Winchburgh Community Council
MINUTES of meeting of Winchburgh Community Council to be held in the
Community Education Centre Craigton Place, Winchburgh, West Lothian at
7.00pm on Monday 9th March 2015.i
Attendance:
Community Councillors: Raymond McCabe; Pete Nisbet; Claire McKechnieMason; Sheila Sutherland; Alan Stirling
Members of the public and officials: Douglas Grierson (WLC); Wendy
McCorriston (WLC); Camile Archer (WLC); Cllr Diane Calder; Cllr Janet
Campbell; Gill Webb; Terry Doherty; Vicki MacDonald; David Pierce (DPQ); Ian
Hepburn (WLC); Beverley Akinlami (WLC)
1.
Apologies: William Honeyford; Mandy Baird
2.
Minutes approved by Jim and Sheila
3.
i.
Business matters raised by the public
Sheila raised the issue of dog fouling in the village. Diane and Janet advised
that she should call WLC with any concerns and information so they could
send an environmental warden to investigate.
Dougie reported that the mobile library service is to end in June 2015 and that
WLC were looking at other options for users.
ii.
4.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
Development matters
Jim pointed out there are still holes in the road near the development site and
Wendy agreed to look into it
Raymond raised the issue of the old flats site in Glendevon – Wendy said it is
not in the next round of developments but Raymond said he’d been told it
would never be redeveloped. It is to be grassed instead. Wendy is going to
look into this.
Wendy reported that developers have paid £468,000 towards affordable
housing in the village
Wendy reported that the trees along the main road through the village are to
be removed and replanted with smaller trees as the current trees pose a
threat to the road.
Wendy reported that the first seven units of the new town centre are to be in
place by Christmas and that Sainsbury is the supermarket due to be installed
5.
Presentation by David Pierce on The Big W project and Winchburgh
Public Art Strategy
i.
David reported that The Big W project is progressing well and there are
some initial findings from consultation with the community. He will continue
to organise community events up to Christmas that engage people in the
village in informal / conversational style consultations and more organised
and formal meetings.
ii.
His team is considering the past, present, and future of the village. The
project is now focusing on Gala Day, the shale industry, Niddry Castle,
sport / industry / agriculture. The three main themes are Gala, shale, and
brick industry
iii.
He is considering the positioning of the art works to be commissioned over
the next 10 years. The old Post Office site was discussed as well as
historical sites in the village where stories are missing. Also the canal path.
iv.
The theme is to celebrate Winchburgh and to tell its story
v.
14th March 2015. There will be a mobile consultation tent moving through
the village to capture as many views as possible.
vi.
Claire offered to put the presentation on the WCC website
vii.
Claire offered to Tweet about the 14th March event and this was agreed
5. Ian Hepburn and Beverley Akinlami: removal of youth clubs
i.
WLC need to make £30 million of savings over the next 3 years and as
part of the cuts, the decision has been taken to remove all youth clubs for
5-11 year olds in WL. This will save WLC £60,000 per annum. The focus is
now to be put on youth services for 11-19 year olds.
ii.
Several concerns were raised by Councillors and members of the public:
- Children will not be used to youth group activities if they are not
prepared from a young age. Removing youth clubs for 5-11 year olds
will cause major issues in the future
- Children will lose the activities they have just now and become less
socially engaged
- There are potentially very real financial implications for families who
may have to pay for private youth clubs
- For the sake of £60,000, we are losing an important service when
savings could be made elsewhere that would have less social impact
- Janet made the point that it was a political decision to give elected
members a 130 page document to comment on 5 days before the
decision was to be taken
- Diane pointed out that decisions had been taken based on a very small
number of responses to the survey
- Winchburgh is a remote village that does not have the facilities and
opportunities of surrounding towns and villages. Youth clubs are a
priority for this community as there are poor transport links to
iii.
iv.
neighbouring towns and there are also cost implications. There are no
other activities for 5-11 year olds here.
- Churches in the village do their best to help fill the gaps in social
activities but they cannot cope without the support of the Council and
the services they provide
- There are a lot of costs associated with community-led initiatives such
as the disclosure check, insurance, health and safety certificates.
- One local parent asked what would happen to the resources once the
clubs were disbanded and Ian said the community could probably keep
them.
One option is for third sector to pick up the service or to have communityled initiatives. After much discussion, Ian agreed to provide support from
WLC to help the village find ways of replacing the activities, hopefully
through Dougie Grierson with whom we already have a strong relationship
Beverley offered a community education worker to be assigned to work
with us.
6. Police report
i.
There was no Police attendance at the meeting. Claire wrote to the Police
last month to request that better support be put in place for WCC meetings
and she had a reply from Scott Robertson who said that they were
intending to establish better relationships with community councils.
7. Update on Winchburgh’s Village Investment Fund application
i.
Dougie reported that the LAC has approved the funding for the
memorial bench and notice board. He plans to organise another site
visit with Pete and Raymond to consider the location of the notice
board and memorial bench and then he will finalise costs and arrange
installation.
8. Winchburgh Health Centre
i.
Morag Carnall, Winchburgh Health Centre ‘s manager, did not accept
our invitation to attend the March WCC meeting.
9. Correspondence
i.
All correspondence for this month attached
10. AOCB
11. Date of next meeting 13th April 2015
Correspondence
Online Planning Seminar: Special Offer to Council
Members
Georganna Simpson
6 Mar (3
webcasts@em.planningresource.com via bounce.haymarket.mkt63
days
ago)
Dear Council Member,
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significantly, but do you feel prepared to meet this challenge?
Planning, the leading industry magazine for professional planners, last month delivered a Neighbourhood Plans
and Community Engagement seminar to an audience of planners, parish councillors and consultants. This
practical seminar highlighted best practice advice and examples gleaned from case studies of successful
neighbourhood plans produced by a local authority and a local community.
Not everyone could attend the seminar in central London, so we are pleased to be able to offer you a practical
online seminar, which you can tap into without leaving your desk.
This dynamic learning experience has been designed to empower local authorities and communities when
initiating their neighbourhood development plans. The practical online seminar package, which includes videos,
power point presentations, key take-aways and a summary report, is brought to you by planning industry experts
from Kirdford Parish Council, Cringleford Parish Council and Wyre Forest District Council among others.
Normally priced at £79.99, we are pleased to offer you a special discounted price of £59.99. Simply fill out the
registration form (using the link below) and use this promotion code DM2096 at the checkout:
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We also offer a special discounted price for group bookings. To receive your bespoke quote, please email me
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Watch our short video to get a taste of what’s in store:
To learn more about the package, visit our website.
We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Best wishes,
Georganna Simpson
Digital Content Executive
Planning Resource
Broxburn Consultation Event - FOLLOW UP
On behalf of AECOM, we would like to thank you if you managed to make it down to our
consultation event in Broxburn on Monday. We received some insightful feedback and had some
great discussion on active travel in the local area – this will go some way in helping us with our
overall study.
We appreciate that the event may have been quite short notice for some of you to attend, so we
would like to offer you the chance to give us your views through a short online survey – we are still
very keen to hear what you have to say about active travel in Broxburn, Uphall, and Winchburgh!
If you have 5 minutes to spare, please feel free to click the link below and complete the survey. If
you have any questions or queries, then please feel free to get back in touch.
The survey can be accessed here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P9MQSTF
Many thanks,
Sean Stephen
Sean Stephen MA (hons) MSc
Graduate Consultant – Transportation
Tel: +44 (0)131 301 8613
Sean.Stephen@aecom.com
AECOM
1 Tanfield
Edinburgh, EH3 5DA
www.aecom.com
AECOM People Flow and Pedestrian Modelling
DATA LABEL: INTERNAL ONLY
Please see the undernoted e-mail which I have been asked to send to all community councils in West
Lothian.
Regards
Lorraine
Dear sir/madam
On behalf of West Lothian Council, AECOM are undertaking an Active Travel study to determine
opportunities and constraints in West Lothian. We may have emailed previously with regards to an
event we were holding that specifically focused on Broxburn, Winchburgh, and Uphall – however,
we would now like to offer you the chance to contribute to part of our research that focuses on
West Lothian as a whole.
We have two events planned in different parts of West Lothian over the next couple of weeks and
hope that this will allow you to pick the event which suits you. The events will take place on:

Tuesday 10th March – Armadale Community Education Centre, Armadale

Tuesday 17th March – Howden Park Centre, Livingston
Each event will take the form of a semi-structured focus group led by one of our team. We hope
that this will allow you to take engage with other members of local organisations and contribute to
some great discussion on the issues at hand.
Attached is a flyer containing details of both of the events – if you have any further questions or
queries please feel free to get in touch with Sean Stephen at AECOM (sean.stephen@aecom.com). I
would also be grateful if you could circulate this amongst colleagues and associates who may find
this of interest.
Should you not be able to attend any of the workshops on Tuesday 10th or Tuesday 17th March, we
are still very keen to gather your views. West Lothian Council has developed a short survey which
aims to understand the key barriers preventing more active travel choices in West Lothian, to inform
our developing Active Travel Plan. The survey is aimed at individuals who make any kind of trip in
West Lothian. Please feel free to circulate this survey link to members of your organisations and
within your communities (it can be accessed by clicking on the link below – please note that it will
close in mid-April)
Mainstreaming Active Travel Plan for West Lothian - Your Views
LB Cllr Janet Campbell Enq: Potholes on Main St, Niddry Rd & Tippetknowes
Rd - Winchburgh - [INTERNAL ONLY]
DATA LABEL: INTERNAL ONLY
Hi Steve
Councillor Campbell has asked for Mr Alan Stirling (01506 890639) to be contacted re the pot holes
outside the Chapel as he would be happy to meet with an engineer on site to point out the area in
question.
If you can please keep Councillor Campbell updated.
Regards
Laura
From: Jones, Steve
Sent: 13 February 2015 12:22
To: SNPSupportStaff
Cc: clairemckechnie@gmail.com; Chalmers, Stuart
Subject: RE: Cllr Janet Campbell Enq: Potholes on Main St, Niddry Rd & Tippetknowes Rd Winchburgh - [INTERNAL ONLY]
Anne,
Stuart has visited these locations this morning and has issue an order to have a number of small
holes filled on the B9080.
He had already issued an order to have the potholes at the junction of Tippetknowes Road and the
B9080 filled, and the one at the bus stop on Main Street. These have been carried out. He had also
previously issued an order to have the holes filled in Niddry Road, which have also been completed,
but could not find any outside the Chapel as stated by Cllr Campbell.
Steve Jones
Area Engineer (East Team Leader)
Laura Butler
Support Assistant - Members Services
Tel: 01506 281706
War and Disability: An Oral History - [INTERNAL ONLY]
DATA LABEL: INTERNAL ONLY
Please see the attached which may be of interest to your community council.
Regards
Lorraine
From: David Walker [mailto:david.walker@strath.ac.uk]
Sent: 25 February 2015 12:33
To: McGrorty, Lorraine
Subject: War and Disability: An Oral History
Dear Lorraine McGrorty
I wonder if you might be interested in publicising the attached article across your Community
Councils which relates to our new disability history project 'War and Disability in Scotland, 19391950.' This project is funded by the Hudson Trust and being carried out by our team at the Scottish
Oral History Centre at the University of Strathclyde. We would love to interview anyone with a
disability in Scotland who would like to share their experiences of working during or just after World
War Two. We would also love to speak to families, co-worker and advocates who have stories to tell.
Any help you could give us in advertising the project or in finding oral history respondents would be
greatly appreciated!
Regards
David
Dr David Walker
Knowledge Exchange and Research Co-ordinator
Scottish Oral History Centre, University of Strathclyde
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Lord Hope Building, 141 St.James Road
Glasgow G4 0LT
T: 0141 444 8367
E: david.walker@strath.ac.uk
PHRP events - [INTERNAL ONLY]
From: Gwen Stewart [mailto:Gwen.Stewart@edinburgh.gov.uk]
Sent: 25 February 2015 08:29
To: Gwen Stewart
Subject: FW: PHRP events
The Pentland Hills Regional Park’s 2015 events programme is now available on the Regional Park
website. This year includes the Pentland Walking Festival with brand new routes for 2015. For those
interested in the past, as part of Archaeology month, an event will take place in October. Plus much
more. Booking is essential for most events.
Paula Newton
Natural Heritage Officer
The City of Edinburgh Council
Natural Heritage Service
Pentland Hills Regional Park | 69A Braid Road | Edinburgh | EH10 6JF
T: 0131-529-2404 | M: 07798-505308 | F: 0131-447- 9441 |
paula.newton@edinburgh.gov.uk | www.pentlandhills.org
A8_A89 Route Corridor Study - Stakeholder Meeting 13th March 2015
Dear All,
AECOM have been commissioned by Transport Scotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and West
Lothian Council to undertake a corridor study of the A89/A8 between Broxburn and the Maybury
junction in Edinburgh. The main aim is to develop and test preliminary designs for public transport
infrastructure improvements on the M9/ A8/ A89/ which includes the enhancement of effective
walking and cycling connections.
It is vital for local authorities and stakeholders to work in partnership at all stages of an initiative and
by involving you in the decision-making process we can develop our understanding and explore
solutions to your issues of concern.
As stakeholder engagement remains a high-value activity we would very much like to see you there
so we will be holding the event as a drop in session on the 13th March between 10am – 1pm in the
Dunedin Room of Edinburgh City Chambers which is located on the High Street. It will be attended
by Transport Scotland, the two local authorities and facilitated by ourselves.
Can you please confirm if you will be able to attend? If you are unable to attend can you please
contact us as we can provide you information if required.
Regards
Michael Condon
Engineer, Transportation
D +44 (0)131 301 8786
michael.condon@aecom.com
AECOM
1 Tanfield
Edinburgh, EH3 5DA
T +44 (0)131 301 8600
West Lothian Active Travel Research
Dear sir/madam
On behalf of West Lothian Council, AECOM are undertaking an Active Travel study to determine
opportunities and constraints in Broxburn, Uphall, and Winchburgh. We would like you to contribute
by coming along to a stakeholder consultation event. We would love to hear what you think about
active travel in the area – what’s good; what’s bad; and what more you think could be done.
The event will take place on Monday 2nd March at the Strathbrock Partnership Centre in Broxburn
and will last three hours (15:30-18:30). It will take the form of an informal ‘drop in session’ to allow
you to consider and comment on the issues at hand at your own leisure – if you wish to engage with
us further, there will be an opportunity to take part in a short focus group over the course of the
afternoon.
Attached is a flyer containing the full details of the event – if you have any further questions or
queries please feel free to get in touch with Sean Stephen at AECOM (sean.stephen@aecom.com). I
would also be grateful if you could circulate this amongst colleagues and associates who may find
this of interest.
We hope to see you there.
Kind regards,
Sean Stephen
Sean Stephen MA (hons) MSc
Graduate Consultant – Transportation
Tel: +44 (0)131 301 8613
Sean.Stephen@aecom.com
AECOM
1 Tanfield
Edinburgh, EH3 5DA
www.aecom.com
Invitation to 'The People's Perspective'
Dear Community Councillor,
You are warmly invited to Planning Democracy's conference called 'Planning: The People's Perspective'.
This conference is especially designed with community councillors in mind. In our experience most
conferences about planning lack a strong community voice - this conference will be different. Planning
Democracy's management committee includes three community councillors who together have over 70
years experience between them. They have advised and helped shape the conference programme to
ensure you get the most out of it.
At the conference you will
- hear three community members speak about their experience of the planning system
- find out about Equal Rights of Appeal and how it can help improve the planning experience for people
- find out how Equal Rights of Appeal operates in Ireland from leading professor, Geraint Ellis from Queen's
University, Belfast
- meet others and exchange experience
- learn from experts on a variety of planning topics, including Public Inquiries and planning law
- work with us to campaign for more inclusive planning
Cost: £10 community groups and individuals, £20 professionals
When: Saturday 25th April 2015, 10 - 4.30pm
Where: Central Glasgow, Trades Hall
Book online today at http://www.planningdemocracy.org.uk/conference
For more information see our website, reply to this email or ring 0781 387 4805.
Book your place today. We have a travel fund available to help people who might struggle to pay transport
costs.
And, please do share the conference details with others in your Community Council and elsewhere!
Yours sincerely,
Clare Symonds and the Planning Democracy Team
25/02/2015
Councillor Campbell,
My colleague Stuart Chalmers met with Mr Stirling this afternoon. Please
find attached, photographs of the ‘pot holes’ he was referring to. These are potholes which have
already been temporary repaired to make them safe. We have no plans at this moment to carry out
permanent repairs. The B8020, Niddry Road, is inspected on a monthly basis and any pot holes
which meet the intervention levels will be made safe.
I trust this answers your questions.
Steve Jones
Area Engineer (East Team Leader)
Tele 01506 776546
Mob 07798 935488
Police attendance and reports - Winchburgh Community Council
Dear Scott (if I may)
I am writing to you as secretary of Winchburgh Community Council. I was given your details by Douglas
Grierson, the Community Regeneration Officer for West Lothian and I have been asked to get in touch with
you regarding Police reports for the WCC. We have been fortunate to have had the support of Vince
Manning, who has often attended WCC meetings to give us a verbal report of crime in the area, sometimes
even in his own time when he is not on duty. He has shown a commitment to the village in this regard that
we are very grateful for. However, we now feel it would be beneficial to have a stronger relationship with
the Police and would like to request Police attendance at each Community Council meeting as well as a
written monthly report that we can file with our official documents recording the minutes of the meetings.
This would allow us to keep a record of crime rates and help community members in crime prevention etc.
Could you please offer advice about what resources are in place for Police reports and attendance at
Community Council meetings?
I would be grateful for your thoughts on this matter and hope that we are able to establish a better and
stronger working relationship with the Police for Winchburgh.
Kind regards
Claire McKechnie-Mason
Hi Claire,
Thank you for your email.
J division and in particular West Lothian are going through a period of change and restructuring. This
means that as of 4th March 2015 there will substantially more community policing team(CPT)
resources available at our disposal.
As part of this restructuring there will be a SPOC (single point of contact) for you to link in with.
This information and persons involved will be communicated to you in coming weeks.
Hopefully this answers your questions
many thanks
Scott Robertson
CPT Broxburn
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the quick reply, that is very positive news. Look forward to further details on this.
With best wishes
Claire
Minutes written by Claire McKechnie-Mason