges |
| 05/01/2005 | World Class | CC Delegate |
| 07/01/2005 | Fife Coast & Countryside trust | Coastal Path etc |
| 07/01/2005 | Pilgrim Care | St Andrews proposals |
| 08/01/2005 | Chris Lesurf | Building Schools for the Future |
| 14/01/2005 | Scottish Water | Making It Clear - leaks |
| 14/01/2005 | Development Inquiry Reporters (ScotExec) | 4 Playfair Terr planning appeal |