Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 2 September 2009

Held in Cedarwood, Edgar Road, Elgin starting at 7.30pm

Present : Mr S. Christie, (Chair), Mrs E. Miller,

 (Treasurer), Mr M. Pirie, Mr F. Steele, Mrs I. Younnie

 and Ms F. Shaw.  

In Attendance : Cllr John Divers.

Apologies : Mrs M. Sutherland, (Secretary), Mrs C.

Hay, Mrs J. Allan, Cllr G. Leadbitter, Cllr J. Sharp and

 Ms P. McKerron (AHO).

1.  Welcome.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending and, in the absence of Mrs M. Sutherland, Mr M. Pirie would be taking the Minutes.  The list of apologies was read out.

2.  Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 5 August 2009.

The Minutes of the last meeting were taken as a true record.  Proposed by Mrs E. Miller and seconded by Mr F. Steele.

3.  Matters Arising from Previous Meeting.

Item 6B, Bilbohall Issues - Mossend Place Corner – Ms P. McKerron (AHO) had indicated that if someone wants a disabled parking bay it is the Roads Department that they have to approach not the Tenants Forum as it is not our concern nor within our remit.  This parking area was constructed to relieve the dangerous parking situation on the corner.  It was also felt that if a disabled parking place be made available then the person in question might also want a path laid across the grassy area.

Item 7A, Rothes Issues – Air Source Heating – Concerns were raised again, as has been done in the past since the very first unit was installed, about the low level at which the units were installed and was a risk assessment carried out.  It was felt that some sort of protection could have been installed on the units especially on the corners.  The Chair said he would email John MacDonald, in Moray Council, on this matter.  Mr S. Christie to Action.

Item 7B, Rothes Issues – Walkabout – No photos have been taken yet but as there are to be none displayed at the Tenants Conference there is not so much of an urgency for them although the photos would go on our website.

The council is waiting for prices for the removal of the cobble stones on Provost Christie Drive and Land Street.

4.  Housing Officer’s Report

As Ms P. McKerron was not present there was no report but the Chair said that she had reported the corner in Mossend Place and highlighted the work for Rothes.  If anyone had questions for her then to let him know and he would email them to her.

5.  Treasurer’s Report.

There is £477.63 in the bank and £44.27 in the raffle making a total of £521.90.  There is an outstanding cheque for £24 which left £494.90 in hand.  Copies of the report were handed round and the Treasurer said the books were always available should anyone wish to inspect them.

6. Tenants Conference Update.

There has been a bit of a rethink of some parts as things have not gone to plan and also some people have pulled out.  There will be 2 Workshop Sessions each having 2 workshops in them and a discussion ensued regarding them.  The usual stalls would be in the hall but we were not having boards with the photos advertising each individual forum’s work but information leaflets would be round about the hall asking people to come along to their local tenant’s forum.  With Charles French being out of action due to his illness things were taking a bit longer as a lot of the correspondence and information were on his computer.  Mrs E. Miller said she had advertised the conference on Keith Community Radio, MFR, Northern Scot, P&J etc.  The Chair asked if she could get some posters and booking forms to Gus Dobney, (AHM), in Keith as he had not received any.  They had to be handed into the Access Point in Elgin, addressed to him.  Mrs E. Miller to Action.

7.  Rothes Issues.

1.     The issue of parking on Land Street was raised as you could only park on one side of the street and there were safety issues regarding parking in the Square especially at the weekend.

2.     The only other issue was the cobble stones but this had been dealt with previously in the meeting.

8.  Bilbohall Issues.

1.     Commercial vehicles are parking in the new parking area on the corner at Mossend Place and there is also double parking there.  Photos showing that problem were passed round.

2.     The wall beside the shops is being vandalised again and bricks were lying about in the immediate area.  This is a Building Control issue and Cllr. Divers said he would speak to them about it.  Cllr. Divers to Action.

3.     With the new school term started the amount of litter strewn about the area is rising once again and it was agreed that there should be a Litter Meeting held sooner rather than later.  Cllr. Divers said he would contact Andy Simpson and the Chair would contact Deborah Hockney.  Cllr. Divers and Mr S. Christie to Action.

As there was just a small amount of correspondence it was decided to take a comfort break at this point and the raffle was also drawn.

9.  Correspondence.

1.     TIS Annual Membership request came in.  It is still £10.  The Chair asked if we renew this and all agreed.  Proposed by Mr S. Christie and seconded by Mrs E. Miller.  The Treasurer is to write out a cheque for £10 and give it to the Chair.  Mrs E. Miller to Action.

2.     A letter came in from Housing Regeneration Directorate, Social Housing Division thanking everyone for completing the survey and they enclosed a brochure giving a brief outlay of the results.  The full report is available on the web.  Contact the Chair if you want the web address for it.

3.     The TIGHRA Annual Conference, scheduled for 11 & 12 September 2009, has been cancelled due to lack of people wanting to go as it was very expensive to attend.

10.  AOCB.

1.     The new kitchen list is out although some areas are not on it.

2.     It was brought to the attention of the meeting that if a person calls the Out of Hours service they may be charged a call out charge.  It was felt that this information should be put on letters / correspondence so that people would be aware of this before they made the phone call and should also be included in the tenant’s pack.

11.  Date and Time of Next Meeting.

It will be on Wednesday 7 October 2009 at 7.30 pm in Cedarwood, Edgar Road, Elgin.

Mrs E. Miller will bring the raffle prize.

With there being no further business the Chair closed the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.

Minutes prepared by Michael Pirie

Sunday 6 September 2009