PLEASE NOTE: The chairman of this meeting, Peter Erskine, was not an elected member of the Community Council at the time. The chairman, as landowner, could be said to have had 'an interest' in the main item of business. This meeting has been described by Fife Council Law and Administration officials as "highly irregular", "extremely unusual" and "inadvisable." KCC has since accepted that this meeting was flawed. Be that as it may, these minutes have been officially accepted by Fife Council.

KINGSBARNS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Meeting held on 10 November 2003 at Kingsbarns Memorial Hall

PRESENT:

Councillor Douglas, Kate Holy, Charlotte Kirby, Donald Peddie, Margo McKee, and 40 members of the public. Mr Peter Erskine was Chairman in Clare Wright’s absence.

APOLOGIES:

Received from Clare Wright.

Minutes of Previous Meeting - These were held for approval until the next meeting as this was a specific community consultation meeting.

The Way Forward

The meeting was opened by Mr Peter Erskine who explained that he had been asked to chair the meeting in Clare Wright’s absence due to illness.

Mr Erskine explained that the meeting had been triggered by two elements - one was to coincide with Fife Council’s Community Consultations which are being held all over the North Fife area. These consultations are designed to ensure that locals can be involved in the development of their own villages and towns. On 20 November 2003 the venue will be Boarhills Village Hall and everyone is invited along to express their opinions on Fife Council’s plans. The Community Council will attend the consultation in Boarhills to represent the views expressed at tonight’s meeting, but it was reiterated by Cllr. Douglas how important it is for people to participate in these consultations. He explained that this is the perfect opportunity for people to take part in what happens in the area before it is too late.

The second element which triggered tonight’s meeting was Mr Erskine’s plans for the housing at Barns Law and the surrounding area, details of which had been discussed at previous community council meetings. A paper regarding these issues was distributed to the attendees. There are five main elements to the paper: Health, education, housing, mixed community and transportation/jobs.

It was agreed that there was a need for affordable housing for rent in the village. If the village does not expand and bring families with young children in then the school could suffer etc. Unfortunately many of the available rented houses in and around the area are being sold as holiday homes which can have an adverse effect on village life.

St Andrews University

At a previous CC meeting it was agreed that a feasibility study into the way forward for the village should be carried out. Clare Wright through a chance meeting with Professor McKeirnan of St Andrews University Department of Management, was offered the services of a group of post-graduate students to carry out this study. Mr Erskine introduced Molly Rogers from the group, which is made up of students from USA, Canada and Australia.

Molly informed the meeting that the study was still in the draft stages but that the group were looking at two scenarios:

• 1) Things remain as they are without any change - i.e. nothing happens.
• 2) More development and community activity.

At present there was nothing much to report but Molly was hoping that she could take some of the important points raised at tonight’s meeting back to the group for inclusion in their study. One of the students is a lawyer and he is specifically looking into the area of conservation and development. Molly also explained that development can be scary and that the group will be looking at ways to be proactive and not reactive, which will also take into consideration the goals and wishes of the locals. The students will return to advise on the outcome of the study as soon as possible.

Mr Erskine thanked Molly and asked if anyone had any questions. In light of the present agricultural changes Cllr. Douglas asked if the students could take into consideration work related items which would enable people to remain in the area. For example, work shops, light industrial work etc.

The cost of buying housing in the village was brought up and it was agreed that it is not easy for people on low incomes to buy at the current prices. Therefore low cost rented accommodation is necessary for the area. Sheltered housing may also be an area to be considered, which would enable people to remain in their home village for life.

Rev. Mike Erskine suggested a rural housing association may be the way forward and it was agreed that if sufficient control was exercised these houses could be kept available for affordable rented accommodation.

The question of an area for the children in the village to play football was raised, and the suggestion was made that the grassed area at the village hall would be ideal for this purpose.

Mr Erskine asked if there were any questions regarding the suggestions put forward in his paper on the future of Kingsbarns, but none were forthcoming. He asked

• a) if people would like to see sheltered housing in the village and there was a general consensus.
• b) would people like to see more rented housing available for families?

The concept of a model village was discussed, in which everyone has a role in designing it.

The meeting broke for tea at which point Mr Murtagh the new owner of Cambo Arms introduced himself to the meeting.

Committee. Maps & Available Land

Mr Lang asked what the next step in the process would be and what timescales were involved. Cllr Douglas advised that the Local Plan would take a couple of years. However, the critical cut off time for local participation should be before September 2004. The student study aims to be completed by 21 November 2003. The local consultations finish on 3rd December 2003. The students will not have all the answers by 21 November and it was suggested that a committee be formed in order to take control of the situation. Doing nothing does not mean nothing will happen and we should seek to control the situation and not let events control us. There was a general consensus that we should aim for control and a committee should be formed. Names of interested parties to be given to the secretary at end of meeting.

Maps of the village were distributed. The available fields/areas around the village were identified:

• Croft Butt - land adjacent
• Area behind School & Mr Laird’s shed - Sea Road/Croft Butts - Sheltered Housing?
• Barns Law - field between houses and village - path/trees etc.
• The Glebe - adjacent to the Manse
• Field to the west - Station Road
• North Quarter field.

The question was asked if it would be possible to ask Fife Council to highlight areas in the village which could be kept aside for future development. Cllr. Douglas thought it could be done.

It was agreed that the best area for future development would be to the south of the village, one reason being this was the least attractive entrance/panorama to the village.

Other items which were highlighted for inclusion were:

• Speed limits should be 20mph in the village particularly outside the school Cur. Douglas advised that money is now available for this purpose.
• A pedestrian crossing at the school.
• Street lighting in the village could be enhanced.
• Leisure facilities i.e. football field, tennis courts.
• Broadband. Mr Lunan advised that this is on its way.

There being no further items Mr Erskine closed the meeting and thanked the audience for their participation and also thanked the ladies for the refreshments.

Names for the committee are as follows:

• Donald Peddie
• Geof Lang
• Marjory Lang
• Scott Turnbull
• Mr Murtagh (Cambo Arms)
• Jean Bell
• Kate Holy
• Moira Dodds

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held on 12 January 2004 at which Mr lain Smith, MSP will be in attendance. Please have questions and issues for Mr Smith.