HELMSDALE

A ND D ISTRICT C OMMUNITY C OUNCIL

Minutes of the mee;ng held on Thursday 2nd F ebruary 2012 Present: S tan Amey, Chair, E dward Mackay, V ice-Chair, B arbara J appy, T reasurer, Malcolm B romley, Alison Cowie, Paul Harrington, G erry W ood, Councillor Deirdre Mackay, Penny Kane Guest speakers: J ohn Murray, S teve W alker, J ohn W ilmot, Mike W ood 1. Apologies: E velyn MacKenzie 2. Steve W alker: S tagecoach representaIve came in response to invitaIon by the Community Council. Residents have been having trouble geLng a seat on the 8.30 southbound bus as the seats have in many cases been pre-booked. If seats have been booked by people further south, this means Helmsdale people will not be able to get on. E arly booking methods discussed. People can book by telephone or via the internet. R esidents of B rora and G olspie can book seats at their S ervice Point. S teve pointed out that this was up to the Highland Council and not S tagecoach. Deirdre will pursue this. The Imes of buses have changed so that there is now one at 8.30am and not two, B UT there is a bus every hour during the morning so that overall capacity remains the same. B ooking helps Stagecoach predict needs and if it is known in advance that all seats are full, a second bus could be organised. The Imetables are complicated to get to on the internet but this is being simplied. B us stops show a Imetable, keeping this updated is the responsibility of the Highland Council. There is a bus which leaves B rora at 6.30am, historically this has never come to Helmsdale. If we could prove that there would be good use of an early bus from Helmsdale at roughly 6am then Stagecoach would review. Penny will put up posters asking those who would use this service to contact the S ervice Point. W e would need to know how oUen they would use it. Collate informaIon aUer one month. Customer Liaison G roups had been set up in the past in other areas. S teve is open to visiIng Community Councils for input Stagecoach should be contacted immediately if there are concerns, e.g. poor driving, driver using mobile phone etc. 3. Police report: N o police present 4. Approval of November Minutes: Edward proposed, Malcolm seconded. Approval of D ecember Minutes: Barbara proposed, G erry seconded. 5. MaSers arising from November Minutes: Radon gas: N o response from the company recommended by the Highland Council to deal with high levels. Deirdre will pursue. Coupers Park: It is not known if money changed hands Telford B ridge: T he weight restricIon has not yet been applied. G erry spoke to S imon Y oung who said the decision was being deferred unIl J anuary. T hey apparently look at the number of vehicles using whereas in this case it should be the weight. Deirdre will pursue Lobster Ponds: The signed peIIon is now with J ohn G unn of Arthur & Carmichael. T he land belongs to the Highland Council and can be purchased for 1.00 however the Community Council cannot own property so a sub-commi^ee e.g Friends of Lobster Ponds, with a consItuIon, must be formalised. S tan would like Arthur & Carmichael to write to the Community Council. Edward to pursue. Broken bench: now repaired

 Community bus: now resolved MaSers arising from D ecember minutes: ElecIon of Ocers: T here was some confusion over who is the Community Council link with the Windfarm G roup. E velyn represents the Council, Paul has taken over from Mike E llis. Penny to write to E velyn to conrm this. Secretary: At the elecIons in December, a S ecretary was not appointed as Penny in place as Minutes S ecretary. However a member of the Council has to be S ecretary and Penny was asked and agreed to become a Council member and conInue as S ecretary with Honorarium to conInue. Proposed by G erry and seconded by E dward. ElecIon of other Ocers: T here are no more vacancies on the Council. David B ooth had put in his applicaIon form which apparently got lost. Penny failed to menIon this at the December meeIng. Penny apologised to the Council and to David for this oversight. Windfarm money: S everal applicaIons had been received by the closing date at the end of January and will be considered at the next meeIng on W ednesday 8th J anuary. Rapsons G arage car Park: Deirdre asked to apply for improved access to the cart park so that lorries could be parked o the road. Shore S t/Trentham S t crash barrier: In spite of two accidents, this crossing does not full the criteria for a barrier. 6. Elec;on of secretary: (see above) 7. Councillors R eport: A grant of 300,000 has been awarded to be shared in a exible way between regeneraIon of the B ridge car park and 2 other areas. T he money is purely for the regeneraIon costs and cannot be used for anything else. T he decision was helped by the anIcipated high tourist inux from summer 2013 when the anniversary of the Kildonan clearances is celebrated. T here are discussions of how this regeneraIon will work, suggesIons are: a viewing plajorm, descendants wall, local history explanaIon, wheelchair and disabled access. T he driving force behind all this is the Planning and Development T eam in the Highland Council, Ann Hacke^ leads on this. T hey are seeking matched funding. The public toilets will be knocked down and a local comfort scheme started. T he Highland Council pays a public provider for use of their toilets, e.g. Community Centre, T imespan, B ridge Hotel, the pubs. T he Highland Council is responsible for all signage. Concern was raised that this might mean a reducIon in paid hours for someone, but it was felt that this pay would be protected or other work found. The recycling bins will be relocated and these form part of the consultaIon. 8. Treasurers R eport: B arbara has no up to date bank statement, the last one showed plus balance of 631.00. B arbara handed out paperwork for all members of the Council to complete and return to her by next T hursday, 9th February. It was agreed that bank signatories would be B arbara, S tan, E dward. 9. Development Ocers R eport: The Harbour Masters job becoming vacant. Deirdre will nd out details. ALLOTMENTS Contact has been made with Mr S imon Lawley, Helmsdale E states and his Solicitors regarding the land within the Community that could be put to the benet of the Community etc. He will giU some to the Community, but would like to basically make some pennies from any area they can. N eed to idenIfy other areas of Helmsdale E states that we/ Community want, put this to them verbally iniIally then through S olicitor. Has given me contact details for their S olicitors COPPICING ETC. Mike E llis is now L3 S VQ in woodsman skill and now has approx. 7 volunteers

undergoing W oodsman skills. BOAT BUILDING Hull is now complete, starIng inside, seats and oars, A GM at end of J an, Naming of the boat this building is within the Helmsdale E states porjolio. CORE PATHS S poken with Ma^ Dent at Highland Council, re S t. J ohns W ell and access to the well from the car park adjacent to the B ridge Hotel (Helmsdale E states). HOUSING Planning ApplicaIon will be submi^ed on F riday 3rd F eb 2012. IniIal outline had been agreed with Planning and T ECS prior to submission have been assured that Planning Department will expedite through the system. S oil sample have been taken and S urveyors have undergone their levelling and G PS measurements. W e are sIll exploring several diering avenues of funding. T his is proving to be quite dicult as there are no housing specic funders/ grants. W e are having to do this dierently as to what has been done in the past as this project is a pilot. We are expecIng to start on site during the summer months of 2012, this may stretch to the autumn, as we strive to get the right funding packages in the right place at the right Ime. PLOTS - We now have 4 very interested parIes. T he plots will be valued and adverIsed over the coming weeks the monies from the sale of the plots will go directly into the construcIon costs of the project. TRUST S TATUS MOU & O SCR - The HDDG has applied for Charity S tatus and will be known as Helmsdale & District Development T rust. W e should know in the next couple of weeks if we are successful in our applicaIon, this will then lead the T rust to formaIon of a registered Company and also with the S coLsh G overnment with regard to the R ight T o B uy . FILLING S TATION W e have completed the iniIal draU business plan. W e have several more costs to apply to the cash ow forecast and the nalising of the risk assessment. SCHOOL B UIILDING HDDG are invesIgaIng the possibility of the potenIal use of the old school building to the rear of the Primary S chool, as to its future potenIal use. RENEWABLES OFFSHORE I have met with both B eatrice and MORL oshore renewable Companies over the past several weeks, along with Highland Council Harbours Manager regarding the potenIal use of the Harbour as a Service B ase for the upcoming development. GORDONBUSH I am now on the panel Mike E llis has stepped down. I have met with the other panel members and made contact with S CF.

10. Making a D ierence S cheme: J ohn Murray from N ISA store explained that N ISA have been in the village for a year now. T here has been further investment into the shop including changing the entrance and puLng pictures up on the road down to T imespan. F or some Ime now they have been running a scheme to raise money for local chariIes. W here a product has the Making a Dierence logo a few pence goes onto a collecIon for a selected charity. At the moment this is the S enior CiIzens lunch club. They currently have 400.00, once the target gure of 500.00 is reached the money will be handed over and a new collecIon started possibly for a childrens charity. T hey are open to suggesIons about which group to choose. In the spring there will be a new system for charitable donaIons, more news nearer the Ime. 11. Highland Council and R enewable E nergy Policy: Policy to maximise Community Benefit Approved (19/12/11) Highland Councillors have taken an important step towards securing significant local funding for communities across Highland from renewable energy developments.They have agreed the recommendations of their Community Benefit Working Group which will determine how future funds are allocated and set out how the Council will secure the highest level of benefit possible. A key issue for communities is how the money is distributed at the local level. The Council agreed to use four Allocation Factors to provide an objective and scientific model for sharing funds among communities.

The four Allocation Factors are proximity to site; visual impact; construction impact; and number of residences. Members also gave the go ahead for a new concordat to be established which will set out the terms of a new relationship between the Council and developers. As part of this agreement it will be the Councils responsibility to provide the framework and infrastructure for receiving and then disbursing Community Benefit and through which developers will agree to provide not less than 5,000 per installed megawatt annually that will appreciate each year in line with the UK Retail Price Index. The policy will be formally launched at a special Community Benefit Conference that will take place in Inverness on Friday 24 February 2012. Councillor Isobel McCallum, Chairman of The Highland Councils newly-formed Rural Affairs and Climate Change Strategy Group, said: We want to ensure that local communities benefit directly from the use of their local resources and are compensated for the disruption and inconvenience associated with renewable energy work. Any development that has an impact on the environment and local resources should have clear and direct benefits for those who live and work in the area. Our policy clearly sets out where responsibilities lie. Our commitment to set up concordats with developers will ensure that they operate within our policy and means we can negotiate directly with them on behalf of communities to secure the greatest level of benefit possible. As well as hosting the one day conference in February, we plan to run a series of workshops to explain the policy to local communities and give as much guidance as possible. I would encourage people to take the opportunity to come along and learn more about how they can maximise the benefits from any renewable energy developments in their local area. 12. A.O.B. Restora;on of the railway sta;on: J ohn W ilmo^ presented an overview of the community project to restore the staIon. T here will be accommodaIon for groups who in turn will help with maintenance, gardening, cleaning and doing up the waiIng room. B y August 2011 they had received 145,00 funding from various sources. T hey had to get listed building consent addiIonal to the original requirements. S cot R ail have agreed a lease of 1500.00 p.a. originally insisIng on money up front but now aUer inspecIng the books will not request payment unIl there is money to pay them. T hey are looking for addiIonal funding/donaIons. AUer R adon tesIng work will have to be done to miIgate the levels. On the board there are: Mike W ood, and Alison G owan and conservaIon architect Alistair Cook will oer support. T hey would like to maintain the link with the Community Council and they are looking for any interested party to join them. T hey hope to nish the project by 2013. Timespan Museum without W alls: Mike W ood gave an erudite explanaIon of the new technology which will be in use to guide people down the Clearances T rail via an app on their mobile phone. T his is available on line or from T imespan. ( Down loading costs 69pence). F or people without the right equipment, this will be lent by T imespan. T his will be set up ready to go in March2012. U sing G PS and W ay markers at the places of interest, visitors to the trail will learn all the history of that place. F or further details please contact the S ervice Point. It is important that all the details are correct so please contact T imespan if you can throw more light onto the available history. The ditch is blocked at the bo^om of Old N avidale R oad meaning that water running across the road freezes and becomes very dangerous. B arbara to look into this Malcolm reported there are 2 drains subsiding in Dunrobin S treet and one by the bank. Also the second ca^le grid up the S trath is very loose and a large hole developing. B arbara to report this Alison requested that a new post box be put up by the new post oce. Penny to write to R oyal

Mail David B ooth said that many villagers are unhappy about the new delivery Imes for milk and other supplies to the 2 grocery shops. Penny explained that the delivery Imes had changed as one villager had complained about the noise of delivery before 7am (lorry engines, radios etc). There was some discussion regarding how the law stands on noise Imes at night Deirdre to nd out and let Penny know who will then write to N ISA and McColls to request a return to the original Imes and to oer support. Penny reported that she had had complaints about the speed of vehicles coming into the village from the north. (NB S ince the meeIng, Penny has been in touch with the police who have been doing speed checks and who only caught one person exceeding the speed limit). Penny reported a rumour that drawing pins hidden in meat were being dropped around the village causing a danger to animals. (NB since the meeIng Penny has established that this is not true no reports have been made to the police) Mee;ng over at 9.30pm Date and ;me of next mee;ng: T hursday 1st March 2012 at 7.30pm in the Community Centre Post meeIng note: T he Council may be asked to delay the acquisiIon of the Lobster Pond land unIl the establishment of Helmsdale and District Development T rust