Meeting held on 8 March 2004 at Kingsbarns Memorial Hall

PRESENT: Clare Wright, Kate Holy, Alastair Black, Margo McKee, Donald Peddie and 10 members of the public.

APOLOGIES: Pauline Brown

I & 2. Minutes of Previous Meeting & Matters Arising

Mr Hair said he had five points to make regarding the minutes of the previous meeting.

1. The agenda should be displayed in advance of the next meeting.
2. The minutes should be displayed in the shop window more than two days prior to meeting. The Chairman agreed that this would be a good idea.
3. Student Report - Mr Hair advised he bad not yet received a copy of the report. The Chairman said the copy should have been circulated. There was one copy in the hall and if people would like to write their names on the attached list we would re-circulate that copy.
4. Community Council Questionnaire - Mr Hair asked what progress had been made. Clare Wright replied that this would be dealt with under Item 4 on the agenda.
5. Mr Hair objected to the fact that the minutes gave the impression that he had implied that all incomers to rented accommodation would be vandals and wreckers. The Chairman insisted that the impression he had given at the previous meeting was that tenants in rented accommodation were likely to be vandals and that his words had caused great offence to some people at the meeting.

Mr Lunan would like to point out that the Minute does not fully record the picture the Chairman had given at the meeting of 12 January 2004, of a village of whom 50% are dependent on agriculture. He believes that the statement does not truly reflect the diverse nature of the work of villagers today. The Chairman accepted his comments.

Mr Hair objected to the use of the word ‘large’ in paragraph one of the previous minutes which described the proportion of second homes in the village. Mr Hair said for him a large proportion would be 51%, the Chairman said 51% for her would be a majority. Mr Erskine suggested the word ‘large’ should be amended to read ‘significant’ and this was agreed. It is estimated that about 40 properties in the village are holiday homes.

The Chairman said that she had written to thank Mr lain Smith MSP for attending our previous meeting and in return had received a thank you letter from Mr Smith.

Sybil Davis pointed out that a new tree had been planted at North Can View - a silver birch.

3. Resignation

Mari Robertson has tendered her resignation from the Community Council.

4. Formation of Sub-Committee to look at future of Kingsbarns

Mrs Wright has spoken to Mike Melville of the Law and Administration Dept of Fife Council to ask his advice about setting up a sub-committee. Mr Melville said the CC should decide the remit, the membership, chairman and timescale. Mrs Wright proposed that the sub-committee would be composed of seven members, three elected members of the CC, three elected by the CC from those who put their names forward for election, and one representative of Cambo Estate. This was agreed.

The CC would like anybody who would be interested to serve on the sub-committee to give their names to a member of the CC and the Chairman will arrange a ballot of CC members from which the three serving members will be elected. Each CC member will have three votes and those elected will be the three nominees who receive the most votes. The Chairman will implement this speedily.

The sub-committee would have a broad remit to find out the opinions of the village on any future development in the village and to explore where and what development there might be, if any. The sub-committee will compose and distribute a questionnaire to every house in the village to try and find out what are the housing needs in the village, if any. Sheila Scott asked what could the CC do if any developer wanted to build in the village. Mrs Wright replied that the CC would have to deal with any planning application on its merits as it the case at the moment. The subcommittee will present their finding to the CC, and if it is found that nobody wants any further development that will be the end of the matter.

The Chairman of the sub-committee would be elected by the committee. It was proposed that the sub-committee should sit initially for a period of two years. Any information or ideas which they approve will then be submitted to the CC for discussion.

So far the following have submitted their names to be elected:

Miss Jean Bell
Mrs Pauline Brown
Mr Hair
Mr Lang
Mrs Lang
Mr Murtagh

5. Community Council Elections

These will be held in October. The Chairman asked people to consider standing for the elections. There will definitely be some vacancies.

6. Transport to Dundee and Cupar

Chairman will write and ask if there is any possibility of scheduling buses so that there is a direct link through to Dundee and Cupar. At the moment the connections are poor and it can take a long time to come home particularly from Cupar. Traveling is difficult for students attending Elmwood College. Sybil Davis will give the Chairman the address to write to. This was agreed.

7. Thank You Dinner for Students

The Chairman proposes inviting the students and their Professor for a meal at The Barns when it opens to thank them for their hard work in preparing their report. The Chairman proposes that the CC will pay for the students and professor and anybody else who would like to join them will be most welcome and would pay for themselves. No date has been arranged but when the Chairman has spoken to Mr Murtagh of The Barns and Professor McKiernan, it will be advertised. This was agreed.

8. SWRI Quiz Night

A team of Alistair Black, Kate Holy, Margo McKee and Kirsty McKee will represent the CC.

9. Any Other Business

CC Web Site - Peter Erskine said the Student Report should be available on disc and if so could it be put on the Kingsbarns Web Site. Clare Wright will see if such a disc is available. The CC web site, which will be linked to Fifedirect.com, will not be up and running until a few months time. Margo McKee is exploring the possibility of getting a faster computer.

Results of East Fife Consultation exercise held in Boarhills are now available for anyone to look at. (These were circulated on the night. Anyone wishing to see these results please contact Mrs Clare Wright.)

Speeding in the Village - CW has been in touch with Derek Crowe, Transportation Department, to ask if we can have a 20mph limit implemented and for a speed assessment to be made Mr Crowe replied that implementation of the speed limit will be taking place over the next 3 to 4 years and we would be informed of any developments in Kingsbarns.

Beach - Mr Ian Barbour of Fife Council will be visiting the beach to look at the state of the steps which Mrs Wright has reported as needing attention before the Spring. Mrs Wright has also spoken to Roads Dept in response to concerns raised by villagers about the poor state of the roads particularly in The Square and down Sea Road. Mrs Wright will write to the Transportation Services asking for repairs to the roads to be carried out. Sybil Davis asked if it might be possible to consider having wheelchair access to the beach. Mrs Wright will discuss this with Ian Barbour.

Planning Application by Fife Council Fife Council has put in a planning application to create more parking space in North Carr View. It will involve removing a small grassy area and a tree. There is definitely a shortage of parking in the area. Cars are not allowed to park in the area opposite the lock up garages. The Chairman will contact Gary Westwood regarding this.

Morton of Pitmilly - There has been no further movement on this development.

Conference of Community Councils to be held on 27 March 2004. Mrs Wright asked if anyone would like to volunteer to go.

Patient Focus Involvement Strategy Group - An appeal for volunteers to participate in the focus group will be put in the CC Notice Board.

Expenses - It was agreed to give expenses to Margo McKee £40, and Clare Wright £20.

Street Lights - Peter Erskine said the hideous street lights were no more than licensed vandalism, and asked if we could have something more in keeping with a conservation area. Margaret Bell said the plastic grit bins are also not in keeping with their surroundings. CW agreed to write and ask if there is any chance of this street furniture being replaced by more suitable items.

Once again the subject of the unnecessarily unsightly notice about dangerous headstones was brought up. CW agreed to write again suggesting that the notice be moved to a less prominent, but nevertheless, visible site.

Meeting of Mr Erskine and Mrs Wright with Ms Racionzer, Fife Council - Mr Hair asked what was discussed at this meeting. Mrs Wright said they had discussed what had been spoken about at the CC meeting which had been held the previous day. Mrs Wright read out the letter which Ms Racionzer had sent to her. Fife Council is pleased with the community’s enthusiasm about taking the future of the village into their own hands.

Ms Racionzer gave Mrs Wright the name of Ms Anne Patullo of the Vivarian Project, a group hoping to find a suitable site for assisted independence sheltered housing. Mrs Wright has spoken to Ms Patullo and it looks as though this is the sort of project the sub-committee will be exploring. There being no further business the meeting was closed.

10. Date of the Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on 10 May 2004 at 7.30p.m.