Ronald Young, Owen Robertson

Proposed: Douglas McPhee

Chair: Anne Short - proposed Douglas McPhee, seconded Jane Clunas

Vice-chair: Ronald Young - proposed Anne Short, seconded Rachel Robertson

Vice-chair: Wilf Taylor - proposed Anne Short, seconded Rachel Robertson

Treasurer: Vivienne Griffiths - proposed Douglas Cooper, seconded Rachel Robertson

All nominees accepted their positions and were duly elected

Jane provided an update on the current financial situation for the multi-court.

She advised that £35k has been raised from Awards for All (£10k), Small Communities Housing Trust, (£15k) Scottish Football Association (£10k).

However she is still waiting a letter from John Hearmon to confirm that the lease on the land is in hand for maintenance/insurance purposes. This is required to enable the application for charitable status to be progressed. which will provide exemption from VAT (this would incur an additional cost of £6k).

David Alston and Jane Clunas to discuss the way forward outside this meeting.

PC Williams reported that there had been 49 incidents during the month which included:-

Following the last meeting. a group of local volunteers worked on the garden areas outside Forsyth House on 27 April.

Wilf advised that he has been in contact with Green Gym about the garden area on Braehead. A working party has been planned for 3 May to clear the area. They will remove brambles/clear ivy and weeds/remove rubbish/ and clear overgrown vegetation by the IceHouse.

(Rachel advised that consideration should be given to the nesting birds in the area)

Additionally, Wilf has arranged for Green Gym to provide a working party to tidy the area around the South Sutor Viewpoint on 10 May. . They will tidy the paths/clear gorse back. They cannot however lop the birch trees or the firtree which obscures the view.

Anne has written to Sheila Wickens to invite her to the May or June meeting to discuss waste issues. No response received to date.

Ronald has spoken to boat owners about old boats on the front. He will arrange to clear the area in mid-May.

Anne will also raise the suggestion to move the recycling bins to that area with Sheila Wickens.

Anne has replied and nominated Ronald Young. The CFPA have responded that they are happy for Ronald to act as representative for the Council as he has also been nominated as Harbour Master.

The request for a contribution for the Common Good Fund has been processed as requested by Alan Hunter.

Anne has written to Garry Coutts re his offer to attend a meeting to give a presentation on the "Delivering for Health" programme. No response received to date.

Anne has arranged this for Tuesday 1 May at 7.30pm at the Royal Hotel and posters have been displayed round the town. The 4 candidates attending are:- John Hodgson (Scottish Conservative and Unionist), Maureen Macmillan (Scottish Labour Party), Dave Thompson (Scottish National Party), John Farquhar-Munro (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

Anne has spoken to the Cromarty Medical Centre Practice Manager to find out if there have been any reported problems as a result of the new water treatment. However, they could not provide details. Jane advised that she and 2 others to her knowledge have experienced problems.

Anne has spoken to Scottish Water about the lack of communication on this matter and they have expressed concern that the public had not been adequately notified.

Anne has also written to the Public Health Authority but no response received to date.

Wilf is progressing the provision of new Finger Points. Dorothy Maxwell will send someone to look at the style of the existing finger points. Viv offered to take digital photographs to email to Dorothy if this would help.

Anne advised that there have been a number of cases of petty vandalism over the last few weeks. PC Williams confirmed that this has mostly been carried out by 8-12 year old children. These incidents can be reported to the Children’s Panel but little action can be taken.

PC Williams reiterated the need for all cases to be reported to him, as he would personally follow up with the children and their parents accordingly as overall he has a good relationship with the youngsters concerned.

Anne advised that there had been no response to the interest registered in the sale of Cromarty Lighthouse by the Community Council.

However she has received an email from Paul Thompson of the University of Aberdeen which states that he is trying to persuade the University to make a bid for the lighthouse. He proposes that it should be used as an outreach building for the University’s research and teaching activities. It would therefore compliment other environmental, conservation and wildlife visitor based attractions in Cromarty.

David said that he has written a letter of support to this bid as Highland Councillor and it was agreed that Anne should write providing the support of the Community Council.

Anne read an article from the Inverness Courier which stated that a chip shop owner from Plymouth had also expressed interest in the lighthouse, as he was keen to secure the future of the building for the local community.

Anne highlighted the key issues discussed at John Duncan’s meeting on 27 April.

Secretarial expenses: £40.00

Accounts payable balance: nil

Accounts receivable balance: £362.50

No planning applications submitted for consideration.

Highland Councillor’s Report

David explained the new Highland Council wards. There will be 4 Councillors representing the Black Isle. Di Agnew will be the Ward Manager for the Black Isle. She will be the first point of contact for Community Councils and she will hold the budget. David suggested that Di should be invited to future meetings and kept updated on activities of the Community Council.

Karen has submitted an application for £150 from the Common Good Fund. This financial support is required to enable the Cromarty Football Club to provide activities for the children on the Regatta Day.

It was agreed that this sum should be donated to the Cromarty Football Club.

Anne passed round the literature/forms.

Anne has received confirmation that the transaction will go ahead soon. Working groups are to be formed to discuss the way forward.

Douglas Cooper advised that the seat had been removed some time ago for repainting but has till not been resited.

Also he expressed concerns that a van is regularly being parked sideways across the parking area, thus preventing other vehicles from parking there.

Douglas McPhee advised that the paving stones at the bus stop by Victoria Hall were still waiting to be dealt with. Anne said this was raised at the John Duncan meeting and will be attended to soon.

Jane advised that supplies are running out and a reprint is required. She has obtained costs for a reprint. . Currently the cheapest option is to have 4k copies for £865 which costs 22p/leaflet. As there will be no grant available for this, it was agreed that a charge would have to be raised to cover costs. Leaflets could be sold for 40p each which would generate revenue for future reprints.

It was agreed that Jane should go ahead with the reprint, but should contact other printers to see if she can obtain a more competitive quote. The leaflets will be reprinted to show the price and will also incorporate the amendments previously requested by John Nightingale. The leaflets would also be offered to local business on a "Sale or Return" basis.

The provision of the new bus shelter was discussed and everyone was pleased with it. The kids also seem to like it.

Anne said there were 3 options – co-opt someone to fill his vacancy, advertise his vacancy and recruit a new Councillor, or leave the place vacant.

Following discussion, it was agreed to co-opt a new member. Anne asked everyone to submit their suggestions at the next meeting.