This has again been a busy year for members. Here`s a selection of activities from each month`s minute. January - The Fair Trade group were busy compiling a quiz to raise funds. Members had attended the Elgin Flood Alleviation exhibitions. Roads and Transportation Committee had been contacted due to a resident creating problems for the bus service on Newfield Road by parking strategically thereby seriously hindering the bus. February - A new member was co-opted. Members had visited Elgin Police station and also the new Life-Sciences Centre at Moray College, UHI. Only 2 responses had been received following a letter to all Elgin schools regarding bullying. Exhibitions on the new Brown Muir wind-farm application were to be viewed by members. A committee had been set up to progress the plan to hold a Community Awards Ceremony later in the year. March - ECC had a presentation from the developer, vento ludens, on the Brown Muir application. Having attended a Town Centre Charrette on the future of Elgin but focussing on the Lossie Green area members were now reluctant to support a 3G pitch in that area as it could compromise the future plans for the area. Following a near miss traffic had been monitored at the entrance to Morriston Playing fields and members noted some poor driving habits by drivers who seemed inadequately concerned about pedestrians - mainly pupils. Councillors got a treat when they were served Fair Trade tea and coffee by the Fair Trade Group and also 10x3rd year students. A letter from ECC was handed to a Moray Councillor dealing with the Taxi Conditions review which he said would be used as the base-line for the imminent review since it had been well researched and constructed. A response had gone to Transport Scotland regarding the consultation on the future rail franchise in Scotland and Scottish Government had claimed the response was of particular value. April - A consultation on moving the Bishopmill Post Office had been responded to by a group including non-members and was now deemed an absolute farce as the move appeared to have been rubber-stamped previously. Members were to request the Cooper Pond be properly cleaned out as it was empty to allow flood alleviation work to be undertaken. A member was now part of the Advisory Forum on the forthcoming Rural Parliament, due to take place in Oban later in the year. May - Members were delighted to welcome Lt. Col. Grenville Johnson to discuss what centenary of WW 1events were organised and taking place over the next four years. A response had been sent to the Planning Department on the Western Link Road application. ECC now had a member taking part in the Grant Lodge Short Life Working Group. A first draft of the response to the Draft Local Development Plan had been drawn up. June - The group looking after the flower-beds at Ladyhill had been busy. ECC had submitted a plan for an amphitheatre in Cooper Park on behalf of The Elgin Fund. Two members had met with Richard Lochhead to lobby again for a bridge with lifts at either end for elderly and disabled passengers to cross without having to travel all the way to New Elgin railway bridge. Stagecoach were to remove the Newfield Road bus service due to the continued problems caused by the resident who didn`t want a bus travelling past his house. July - In attendance was a young lady who takes a litter-picker and a black bin-bag to school each day. She was presented with a book token in recognition of her inspiring behaviour in picking up litter on her way home from school every day. Members were given a progress report on the Flood Alleviation Scheme. A sub-group had set up a budget to allow improved financial planning in future. August - Members were given a presentation on community alarms and other helpful devices which are used as part of telehealthcare. It was noted that the Flood Alleviation Scheme had thankfully worked in Elgin during the recent very heavy rain despite not yet being completed. ECC had been asked to suggest how to display some items that had been presented to Elgin via Moray Council from the mayor of Elgin, Illinois, USA. September - An outline was given to members on the proposal to have new Christmas lights for the city centre, hopefully by 2015 and ECC offered their support and would seek a representative to join the committee. Comments had been sent regarding cycle/paths on the Flood Alleviation Scheme embankments. This had been suggested by ECC at the very outset. Street Audit training was ongoing and some members had attended the first session. The members were made aware that the planning application for the new High School was due the following week. October - ECC now had 381 friends on Facebook. That was welcomed since a recent national report undertaken by a university had stated that Moray CCs were the best in Scotland in using IT and ECC was the best in Moray - so - best in Scotland. Grant Lodge Short Life Working Group had received over 200 responses to the consultation on future uses of the building. It was agreed to write to the Chief Executive of Scottish Water to find out if any assistance was available to help with localised street flooding during heavy rainfall. November - The manager of REAP explained the proposal to build a Community Garden in the Elgin area following the success of such an initiative in Keith. The Fair Trade group had taken a stall at the Farmer`s Market and had also held a coffee morning at the Baptist Church. ECC now had a member on the Christmas Lights Committee and he stated that the amount required to be raised is £40,000. One member had attended the three day Rural Parliament in Oban. Those involved in Access to Streets now had a meeting date confirmed. December - As a follow-up to a written response from the Chief Executive of Scottish Water the staff member, who has a community remit, attended the meeting to put names to faces and will be ECC`s point of contact with Scottish Water in future. An update was received on Ladyhill gardens where dog-fouling has re-occurred. As in previous years, all plants had been donated, including lots of winter pansies that week, by COVE BAY NURSERIES. The Short Life Working Group had formed Grant Lodge Trust which is a company limited by guarantee and without share capital. The first meeting will be held on 15th December. At every meeting ECC has a police report, updates from Stagecoach, Strategic Partnership for Improving the City of Elgin (SPICE), Elgin South Area Forum, Joint Community Councils of Moray, and as often as possible, from our Community Warden. Members are involved in most of these groups and work in partnership with the others when practicable so it`s easy to see how busy all are when we scratch the surface. As Chair, I am always amazed at how much gets done, how supportive all members are and how well everyone gets on. I don`t believe we could have better people. However, it would be good if we had more members to allow even more to happen. If you have read this far you must have some interest so please consider coming along on 13th January, 7pm in Council Chambers, which is our next meeting. Merry Christmas, good luck and good health to everyone next year.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 21:04:25 +0000
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