CRAMOND & BARNTON COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Incorporating Cramond, Barnton, Cammo & Quality Street (West)

Minutes of Meeting held on Thurs 17th November 2016 in

Cramond Kirk Millennium Hall

Present: Andrew Mather (Chair), Ian Williamson (Secretary), Ross Wilkinson, Peter Scott, Bert Scott, Percy Feketey, Jean Morley, Alan Rust, Tim Mitchell, Gena Wylie and Paul McLaughlin.  A total of 27 people were in attendance including Councillors Norman Work and Alastair Sheilds.

Welcome and Introductions

The Chair welcomed those attending and noted apologies from Marion Mitchell and from Councillor Paterson.    

Minutes of the previous meeting

The draft minutes of the meeting held on 20 October were approved.  

Police Report

The police report was given by PC James Loosemore. Over the previous 4-week period there had been 5 housebreakings/attempted housebreakings; 7 assaults (one a domestic) 14 road traffic offences, and 5 thefts, including attempted thefts.  The trend amongst housebreakings was going down in part due to a number of the culprits having been caught and serving sentences. The benefits of householders having a range of security measures could not be overemphasised.  Much of this type of crime remained opportunistic – the easier the hit the more likely it would be that the criminal would target the house ahead of others. Any members of the community who had concerns or issues on which police input would be helpful were encouraged to e-mail the team at South Queensferry-  edinburghalmondcpt@scotland.pnn.police.uk  

2030 Cramond Vision

Duncan Fraser set the scene for the work so far. The Vision sought to build on the work of the various groups that had worked tirelessly to maintain and improve Cramond, the Village, the Almond Walkway, the churchyard and the various historic features. Going forward there was a need to continue to build on the more recent improved collaborative working between the various groups – especially when it came to seeking to attract funding support where a collaborative approach was more likely to be successful than separate disparate approaches.

Kit Campbell continued the presentation supported by slides illustrating some of the somewhat dilapidated areas of the Village, the promenade and the foreshore contrasted by some images of the streetscape in Culross and some of the simple visual improvements in Newton (a small former mining Village on the road along to Bo’ness).  Visual “offences” in Cramond included the proliferation of often obsolete notices,  commercial waste bins, and the fallen wall on the promenade surrounded by a herris fence embedded in concrete blocks. He also went on to show some of the digitally enhanced images of what the entrance to Cramond Village could look like and what the area to the front of the Maltings could look like as well. The sympathetic use of hanging baskets, planters and window boxes would also help to lift the area.  

These images of what the Village and the promenade could look like had been warmly received by those people who had attended the manned exhibition the week before. The overwhelming response had been positive, the Vision was supported and there was a strong mandate to get on and deliver. (Note copies of the analysis of the questionnaires and of the post-its will be posted on the CBCC website for those who wish to see the detail). Going forward the local groups would have to continue to work together, the priorities would have to be agreed and potential funding investigated. 

Questions followed. The adverse comments that had been made by several on the Cramond Inn were noted. There was a strong sense that it could be so much better than it was.  A constant churn of managers did not help but the view was expressed that the fault may lie in the brewers determination to impose an operational model entirely appropriate to market towns in the heart of England but it did not work for an outlet in a suburb of Edinburgh. The cook chill menu was not what people wanted – good pub fare and available after 6:00pm was what would be appreciated. It was suggested that the owner was thrown. 

The broken wall on the promenade was an unacceptable feature which had not been addressed for some 3 years After some discussion on the detail Councillor Work agreed to pursue this with CEC officials.  

The Chair thanked Duncan and Kit (and Peter Scott) for the presentation and all their efforts to date.        

Airport Report

The Chair advised that he would be attending the next meeting of the Edinburgh Airport Consultative Committee on 24 November. A further follow-up phase of consultation was expected to begin in the New Year reflecting back on the response from the consultation to date and forward with a focus on the emerging options.  There would be an event in Cramond. In response to concerns expressed about the prospect of a second runway the Chair advised that there was no plan to construct a second runway before 2040 at the earliest. Reports of increased levels of noise associated with greater use of a departure flightpath over Cramond and the Forth had been noted and relayed back to the EACC.

The confines of the flightpaths are quite narrow, but some pilots deviated more than others invariably bringing the aircraft over Cramond as they bank eastwards towards the North Sea. Adherence to the flightpath will more monitored more closely going forward. 

An independent noise monitoring group is to be established and Andrew may be involved. Its powers and terms of reference have to be agreed. The loss of some of the comments from respondents to the first phase was the subject of comment. It was however suggested that the resultant publicity regarding this caused a further influx of more responses.  

Planning

Peter Scott reported on a planning application that had been made for a  new house at 15 Braepark Road. This was a site adjacent to the River Almond Walkway plot.  There would be no room for landscaping and the aluminium roof sat uncomfortably against the conservation area policies and character. It was suggested that there may be value in seeking a meeting with the responsible planning officer to discuss these concerns. 

Notification had been received about a pan application concerning prospective developments off the Maybury Road around the East Craigs area. A manned exhibition was to be held at the Marriott Hotel on the Glasgow Road on 18 January 2017. This would cover the proposed extension to the Craigmount Community High School and a proposed new primary school.            

Confirmation had been received from the CEC about the approval of the application for the  care home at 18 Whitehouse Road  subject to a TRO being promulgated to stop parking and loading on Cramond Glebe Road near to the planned egress point. 

The CC had responded to the Council with suggestions for consideration as it developed the new Locality Improvement Plan (full details may be found in the report tabled at the 17 November 2016 meeting and uploaded to the website).

Councillors Report

Alastair Sheilds advised that the Council would be asked to approve the new LDP at the full Council meeting scheduled for 24 November.

Date of Next Meeting

  • Thursday 19 January 2017