Barr Village Throughout the Years
Community Council
Meetings are held in the Barr Community Hall on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7.00pm. Members of the public are most welcome to attend.Once members have approved the Draft Minutes as a true record,the minutes are passed to the Link Officer who in turn passes them on to South Ayrshire Council. If you wish to contact the Community Council please address all communications to the Secretary.
Committee
Chairperson Mr J Wilson
Vice Chairperson Mrs J Rumbold
Secretary Mr J Craig
Treasurer Mr W Dunlop
Mr J Leil
Mr J Gracie
Mr S Smith
Mr A Smith
Mr D Aldridge
Link Officer Mr G Charlton
A South Ayrshire Councillor will attend each meeting
and a Police report is also given at each meeting
Minutes of last meeting
Barr Community Council Meeting
Thursday 10th June 2010
Village Hall 7.00pm
Present Mr J Wilson(JW) Chairperson, Mrs J Rumbold(JR) Vice Chairperson,
Mr W Dunlop(WD) Treasurer, Mr J Craig(JC) Secretary,Mr J Leil(JL),
Mr J Gracie(JG), Mr S Smith(SS), Mr D Aldridge(DA), Mr A Smith(AS),
Councillor J McDowall(JM),
I
1 Apologies. Mr G Charlton(GC) and Councillor A Oattes(AO).
2 Register of Interest. None.
3 Minutes of last meeting.
These were accepted as accurate. Proposed JG, seconded JR.
4 Matters arising.
4.1 JC confirmed that the annual litter picking exercise by volunteers in and around
the village was complete with the Albany Road section done on 5th June.
4.2 JC gave a brief summary of the South Ayrshire Council(SAC) Main Issues
Consultation which JC, JR and DA had attended on behalf of Barr Community Council(BCCThe consultation had focused mainly on the issues affecting
Girvan. About 20 participants, mainly from Girvan were present. Those taking
part were organised into 3 groups and given specific topics to discuss e.g.
regeneration, transport, new development etc. Of particular interest to SAC was
the proposal to include the harbour area in the designated “town centre” for
development and regeneration purposes, and the desirability or otherwise of
incorporating new private housing into the plans alongside new leisure and
recreational facilities such as a marina. SAC will prepare a report on the
proceedings and make it available to the participants in due course.
5 Police Report.
There was no police presence at the meeting so there was no report.
6 Treasurer’s Report.
WD confirmed that BCCs annual accounts had been audited and passed by
SAC and that the administrative grant for 2010/11 of £600 had been received.
Bank balances as at the date of the meeting stood at £10,898.22.
7 Secretary’s report.
7.1 BCC has received advanced notification of a proposed 18 turbine wind farm in
the Assel Valley. The application is in the name of FALCK RENEWABLES
PLC. Agents are given as CORIOLIS ENERGY LLP. JW asked for the location
map to be publicly displayed. JC
7.2 JC reported that he had received an e-
concerning the investigation into the affairs of BCC. WP suggested a
meeting with JR and/or JC. It was agreed that if such a meeting was to take
place it should also include JW, WD and Isobel Ringrose(IR). JC expressed
concerns that SAC had not indicated the purpose or format of the meeting.
JM said that if a meeting was arranged he would be willing to attend. This
offer was gratefully accepted. JC to liaise with SAC on suitable dates, time
and venue and advise accordingly. JC
8 Planning Matters
No planning applications or decisions affecting Barr were made in the last
month.
9 Funding Applications.
Three funding applications were considered. Two for funds from Hadyard
Hill Community Benefit Fund Limited(HHCBFL) and one for funds from
Carrick Futures(CF).
9.1 An application for £500 from Girvan Academy on behalf of a Barr pupil for
contributory funding towards an educational opportunity to visit the NASA
Space School in Houston, Texas. This application had been referred by BCC
to HHCBFL with a letter of support as it fell outside the rigid criteria laid
down for Community Councils. Main board sanction having been given, the
application was unanimously approved.
9.2 An application for £440 from Barr Tearoom to fund promotional material for
both the Tearoom and the village focusing on local points of interest and
recreational amenities was also approved.
9.3 An application from Barr Primary and Nursery Class was declined. JC to write
to the applicants to explain the reasons for this decision. JC
10 Open Forum.
There being no member of the public present there was no open forum.
11 AOB
11.1 JL gave a brief update on the Carrick Community Councils Forum(CCCF)
meeting of 8th June 2010. There are still supplies of James Brown’s book on
Carrick available for sale. There was a suggestion that they could be sold at
Barr Gala Day. With only 2 days to go this was considered impractical. He
also said that CCCF would be looking for subscriptions/donations from
member Community Councils, probably about £50 each to cover
administration costs. It was agreed to await a formal request before this was
considered.
11.2 JL said that it appeared that some of the machinery used by the village ground
maintenance contractors was not appropriate to particular conditions and
locations. Some complaints have been made. We will monitor this.
11.3 JL reported that he had received complaints about farm tractors speeding
through the village. JW said that because of their wheel size people often
thought that tractors were going much faster than they actually were. He said
that most agricultural tractors were governed to les than 30MPH so it was
unlikely that any were actually breaking the law.
11.4 AS said that many of the chairs in the village hall were no longer of an
acceptable standard and wondered about the appropriateness of BCC funding
for an upgrade. After discussion it was agreed that AS would investigate who
actually owned the chairs SAC or Barr Community Association. AS
11.5 AS gave an update on the arrangements for the Barr Gala Day. New attractions
would be a climbing wall and pony rides. The gala organisers were working
well and a newsletter had been produced and distributed. He was hopeful that
there would be enough of the volunteers who had kept BCA alive so far,
willing to continue for BCA to survive and prosper for the benefit of everyone
in Barr Parish.
11.6 DA gave an update on the work of the village hall steering group. He
confirmed that after having gained the agreement of both BCA and BCC the
steering group had approached Ailsa Horizons(AH) to investigate the
sustainability of the village hall in community ownership. On perusal of the
AH proposals the steering group concluded that the focus of their study was
quite restrictive and did not justify the cost involved. JW said that there were
other sources of advice on these matters and DA confirmed that the steering
group were of the same opinion and that these would be investigated.
11.6 JG said that he was becoming concerned about the state of the cemetery wall
in Barr along the Glebe. There are places where it is obviously unstable and
indeed in some instances the stonework has deteriorated to such an extent
that holes are appearing. JC to contact SAC. JC
11.7 JG also reported on concerns he had about both access to and the condition
of Kirstie’s and Jimmy’s Cairns which are local landmarks. Apparently the
Forestry commission has placed signs restricting access to these sites of
local importance and interest. Why? DA said that he would assess the
extent of the repairs necessary to the cairns with a view to doing the work
himself. JC to investigate why access has been restricted and get the
decision reversed if possible. DA&JC
11.8 JW commented on the recent road accident at the Barr/Pinmore junction
at Penkill. He recalled that some three years ago SAC had agreed the case
for improving visibility at this junction but that nothing had been done.
Could we raise the issue with SAC again? JC
11.9 JW confirmed that Stuart Sheddon of Smith & Valentine, the solicitors
representing BCC on the football pitch purchase, was working on setting
up a trust which could take ownership on behalf of the community.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.00pm.
The next meeting is on Thursday 8th July 2010 at 7pm in the Village Hall.