Present: Fiona Bick (chair), Nick Pilbeam (vice-Chair), John Foulkes (Secretary), Klaus Wahle, Ian MacMaster, Cllr Iris Walker, Cllr Ron McKail, Cllr Alistair McKelvie, Niall McBeath, Steve Gibson.
Apologies: Mary Gray, Brian Poppleton, Grant Duguid, Cllr David Aitchison
Minute of last A.G.M. – No matters arising therefore minute proposed by Nick Pilbeam, seconded by John Foulkes
Election of Members:
John Foulkes and Brian Poppleton stepped down from the Community Council and did not wish to stand for re-election. In accordance with the new Scheme of Establishment for Community Councils, Fiona Bick and Klaus Wahle each came to the end of their three year tenure. Fiona Bick had nominated herself for re-election and was duly re-elected. Steve Gibson and Niall McBeath had also nominated themselves and were duly elected as new members of the Community Council.
Election of Office Bearers:
Fiona Bick as chairperson, Nick Pilbeam as vice chairperson, Grant Duguid as Treasurer. Klaus Wahle expressed a wish to be co-opted onto the Community Council at the next meeting and agreed to be Secretary.
Treasurer’s Report:
Echt & Skene Community Council Accounts 2017-18
Acceptance of Accounts:
Proposed by Fiona Bick and seconded by John Foulkes. The accounts were unanimously accepted.
Chairman’s Report:
This last year has seen a number of facility improvements taking place in our villages.
We’re grateful to the Council for taking steps last summer to improve the flood relief drain at Carpenter’s Croft in Kirkton of Skene and very much hope this will see an end to the flooding problems experienced by households previously. We’re also grateful to the Council for the new tarmac footpath they installed at Garlogie, which has improved safety and connectivity for pedestrians in the village.
The new bus shelter project here at Lyne of Skene Hall was completed by village residents in July last year and has been providing welcome respite from the weather for children awaiting school transport.
Unfortunately, the project to replace the Echt public convenience with a smaller community-run facility was unable to proceed due to a lack of support from local residents. The existing toilets are now closed. But on the plus side, we were able to allocate the remaining funds previously set aside for it to other community projects. The funds will be used to support new defibrillators at Dunecht Golf Club and Lyne of Skene, trace heating for Garlogie Hall’s water supply and improvements at the Milne Hall in Kirkton of Skene.
On planning policy the Community Council has been active in representing the views of residents and submitted comments on the Aberdeenshire Local Development Plan Main Issues Report consultation in April. We were satisfied that the planning policy team took note of the majority of our concerns expressed last year regarding the bid sites, but we continue to have concerns about other policy aspects of the proposed Plan.
This year sadly we say goodbye to our long-standing Secretary, John Foulkes, and our Treasurer, Brian Poppleton, who have both decided not to stand for re-election. John has served on the ESCC for 33 years and his experience and wisdom will be sorely missed but we wish him and Shirley well as they spend more time away in their campervan visiting family and friends. Brian has served more than 10 years and we will also miss his forthright contributions to our discussions.
However, I’m very pleased to welcome two new members– Steve and Niall, both from Lyne of Skene. There are still vacancies to be filled and if there are others in the community who would like to get involved then we would be pleased to welcome them.
A.O.C.B None