Author: Nancy Heubeck
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Company: Dunrossness Community Council

DUNROSSNESS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Chairman			 		    	Clerk
Mr Donald Robertson					Mrs Shirley Leslie
7 Toabsgeo			Ringesta
Virkie			Quendale
Shetland  ZE3 9JJ					Shetland  ZE2 9JD
Tel:  01950 460300					Tel: 01950 460868
							Fax: 01950 460922
                                                                           E-mail:dunrossness.cc@zetnet.co.uk
					           www.dunrossnesscc.shetland.gov.uk

Minute of Meeting of Dunrossness Community Council held in Dunrossness Primary School on Monday 25 March 2002.

PRESENT:
Mr D Robertson (Chairman)	Mr I Garrick 	Mr J Ridland	Ms S Fowlie
Mr J Sinclair			Cllr G Mitchell	Cllr W Tait			

APOLOGIES
Mrs M Pickbourne 	Mrs A Nicol 	Mrs A Sinclair		Mrs E Mainland	
Mr R Nickerson 	Mrs J Morton 	P.C. McCaffrey		

IN ATTENDANCE:
Mrs S Leslie (Clerk)	Helen Moncrieff (Living Shetland)

01/93 	MINUTE
The Minute of the meeting held on 4 March 2002 was adopted on the motion of Mr Garrick.
	
01/94	MATTERS ARISING
1. Road Matters: There was nothing new to report.
2. South Mainland Fish Farms: There was nothing new to report.
3. Scatness Ward Vacancy: The Clerk reported that she had received two 
nominations, Shirley Jones and David Leybourne, and that SIC Legal & Admin 
Services will now run a Postal Ballot to determine who will be offered the position 
as Community Councillor for Scatness.

01/95	FINANCE AND GRANT APPLICATIONS
1. Shetland Folkdance - To enable Shetland Folkdance to fund a week of activities throughout Shetland involving a group of thirty Danish Folkdancers/musicians: It was agreed on the motion of Ms Fowlie, 
seconded by Mr Garrick to award the requested sum of £100.

01/95/2
25 March 2002      						page two of five 

01/95	FINANCE AND GRANT APPLICATIONS (Continued)
2. A Irvine Printing – To assist with the costs of reprinting the ‘Dunrossness Story’: Ms Fowlie declared an interest.  It was agreed on the motion of Mr Sinclair seconded by Mr Robertson to award the requested sum of £500.
3. Classic Fair Isle – To assist with the costs of commissioning a musical work which will celebrate both the island itself and the lives and work of the community there: It was agreed on the motion of 
Mr Sinclair, seconded by Mr Garrick to award the requested sum of £500.
4. The Archie Foundation: As it is the end of the financial year and a small sum of money remains from the annual budget, it was agreed on the motion of Mr Sinclair, seconded by Ms Fowlie to donate the sum of £250 to The Archie Foundation.  

01/96	PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND PLANNING MATTERS
 	There were no planning applications for the area.  

01/97	LIVING SHETLAND 
	Mr Robertson welcomed Helen Moncrieff to the meeting.  Miss Moncrieff 
informed the members that her post is funded for two years from October 
2001 and that it is her job to compile a Biodiversity Action Plan for the area 
and to encourage the local people to become interested in the environment 
around them.  The project is backed by a steering group of twenty two members from various organisations ie. Salmon Farmers, SNH, BP, ASCC, 
Shetland Amenity Trust etc.  The South Mainland, from Gulberwick and 
south, has been picked as a pilot area.  The only action plan to have 
been drawn up for Shetland at present is by Malcolm Hume for the Red Throated Diver. So far Miss Moncrieff has been giving presentations and visiting schools to raise community awareness of ‘Living Shetland’ and its aims but she enquired if Dunrossness Community Council could suggest any further ways in which she could get the ‘Ness’ community interested in local biodiversity.  It was agreed that she should start by targeting established community groups and Cllr Mitchell suggested that attending a NESS 2000 meeting might be helpful.  It was also felt that if the local 
children could be encouraged to become interested in the project then this 
would lead to parents becoming involved.

01/98	NESS 2000 
	Cllr Mitchell reported that there had been a ‘reasonable’ amount of response 
to the recent questionnaire which NESS 2000 had distributed.   Due to the 
favourable response to the above questionnaire, an advert for a full time 
co-ordinator will be placed soon, with the post hopefully being filled by early 
summer.  The Clerk enquired on behalf of Mrs Sinclair why the 
questionnaires had not been sent to each household in the Dunrossness 
area.  

01/98
25 March 2002      						page three of five 

01/98	NESS 2000 (Continued)
Cllr Mitchell stated that due to a lack of time, it had been decided to 
send the questionnaires out with the Community Work Office Newsletter 
and, due to legal reasons, the Community Work Office is only permitted to 
distribute such documents to certain organisations.  Copies of the 
questionnaire had been placed in the local shops for the use of the public 
with approximately thirty sent to Fair Isle. 
	
01/99	COMMUNITY COUNCIL BY-ELECTIONS - PROCEDURES 
The Clerk reported that Jan Riise, SIC Legal and Admin. Services, had 
telephoned to clarify the issue regarding if, as is proposed, Community
Council Clerks are required to assist the Returning Officer with areas of the 
election process which involve the Electoral Roll, who is responsible if an 
error occurs and a member of the community is denied their right to vote.  
Mr Riise had stated that in the case of Dunrossness Community Council, 
the Returning Officer would seek assistance when a postal ballot was 
necessary as the area is divided into Wards.  This would not involve 
interfering in any way with the official Electoral Roll.  As regards liability, it is 
the Community Councils responsibility to know who lives in each of their 
Wards.  However, if they are not certain if there are any new residents who 
are not included on the Electoral Roll, they must make this clear to the 
Returning Officer.  If the Community Council is unable to assist the 
Returning Officer with who lives in each Ward, Mr Riise stated that it may be 
necessary to abandon the system of dividing the area into Wards.

01/100	CODES OF PRACTICE & CONDUCT
The document had been studied and, although some areas do not appear to 
be relevant to community councils, it was agreed that it was satisfactory.  It 
was decided, however, that the Clerk should write to SIC requesting a 
simpler, summarised version of the document as a guide for community 
councils.	 

01/101	CORRESPONDENCE
1.  ‘Thank you’ letter from Fair Isle School for grant towards School 
Trip: The letter was noted. 
2. Letter from Environmental Resources Management ref. 
Environmental Impact Assessment of Proposed Extension of Runway 
09/27 at Sumburgh Airport: The ‘environmental team is seeking to identify 
issues of concern and features of sensitivity or importance which should be 
considered in the assessment’ and ‘would be grateful of a response by 
2^nd April 2002’ in order for them to meet the required timescales for the 
appraisal.  Following discussions on the matter, it was agreed to write 
stating that Dunrossness Community Council felt it necessary that the 
Airport take responsibility for maintaining the Channel into the Virkie Pool to 
eliminate any adverse effect the Runway extension may have on both the 
Pool and the Ness Boating Club facilities.

01/101/3
25 March 2002      						page four of five 

01/101	CORRESPONDENCE (Continued)
3. Shetland in Statistics booklet: The booklet entitled ‘Shetland in 
Statistics, 2001 No. 29’ is available from SIC Development Department at a 
cost of £4.
4. Letter ref. ‘The Living Shetland Seminar’: The report on ‘The Living Shetland Seminar’ which was held on 9^th February 2002 was noted.
5. Letter introducing Postwatch Scotland: Postwatch Scotland represent both domestic and business users of postal services with any problems they may have concerning postal matters.  Mrs Sinclair had requested that Dunrossness Community Council write stressing how important it is to keep the postal service in Shetland at least at the present standard, especially for island communities.  It was felt that any reduction in the service would be highly detrimental to the economy and well-being of this community.
6. The following are available from the Clerk on request:                                                          
-	Association of Scottish Community Councils February 2002 Newsletter
-	The A9 Partnership March 2002 Newsletter
-	Scottish Parliament Local Government Committee Newsletter, Issue No 1, March 2002
-	NHS Scotland Newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 3

01/102	ANY OTHER BUSINESS
1. Loganair: The Clerk reported that Mrs Sinclair had requested 
Dunrossness Community Council write thanking SIC for subsidising  
inter-island air fares once more.  She also requested that SIC investigate 
the possibility of reducing the cost of air fares to Fair Isle.  It was agreed that 
the Clerk should write to Graham Spall reference the first point and 
Mark Ritch reference the second.
2. Fair Isle Pier Toilets: The Clerk enquired, on Mrs Sinclair’s behalf, when 
Fair Isle could expect Public Toilets to be provided at the pier.  Cllr Mitchell 
stated that the project was included in the Capital Programme and that he 
thought it would be another ‘couple of years’ before the work commenced.  
Cllr Mitchell suggested that the Clerk write to George Sutherland, SIC 
Marine Operations Department for confirmation of the proposed timescale 
for the project.
3. Ness Boating Club Gala Day: Mr Garrick informed the members that the 
Ness Boating Club Gala Day is to be held on Sunday 30^th June 2002.
4. Dunrossness Playing Fields: Gllr Mitchell stated that improvements are 
planned for the Playing Field facilities ie. Pavilion and hopefully the Pitch 
too.  It was agreed that the Clerk check with Geordie Jacobson, SMCA, 
regarding what improvements are planned.  The Clerk will also check with 
George Smith, SIC Community Services, that there are items of children’s 
play equipment ‘ear marked’ for Dunrossness as was previously agreed with 
Mr Lovell.
5. Northlink: Cllr Mitchell reported that a Parliamentary Committee is to 
meet in Edinburgh this week to make a final decision reference whether 
cassettes will be ready in time for this years animal sales or will it be 
necessary to provide a stock-boat.  Tavish Scott will be attending the 
meeting.

01/102/6
25 March 2002      						page five of five 

01/102	ANY OTHER BUSINESS (Continued)
6. Bus Service: Mr Ridland had received a complaint reference some bus 
drivers starting off before passengers have had time to take a seat.  It was 
agreed that the Clerk write to Ian Bruce, SIC, regarding the matter.
7. Drains: Following a request by Mr Ridland, it was agreed that the Clerk 
write to Ian Halcrow, SIC Roads Department, requesting that a new drain be 
provided on the west side of the road past Troswick from Braeview to the 
Clumlie Loch.  This would by-pass the existing cross drains thereby 
reducing the volume of water running onto the fields.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 10.30 pm.

                                                                                                 Chair

 

THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING OF DUNROSSNESS COMMUNITY COUNCIL 
WILL TAKE PLACE IN DUNROSSNESS PRIMARY SCHOOL AT 7.30 PM ON MONDAY 29 APRIL 2002