Anne welcomed CCC members to the meeting.

Lynne Sproull, David Alston, Wilf Taylor

Irene gave a presentation on the work of Home Start Ross & Cromarty

• it is based in Alness and funded by NHS/Scottish Executive/Highland Council
• the organisation consists of volunteers who are given about 40 hours training
• volunteers are carefully matched to a family where they can best meet their needs and try to build a trusting relationship
• support is offered to vulnerable families with difficulties – usually with 1 child under 5 years old.
• referrals can be made by doctors/social workers/ family/ or self referrals
• type of support provided can be listening and giving advice/ assistance with every day tasks to help them manage their lives in a structured way/ practical parenting advice BUT volunteers are not to provide a child-minding service
• In Dingwall and Tain, there is a programme of workshops provided on building confidence/ improving self esteem/craft skills and a crèche is available
• this may be rolled out to the Black Isle, as families here may not be able to get to Dingwall.
• Irene asked for the Councillors to promote awareness of the organisation, particularly to any vulnerable families and also to anyone who may be interested in training to become a volunteer.
• she provided leaflets and posters to explain the role of the organisation and contact details and also posters to ask for volunteers, as the organisation needs to recruit more. These will be displayed in the Medical Centre and Library in Cromarty and the posters will be placed on the noticeboard.

Anne thanked Irene for her time and wished Irene luck in her recruitment drive.

Proposed: Jane Clunas

Paige asked if new play equipment will be provided in Townlands Park when the renovation work has been completed.

Anne advised that she will pursue this matter with Grays.

David is still chasing the provision of the replacement equipment for Victoria Park.

Paige asked for permission for the Youth Café to display information about forthcoming activities on the Community Council noticeboard. This was given and Paige was told that posters could also be displayed on the Victoria Hall noticeboard. Vivienne offered to display posters in the window of The Emporium.

Paige advised that some of the youngsters had made a film about global warming which they had presented at a conference in Aviemore. This received very positive feedback and they have subsequently been invited to attend a similar conference in Edinburgh to give a presentation and show the film.

The Councillors congratulated Paige and her friends on this success.

Jane advised that having received confirmation of the 12year commitment to the site required from the Highland Council, she tried to progress the application for the £6k funding from HIE. Unfortunately, the rules for this funding have now changed and the application was returned. She approached Di Agnew, BI Ward Manager, who has agreed to provide this amount from the Ward Funds.

The delay with the new housing also has an impact on the provision of the Awards for All grant but Jane is going to progress the project by arranging for the base for the court to be placed before the end of the financial year.

PC Williams stated that there had been 30 incidents reported during the month which included:-

• a case of theft which has since been detected
• theft of petty cash from the school.
• PC Williams advised that there had been no further incidents on the late bus into Cromarty, although there have been a couple of incidents in Fortrose. He has spoken to the bus company who confirmed that CCTV is currently not available on the bus, but may be considered for the future.
• Councillors informed PC Williams that a kit car/dune buggy has been speeding through Cromarty, he will investigate this, as this is illegal.

Few people participated in work party for weeding outside Forsyth House. This is now very untidy and needs urgent attention. It was agreed that Anne should ask David of JungleBusters to give a quote to tidy this area and plant some shrubs which Vivienne and Jane would obtain from Munroe’s. Anne will also ask David to quote for tidying the Braehead area and the Links car park.

Wilf has the broken finger point from outside the Hugh Miller Institute. Rachel will take this to Albert to see if it can be repaired/reinstated.

David has discussed this matter with Hugh Logan and should be able to provide an update at the next meeting.

There do not appear to be as many HGVs passing through the town at the moment. However, there are a number of tractors speeding through the town. Anne will speak to David Baldwin about this.

It seems that the West Church will provide space for the model of Cromarty. Also, photographs of the model have been taken and Veronica will discuss the possibility of making postcards with Kitty Gommers.

Item postponed to next meeting, as David Alston was unable to attend.

Anne and Douglas McPhee attended the Black Isle Ward Forum which was held in the new Culbokie School.

• it was chaired by David Alston and attended by Di Agnew and other Highland Councillors and representatives from Transport Services
• there were representatives from Community Councils and a good local turnout
• main topic covered was transport which included transport services/ budgets and grants available for transport/ transport in rural areas/ commercial operators and dial-a-bus
• there were also discussions on crime and the manning of local police stations

The next Forum will be held on Thursday 25 October at 6pm in Culbokie School (tbc). The main subject will be "Services for Older People". Anne and Vivienne will attend this meeting.

Leaflet Collection Box - The Emporium £45.00

Guide Book Sales - The Emporium £50.00

Secretarial expenses: £86.00

Accounts payable balance: Nil

Accounts receivable balance: Nil

No Highland Councillor present.

Jane had received posters detailing meetings to review the Core Networks Plan which have been displayed in the usual places.

Ken has written to express concern about the state of the path up South Sutor. It is very muddy and washed out in places, partly due to the drainage ditches being blocked and partly due to the fact that the path has been used by a mountain bike. Whilst mountain bikes cannot be stopped from using the path, they need to be discouraged due to the damage they cause. Rachel will ask Ian if he can identify the cyclist and ask him to stop using the path.

Ken suggested that a working party should be pulled together to clear the drainage ditches. It was agreed that Rachel would ask Ken if he could organise this as he said he would like to be involved.

Anne and Lynne had attended the Open Evening in Nigg.

The proposal at Nigg is for a 10-megawatt wind farm consisting of five turbines (125 metres to the tip, 80 metres to the hub) which will connect to the National Grid line which supplies the Nigg Fabrication yard, via an underground cable.

There is a tool on this to see proposed images from selected viewpoints e.g.

Cromarty Links, South Sutor and A832 near Davidston

These have been removed now as they only permitted for a limited period. It was noted that there was a letter in the Ross-hire Journal which complimented Cromarty on the condition of its public toilets.

Anne congratulated the First Responders on behalf of the Councillors for their prompt and efficient action which helped to save a life. Ronald explained what had happened and the fact that it was his uncle who was treated.

This will be on public display in Victoria Hall on 17/18 November. It will be possible to purchase copies. It has been suggested that it should be permanently displayed in the lobby area of the Hugh Miller Institute. Permission is being sought for this.

Concerns were again expressed about the ivy which is now overgrown. This has been passed to Sam Lowe. It will probably now be attended to, as a funeral will be taking place later this week.

This has been knocked down by a Brogan lorry. Anne will check if it has been reported to Ian Hay.

Ronald advised that members of the public should not touch the street stalls. They should contact either himself or Steve Ellwood to make the necessary arrangements for collection/erecting/dismantling etc. This is because a previous hirer had not put them away tidily which created problems for the next hirer.

Ronald informed the Councillors that this will be ready in approximately 3 weeks. The funding for the first year has been provided by the Patrons of the Royal Hotel.

The ferry service is scheduled to end on 19 October. It may have been sold and there is a possibility that a new 4-car ferry may be running next year if John wins the tender. The service is planned to run from April to September but without the extra hour in July and August.

This area now requires major work as it is very overgrown. Anne has flagged this to John Nightingale.

This area does not seem to be used by the school, despite the high cost of provision. Douglas McPhee advised that there are some concerns about the size of the pitch and some safety implications with the fencing. Ronald said that all these aspects were covered in the consultative exercise which took place before the area was provided. The school and the youngsters should be encouraged to use it, especially as it is a dog free area and there has been some dog fouling on the Links and by the harbour recently.

Rachel provided an update. The down-lighting will be provided for Victoria Hall and the Harbour during October, however the cost of this has now increased. It is unlikely that the lights on the Denny will be in place for this Christmas. Some concern was expressed over this delay. This is due to the constraints in provision of power from the streetlights. An additional power supply is required but this requires planning permission. This will not be processed in time, due to the ongoing restructuring of the Highland Council departments. This has obviously been very frustrating and Anne thanked Rachel and Ronald for their perseverance in trying to progress this matter.

This will take place on 3 November and there will also be a torchlight procession. A request had been made for quieter fireworks but as these were much more expensive, they will not be provided.

The Sea Cromarty Sparkle Winter Programme brochures will be available soon.

Ronald has been voted back onto this. He gave feedback on the last meeting which covered the Local Letting Initiative and a new pilot scheme called Community Needs Initiative.

Anne advised that a site visit had taken place at Sandilands attended by David Alston, Danny Alexander, and Lord Thurso. Charles Kennedy was unable to make the meeting. Originally 30 houses were planned for this site under the Local Plan 2002and 66% were to provide "affordable housing". However 12 other new properties have been built in Cromarty since then so this now needs to be checked for implications for the Sandilands site.