Present - Chairman G Becher, Vice Chair N Davis, Treasurer D May, Secretary E Woodcock, S Williamson, S Swinley, Cllr P Douglas, Locality Manager C Gilbert and 34 members of the public.
Apologies- J Edwards.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting which took place in the larger hall because of the turnout.
Minutes - These had been previously circulated and were adopted as correct. Copies of the minutes were available in the shop and it was planned to include them on the website www.dairsie.org.uk.
20mph zones. The Secretary had been contacted by Colin Stirling of Transportation. Information about the 20mph zone in Osnaburgh Court would be available in time for our next meeting.
Local Plan Proposals- A large number of those attending wished to spend time addressing this issue and the Chairman suggested that the normal business of the Community Council be concluded quickly and the floor would be open for debate.
Cllr Douglas raised some points regarding the Dairsie Response and clarified that a developer could successfully apply for Planning Permission even if he did not own the land. All communities grow and the question was how many houses would we be happy with. It was better if we took control. He thought Dairsie had turned down a pedestrian crossing (this was disputed). He agreed that there would be reduced numbers at Bell Baxter if a new NE Fife Secondary School was built. We would have to decide what figure was acceptable. This was continued after the remainder of the agenda.
Planning- The plans for a Planning Application for a dwelling house behind 29 Main Street were considered. Some neighbours were dissatisfied by the lack of sufficient notification and there had been conflicting information from Development Services. No one objected to the plans.
Rights of Way- We await any further information from Jill Edwards.
The overgrown right of way at Moonzie Burn was to be attended to by Fife Council.
Treasurer - The Treasurer reported that the grant had been received The Current Account held £335.98. Savings £298.95. There had been confusion at one point when Fife Council sent the Hall's Grant to the Community Council but that had been rectified.
Correspondence comprised of several information leaflets some of which would be available in the shop.
The Children's Panel had vacancies. If anyone would like more information about Children's Panels contact Susan Martin 46 Main St for a chat.
MSP's newsletter. The Secretary would send address of Dairsie website.
Bus shelters. There were complaints about someone continually urinating in the bus shelter. The shelter was cleaned by a subcontractor of Fife Council, Highspec Services. Local residents were being vigilant in identifying the culprit. No one wanted a perspex bus shelter at the park.
Dog Warden- The Secretary was instructed to ask the Dog Warden to patrol more frequently because of the mess on the Moonzie Burn Right of Way and in the Park.
Parking on Pavements- There were complaints about heavy vehicles parking on the pavements. It was illegal and needed to be discouraged. The Secretary was instructed to ask for a police presence.
Local Plan Proposals Continued from page 1...
Mr Littlejohn, began a lively debate and was disappointed that Councillor Douglas was tardy in responding to items, missed meetings and had said he did not receive minutes or instructions from the Community Council.
The Secretary acknowledged that she sends minutes by post and email. Cllr Douglas said he had only missed 3 meetings all the time he had been a Councillor for Dairsie and the previous altered meeting conflicted with a St Andrews Hospital meeting.
Mr Hamilton, a Dairsie resident and not a member of the Community Council, was disappointed that there was no public notice of the last minute alteration of the previous meeting. This was changed by the Vice Chair due to unforeseen circumstances. The Secretary apologised for inadvertently omitting to place a notice on the hall door. She reminded the members of the public that a copy of the Minutes and Dairsie's Response to the Draft Plan were available in the shop and would shortly be on the website.
Mr Littlejohn wished to know Cllr Douglas's stance on the proposals for Dairsie as he thought Dairsie's response was NO. (The Chairman stated it was NO.) Areas asking for housing were being turned down. He was of the opinion that Fife was asking for more houses than Parliament asked for.
Mr Swinley and Mr Hain reminded the meeting that some people were concerned about the viability of the school and that not everyone was against housing. (See Dairsie Response Draft Local Plan-Sec)
There was a discussion about new figures published by the Scottish Executive regarding school numbers. The optimum level at the moment for Dairsie was 50 and 35 attended. This was causing concern about the status of the school. The Chairman had been given an assurance at a meeting about Kemback School closure that Dairsie School was not under threat.
Crail Airfield was suggested for housing but Cllr Douglas informed the meeting that the site was listed as an Ancient Monument by Historic Scotland.
Pedestrian Crossing in Dairsie. It was clarified that Dairsie had never been offered a pedestrian crossing although the Community Council had been fighting for one for years. It was turned down because Main St was a trunk road at the time, it was too costly, there were too many openings and bus stops and other legal requirements. Residents had turned down buildouts or "nibs". It was suggested that criteria had changed and the Secretary contact Mr Peter Milne of Fife Council to ask about available finance.
Questionnaire- It was finally decided to allow all the residents another opportunity to give a clear and decisive response as to their view of Dairsie's future housing needs and possible location. The questions would be fair and unbiased with room for comment. It required to be completed quickly. A sub committee comprising S Swinley, B Littlejohn, E Woodock and G Becher was appointed. It was arranged to meet on Tuesday 23rd Aug at 10am at Edenbank to compile the questionnaire and have it ready for distribution shortly afterwards.
Planning No 29 Main St. After further perusal of the plans and talking to the applicant, the Secretary was instructed to write to Development Services that the Community Council did not object to the application but was to point out there was dissatisfaction about notification procedures by the Department.
Dates of next meetings WEDNESDAY (NOT THURSDAY) 12TH OCTOBER and THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER.
Secretary's Notes.- The morning after the Community Council Meeting there was a communication from Fife Council Customer Services. Overgrown shrubbery obscuring sightlines on Station Rd is being dealt with by Rod Cox and it will be chased up as a Roads Scotland Act matter.
Phil Clarke, Countryside Services is dealing with the Moonzie Burn Right of Way.
Ref. CC minutes late 1998/early 1999. We were offered a Pedestrian Facility ie Buildouts, relocated to outside Memorial Hall but this was unsuitable because of tanker deliveries and the adjacent lane being a private road. Funding was lost because it could not be carried over into the following financial year. It appears there is confusion over the interpretation of "Pedestrian Crossing" and Pedestrian Crossing Facility. Local interpretation of Pedestrian Crossing is Pelicon (Pedestrian Light Controlled) or Zebra, not Buildouts.