Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston Community Council meeting
at Fort Augustus Memorial Hall 29th June 2022
Present:
Deirdre MacKinnon - Chair (DM)
Mike Anderson – Treasurer (MA)
Jeff Dymond (JD)
In Attendance:
David Fraser (Highland Councillor) (DF)
Claire Pegrum
Duncan MacCormick
Lynne West
Online:
Iain MacKnocher - Vice Chair (IM)
Robert MacDonald (RM)
Jill Wyatt (JW)
Apologies:
Helen Clay - Secretary (HC)
Presentations were given about Auchterawe Battery Storage by Bex Sherwood, Jamey Rhind-Tutt from Field and Gordon Thomson from Lichfields and the other for Scottish Water by Gavin Steel and Kelton Bennett (reports attached).
Minutes - proposed by Iain MacKnocher and seconded by Jeff Dymond.
Matters Arising –
Invermoriston Toilets seems to be on track but Highland Council are having difficulty getting cleaners.
Invermoriston Speed Limit – No update but a group to is be set up for Fort Augustus & Glenmoriston, Drumnadrochit and Abriachan/Lochend. Speed survey to be done on the road going west from the Invermoriston.
Grass cutting – GIG lease for recreational field to be signed on 1st July. Highland Council are still responsible for the cemeteries.
Access – DM to speak Stuart Easthaugh to be contacted about breaches.
Allotment and Community Garden – meeting at The Lovat at 11am this Friday with Caroline Gregory. Helen to discuss the waste ground at Abertarff Place.
Fort Augustus Pier – A letter came from a member of the public about the unsightly Heras fencing which is an eyesore at an iconic site. Helen was to approach Scottish Canals.
Parking on Oich Road – still a big problem as there are no charges. Traffic Order still to be done so cannot enforce yet. Have contacted Shane Manning about the problem as well as John Taylor about the dreadful state of the canalside road which is full of potholes and Rabbie’s minibuses parking so as not to pay charges.
Scottish Canals – HC and DM have brought up the issue about the Glentarff and Caledonian House many times but there has been progress with the Community Company who have approached Scottish Canals about taking over ownership but response has been slow. Ian Leaver, chief officer of the Community Company stated that they were also looking at taking on the ownership of the Memorial Hall to open up the Service Point again, improve the hall with the possibility of a library and other options. Surveys are in various shops for local support.
Jubilee Events - The weekend went well with events in all three villages which will be in the next Ness News.
Forest and Land Scotland – many residents have been asking about campervans and motorhomes going up and down Jenkins Park and Auchterawe. DM spoke to Sam Brown this afternoon and seemingly it was the national team that decided to put Auchterawe down as a site online. The local team were not happy with this decision as there was no consultation to them or the local community but as from today it has been taken down from being online and the signage will be removed this weekend and replaced with No Camping signs. It was causing the local Forestry a lot of problems.
Signage – unauthorised signage in the village is becoming a problem and Allan Bryce from Planning Enforcement is coming out shortly.
Broadband – ongoing but DF stated that Emma Knox was trying to get a group formed as it was an issue around the whole Ward.
Police Report - attached.
Treasurer’s Report - The balance up to today is £4780.49 with £86 paid out to Zurich Insurance and £500 paid back to Highland Council because of an error on their part. There is still money ringfenced for car park and walks signage. After having taken nearly a year for the Bank of Scotland to change signatories, MA is now our Treasurer and is a signatory. The bank’s delay is the reason that our accounts have not been done for our AGM.
Community Amenity Issues
Roads - DM still pushing for improvements in parking, canalside and Ardachy roads and will give feedback to Shane Manning about the bottleneck situation at Oich Road onto A82.
Renewable Energy Projects
Auchterawe Substation – Five new residents have not been invited to these meetings. HC will get a list of the properties and inform Lisa Marchi’s replacement, Ryan Davidson.
Cloiche - Ongoing
Fred Olsen Renewables - Ongoing
Tomachrasky – email received from Catherine Wales on 24th June with letter from Gilbert Stevenson, E Power Ltd
Bhlaraidh - Ongoing
Coire Glas – Consultation meeting on 1st July between 2pm and 7 pm and a virtual meeting will be held on Tuesday 5th July. A local resident stated that underground lines would be preferable to overhead ones for houses within 2-3Km. It is more expensive but do-able and would make an enormous difference to residents. Another local resident stated that there are no members of the community who agree with the proposed route going through the local wood, an amenity used by people from the wider area including Invermoriston as well as Fort Augustus. Forest and Land Scotland have spent £100,000 upgrading paths and bridges within the wood this year and the proposed route would decimate a sizeable proportion of it (45 metres wide) to accommodate the overhead lines.
Planning and Licensing
· Change of use to letting unit
· Installation of scum removal system to existing aeration/settlement tanks
· Installation of 25m lattice tower, fenced compound, cabinet amd associated works
· Bhlaraidh – JW mentioned that Glenurquhart and Stratherrick community councils have objected to extensions because there are too many windfarms.
Correspondence –
A letter was received about a planning refusal and DM sent an email to the four ward councillors asking for it to go to the Planning Committee.
Email from Gilbert Stevenson, E Power Ltd
Email from Sam Cornelius regarding Coire Glas
AOCB
Dental Survey – GIG and Community Company
Ness News – Scheduled for mid-July due to work pressures and to other commitments.
Animal Crossing Signage – support from Community Council and LW to contact BEAR Scotland
Shopping Bus – Senior Citizens monthly bus to run again after two years and is being funded by the Community Company.
Claire Pegrum expressed an interest in becoming a community councillor which will be the first item on the agenda at the next meeting. The CC have struggled to get back to normal meetings as only three could attend tonight and the other three are online with the hall having poor internet connection, it has been exceedingly difficult to conduct meetings. We currently have six full members and one co-opted so we can co-opt another councillor if everybody agrees. We can have nine councillors of which two can be co-opted and our quorum is four.
Cemetery – JD asked about the upkeep of cemeteries and DF stated that the Highland Council are experiencing difficulties getting labourers.
Fort Augustus Playpark – Glass was found under the skatepark and the matting under the swings are dangerous.
Next meeting is on Wednesday, 31st August at the Memorial Hall, Fort Augustus at 7.30 pm