After exactly thirteen years as Chair of Kirknewton Community Council Hugh Hunter Gordon will resign and step down as a Community Councillor today.

An election will take place at tonight’s Kirknewton Community Council for a new Chair.  Community Councillors are eligible to vote.  The election will be by Single Transferable Vote.  Standing for the role will be Frank Lynch, Anne Pinkerton, John Sives and John Thomas.

The Election of Hugh Hunter Gordon in December 2005 was attended by 6 previously serving Councillors, of which three will continue as elected Councillors today. The Election was not contested.

Amongst matters at that first meeting were a need to understand what was the Kirknewton Community Association, a request to change the timing of meetings, the circulation of email addresses for ease of correspondence, the establishment of a charitable body to receive, manage and control money received from the successful pursuit of the social justice campaign surrounding the failure of the Kaimes landfill site to be operated legally, control of planning requests within the conservation village and a discussion about the railway level-crossing.

The Gala had not been staged and the management of the Village Hall was in some difficulties.

Hugh was instrumental in achieving two elections for the Community Council, the last having 27 people stand for 18 places.

In his resignation letter he noted the efforts of those that were engaged then and those that have become involved since then, allied to the achievement in obtaining substantial Lottery support for many years, having together enabled the Kirknewton Community to regain its vibrancy and become engaged in a diverse range of activities and participation.

The last community consultation in 2015 had ‘community spirit’ as being the reason they liked living in Kirknewton.  The previous consultation the reason had been ‘location’.

Hugh went on to say, “I am immensely grateful for having been allowed to play a tiny part in this change. I am completely confident that today there is the energy, the competences and the enthusiasms to go strongly forward.”

We’d like to pass on our thanks to Hugh for his years of service on the Community Council and no doubt he will continue to help the community in his role as a Board member of the Kirknewton Community Development Trust.

The Kirknewton Community Development Trust Annual General Meeting took place at 7pm on Thursday 6th December in the Green Room.

The meeting agreed the accounts, the auditors for next year, the election of Directors (Martin Hall and Kenny Birch put themselves forward again) and people attending took the opportunity to ask questions direct to the Chair and Board Members on their report.

The report for the year September 2017 to August 2018 is below

It has been a challenging year for the sustainability of the Trust. The refusal by West Lothian Council to grant consent to the Fauch Hill Windfarm and the subsequent rejection of the appeal by the Inquiry Reporter means that we don’t have any substantial continuation of funding now that Big Lottery Scotland funds have come to an end. KCDT lost a minimum of £80,000 in annual revenue from this windfarm. Taken over the lifetime of the project we lost over £2 MILLION and the potential to be a co-owner of a renewable resource in our backyard.

In particular it means we may lose staff early in 2019 who support the wholly voluntary Board of the Trust to ensure that we make things happen and achieve the outcomes of the Community Development Plan.

The next community consultation is due to take place in late 2019/early 2020 and once again we will not have project funds unless we are successful in our fundraising and grant applications. This is becoming increasingly challenging at the moment.  Local authority cuts have forced groups previously funded by local councils to chase the same limited pots of funds as ourselves.

However we continue to move things forward – here is a short summary of what’s being going on.

NEW BOARD MEMBERS
After several years of service to the Community Council and the KCDT Board, Pat Hastings had to resign as she was moving away from the village. We wish Pat all our best wishes for the future.  She was replaced by Caroline Hamilton after a recruitment process, largely due to the skill set we were looking for. Congratulations to Caroline.

CREATING EMPLOYMENT

NEW YOUTH AND VOLUNTEER OFFICER
This year we also became a significant employer in the Village. Laura Bilton left as our Youth and Volunteer Co-ordinator but we were fortunate enough to replace her with Ailsa Meldrum who has been doing a great job developing the role.

COMMUNITY GARDENER AND FUNDRAISING OFFICER
Thanks to the Scottish Government and DTAS Strengthening Communities Fund we were also able to employ Greg Young as our Community Gardener and Debbie Douglas as our Community Fundraiser. These roles continue until March 2019 however, it is expected that funding will be continued for another 12 months although this is not guaranteed. We touch on Greg’s work in the year 2017-2018 below but Debbie has been working away on several applications and initiatives, including the Community Lottery, which we hope to report on at next years AGM.

FINANCE OFFICER CONTINUES
The Board of the Trust has agreed to fund Finance Officer, Stephanie Paterson, to support the Trust, Gala, Village Hall Committee and support the work of our volunteers. We also hope to support cleaners for the Village Hall and Green Room through rental income generated by the two venues.

SUCCESSFUL EVENTS, GREEN ROOM BREAK IN, YOUTH CLUB
In early November 2017 we ran the Kirknewton Fireworks and in late November a very successful Christmas Fair at the Stables. These events raised £4000 for community funds. However this took a considerable amount of staff time to organise so with no guarantees of people being in post and the access issue created by work scheduled on the park pavilion we decided to ‘rest’ the event this year.

It may have been possible to run this event but the break-in at the Green Room meant that staff were facing a difficult task alongside the fundraising and grant applications necessary to help sustain the Trust activities after the Fauch Hill project was rejected.

We continue to run the weekly Youth Club and a big thanks to the Volunteers who give their time every week to ensure we support P7 and S1 children and give them somewhere to go and engage with each other. Thanks to the people who also give up their time and share their skills with the children.

COMMUNITY GARDENER and CHARLES JENCKS PROJECT
Greg, our new Community Gardener, has built a base of repeat customers requiring work in their gardens. He encourages people to recycle their garden waste and gives advice on how to do that (if they don’t do it already).
Gregg has also facilitated hundreds of volunteer hours on the Charles Jencks project at the East End of the village. The Jencks artwork is expected to be completed by spring/summer of 2019 and, as part of the arts grant funding , there is money for a small arts festival and official opening of the work. Charles Jencks has international standing and it is hoped this unique work will encourage visitors to Kirknewton, supporting local
business, increasing tourism and creating employment.

PARK PAVILION
We were consulted by West Lothian Council on the new Pavilion design and we suggested appropriate technology that would deliver a low energy and low maintenance building akin to the Green Room.
Unfortunately much of our advice has apparently been ignored. However we were able to get improvements to the park, improved drainage on the pitch and a commitment to all weather surfaces at the primary school from Council budgets.
It is disappointing to me that a local authority cannot lead in sustainable procurement using public funds and instead chooses to ignore carefully considered and economically viable proposals from the community they claim to have consulted.

HILLHOUSE PARK
This is our proposal to build Seven Houses suitable for Varying Needs at the former Camps Junction site.
Staffing issues and resource implications meant our chosen development partner, Almond Housing, were unable to continue the development of this project adding substantially to the delay into its delivery.
We are currently working with a local architect, Euan Robertson. We have just commissioned a QS and are we working with a consultant from Rural Housing Scotland to complete our Rural Housing Grant for early next year (an application for funding in the region of £500,000).
Horizon Housing, who helped us to elaborate an elegant interior layout design suitable for Varying Needs, will manage the properties and the tenant allocations. The houses will be warm and will cost little to heat and light.

CAMILTY WINDFARM
The windfarm at Camilty now owned by EDF has had its application for six larger turbines approved. EDF have approached us through the Forestry Commission to discuss community benefit and community investment in this project. We expect this will be our last opportunity to invest in a local renewable energy project.

AND FINALLY…..

Thanks to you all for engaging with this Trust and the local community during the last twelve months. Without your ongoing support and guidance we would not be as strong and as well regarded as we apparently are!

Stewart McKenna
Chair. KCDT

Got a question?  Use the postcards in the shop and pharmacy and your question will go to the Community Council.  Here is the answer to your last set of questions that went to the meeting on Thursday 8th November.  Thank you for your questions.

Community Lottery

There should be posters up after the draw to let people know who won, how much and where the other half of the money is being spent.  Not everyone is on Facebook.
Answer: This will be actioned. Names can only be given with the
agreement of the winner.

Good idea having other prizes as well as main cash prize in lottery.
Answer: This has been done with a donation. Will remain under consideration.

Village Hall
There should be a list of contacts names/number outside village hall and Green Room for new bookings.

Key holder should be there to show how light and everything works.

Good idea to have a leaflet detailing how the hall works and what happens when handing it back (cleaning etc.)

We hired the hall last night and needed to heat up food to find the cooker had been condemned which was a huge inconvenience.

Improvements to Village Hall – There is no storage for Mini & Me items. We run weekly and have been advised that we have to clear away our items from the kitchen. We would like outdoor space in the back to store them.

Toilets also need fixed, usually out of order, toilet seats not attached, never any hand rolls in the toilet.

General cleanliness is awful. Fire guards not fixed to the wall (complained many times). Inside windows are dirty.

Answer: The hall is look after by a sub- committee and they will be meeting ASAP and the comments and complaints will be fully discussed and reviewed. Further information will follow after the meeting.

Miscellaneous

Be useful to have a leaflet detailing shop hours and informing of other shops/services in area to give to new residents.
Answer: This is being collated and information on the result will be announced ASAP

Why are buses coming 2 at a time
Answer: This is a matter between the operating companies and West Lothian Council. Elected West Lothian Councillors hold regular meetings in the village. Details available in Green Room and Festival Stores.

Is there any chance of getting some traffic mirrors put up at the garage on the junction exiting Forth View due to vans etc. parking on the double yellow lines the view can be restricted.
Answer: This is being investigated.

Hole on pavement next to Pharmacy – please fix.
Answer: Reported to fix my street. West Lothian Council visited and passed to Scottish Water as it is their manhole that is causing the problem.

Who runs the neighbourhood watch and what is being done about all the vandalism to cars.

Answer: One of the Community Councillors is dealing with is through the National Neighbourhood Watch. Discussions will also be held with the Police. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT ALL CONCERNS MUST BE REPORTED TO THE POLICE ON 101 OR IF NECESSARY ON 999

What has the Community Council achieved in the last year
Answer: Copies of the minutes of the meetings will be made available.
Brief summary: Major planning Communication exercise completed for proposed Humbie Development, Bus Stop replaced at The Inn, new Dog waste bin replaced in the park, representation made re proposed park and ride at railway station, grants obtained from West Lothian Council for Senior Citizen activities – more details later, introductions of ongoing communication by the use of the communication cards.
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Is there a difference between the Community Council and the Trust
These are two separately constituted organisations. Community Councillors elected by the community. A joint meeting has been arranged for November and further clarification will follow.
The Kirknewton Community Development Trust has a Board of volunteer Directors from the community, is registered as a charity and limited company, registered with the charity regulator OSCr and can be contacted through the Green Room.

RESULTS FOR OCTOBER 2018

Draw one: Ticket sales (over three weeks)
– Lesley Barr won £336

Draw two: 
– Tracy Troy won £236

Draw three: 
– Andy Campbell won £202

Draw four:
– Gary Daniell won £182

Draw five:
– Alan Dourley won £206

Kirknewton Playgroup got £240 for a new easel
Kirknewton Gala will receive £150 towards the brass band for the Christmas
procession
Boxcir will receive £90 for new gloves
Kirknewton Primary School will receive £185 for some new loose play equipment.

If you want funds from the Kirknewton Community Lottery please e mail infokirknewton@gmail.com with name, group, what funds are required and why and how much.

Buy your ticket at Festival Stores by 7pm every Monday or set up a monthly standing order – e mail infokirknewton@gmail.com for details.

The CAA appear to have rejected Edinburgh Airport Limited’s proposal, including the flightpath that would have sent turboprops low over Kirknewton and East Calder.

It is likely that the airport will now need to genuinely consult communities using realistic flight numbers and noise assessments under a new Airspace Change procedure. In the latter stages of the current process, it was alleged that the noise projections for Edinburgh were simply a copy of projections for Gatwick!

The Edinburgh Airport Noise Advisory Board has made a substantial contribution to ensuring the CAA was aware of the flaws in Edinburgh Airport Limited’s facts and figures. It’s made up of volunteer community councillors from across the region.

This work was taken forward by the Kirknewton Community Council following an approach by concerned residents about the increase in noise pollution from aeroplanes flying from Edinburgh Airport about two years ago.

Full CAA letter here.

Well done to the Yarnbombers, Kirknewton Brownies, youth groups and community crafters who have marked 100 years since the end of World War One with knitted poppies and displays across the village.  Amazing job.

Don’t forget the annual Remembrance Service and procession to the war memorial from the Church on Sunday 11th November at 9.45am.

Expect traffic delays during the time of the procession.

• We are meeting two representatives from the lottery on 16th November in the Green Room to review, assist and develop our recent application for funding for a new project which takes what we have built on over the last five years and enhances it.
• The Green Room break in caused over £5000 of damage and not all of that can be recovered under insurance, largely affecting the Youth Club.