Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Ross and Cromarty Committee held in the Chamber, Council Offices, Dingwall on Wednesday, 30 January 2019 at 10.30 am.

Present:

Mr G Adam, Mrs J Barclay, Mrs I Campbell, Dr I Cockburn, Mr M Finlayson, Mr C Fraser, Mr D Louden, Mr A MacInnes, Mr G MacKenzie, Mrs A MacLean, Mr D MacLeod, Ms P Munro, Mrs M Paterson, Mr A Rhind, Mrs F Robertson (Chair) and Ms M Smith.

Officials in Attendance:

Mr C Howell, Head of Infrastructure
Mr J Robertson, Programme Manager City/Region Deal
Mr I Moncrieff, Roads Operations Manager, Skye, Ross and Cromarty
Mr S Dalgarno, Development Plans Manager
Mr D Martin, Care and Learning Manager (North)
Mr D Kennedy, Access Officer
Mr C Simpson, Principal Tourism and Film Officer
Ms S Wood, Education Quality Improvement Manager (Mid Area)
Ms H Ross, Senior Ward Manager, Chief Executive’s Office
Mr R Bain, Ward Manager, Chief Executive’s Office
Ms D Agnew, Ward Manager, Chief Executive’s Office
Ms S Tarrant, Public Relations Officer
Mrs A MacArthur, Administrative Assistant, Chief Executive’s Office

Also in Attendance:

Chief Inspector I MacLelland, North Area Commander, Police Scotland

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council.  All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Committee.

Preliminaries

The Chair and Members welcomed Mr Alexander MacInnes, newly appointed Councillor for Ward 5 Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh to the meeting.

Good News Items:

Congratulations to the Muir of Ord Hall which had been refurbished with improved insulation, replaced windows and doors and a better heating system, this was a great achievement.

Congratulations also to the Cromarty Care Project Cycling Without Age – Trishaws which had been set up in Cromarty. 

Business

1.  Apologies for Absence
Leisgeulan

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr A MacKinnon who had other Council business.  Ms I Campbell and Mr A MacInnes both tendered apologies for a late arrival due to inclement weather. 

2.  Declarations of Interest
Foillseachaidhean Com-pàirt

There were no declarations of interest.

3.  Minutes
Geàrr-chunntas

The Committee NOTED the Minutes of the last meeting which had been held on 1 November 2018 and had been approved by The Highland Council on 13 December 2018.

4.  Police – Area Performance Summary
Poilis – Geàrr-chunntas Dèanadais Sgìreil

There had been circulated Report No RC/001/18 dated 16 January 2019 by the North Area Commander.  The Area Commander circulated cards for the Members on the Suicide Intervention and Prevention Programme.

During discussion, Members raised several issues including the following:-

• could an update be given on a number of anti-social behaviour incidents that occurred in Dingwall, the Area Commander responded that these were being looked into and where the youths involved had been identified, letters had been sent to their parents who had not always been aware of the incidents;
• there appeared to be a high number of vehicles stopped in the Road Traffic Operations/Campaigns, the Area Commander confirmed that this was higher than normal and was due to robust enforcement;
• pleased to see that the Police had worked with the Post Office and intercepted drug packages coming into the area;
• there had been a welcome reduction in speeding but Members had concerns about the increased speeding through 20 mph zones especially in Avoch, and speeding on the Cullicudden straight and through Munlochy;
• in relation to the Tain bypass, a letter had been received from Transport Scotland who would be starting a consultation on the 50 mph speed limit, and Members would look for support from the Police;
• the Mulbuie School Parent Council had just reformed and with Ferintosh Community Council were looking to see an extension to the 20 mph speed limit in the Mulbuie School area;
• was there any pro-active work undertaken so that shops monitor their doors to catch shoplifters.  The Area Commander reassured Members that CCTV was a great help and these people rarely got away with their crime, the Highland area was seen as being robust in dealing with shoplifting crime; and
• whilst in Santander on holiday it was seen that they had a novel method of reducing speeding, if speed signs were ignored and the driver continued to speed traffic lights would go red and the driver and following traffic would be stopped for five minutes, it was in many rural villages and went a long way to reducing speeding traffic.

The Committee NOTED progress made against the objectives set within the Highland and Islands Local Policing Plan 2017 – 2020 Year 2, attached as Annex A to this report, for the period covering 1 April 2018 - 31 December 2018.

5.  Wider Tourism including NC500
Turasachd san Fharsaingeachd a’ gabhail a-steach NC500

A presentation was given by Colin Simpson, Principal Tourism and Film Officer.

The Chair and Members thanked Mr Simpson for his informative presentation and during discussion, Members made the following comments:-

• information and maps should be provided Highland-wide on sites available for emptying septic waste from motor homes and caravans; and
• Members looked forward to signs on every toilet to inform people not to empty their waste at the toilets but to go to the nearest facility for this.  These maps could be made available on line and passed to motorhome companies.
• it was requested that a copy of the presentation be circulated to Members.

The Committee NOTED the presentation. 

6.  Area Priorities
Prìomhachasan Sgìreil

There had been circulated Report No RC/002/19 dated 21 January 2019 by the Acting Head of Policy. 

The Committee, following scrutiny, NOTED the actions and outcomes that had been achieved in relation to the Area Priorities as set out in Appendix 1.

7.  Update on the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal
Cunntas às Ùr mu Chùmhnant Baile-Roinne Inbhir Nis agus na Gàidhealtachd

There had been circulated Report No RC/003/19 dated 15 January 2019 by the Director of Development and Infrastructure. 

During discussion, Members raised a number of queries including the following:-

• was there a timeline for the Highland Science Academy and when would members be informed that it was to come to Dingwall.  The Programme Manager advised that the decision was imminent but an eight week consultation had to take place first;
• was there any indication on the timeline for the development of the old landfill site in Dingwall, this was a big area that could be developed.  The landfill site had not been used in approximately 30 years.  The landfill site in Inverness was now a haven for wildlife.  It would be approximately 20/30 years before the site could be developed with buildings and there was an opportunity now to develop the site for wildlife as had been done in Inverness. The Programme Manager indicated that he would pass the Members’ query to colleagues in Development and Infrastructure to investigate likely timescales;
• was there money that could be used for feasibility studies outwith Inverness, because it would be advantageous if money could be released from the City Region Deal for a feasibility study on the railway in Evanton and other feasibility studies;
• with so many officers working on Inverness projects, was there officer capacity available for projects elsewhere?;
• who forms the Scrutiny Board and how can new business cases or projects be put forward?;
• in answer to a question on fit houses, although the company installing these had gone out of business the technology was still there;

In the course of the discussion the following points were also made:

• all funding coming into the Council area was to be welcomed but looking at the map that had been circulated members noted that  little was outwith the City area;
• the Programme Manager responded that an audit of City Region deals was taking place nationally which would look at how the money had been spent within the areas, there was an imbalance but Inverness was the city and economic engine for the Highlands;
• HIE used to be charged with supporting the periphery but this was not now happening;
• in relation to transport, road dualling from Tore to the North was desperately required;
• other smaller airports in the North could be looked at and feasibilities studies undertaken ie Tain, Dornoch and Wick;
• services needed to be provided in rural communities if people are to be encouraged to live there and there was concern that too much had become centralised and this should be reflected in the rural implications section;
• there was concern that while the Council had successfully requested the City Deal to be widened to include the region, the only aspect that had been rolled out to the areas was the digital aspect and that was where the fit homes fitted in, there had been talk of a rural deal which we may benefit from in the future;
• Members expressed unhappiness about the Inverness centric nature of the existing deal and asked that when the Project Board reviewed and planned for the future they take into account the need for a more equitable share when the programme was rolled out;
• Wester Ross was the biggest Council ward in Europe and the fibre sites were very disappointing and only happening in military bases;
• given the concerns and frustrations expressed by Members the Chair suggested that Members contact her with their concerns and the Chair would then write to the Leader of the Council to make sure the concerns of the Ross and Cromarty Committee are heard and brought to the attention of the Council.

The Committee AGREED that Members contact the Chair with their concerns and the Chair will then write to the Leader of the Council to make sure the concerns of the Ross and Cromarty Committee are heard and brought to the attention of the Council.

8.  Roads Maintenance Programme 2019/20 
Prògram Càradh Rathaidean 2019/20

There had been circulated Report No RC/004/19 dated 14 January 2019 by the Director of Community Services.

During discussion, Members raised several issues including the following:-

• there was slight slippage on the top road into the field at the Fairy Glen and the drainage needed work, offlets could be seen and water was travelling across the road;
• the drainage off the road was also an issue at Jemimaville; and
• the Black Isle ward did not have a reserve scheme for the Capital Programme and requested the Roads Operations Manager visit to agree items.

Members thanked the Roads Operations Manager for his visits to the Ward Meetings which had been very helpful.

The Committee:

1. APPROVED the proposed 2019/20 Roads Maintenance Programme for Ross and Cromarty; and
2. AGREED that the Roads Operations Manager visit the Black Isle Ward Business Meeting to agree a reserve scheme for any additional monies that become available for their area.

9.  Development Infrastructure Dingwall
Bun-structar Leasachaidh Inbhir Pheofharain

There had been circulated Report No RC/005/19 dated 11 January 2019 by the Director of Development and Infrastructure.

During discussion, a Member read from a prepared statement to raise the following points:-

• officers should be  commended  for the report;
• the Kinnairdie Link Road had been taken out of the capital plan even though the first phase had already started and development of more houses could not be undertaken without the KLR.  Had the earlier Capital Plan come into action Dingwall would be releasing 470 houses for building as opposed to the 150 that were being released;
• due to health and safety concerns no banners and bunting could be put up for the gala in the summer; the Christmas lights unable to go up for the same reason; the canal bridge in Dingwall closed due to health and safety concerns; the Macdonald Tower closed due to health and safety concerns; St Clements School visited two to three years ago by the previous Chief Executive who had been ashamed at the state of the school in this day and age and had said the school had to be a priority;
• parking charge proposals to be imposed without consultation and without establishment of ownership of sites and a year on we are no further forward with some that have been imposed elsewhere in Highland and that have not realised the income intended; and
• the Community Council in Dingwall had undertaken a considerable amount of work on some projects;
• Members expressed sympathy and frustration at the lack of funds to build new roads under the Capital Plan, except for those in Inverness City under the City/Region deal.

The Committee:-

1. NOTED that full delivery of the housing allocations contained in the IMFLDP of c 470 additional residential homes is still predicated on the delivery of KLR;
2. APPROVED the updated threshold for the delivery of housing development in advance of the KLR to allow construction of 150 additional houses, subject to the actions set out in sub paragraph iii;
3. AGREED the actions for mitigating the transport impacts of developments in Dingwall, as detailed in section 5 of the report, including:-
   1. short term improvements to key junctions including early delivery of schemes (see section 5A);
   2. Traffic management measures (see section 5B); and
   3. Active travel infrastructure requirements (see section 5C);
4. APPROVED the early delivery of the junction improvements identified in paragraph 5.1 at Bridgend Avenue Junction (see figure 1) and Dochcarty Road Junction (see figure 2), and the traffic signal works at Mart Road Junction identified in paragraph 5.2;
5. AGREED for the contents of this report to become a material consideration for relevant planning applications and pre-application advice noting that this represents an update to development requirements set out in pages 75 - 79 of the IMFLDP;
6. NOTED that detailed consideration of development and associated mitigation measures will be undertaken as planning applications are submitted – informed by this report and the associated transport study, (which shall be made public) and taking account of any implemented traffic mitigation measures; and
7. AGREED that by investing in the above infrastructure improvements the Council is enabling future housing development and will therefore seek reasonable and proportionate developer contributions from these developments towards their funding including developments approved after the construction of infrastructure improvements.

10.  West Highland and Islands Amended Core Paths Plan, Wester Ross and Lochalsh Areas
Plana Phrìomh Cheuman Atharraichte na Gàidhealtachd an Iar agus nan Eilean, Sgìrean Rois an Iar agus Loch Aillse

There had been circulated Report No RC/006/19 dated 16 January 2019 by the Director of Development and Infrastructure.

The Committee AGREED that the approval of the Wester Ross and Lochalsh areas of the West Highland and Islands  be delegated to the Director of Development and Infrastructure in consultation with the Area Chair and local Ward Members, the Plan then to be published for formal consultation.

11.  Education Scotland Reports
Sgrùdaidhean le Foghlam Alba

There had been circulated Report No RC/007/19 dated 19 January 2019 by the Interim Director of Care and Learning.

The Committee NOTED the content of the report.

12.  Educational Trusts
Urrasan Foghlaim

There had been circulated Report No RC/008/19 dated 30 January 2019 by the Interim Director of Care and Learning. 

Members APPROVED an increase of carry forward funding from £1000 to £5000 in order to allow the granting of funds at the end of the academic session for school prizes and bursaries.

13.    Common Good Funds
Maoin Maith Choitchinn

There had been circulated Reports Nos RC/009/19 – RC/013/19 dated 18 January 2019 by the Depute Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Resources and Acting Head of Policy which provided information on the following Common Good Funds:-

1. Cromarty Common Good Fund RC/009/19
2. Dingwall Common Good Fund RC/010/19
3. Fortrose and Rosemarkie Common Good Fund RC/011/19
4. Invergordon Common Good Fund RC/012/19
5. Tain Common Good Fund RC/013/19

The Committee:

1. NOTED the Quarter 3 monitoring statement for the Common Good Funds and to consider and approve the proposed 2019/20 budget for the funds as shown in Appendix 2 of each report;
2. AGREED for the Tain Common Good Fund that the Market Street stall lease with Ross-shire CAB be continued for a further 5 year period on current terms which include a rental of less than market value
3. AGREED to delegate a decision for the Tain Common Good Fund re the potential use of grazing land for solar panels to the Acting Head of Policy in consultation with the Area Chair and Local Members.

Members thanked the Ward Managers for the work they put into these reports.

The meeting ended at 12.45 pm.