Present:

Mr N Barrington* (Chair); Ms D MacLean*; Mr J Hunter*; Mr R Overend*; Mr J MacKay; Mrs P Fennell; Mrs M Currie

* denotes LCC member

Apologies: Mrs J Hunter; Mrs R Roy; Mrs J Buchanan; Mr M Ellis

Police Report

There was no police report as the new community police officer was unable to attend due to work commitments, and we had not been emailed a current report. Neil Barrington will contact him to enquire about any reported crimes for the past month.

Minutes of the Last Meeting

These were proposed by Russell Overend and seconded by John MacKay.

Chair/Secretary's Report

There were various items which are detailed below or under other headings:

Roundabout

There is still no update on this matter and the Councillors have not received a reply to their joint letter from Transport Scotland. A copy of the letter has been posted in the local shop.

Environment

Regarding the possible installation of adequate external lighting at the Community Centre, Neil Barrington is to contact the designated person at Johnstone Town Hall to pursue this.

Planning

It has been confirmed that the two (separate) planning applications to construct a dementia home and ten holiday cottages at Gleddoch have been refused. It is not known as yet if the proposers will appeal under the new system now in place. The reasons for these decisions may be found on the Renfrewshire Council website.

As noted in last month's minutes, the application to construct a house on Main Road, on the river side, was refused and the applicant has appealed. All objectors were given the opportunity to lodge their objections again, which the Community Council duly did. The date for this appeal (which will go before the review body) has not yet been determined.

The application to build holiday chalets at the West Ferry site is not currently progressing as Renfrewshire Council is awaiting an environmental assessment. As the site is on designated green belt, they would anticipate support facilities which were not incorporated into the original application. The proposers are also required to 'scope opinion' of the local residents, and to date the Community Council has not been approached to this end.

Planning items relating to the Station Field project are noted under the Greening Langbank section.

Communication

As previously minuted, the next edition of Langbank Matters is due to come out before summer, although it was noted that the date could be brought forward should the need arise.

Utilities

There was an unusually extensive powercut within the village from the night of Sunday 7th February continuing until the next day, when work began on Monday evening to repair it. It is understood, though not confirmed, that 28 households were affected, some without power during the entire time and some with power restored for part of Monday. It required several hours' work and the pavement, at the time of writing, is not restored to its former state yet. The cause of the powercut is as yet unknown.

Greening Langbank

Planning application was made to install two noticeboards, one at the east end of the field and the other on the path at the west side. With permission duly received, this has now been done, with a plan of the project on each one.

The application is due to be lodged for the creation of a path, running at the foot of the slope from west to east. The wooden bridge has now been widened and ramps are still to be installed to allow full access.

At a later date the application will be made to install the pitch itself, fencing and a container. Quotes will be requested from approved contractors.

The Greening Langbank group meets on the last Wednesday of every month.

Funding

As discussed at other meetings, it was decided to make donations from Community funds to any local group considered in need of a small injection of funds. It was therefore suggested, and unanimously agreed, to gift £500 each to Greening Langbank and the Langbank Swingpark Regeneration group for their individual projects.

AOCB

Various

The Community Council forum requires us to present the three top local issues, meaning any achievements, which all agreed were: the annual village clean-up; a dedicated Langbank website to which the Community Council has free access; the issue of a newsletter throughout the year which is delivered to every household.

Trish Godman, MSP, wrote to the Chair to let it be known that the Scottish Executive have moved to cease placing public notices (of public works etc) in the press.

All Council members were invited to an open meeting held by Scottish Water on March 9th. Neil Barrington is to attend and will raise the ongoing matter of the leaking pipe in Station Field which is preventing work in that section of the field, and also presents a hazard to pedestrians by running onto the pavement and making it impassable either due to muddiness or ice, depending on the weather.

It was announced that a local conservation group has been formed for an area of woodland beside the golf course at Gleddoch. This area contains many species of moths, butterflies, birds and other wildlife as well as plants. The Biodiversity Officer from Renfrewshire Council had already visited the area to assist the group and details will be published on the Langbank website (www.langbank.net)