Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
Present:
David Jesner, Chairman
James Sandeman, Treasurer
Eleanor Johnston, Secretary
Iain McCowan
Bryson McNeil
Susie Swift
Peter Allan
Jack Addison
Councillor Grant
Councillor Swift
Councillor Buchanan
Councillor Gilbert
1
Apologies
Councillor McAlpine
Councillor Green
Colin Hamilton
John Bryant
Zarina Khan
Pat McColl
Absent without reason
Councillor Rosen
2
Community Police Report – Constable Scott Blain
35 crime reports
16 detected which is a 45.7% detection rate
As follows:
6 Common Assault – 3 detected
12 Thefts – petrol and shoplifting
4 Vandalism – 2 at Parklands, 1 at Mearns Castle Church and Ayr Road
1 BoP, Domestic
5 RTA – 5 detections
7 others miscellaneous – Possession, Peddlers Act 1871 transgression, Malicious phone calls
No reported housebreaking
The Chairman asked if there were any comparisons to the previous 12 months.
Constable Scott will look into getting this information
SB
Iain McCowan asked about the Peddler’s Act 1871 to examine whether this Act could be related
to the Cold Calling problems in the area. The chairman asked if the person was claiming
unemployment. Constable Blain will look into this.
3
Approval of minutes of meeting held on 13th December 2010
Approved by Peter Allan and seconded by Bryson McNeil
4
Matters arising
5.3 Question 18 – Councillor Buchanan advised that a letter has been sent out to
the landlord in December regarding the Greenfarm Road house which we considered may be dangerous
and without a completion certificate. The landlord has been given 21 days to correct any defects.
There was a problem with Building Control getting into the property. Access was eventually
obtained. He has until the 21st of this month to respond. If he does not respond or response is
inadequate it will be passed to the Legal Department for their action.
The Chairman asked if Building Control issues will deal with the Road problem.
Councillor Buchanan responded that there is nothing untoward that has been done in the building.
Issues about fire escapes, ceilings too high etc are being dealt with.
The other issue of knocking down the boundary wall have been addressed and there is nothing
stopping the Landlord from knocking down the wall by all accounts. Councillor Buchanan
will look into it further.
TB
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
Bryson gave an update of conversations he had had with Landlord Registration who have no
problems since he has now registered and advised that the Roads Department was not interested.
Jack Addison advised that he had witnessed 2 children almost having accidents because
the pavement is not wide enough to let the children walk on it and they have to walk
along the road. No one seems interested in doing anything about it. We have to do
something about it, it is an accident waiting to happen. The Chairman advised that
personally he finds the Roads department spineless at the moment. Councillor Buchanan
will look into it again. No mention about the hanging external electrical cables we think
are dangerous.
TB
Councillor Buchanan asked about the cable hanging down and was advised that this
met the H & S requirements. The Chairman advised that he did not believe that this
situation met the electrical compliance regulations. Iain McCowan agreed with this.
5
Questions to Councillors
Silverburn. Everyone has complaints over the Christmas period. The tailbacks were
atrocious. The Chairman advised the meeting that this was a Glasgow Council problem
and not an ERC one. Transport Scotland are doing nothing at all.
The Chairman advised the meeting that the Secretary had written to Ralston McKenzie
and Eleanor read out the reply:
Thanks for your e-mail. I hope that you had a Good Xmas and New Year.
I have been discussing this issue with Councillor Gilbert over the last few months. Just yesterday, I
spoke to Hugh Gillies the Development Management & Strategic Road Safety Manager who advised
me that there have been several concerns raised from various parties over Xmas and the New Year
period. Once I explained that my approach was being made on behalf of one of our Local
Councillor’s, Mr Gillies requested that this matter was raised formally in a letter. I then discussed this
with Cllr Gilbert and it was decided that he would raise the issue in a letter to Transport Scotland.
The situation at Silverburn is quite complex in that Glasgow City Council would have been the
planning authority that determined the planning application and Amey would have been asked to
comment on behalf of Transport Scotland, due to the proximity from the trunk road network. Amey
would also have been responsible for checking the design of the slip roads although the actual
design would have been carried out by a Consulting Engineer on behalf of the applicant. Any
conditions of the planning consent and or travel plan/queue management would likely be the
responsibility of Glasgow City Council as planning authority. Safety on the Trunk Road is the
responsibility of Transport Scotland through their Operating Company acting on their behalf, which is
Amey for the South West Trunk Road Unit.
th
I personally witnessed delays on the M77 northbound on Mon 27 December and on that occasion
the gantry signs were alerting northbound drivers of queues beyond Jct 5 (Maidenhill) the traffic was
at a standstill and a lot of vehicles were choosing to leave at Jct 3 to use surface roads. In my
opinion, there should be no queues on the motorway network caused by off-slips. If there is
insufficient capacity to deal with the volume of traffic then additional capacity should be considered
or an adequate traffic management tool to manage the queues before they reach the trunk road.
I hope this helps explain our current position.
Kind Regards
Controller
Ralston Mackenzie - BSc (Hons) MCIHT, MRTPI
Traffic, Lighting & Road Safety
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
The Chairman advised that he has replied to this letter stating that it is inadequate and unacceptable. Transport
Scotland are doing absolutely nothing, Their favourite 2 expressions are ‘ticking boxes’ and ‘due process’.
Councillor Grant asked who is the MSP for that area. Some discussion resulted in no one being sure who was
and Councillor Grant suggested that this may be the person who could take this forward. Councillor Gilbert
advised that he had been in discussion on this matter with various people and would continue to do so.
Discussion regarding the physicality of the problem took place and the additional difficulties of emergency
access to the A&E which will arise when the Southern General opens.
Discussion re additional land required to solve the problem. Councillor Grant asked if there was a CC for that
area and the Chairman suggested that he was sure there was but they may not be aware of the problem unless
they travel from Newton Mearns in order to get home. Susie Swift advised that she was stuck in the car park
for 4 hours, last year. The Chairman suggested that this should not be a tribal problem but that all 20
Councillors and MSPs should be working together to solve this problem. He suggested that the M77 is not
classed as a major motorway but an urban motorway and as such it’s a 50mph soon to be raised to 60mph. No
resolution or action resulted from this debate.
The Chairman then went on to the next question to Councillors. He advised that we are still hoping to get
some kind of data on the number of households council tax receipts the council received to indicate the
population in East Ren by CC area. Much discussion regarding the census, and other aspects of population in
the area took place. Councillor Grant suggested that the registrar in Paisley may have this information.
Councillor Grant asked why the CC wanted the information and what it would do with the information other
than a vague curiosity. The Chairman responded that we are trying to establish certain facts and we have
nothing. We need the information for the very substantial budget submission we gave the council. We are also
working on a master plan for Newton Mearns, plus we are told we are the largest suburb in Western Europe
but we cannot substantiate any of this without adequate information on the number of households are in the
area. The Chairman suggested that if this is a difficult to establish (no of households in the area) the Council
are not maintaining adequate management information. James Sandeman suggested that it seems astounding
that ERC do not have grasp on the number of Council tax receipts. The census is out of date by the time the
figures are announced there must be some other figures in the ERC database. The meeting agreed that the
original question has been changed in light of the difficulty of getting the data. Originally the CC asked for
the number of residents and households in the area. The CC is now only asking for the number of households
in the area since we believe that getting the information from Council Tax receipts would have been easier.
Councillor Grant suggested that the CC put in a Freedom of Information request. The Chairman suggested
that if the CC have to put in FOI requests every time we needed basic information the Councillors should
become redundant. Councillor Buchanan stated that if there is a way of finding out the number of households
in the area he will ascertain this number
TB
6
ERC report from Councillors
The Chairman asked the Councillors if there has been any activity from the council in the last month.
The Chairman received a letter regarding the intention to adopt the Local Plan for 2011. Is it our
understanding that this has to go back to Scottish Government? Yes. The Chairman asked if this was the
Local Plan for 2007 revised. Councillor Buchanan said yes. The Chairman suggested that the next one is due
in 2013 and is called the Local Development Plan. Councillors did not know.
Nothing to report from ERC other than budget consultation meeting tomorrow night. The Chairman advised
that we have taken the decision to positively not attend this meeting. ERC have organised this as four
workshops but we are officially only able to attend 2 despite the fact that our budget submission covered all 4
areas. Discussion regarding a badly worded document produced by ERC to get the views of the residents on
the Council’s administration. When the chairman suggested that the document was insulting, Councillor
Swift replied that it wasn’t that good. James Sandeman suggested that someone fairly senior in the Council
had previously misquoted from a similar questionnaire giving misleading information. Any information
gleaned from the results of this questionnaire will have no meaning or significance. Councillor Buchanan
suggested that this is part of the consultation process. Not everyone will want to submit a document covering
all aspects and we must give individuals the opportunity to express their opinion in a fairly simple way which
is the objective of this document. In order to make this consultation as wide as possible we have put a number
of options out there to people and we believe that is the right thing to do.
Councillor Buchanan stated that everyone had opportunities as part of the consultation process. The Chairman
strongly disagreed with this since we are being restricted to 2 out of 4 workshops at a consultation meeting.
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
The Secretary advised that she had contacted the council and asked specifically if we could attend all 4
workshops and was told categorically no.
James Sandeman asked about action taken on the surface water on Capelrig Road. He described clearly where
the problems are at Eastwood High School and described the danger of ice in coming months.
Ch G
The chairman brought up the subject of a central data base to contact Council members and Community
Councils. This has been an ongoing problem for some time and wrong information is constantly being given
out by staff at the council offices. The header on the weekly list from the Planning department has names on it
including Michael Crichton who left ERC last March. The Chairman suggested that the Council do not know
who their own employees are never mind outside bodies. This is a major problem which must be addressed.
The Association of Community Councils was a case in point. We could not understand why we had no voting
papers from this Association, despite being paid up members to it, for their last regional election. It turned out
it had been sent to a former secretary, because that is the information ERC had given out. The Chairman
recited a situation where he asked for the name of a person who dealt with a particular situation and was put
through to an office to be told that that person left 3 years previously. It is extremely bad management
practice.
7
Questions arising from Sub Group Reports
Education Sub Group Report – Peter Allan pointed out the one issue on the report which is that the Head
Teachers of Eastwood High School and Mearns High School do not communicate with each other at all.
There is no interaction between the two schools which was surprising since it would be for the good of all and
the community if there were joint projects. Peter advised that he hopes to come back to the next meeting with
a proposal that perhaps the CC could act as a conduit to encourage communication between schools. Peter
advised that Eastwood High in their own words ‘missed a trick’ by not getting involved in helping the
community, particularly the elderly, during the recent inclement weather. The Children could have got
involved in clearing paths, etc. Councillor Gilbert suggested that there was a H & S problem suggesting that
the children go out clearing paths and stones etc plus the children must be supervised at all times during school
times. Peter Allan suggested that since this idea came from the Head Teacher, H & S matters must have been
taken into account. Councillor spoke to his letter, discussed last month, regarding the school results including
Eastwood High School in the League Tables and he only relayed the facts. More discussion on Eastwood
High School’s performance. He also spoke of the Council’s assistance to schools through the Quality forum to
ensure school performance was up to scratch. Councillor Swift reiterated that the socio-economic factors do
need to be taken into account when discussing this matter. Councillor Buchanan reiterated that we are the best
education authority in the country.
Discussion then took place regarding the closure of Robslee Primary School. NMCC has been asked to
support another CC in protesting the closure of Robslee. The Chairman asked if the reason for the closure of
Robslee was that the majority of the pupils do not come under the banner of the East Renfrewshire area and if
these pupils go to their own schools in their own areas the pupil population of Robslee falls to 49. Councillor
Grant confirmed that this is a single stream school and asked why we should pay for pupil’s education out with
our own area. The council is required to take pupils from other areas if there is room at the requested school.
The Chairman suggested that by closing Robslee there would be no room. Based on this information the
Chairman will respond to the other CC.
The Chairman asked Iain McCowan to speak to Community Safety. Iain had a meeting in the later part of
December with Trading Standards regarding the tracing of traders and cold calling. There is a national antifraud data base but Trading Standards cannot access this data base without paying for it. If someone contacts
TS with the name or licence number of someone who is trying to sell them something at the door, TS can do
nothing without this information but ERC won’t sanction the £1100 it costs. The question to the councillors
would be a) are you aware of the situation? and b) can we remedy it on behalf of Trading Standards so that
they can access the anti-fraud data base. The Councillors were not aware of this situation. Councillor
Buchanan suggested that if there is a national data base all authorities would be encouraged to advise everyone
who needs to access it to come and get it. This is the reason TS feel their hands are tied behind their backs and
they are unable to deal with complaints. Councillors were asked to look into this matter.
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
Planning Sub Group – The Chairman advised that we have considered a number of applications (details are
listed at the end of these minutes) including the one for Capelrig House. We are objecting to the application
which seems to be for providing a small dance studio and a small drama room and putting shower rooms in the
basement. This is an A listed historic building and is almost the only building left in the area of this type.
Therefore we are objecting to the plan.
Further this indicates the inadequacy of the planned new EH school adjacent as this is effectively an annexe to
that. There is no provision for an assembly hall which can hold all the pupils at one time and the music room,
until we pointed it out, was next to the library which demonstrates a very clear lack of understanding of the
design needs.
The Chairman suggested that Councillor Grant would be interested in the next project at Malletsheaugh Farm.
We are happy with it and give it a qualified acceptance but we strongly suggest that the application be time
limited in approval. Possibly for a period of 5 years and she may want to keep that in mind when considering
the application. We feel this gives ERC a level of control which they would not otherwise have. We are
happy with the proposed housing at Greenlaw Park subject to all detached properties having a minimum of
three off street parking places and then we came to the proposed Premier Inn and Beefeater at Greenlaw. We
feel that the design is dreadful, the worst looking building we have ever seen. Although we positively
welcome a hotel in Newton Mearns we do not want this building. This would be the first building that would
be seen entering Newton Mearns and it is a gateway site and should be recognised a such.
Moving on to Loganswell/LRV, the Chairman had advised at the beginning of the meeting that open
discussion on this subject would not be held for prudent and practical legal reasons regarding this proposal.
The Chairman has produced an interim statement which he read to the meeting, and after a few suggestions /
alterations this was approved and will be placed in the public domain tomorrow. He also advised that SEPA
had produced a scoping report about this plan. One of the things they are looking at is not the electricity
which will be produced from this plan but the heat generated and how it is used. SEPA say that in Denmark
they are able to use plants to heat a district 80km away. What SEPA are saying is that they are only going to
be able to heat their own outbuildings on site. The other thing that SEPA have picked up on is the mass
balance in annex A indicates that only approximately 74,800 tonnes of materials will be recycled from one and
a half million tonnes i.e. 5% recovery.
The Chairman hoped that other CCs around the area will get involved with this and we can speak with one
voice. It was suggested that we get Ken Macintosh involved with us on this subject. The company are talking
about having a public meeting, but we suspect if we can bring all the bodies together we should organise that
meeting. We can invite them to our meeting, and then examine their proposal as one.
The Chairman suggested that transport infrastructure will be a major issue.
Jack Addison asked the Chairman to quantify his first statement ‘a number of residents and organisations have
contacted us over concerns .......' We need the numbers and proof. Jack is also concerned that we are taking
the CC into a technology which we do not have expertise in. Jack also suggested that quoting £££s in the
press release was dangerous.
Councillor Grant advised that when the application is considered by the Scottish Government they have to put
a notice in the Eastwood Extra for 2 consecutive weeks with details of the development and details of the
environmental impact of the project. The plans can be seen in the council offices and the libraries. This
provides a 4 week period for the public to make representation to the Scottish ministers so the point I am
making is that once they do that it is open to everyone to have a view. The Chairman suggested that producing
electricity is one thing, getting it out and onto the grid is another problem and the only place this could be done
is likely to utilise the Whitelees connector. They are going to have to deal with a large number of landowners
to get the facilities they need. Jack Addison added that he felt that we should not mention the election in the
press release. The Chairman suggested that a finance minister looking at 700 jobs and the income from this
plant would find it difficult to suggest he was not supporting the project. The Chairman strongly suggested that
we are asking to be consulted in this. This is not something that should be pushed through on the nod.
Councillor Buchanan stated that we will be consulted, but we have to discover if it will be Scottish Ministers
who will decide if it comes under the electricity generation regulations in which case there is a process which
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
will be adopted. But whichever it is the council has to be consulted. Councillor Buchanan stated that since
there was little information available no submissions can be made at this point. Iain McCowan gave a
description of Whitelees output to date which is running about 8% of its installed capacity. Proposed output
and actual are seldom the same. Councillor Buchanan advised that Councillors cannot give an opinion on this
matter now because if there ends up being a full council meeting and vote on the subject the decision could be
prejudiced by any opinions stated now.
8
Correspondence
The Chairman stated that it had been suggested and agreed with ERC that all correspondence would be by email. We however are still receiving hard copies of mail. The problem, Councillor Buchanan said, is that not
all CCs were up to speed with their technology and he anticipated that it would be January / February that this
policy would be put in place.
Eleanor described a letter dated 5th January about restrictions on the road which would start on 3rd January
would finish on 7th January but we did not receive until the 10th January 2011. The next temporary restriction
would be on Roddinghead Road for 10 days. We also had a letter advising of the Holocaust Memorial day
which The Chairman will attend together with Mrs Swift.
9
Any Other Competent Business
The next meeting will be on 14th February 2011. Valentines Day was discussed but there were no romantics in
the room.
Iain McCowan reminded residents to write to the CC before the next meeting with any questions they wish
raised.
Submissions to Planning 7th January 2011
Ref: 2010/0814/tp Capelrig House:
NMCC object to the application.
This is the ONLY Grade A Listed Building within the Newton Mearns area.
Its listing was not only due to the quality of its architecture but also its position in both the local and
national historic past.
Leaving aside for the present the proposed basement changing facilities - the project as shown on
the drawings provides only one small dance studio and one small drama room.
Given the impending new Eastwood High School immediately adjacent we can see no logic to the
expense being incurred to provide such limited facilities in a building which should have a more
prominent use within the community.
The question was also raised as to whether any input has been received from Historic Scotland?
The Community Council considers this proposal an entirely inappropriate use of a grade A listed
building and vehemently opposes the proposals as shown on the application drawings.
Given the lack of facilities in Newton Mearns we can think of other more appropriate uses for
Capelrig house and would be pleased to advise on same.
Ref: 2010/0820/tp Malletsheugh Farm, Tyre bailing facility.
NMCC give a qualified acceptance to the application subject to conditions.
Whilst this is an acceptable facility NMCC are concerned that this may be a 'first step' towards a
greater expansion of industrial use for the site.
We do not consider the limited proposals indicated to be negative however safeguards should be
Newton Mearns Community Council
Minutes of Meeting No 17 – 10th January 2011
imposed to protect the amenity of the surroundings.
We strongly suggest that the application has a 'time limited approval' - say for a maximum period
of five years.
This would enable the Planning Department to control the future use of the site and should the
applicant or other user abuse the facility or the amenity of the area the approval would not be
renewed.
Greenlaw Housing
NMCC wishes to recommend approval to the application subject to off street parking.
The site layout and house type mix are considered a fine example of efficient and pleasing layout.
NMCC considers that any approval awarded should require a minimum of 3 off-street car parking
spaces per detached house.
Ref: 2010/0622/tp Premier Inn
NMCC objects strenuously to this application.
The planning sub group consider that the present application falls woefully short of the visual
standards which this area demands.
We have struggled long and hard but totally failed to locate any aspect of design merit in the
application.
This site is the key 'gateway' location to Newton Mearns and as such deserves to set the tone for
the community.
It will be the first street level building currently seen when arriving in Newton Mearns from the M77
and occupies a prominent highly visible site adjacent to the main roundabout.
The present proposals are entirely unimaginative and appear merely 'formulaic' in presentation
and must be resisted.
Further we are unable to fully consider the proposals until all the plans accord with one another;
viz car parking numbers.
Whilst we would positively welcome a hotel to Newton Mearns this dreary muddled design is one
we must strenuously resist.
We could easily foresee future businesses thinking of locating to Greenlaw being immediately put
off when confronted with this visual monstrosity.
We ask for this application to be refused but would welcome consideration of seriously revised
proposals.
.