September 2011 Minutes

Mr Scott thanked the Community Council for inviting him to the meeting. He explained that he is the Regional Community Manager for Scottish Water and part of his remit is to speak to the community and other stakeholders about the planned upgrade of the Water Treatment Works at Helliers Water. Mr Miller, the construction manager for the scheme, supplied plans of the proposed new works. The exiting scheme has to be upgraded because there are now more rigorous standards on water provision, including improving the disinfection process. Mr Miller said that the plan is for the work to start in late January/early February and should be completed by November 2012. Members suggested that Scottish Water put an article in the North Isles Newsletter which is due out in the next couple of week. Laurence thanked Messrs Scott and Miller for attending the meeting, they then left. The Clerk has a copy of the plans. They are also available at http://pa.shetland.gov.uk/.

01/09/11 Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 15^th August 2011 were approved.

02/09/11 Matters Arising from last minutes

03/08/11-3 Dr Naomi Reifenberg, Unst Health Centre

Members agreed to write to NHS Shetland and ask what the procedures are for emergency trips to hospital which happen after the ferry has tied up.

02/08/11-1 Coutts Mill Brig

This has still not been tarred.

02/08/11-2 Unst Health Centre Car Park

Members agreed to write to Lawson Bisset, NHS Shetland Capital Projects Manager, and ask what is happening with resurfacing the car park at the surgery.

02/08/11-3 Simon Yates – Defence Estates property

Hjaltland Housing Association replied to our letter say that they had replied to the Setters Hill Community Group suggesting they contact the Shetland Tenants Association for information about setting up a Local Tenants Groups.

02/08/11-4 Baltasound Play park

Magnus Malcolmson, SIC Leisure Facilities Officer replied to our letter in which we asked if the community would be allowed to fundraise for additional equipment for the Baltasound Playpark. Mr Malcolmson explained that the general reduction in the budget for use in play areas means that the Council is in no position to provide any additional funding for more play equipment, but he would be happy if the community raised funds for additional items. He would need to be involved in any equipment choice.

02/08/11-5 Mobile Phone Reception

Tavish Scott, MSP, has replied with an update to the Community Council’s letter about mobile phone reception in Unst. Mr Scott is going to meet with Rupert Cazelet, Head of Public Affairs of Airwave Solutions to discuss the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system. Mr Scott states in his letter that using this system was “the only sensible suggestion put forward by the Mobile Operators Association.” He is also seeking a meeting with the Ofcom Representative in Scotland and the Chief Executive of the Mobile Operators Association to discuss in greater detail the issue of mobile phone coverage in Shetland.

02/08/11-7 SIC Biodiversity Officer

Robert Henderson will follow this up.

02/08/11-8 Shetland Amenity Trust - North Isles Ranger

Laurence brought this up at the Amenity Trust meeting. He was told it was an organisational decision.

09/08/11-2 EDP Renewables (EDPR)

Gordon attended this meeting at Sellafirth, Yell on 6^th September 2011. He said that EDP Renewables are the biggest company in Portugal and also the third largest wind energy company in the world. Representatives from EDPR had been shown around Yell and Unst earlier in the day. Gordon explained that there wasn’t much land available in Unst which would be suitable for the size and scale that EDPR were looking for. Robert explained about the very high financial outlay that the North Yell Development Group has had to pay out to date and again before the windmills can be erected. If EDPR was to proceed with a scheme it would be able to cover all the financial outlay and setting up costs of the project, which Community Groups don’t access to. Although the community wouldn’t get all the funds from the completed project, community representatives would have to negotiate with EDPR to get the best possible deal for the community.

04/09/11 Unst Partnership (UP) Update – Hannah Eynon, UP Development Officer

Hannah Eynon explained that she has been in post since June this year. She has just returned from conferences in Inverness, one on Renewable Energy and another on Sustainable Tourism. Hannah had found the conferences in Inverness very useful. She met with other Community Development officers from all over the Highlands and Islands. UP is still interested in a large megawatt turbine for a small renewable energy project. It is planned to cover the polytunnels with netting before the winter. Hannah had also met with a representative of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to discuss the Interpretive Centre at Burrafirth. The Centre was only open for two months over the summer and closed in mid August. Hannah was told that various SNH posts and properties were being reviewed.

05/09/11 Blueprint for Education in Shetland

There has been no further word from the Scottish Office about the call-in on the Uyeasound School closure.

Laurence asked the Councillors if they had anything to report before they left to catch the ferry. Josie Simpson said that the restructuring of the Council is now nearly complete; there is just one director to be appointed. So there hasn’t been a lot happening when that has been going on. Next month there is a finance seminar. Josie explained that there is less money coming from Central Government and that the Council must face up to the problem of having less money but keeping frontline services. Laurence asked about the Bigga, as he had heard that it was going to be off for longer than the scheduled six week service. This was confirmed, but the summer timetable will run through the week until the Bigga gets back.

Josie Simpson and Robert Henderson left the meeting at 8.30pm to catch the ferry.

06/09/11 Application for Planning

6.1 Construction of Membrane Plant Building, generator Building and Clear Water Tank with additional site works. Land adjacent to Existing Unst Water Treatment Works, Helliers Water, Watlee, Unst

This planning application was received between Community Council meetings and was approved. The weekly planning sheet will no longer be sent out, all planning applications can be accessed online at http://pa.shetland.gov.uk/

07/09/11 Application for Donation

7.1 Shetland Moving Image Archive

After a discussion it was agreed to give a donation of £50 towards the costs of this project, which collects, cleaned, restores and digitizes old Shetland film and related material.

08/09/11 Community Council Finances

A spreadsheet showing expenditure to date and last financial year’s expenditure breakdown was discussed. 45% of the total budget of £12,033 has been spent.

09/09/11 Audit of Accounts – Amendment to Community Council Constitution

The amendment to the Community Council Constitution to allow accounts to be audited by Voluntary Action Shetland (VAS) rather than private accountants was discussed. VAS fees for auditing the accounts would be significantly lower than private accountants’ fees. ASCC, VAS and the Council’s Finance Service are all in agreement that this proposal is acceptable. Members agreed unanimously to adopt the amendment to Section 5 of the Constitution in accordance with the formal procedures.

10/09/11 A.O.C.B.

10.1 ASCC Bi-annual Meeting 8^th October 2011

Laurence and Gordon will attend this meeting

10.2 Clerks’ Meeting 17^th September 2011

The Clerk attended this meeting. It was agreed that all Clerks were to use a set format for minutes and agendas. Draft minutes have to be circulated to members no later than 10 working days after the meeting and sent to the Council, in draft form, as soon as practicable after the meeting. The draft minutes must be displayed within 21 days of the meeting. Minutes do not become a valid minute of the meeting until their acceptance as a current record at the next meeting, when they will be signed by the chair. The training event for Clerks and Community Councillors will first be organised at the beginning of the year. Sue Beer gave a presentation on building your own website on the Community Portal. Unst Community Council displays their minutes on the Portal.

10.3 ASCC – Letter to Shetland Charitable Trust

The ASCC wrote a letter to the Chairman and General Manager of Shetland Charitable Trust (SCT) protesting about the “ridiculously short time scale for consultation on this matter [SCT Governance Review] of vital importance to the Shetland Community.” It has since been agreed that there will be a public consultation.

10.4 Scottish Natural Heritage – Hermaness Site of Special Scientific Interest

A letter was received from Scottish Natural Heritage stating that they had reviewed the site notification documents and site management statement for Hermaness SSI. They are required to notify “relevant interested parties with copies of the reviewed documents.” A copy of the reviewed citation, list of operations requiring consent from SNH and a map was also sent. These documents are available on the SNH website www.snh.org.uk

10.5 Shetland Islands Citizens Advice Bureau – Annual Report 2010-2011

This was noted.

10.6 ASCC – The Community Councillor Journal

This was noted.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 2^nd November 2011 at 7pm in the Baltasound School

Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 26th September 2011 at 7.00 pm at the Baltasound School, English Room

Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 26^th September 2011 at 7.00 pm at the Baltasound School, English Room