MURIESTON COMMUNITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF MEETING ON 10 NOVEMBER 2011

held at Williamston Primary School at 7 pm

web:  http://wlacc.org.uk/murieston

1. 1.                  Present:

Kim Vance, Ian Brown, Carol Hallesy, Davidson McQuarrie;

Chief Inspector Kevin Kerr, PC Alan James;

Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick, Councillor John Muir

Guests: 

Dr. Edward Russell-Smith, Murieston Medical Practice;

Mrs. Gill Cottrell, Chief Nurse, West Lothian Community Health and Care Partnership (CHCP)

Mrs. Tania Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. June Keddie

1. 2.                  Apologies:

Arthur Marris, Frank Mustard, Paula Lee, Alex Hendry, Nick Lansdell, Kenny More

1. 3.                  Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting on 8 September 2011:

Acceptance of the Minutes of the Meeting on 8 September was proposed by Ian Brown and seconded by Kim Vance.  Carried.

1. 4.                  Matters Arising:

Minor detail changes to the Minutes of 8 September were agreed.

1. 5.                  Finances:

The account balance is as reported at the last meeting.

1. 6.                  Funding and Expenditure:

Nothing to report.

1. 7.                  Dr. Edward Russell-Smith, Murieston Medical Practice:

The Community Council has invited Dr. Ed. Russell-Smith and the Director of West Lothian Community      Health and Care Partnership to our meeting as we want to provide our support in securing a permanent build for Murieston Medical Practice.  Mrs. Gill Cottrell, Chief Nurse of the CHCP has attended in the place of the Director, Jim Forrest as he is on holiday.

Dr. Russell-Smith outlined the growth of the Practice.  It is 8 years since the Practice was formed.  The      Practice has now some 4,000 registered patients with sufficient capacity to grow up to a further 50%.  There are 4 GPs, 2 Practice Nurses, 4 Reception Staff, Midwife, Health Visitor.   The Practice is also a teaching practice.  It has a range of support facilities such as smoking cessation clinic etc.  It provides GP support for the Limecroft and Peacock Residential Homes.

The Practice is accredited by the Royal College of GPs.  Dr. Russell-Smith is the Chair of the Faculty of GPs in South East Scotland.         The Practice is achieving Quality Practice Accreditation (QPA) which involves six modules with rigorous inspection.

Dr. Russell-Smith has been lobbying to obtain permission for a permanent build of the Practice on the adjacent land reserved for that purpose.  Dr. Russell-Smith has a business plan for the development of the Practice and an agreement in principle from NHS Lothian for the permanent build, though final approval has not been given.  Once approval is given, the Land Department of NHS Lothian will negotiate with West Lothian Council to buy the land.

It was agreed that the Secretary will write a letter to the Chair of the West Lothian CHCP expressing Murieston Community Council’s support for a permanent build and release of the land.

1. 8.                  Community Policing:

PC Alan James and Inspector Kerr outlined last month’s policing statistics for Murieston.  There has been a reduction in calls.  Calls re. youths dropped from 8 to 1 in October; from 44 to 28 in the past 12 months.  Calls re. Anti-Social Behaviour dropped from 12 to 6 this month; from 80 to 65 in the last 12 months.  There have been 2 house break-ins locally.  Residents are reminded to lock doors and windows to obviate opportunist crime.  Investigations are ongoing into the shooting of the swan in Dedridge Pond.  There is a substantial reward for information leading to an arrest.  The Christmas anti-drink driving campaign will be starting soon.  This will operate at night as well in December.

Livingston Police has introduced a diary system which enables appointments to be booked for response to low-level crime.  A customer satisfaction survey indicates this initiative has been very well received.  Inspector Kerr said that a working group has been set up to consider how social media can be adopted.  Any ideas on the use of social media will be welcome.  A multi-agency partnership approach to dealing with crime has been established in West Lothian.

The recent fireworks display at the Civic Square was planned in coordination with the Police.  Any group planning a public event is encouraged to contact the events planning organiser based at Livingston Police.

1. 9.                  Councillors’ Reports

            John Muir:

The accounts of the Lothian and Borders Police Board have been scrutinised by Audit Scotland.

Crime is at a 35 year low.  West Lothian Licensing Board is trying to address the over-provision of licensed outlets.  There has been a 25% reduction in licences during the transition from the old to the new licensing legislation.  Operation Floorwalk has been successful in reducing under-age drinking in public areas, but this problem may have been displaced into houses.  The Police are looking for help in identifying houses where under-age drinking is taking place.

The multi-agency partnership approach in West Lothian is being adopted throughout Scotland.

Lawrence Fitzpatrick:

The planning application for the rebuild of the Co-op store has been granted.  CWS Manchester are considering opening the store instead in the former Purple Sage Restaurant and letting out the original site as two or three shopping units.  This would be a simple change of use which does not require further planning permission.   A decision will be made soon.

The owners of Bankton Retail Centre have been asked to lay a short path between the Station entrance  and the Centre car park as there is currently no pedestrian access.

The replacement of the Edinburgh Sick Children’s Hospital is overdue.  A site is available next to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.  This needs to be pressed.

Two new head teachers have been appointed at Dedridge and Bellsquarry Primary Schools.

2012 will be the peak year for demand for nursery places.  There is currently no requirement to allocate places via a local catchment area which would mean that children would live within walking distance of their nursery.

1. 10.              Autumn Cleanup Initiative:

It was agreed this had been a great success.  Some 70 plastics bags of rubbish and litter had been picked up by over 40 community volunteers on Sunday, 16 October.   There had been great coverage in the Courier and excellent feedback.  Paula Lee has put photos of the event and volunteers on websites  – https://www.facebook.com/MuriestonCommunity    and     http://murieston.info/latest-news/

Another  community Cleanup will be organised in the Spring and this time will include Campbridge Pond.

1. 11.              Campbridge Pond at Skivo:

Kim Vance updated the meeting.  Kim and Paula Lee are working with June Keddie as a sub-group on advancing the         Project.  Kim has contacted Nick Benge of WaterGems for a breakdown of the £50,000 + VAT cost of his proposal.  Evidently re-planting forms a considerable proportion of the restoration costs.   The Project becomes markedly more manageable and affordable if we concentrate on infrastructure work.

1. 12.              Community Allotments in Murieston:

Ian Brown updated the meeting on further progress re. the proposed field behind Albyn Drive overlooking Murieston Water   The field is 11,586 m² which should provide between 12 and 24 plots.

Ian has met with the Council NETs team and the Land Contamination Officer.   Development Control and NETs confirm that the field must be tested for contamination in the field although there are no records that this particular area was subject to dumping and spreading of incinerator ash from Edinburgh.  The Scottish Agricultural College offer a soil testing service, priced at £100 a test sample.  Ian will try to get funding as the Council will not fund this sampling.  The South Livingston Allotment Project has been registered with the RBS Community Force charity which can provide funding up to £6,000 and everyone is asked to vote for the Project at  -    http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk/project/263

The NETs Team would like to quantify the interest in allotments and Ian has created a survey tool to gather notional interest in south Livingston.  Options for allotments are 75, 150 and 300m².

The survey is on website -    http://www.screator.net/showform.php?f=1160744406

1. 13.              SESplan Strategic Development Plan – Call For Sites:

The Scottish Government expects West Lothian to provide an extra 1,750 houses by 2024 (500 units by 2018) in addition to the 22,000 units already allocated and agreed. 225 notices of interest for development were made by May covering a potential 30 – 40,000 units.  19 notices of interest have been made for sites in the Livingston South Ward.  8 proposals cover Murieston sites.  At this stage these are expressions of interest and no details of housing numbers, density, type etc. have been submitted.

A public notice asks for responses by mid-December.  Some of these sites have featured in previous versions of the Local Development Plan, extending back some 10 years.  The Secretary has circulated  copies of relevant MCC correspondence and will prepare a draft response re. the Call For Sites.

1. 14.              Murieston Trail and Environment:

Nothing to report.

1. 15.              Options for Christmas Lights:

Nothing to report.

1. 16.              Correspondence:

Nothing to report.

1. 17.              Publications received:

Circulated.

1. 18.              Planning Applications:

Councillor Fitzpatrick noted that a mobile telecommunications monopole was being erected on Alderstone Road at the Wilderness Roundabout.  Lawrence has previously written to the National Radiological Protection Board pressing for the setting of better standards requiring cooperation of network operators on siting and co-location of telemasts.

West Lothian Council’s weekly updates on planning applications are being emailed to all community councillors for information, providing there are planning applications of public interest relevant to Murieston.

1. 19.              Any Other Business:

None.

The Meeting closed at 9.00 pm

The next Community Council meeting will be on Thursday, 8 December 2011 at 7 pm in Williamston Primary School

The unit where the burnt down Co-Op is situated is the site in question. The plan is to construct 3 smaller units. The only concern is, will the occupiers of those shops improve or detract from the community and facilities. Since Alcohol will be sold in Co-Op anyway, the concerns are parking, additional traffic, litter, and any business that will encourage people to loiter outside the shops causing noise and or any other anti-social behaviour.

Construction of three shop units totalling 257sqm (grid ref. 306173 665338) at :-
The Bankton Centre, Murieston
East Road, Livingston EH54 9DA

Councillors in Ward:Lawrence Fitzpatrick, Peter Johnston, Danny Logue, John Muir
Applicant: Co-operative Group Limited, New Century House, Corporation Street, Manchester, M60 4ES
Case Officer: Steven McLaren
Earliest Decision date: 02/02/2012

Williamston Primary School, Bankton Lane, Murieston

Representatives from Fauch Hill Wind Farm will be coming to give a presentation about the proposed wind farm and how it will affect Murieston.

“Chris Norman (senior planner) has confirmed that there are 4 wind farm applications coming forward in January, within West Calder and East Calder Wards. He emphasised that the Pentlands are scenically sensitive and no doubt that issue will be highlighted when these applications are presented. He commented that there may be some visual impact on Murieston residents”.

There are other questions to be raised by Murieston residents:

• which residents are likely to be affected?
• will there be any noise issues?
• what will the environmental impact be?
• will there be any visual impact, including pylons from wind farm?
• will there be any jobs created for West Lothian residents?
• is there any compensation funds available for Murieston to use on environmental projects?
• any other questions that you would like to ask.

This meeting is NOT about objecting or agreeing to the plans, but to find out more. This application should not be accepted by the residents of Murieston without them knowing EXACTLY what they are accepting. Please don’t think that someone else will protect Murieston, we are only strong as a community.

Remember updates also available at: https://www.facebook.com/MuriestonCommunity

Be Part of Something, Be Part of Murieston

Paula

http://www.screator.net/showform.php?f=1160744406

See also, Allotment Facebook Page at: http://www.facebook.com/SouthLivingstonAllotments

Murieston residents joined together with West Lothian Council’s NETS team (who supplied hoops, litter pickers and bags) and covered most paths and walkways in Murieston. It was a massive effort and everyone was rewarded with cakes, biscuits, tea and coffee. Woe betide anyone seen dropping litter now!

Bright Horizons nursery also took part with a separate litter pick in a child-friendly glade behind the Village Hall.

The story will be covered in the WL Courier on Thursday 20th Oct.

Item 8 of the Agenda was the report prepared by Council planners on the Call for Sites within Livingston South Ward made under the West Lothian Local
Development Plan (LDP).  We were invited to speak at the LAC and discuss the Report.  No decisions were considered or made.

The Scottish Government expects  West Lothian to provide an extra 1,750 houses by 2024 (500 units by 2018) in addition to the 22,000 units already allocated and agreed.  225 notices of interest for development were made by May covering a potential 30 – 40,000 units.  19 notices of interest have been made for sites in the Livingston South Ward.  8 proposals cover Murieston sites.  At this stage these are expressions of interest and no details of housing numbers, density, type etc. have been submitted.

The letter from Steven McLucas explains that the LAC is not a formal stage of the Plan and that no formal planning applications have been made at this
time.  The Murieston Community Council are invited to submit comments.  There will also be public  meetings before decisions are made.

The Report sets out the timetable.  The next step is the Main Issues Report which the community council need to feed into in the next few months.
The sites in Murieston are :-

EOI-0030    next to Wellview Lane
0051 & 55  Wellhead Farm
0098          opposite Teviot Drive, Murieston Valley
0099          Linhouse
0100          next to Bervie Drive, Murieston Valley
0101          Livingston South Station
0110          Murieston Castle
0111          Balgreen

These sites could in total potentially be for 3,000 houses or more, though bear in mind, only an additional 1,750 units are required from across West Lothian
under the LDP.

Bottom line – get all your friends and colleagues to vote for this project!!!

Community Force supports all kinds of local projects and charities throughout Scotland. Why not have a look to see what’s going on where you live? You can find out more, volunteer, or vote for your favourite causes.

Get involved today, at http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk

Many thanks
Ian Brown
Murieston Community Council
Allotment Co-ordinator.