STRATHDEARN COMMUNITY COUNCIL – RESPONSE TO THE PETITION
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, made provision for the continuation of Community Councils. The Highland Council’s Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils in Highland (updated September 2019) includes the following two paragraphs:
“The general purpose of Community Councils is to act as a voice for their local area. This will involve them articulating the views and concerns of local people in their area on a wide range of issues of public concern and making representations to the Highland Council, other
public sector bodies and private agencies on matters within their sphere of interest.”
“Community Councils have a duty under statute to represent the views of their local community. It is essential that these views are demonstrated to be representative of the community and that they reflect the broad spectrum of opinion and interests of all sections of the community.”
The Community Council’s response to statement 1: The lack of consultation about the major revisions to the plans for the work being carried out along the road heading south from the community Hub to Juniper Drive including the installation of infrastructure for street lighting.
The term of the current Community Council started in January 2020 after an election held in December 2019. Personnel changes since then have been by co-options and by an interim election in January 2022. Since the inaugural meeting in January 2020, the minutes show that there was no specific agenda item for the Paths Project at any meeting, but that the Community Council was updated on the project’s progress by the Strathdearn Community Development’s representative at meetings. There was no mention of any information being received from the Highland Council. They further show that there was no specific mention of the details of the original specifications or of any changes. There is no record of any questions from the public until recently, with discussion being first noted at the July 2022 meeting. Comments at previous meetings concerned the safety of pedestrians, especially children, along the road in winter. Street lighting is not mentioned in the minutes until the 28th of June 2022 meeting. Since this Community Council was not informed about the original
specifications or of any changes, nor was it asked to provide them, it was unable to facilitate any consultations.
The Community Council’s response to statement 2: The length of time the work is taking, and the disruption caused.
The Community Council shares the community’s concerns about the length of time the work has taken, and the disruption caused. The minutes show that the site manager was invited to be present at both the meeting on 12th April and that on 28th July to engage with the public. The robust discussion that took place in July showed that the public were not satisfied with his explanations. In their deliberations on the topics raised, the Community Councillors felt that many of the petitioners’ complaints were justified.
The Community Council’s response to statement 3: The specification of work and materials.
Since the minutes show the current Community Councillors were not privy to the specification of work and materials, nor to any changes they cannot comment. However, they do consider the workmanship to be poor.
