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Royal Burgh of Crail and District 

Community Council 

Crail Community Council

Monday, 27th November 2023 at 7.15 pm 

Crail Town Hall, Marketgate South, Crail, KY10 3TL 

Welcome and apologies.

Present

Chair; David Jerdan (DJ), Max Taylor (MT)), Colin Morrison (CM), Linda Sneddon (LS), Fiona Budd (FB), Jenni Brittain (JB) Catriona Mann (CMa)

And 4 members of the public including Dennis Gowans (DG) for CCP.

Apologies – Andrew Purves (AP) Cllr Fiona Corps (Cllr FC), Cllr Sean Dillon (Cllr SD)

 Cllr Alycia Hayes (Cllr AH),

Minutes of meeting held on 30th October 2023 approved.

Minutes and Agenda to go on Community Council website (JB)

Action Summary

– Blocked drains – St Andrews Road – Cllr SD no action

– Meeting with officials regarding harbour issues – Cllr SD no action

– Rectification of badly installed entrance signs – Cllr SD work in progress

– Stagecoach ticket pricing – Cllr SD – response in Cllr SD report, see below. 

Chairman’s Report

  1. There was an extremely noisy and intrusive motor event at Crail airfield on Saturday 4th November. Complaints have been lodged. 
  2. I have been in touch with Colin Davidson at Fife Council grounds maintenance and the uncut grass below Castle Walk and at Roome bay will be attended to as and when weather conditions permit. 
  3. There have been several road flooding issues during this month with requests for the road drains to be unblocked and cleaned, to no effect whatsoever. This has resulted in flooding and inconvenience and potential damage being much worse than need be. 
  4. I submitted a complaint about the condition of the B940 between St. Andrew’s Rd and Anstruther Rd, and the need for this road to be resurfaced. 
  5. There was land slippage at the side of the coastal path between Roome Bay and Castle Walk on 15th November. It has been closed on safety grounds. 
  6. There was more vandalism, by primary school age children, in Denburn Wood, earlier in the month. Large stones and logs rolled into the burn. CPS have written to the headmistress. 

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer’s Report. Bank balance £4,157.43 (Unrestricted £1,657.43 Restricted £2,500.00).

One transaction donation of £500 from Crail Ceramics (Pottery) for playpark and therefore added to restricted Funds.

Update – Crail Community Partnership

Local place-plan the most significant item for discussion, an agenda item (see below)

Items for Discussion

Common Good Fund

The application for funding staff at the Community Hall has gone to a meeting 5th Dec. Officials are supportive and outlook is good. Questions about how the money would be managed were answered. Monies would be paid in arears and not up front.

Questions about the management of the funds is still an outstanding issue and is being dealt with by Cllr AH

Common Good exhibition to be set up in the museum to explain the history of the Common Good fund with a possible talk, dates tbc

Local Place plan update

Community Council formally endorse and approves in favour of the Local Place Plan. Partnership planning sub-committee to be congratulated and thanked for the excellent document they have produced.

Fife Councillors response to complaints and problems

No councillors available at the meeting to answer long list of outstanding/unresolved issues

  • Failed streetlights – Offical complaint led to FC installing a temporary lamp on the corner of Marketgate/Kirkwynd. Other streetlights are still out.
  • St Andrew Road Drains
  • Harbour Meeting – assistance maybe available for the benefit of businesses at the harbour.
  • Entrance signs
  • Clock tower

Suggest the CC publish a definitive list of issues and how to report them in social media. A spreadsheet of issues, who to complain to, and the status of the complaint noted. Some accountability has to be called out.

Response to complaints is currently unsatisfactory. Fife council employees, according to CC constitution, must make themselves available when asked to attend to answer issues. It may be worth testing this theory. A call to go out for an official to attend the next CC meeting to answer questions about the harbour.

Formal complaints must be legally responded to within a time limit.

Coastal Path

Has become a much bigger problem since recent storms. It is possible that the path will be permanently closed. A local owner may be approachable to widen the path, this is a short-term measure and doesn’t make the path any safer. Ownership of the path is a legal mine field and is a problem happening up and down the coast.

‘Save our Coastline’ article for Crail Matters. (CM)

North Marketgate access improvements

Problem with the gravel on the slop in front of the church. Meeting with FC; the solution is to put in a tarmac entrance. Quote has come in for £10.000 + another £2000 for patching.

1. Is it worth doing? Canvas the views of Marketgate North residents. Before negotiations with FC 

2. Who pays for it?  Proposed to share the costs 50/50 FC and Common Good. It is common good land.

Fife Councillors Reports

Cllr S Dillion

St Andrews Road Drains:

  • The council’s Road Operations team is aware of the request to have these drains cleared. I am informed that they are currently prioritising ditches and culverts but I am continuing to chase this up.

Harbour Meeting:

  • I have spoken to Rick Haynes of the council’s Harbours Service about holding a meeting to discuss issues that the community council continue to raise about the harbour area. Unfortunately, he and his team are unable to attend any such meeting in the near future due to their current workload. I did give him the list of issues provided by the community council and he has provided information regarding each point which I will share in a separate document.

New Entrance Signs:

  • The council has acknowledged that the signs were incorrectly installed and I am awaiting a date for the team to correct their mistake. An officer is making a site visit to review the placement of the 20mph which has been obstructed by the new signs.

Stagecoach Pricing List:

  • The council has taken this up with Stagecoach and I have been informed that a technical problem had prevented the price of individual journeys from being shown on their website. This has now been rectified and Stagecoach are working to include individual journey prices on their mobile app. I am also told that bus drivers are to receive better training regarding fares.

Crail Town Hall Clock Tower:

  • Since the last meeting of the community council, planning and listed building consent for the clock tower has approved. The council’s Building Service is now proceeding with manufacturing and installation of the new windows that are expected to be completed this side of Christmas, weather permitting. With regards to how this will be funded, I am informed that this will not be taken from the Common Good Fund but rather the council’s Capital Budget. 

Dropped Kerb Stones:

  • I have spoken to officers regarding dropping kerbs to make them more accessible. They inform me that the High Street area was looked at a few years ago but it was not progressed at that time because it was felt that any improvements would be difficult due to the width and camber of the roads in the village. However, they are happy to take another look and would be interested in the community council’s views as to where kerbs should be dropped. If you could discuss this tonight and let me know, I would be most appreciative.
  • It should be noted, however, that resources have been fully allocated for this financial year, therefore, it would be April at the earliest, before any improvements could be made.

Bollards:

  • I have made enquiries regarding the installation of bollards across from the Co-op. I am currently waiting for a council officer to carry out a site visit and assessment and will update the community council once this has been carried out.

Area Roads Programme 2024/25

  • As I stated at last month’s meeting, council officers are holding meetings with elected members at the beginning of December to discuss the proposed Area Roads Programme for the financial year 2024/25. I asked at the last meeting that members came to tonight’s meeting with suggestions of roads and pavements in Crail that are in need of repair. Again, if you could discuss this and pass any suggestions on to me.

Bus Services Survey:

AOCB

DONM – Mon 29th January 2024 – Crail Town Hall 7.15pmMatters Arising:

  • Blocked drains – St Andrews Road – Cllr SD)
  • Meeting with officials regarding harbour issues – Cllr SD
  • Rectification of badly installed entrance signs – Cllr SD
  • Stagecoach ticket pricing – Cllr SD
  • Contact a disability charity to carry out a risk assessment for disabled citizens moving around Crail, to better inform where repairs or dropped kerbs are most needed.
  • Canvas the views of Marketgate North re views of improvements to Kirk entrance.

Appendix 1

Responses from Rick Haynes Regarding Crail Harbour

Monday, 27th of November 2023

Control of Vehicle Access to the Harbour:

  • Network Management have proposed signage, this is the best we can do as the location context limits more physical barriers.

Erection of a Water Fountain:

  • This is the responsibility of Scottish Water.

Provision of Water to Wash Boats:

  • This is not a priority for the Harbour Service at the moment. The service’s resources have been allocated to more urgent projects.

Frequency of Dredging:

  • Crail harbour is currently being assessed for when it will be subjected to dredging. There is currently no timeline for this at present but when this becomes available it will be shared.

Renovation of the Harbour Master’s House:

  • Fife Council are in the process of making this building safe prior to selling the asset. There are no proposals for renovating it before the sale.

Tourism Map:

  • If the community council would like to have a tourism map installed, it is likely that this will require planning permission and listed building consent. The cost of this project would have to found by the community council.