This meeting is planned to take place in the Maxwell Hall.
Members of the public are welcome to attend, however to enable us to plan the seating arrangements and provide details of Covid-19 control measures to be applied, please notify the secretary, Sheila at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday 24th January 2021. If members oi the public do not register an interest in attending, then we may not be able to allow entrance to the meeting.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Declarations of interest
3. Police Report
4. Minutes of the last meeting
5. Matters arising from the minutes
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Correspondence
8. Website/ Social Media update
9. Planning Applications
10. Any other competent business

Next Meeting: Wednesday 24 February 2021.

1. Present and apologies for absence:-

Community Councillors :- Mr. Douglas Ballantyne (Treasurer), Mr. Paul Carrigan, Mx. Jen Hendry, Mr. Richard McElrea, Mr. Jock McMaster, Mrs. Barbara Mellor, Mr. Steve Mellor, Mr. Peter Smellie (Chairman), Mrs. Sheila Smellie (Secretary)

Members of the Public :-  Mrs. Jacqueline Crowther

Elected member:-  Mr. Jim McColm

Apologies for absence :- Mrs. Katie Hagmann, Mr. David Inglis, Mrs. Jackie McCamon

2. There were no declarations of interest.

3. The Police Report was received by email and summarised by the Secretary. A report of a vulnerable person on the coastline on 29^th October had been investigated.  Port William Primary School had problems relating to parking at the beginning and end of the school day, and a plan of action has been agreed.

Police Scotland have created a website publicising internet scams and cyber crime :-

https://cyberscotlandweek.com/news-database/bulletinnovember2020

A Scam Share Bulletin Link has been circulated by Trading Standards Scotland :-

https://mailchi. mp/d6a0935ad750/scam-share

4. The Minutes of the last meeting were accepted and signed (Proposed by Douglas and seconded by Jock)

5. Matters Arising:-

The Chairman attended Jim Gray’s funeral to represent the Community Council.

Street lights:-  A response has been received from D & G.  ‘The light is an ornate type which cannot be repaired’.  The Chairman has notified Katie Hagmann who has been dealing with this.  Jim McColm suggested that D&G should be approached and requested to replace the lights.

The Man has been made solid.

D & G have removed the broken bench from Second Sands.

The Marine Plan for Offshore Energy:- The plan relating to the SW1 area has not been progressed due to strong and consistent opposition from local residents.

The wreath for Remembrance Sunday was laid although the occasion was not officially endorsed.

Barbara has difficulties in accessing local details of COVID19.  Jen explained how the website functioned.

6. Treasurer’s Report:- The bank balance stands at £1971.67. Payments have been made for Christmas lights, insurance for Harbour Green and AssistIT for the website.  The Community Council discretionary grant will be applied for.

7. Correspondence;- The request for support from ‘Galloway without Pylons’ against the new pylon line  between Glenlee and Tongland had been previously discussed by the Community Council and support for the opposition had been withheld. The new request may be discussed at the January 2021 meeting.
8. Website/Social media:- AsssistIT from Stranraer will continue to support the website for the coming year.
9. There were no local planning applications.
10. Any other business:-

Jim McColm requested feedback on the new waste collection system.  He confirmed that smaller bins are available, and a problem was discussed relating to the relevance and practicality of the bins to the many holiday cottages in the area.

Barbara reported that the community bin at DG8 9QR is missing a wheel.  Jim McColm will make enquiries.

There are four street lights out in the Main Street at Monreith.

Recent high tides have brought in a lot of stones at Second Sands which will impede grass cutting when the time comes.  D & G will be notified.

A problem has arisen in the turning area at Kings Green with puddles etc.  Jock will look into this.

The meeting ended at 20:10.

The next meeting is Wednesday  27th January 2021 at 7:30 pm in the Maxwell Hall.

This meeting is planned to take place in the Maxwell Hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend, however to enable us to plan the seating arrangements and provide details of Covid-19 control measures to be applied, please notify the secretary, Sheila at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday 22 November 2020. If members oi the public do not register an interest in attending, then we may not be able to allow entrance to the meeting.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Declarations of interest
3. Police Report
4. Minutes of the last meeting
5. Matters arising from the minutes
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Correspondence
8. Website/ Social Media update
9. Planning Applications
10. Any other competent business

Next Meeting: Wednesday 27 January 2021

The Chairman opened the meeting with a report that Mr. Jim Gray had passed away suddenly on Monday 26th October. He was Treasurer to the Community Council for many years, and also Treasurer to the Community Association and Bowling Club. His contributions and dedication to the village will be greatly missed. A card of condolence will be sent.

1. Present and Apologies for Absence: –
   Community Councillors: – Mr. Douglas Ballantyne (Treasurer), Mr. Paul Carrigan, Mr. Richard McElrea, Mr. Jock McMaster, Mrs. Barbara Mellor, Mr. Steve Mellor, Mrs. Sheila Smellie (Secretary), Mr. Peter Smellie (Chairman)
   Members of the Public: – Mx. Jen Hendry
   Apologies for Absence: – Mrs. Katie Hagmann, Mr. David Inglis, Mrs. Jackie McCamon, Mr. Jim McColm
2. There were no declarations of interest.
3. The Police Report was received by email and summarised by the Secretary as arrests in September and October for contraventions of the Criminal Justice (Licensing) Scotland Act 2010. Police Scotland are currently targeting fuel theft and recommending lockable tanks and general security actions. Jen and Barbara requested copies of this.
4. The Minutes of the last meeting were accepted and signed.
5. Matters Arising: –
   The telephone box at Elrig: – Feedback was requested by D & G by 2nd October. This was provided (many thanks to Jen). D & G held their meeting on 1st October. Feedback is awaited from Kerry Monteith with an explanation and indication of the next steps.
   Street lighting: – The harbour lights are now working. Report is due from D & G on 10th November on the remaining village lights.
   Compound in the harbour: – The planning application dated 2nd October 2020 is awaiting Listed Buildings Consent. As soon as it is approved the work will be carried out. The harbour will be painted in the summer of 2021.
   Marine Plan for Offshore Energy: – The report has moved to the Government. The update provided online shows throughout the country strong consistent support came from the energy producers. In the SW1 area (Luce Bay/ The Mull) it was strongly opposed with 321 objections, this being many more than other designated areas.
6. Treasurer’s Report:- Carscreugh Renewable Energy Plant (Wind farm):- £2605.70 was received from Foundation Scotland and passed on to the applicants:- Maxwell Hall Management £1,000, Port William Community Association £850, Gardeners Group £200, Port William Community Council £555.70.
   The Treasurer applied for discretionary grants from D & G for Christmas trees and decorations for Port William, Elrig, Mochrum and Monreith. The trees have been ordered by the Community Association.
   £35 has been paid to Mrs. Moira Adams for a Remembrance Day wreath.
   There are no secretarial expenses.
7. Correspondence: – The notice of footpath diversion at Kennels Cottage, Monreith Estate, was received and circulated to councillors. No objections were raised to the plan, and it was agreed to confirm this to D&G Council and to publicise locally.
8. There were no bookings for the Harbour Green.
9. The scheme for Establishment of Community Councils was acknowledged and signed on behalf of the Community Council by the Chairman, Peter, and Treasurer, Douglas.
10. As previously notified, Jen Hendry of Elrig had been proposed by Douglas and seconded by Paul for co-option onto the Community Council. Jen confirmed that she was happy to stand as a co-opted member, and there being no objections to the motion was passed unanimously, and Jen was elected.
    A formal nomination form had been received from D&G at 18:00 on the day of the meeting. This required Jen and Douglas to provide details and a signature and for the form to be returned to D&G.
11. Website/social media update: – Jen reported that the website is not up to date – items are missing or are out of date. Jen agreed to perform a survey of the site and report back to Peter to action with Andy Lund.
12. There are no new planning applications.
13. Any Other Business: –
    Barbara was concerned about COVID in the area and lack of information. Jen has found a website which breaks the numbers down by ward which she will pass on.
    Steve reported that the post by the Man is loose. It was suggested that this had been rectified, but will be checked for stability. There is a Statue Fund run by Port William Community Association to whom this should be reported should it prove to be loose.
    The Treasurer reported a bench at Second Sands has collapsed. Richard and Jock will assess the problem.
    Mrs. Jacqueline Crowther reported online about the rescue of a grey seal pup at Second Sands by Louise De Lisle and Duncan MacFarlane which has been taken to a Sea Life Rescue Centre in Glasgow. Many thanks to them.
    Public toilets in Port William: – with effect from Monday 2nd November the public toilets will be open 24 hours a day. During this summer they have been locked and unlocked by Simon Lynch at Port William Hardware to whom thanks are extended.

The meeting ended at 20:20.
The next meeting is Wednesday 25th November 2020 in the Maxwell Hall.

1. Present and Apologies for Absence:-
   Community Councillors:- Mr. Douglas Ballantyne (Treasurer), Mr. Paul Carrigan, Mr. Richard McElrea, Mr. Jock McMaster, Mrs. Barbara Mellor, Mr. Steve Mellor, Mrs. Sheila Smellie (Secretary), Mr. Peter Smellie (Chairman)
   Members of the Public:- Mx Jen Hendry
   Apologies for Absence:- Mrs. Katie Hagmann, Mr. David Inglis, Mrs. Jackie McCamon, Mr. Jim McColm.
2. The Minutes of the AGM held Wednesday 29th May 2019, having been previously circulated, were approved, and signed by the Chairman.
3. There were no matters arising.
4. Chairman’s Report

The Chairman’s Report had been previously circulated, but he added a welcome to Steve and Barbara Mellor as Community Councillors.

Even though the AGM is being held in October 2020, it will cover the ‘normal’ Community Council year from May 2019 to May 2020. Not that anything has been normal this year.
The declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, and the subsequent lockdown prevented the assembly of people over the following months. An attempt to hold the event on line in September had to be aborted due to technical issues.

The lockdown with its self-isolation requirement for a significant number of our residents triggered a response from the local Resilience Group, led by Shaun Dodds and Davina Kiltie, who organised volunteers to assist those at risk, whether by collecting shopping or prescriptions, or just by having a chat. I would like to pass on the thanks of the Community Council to all of those involved. The actions of the Resilience Group were supported financially by Dumfries and Galloway Council who provided the Community Council with £493.30 from its ‘COVID-19 Community Resilience Hardship Fund Allocation’, which was passed onto the local group to aid their efforts. I would also like to extend our thanks to the key workers in the area, whose efforts enabled a degree of normality to be maintained.

A second major change came with the October Community Council elections which saw many of our long-standing colleagues not seeking re-election. I would like to thank those retiring councillors, Anne Highman, Hilary Pavitt, Susan Windle, Jim and Jenni Gray, for their individual contributions over the years, and in the cases of Anne, Jenni and Jim as office bearers to the Community Council. To continue this valedictory section, Pauline Watkins resigned in January and Peter Williams, the voice of Elrig, passed away in April 2020. Again, thanks are given for their contributions.

The October election did not proceed smoothly, as three nomination forms posted from Port William were not received at the D&G Council offices in Stranraer. This was not known until after the closing date for nominations, and the Community Council set about rectifying the situation by means of a procedure known as a ‘Casual Vacancy Election’. While this procedure successfully ensured that the elected members were increased from five to nine, the method of achieving that result was not a smooth one, leading to the Community Council submitting a report and recommendations to Dumfries and Galloway Council, who subsequently included many of the points made by Port William into a constitutional review over the summer of 2020.

The Community Council continued to allocate the Wind Farm funds from Carscreugh Renewable Energy Park Limited, and managed by Foundation Scotland from Gatehouse of Fleet, and this year almost £2600 was distributed to six local voluntary organisations.

The departure of Hilary Pavitt from the Community Council has led to a change in the management of the Port William website, which has been passed to Assist-IT design services in Stranraer, who revamped the look and feel of the website and manage the documents published.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the workings of Port William and District Community Council, namely the police representatives, the D&G elected members, D&G Council officers for their advice and the members, past and present, of the Community Council, but especially to Douglas for keeping the numbers in order and Sheila for her behind the scenes work.

5. The Financial Statement and Treasurer’s Report had been previously circulated and the Treasurer thanked Audrey Kevan for auditing the books. In summary the closing accounts stood at £774.74 in the Treasurer’s account and £685.24 in the Village Improvements Fund.
6. Election of Office Bearers:-
   The Chairman stood down and was replaced temporarily by Jock. Peter was then re-proposed by Barbara and seconded by Paul, there being no other candidates, Peter was re-elected. He resumed the chair.
   The Treasurer stood down and was proposed for re-election by Richard and seconded by Jock. There being no other candidates, Douglas was elected as Treasurer.
   The Secretary stood down and was proposed for re-election by Barbara and seconded by Jock. There being no other candidates, Sheila was elected as Secretary.
7. Other positions:-
   1. Press Secretary – Sheila agreed to continue in this role
   2. Planning Applications monitoring – Paul agreed to continue in this role
   3. Wind farm administration – Peter agreed to continue in this role
   4. Website liaison with Andy Lund of Assist-IT – Peter agreed to continue.
8. Any other business :-
   It was agreed that ordinary meetings of the Community Council would be held the last Wednesday of each month, excluding December and August, in the Maxwell Hall. Jock enquired whether that was sufficiently frequent to fulfil the requirements of the Scheme for Establishment. Peter replied in the affirmative, confirming that the minimum number of meetings to be held in the financial year 2020/ 2021 was 5 ordinary meetings and an AGM. The financial year ends at the end of March 2021, two ordinary meetings had been held in September and October 2020 and there were four more dates available at the end of November 2020 and January to March 2021.
   The meeting ended at 19:40.

AGM for 2020-2021 planned for Wednesday 26th May 2021.

Draft Agenda for meeting to be held at 7:45 pm on 28th October 2020 in the Maxwell Hall

NB this meeting will follow on from the Annual General Meeting which commences at 7:30 pm
This meeting is planned to take place in the Maxwell Hall.
Members of the public are welcome to attend, however to enable us to plan the seating arrangements and provide details of Covid-19 control measures to be applied, please notify the secretary, Sheila at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday 25 October 2020. If members oi the public do not register an interest in attending, then we may not be able to allow entrance to the meeting.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Declarations of interest
3. Police Report
4. Minutes of the last meeting- 30 September 2020
5. Matters arising from the minutes
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Correspondence
8. Bookings for Harbour Green
9. Sign off of the October 1 2020 version of the ‘Scheme for Establishment of Community Councils in Dumfries and Galloway’
10. Notice of Co-option for Jen Hendry, Carberry Cottage, 22A Main Street, Elrig, Port William, DG8 9RD, electoral roll number 02J1/483 (old style), 451.000 (new style). Proposed by Douglas Ballantyne and Seconded by Paul Carrigan.
11. Website/ Social Media update
12. Planning Applications
13. Any other competent business

Next Meeting: Wednesday 25th November 2020, 7:30 pm Maxwell Hall.

Agenda for AGM to be held at 7:30 pm on 28 October 2020 at the Maxwell Hall

This meeting is planned to take place in the Maxwell Hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend, however to enable us to plan the seating arrangements and provide details of Covid-19 control measures to be applied, please notify the secretary, Sheila at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday 25 October 2020. If members oi the public do not register an interest in attending, then we may not be able to allow entrance to the meeting.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Minutes of AGM held on 29 May 2019
3. Matters arising from the minutes
4. Chairman’s Report
5. Financial Statement and Treasurer’s Report
6. Election of Office Bearers

a. Chairman
b. Treasurer
c. Secretary

7. Other positions

a. Press Secretary- currently Sheila Smellie
b. Planning Application monitoring- currently Paul Carrigan
c. Wind Farm administration- currently Peter Smellie
d. Website liaison with Andy Lund- currently Peter Smellie

8. Any other business

Draft Minutes of Meeting held on Wednesday 30th September 2020

1. Present and Apologies for Absence:-

Community Councillors:- Mr. Douglas Ballantyne (Treasurer) Mr. Paul Carrigan, Mr. Richard McElrea, Mr. Jock McMaster, Mrs. Sheila Smellie (Secretary), Mr. Peter Smellie (Chairman)
Members of the public:- Mrs. Jacqueline Crowther, Mx. Jen Hendry
Apologies for absence:- Mr. Steve and Ms. Barbara Mellor, Mrs. Katie Hagmann, Mr. David Inglis, Mrs. Jacky McCammon

2. Declarations of Interest:- Item 12 Peter and Douglas expressed an interest.
3. No Police Report
4. The Minutes of the last meeting were accepted and signed.
5. Matters Arising:-
Jaqueline asked for news on the Marine Plan for Offshore Energy. Peter said the project has moved on to the next stage, but no further news.
Due to pressure of work Jaqueline has withdrawn from the single plastics campaign.

Street lighting:- Douglas reported eight street light failures in Port William – 5 by the harbour, 2 in the square and 1 outside Maxwell Hall.

6. Treasurer’s Report:- Douglas reported £1612.77 in the bank, being £909.97 village improvements and £702.80 treasurer’s fund. £493.90 was received from Dumfries and Galloway Council from the COVID resilience fund, passed on to the Community Association Resilience Group for administration. 46 households benefitted and 25 volunteers covered 2982 miles.

7. Review of online AGM of 23/09/20:- All councillors present attempted to attend the meeting, but Paul and Jock were unable to access it. As no quorum was achieved it had to be aborted, and due to COVID restrictions it will not be possible to visit the homes to attempt to assist with configuration issues. The Community Council is not in favour of continuing with online meetings. It is necessary to hold five meetings plus the AGM per annum to avoid the potential to be ‘deemed to be dissolved’ .
For the record Peter had recorded the events of the evening

Time – Event
19:20 – Jock contacted Peter stating unable to connect. Peter logged on successfully.
19:25 – Douglas joined the meeting
19:30 – Jen Hendry joined the meeting
19:30 – Douglas contacted Richard by phone. Richard attempting to connect
19:30 – Sheila joined the meeting on a separate connection to Peter
19.30 – Meeting not quorate, so Peter Jen and Douglas engaged in conversation
20:00 – Jim McColm joined the meeting; situation explained to him and he logged off
20:10 – Richard joined the meeting having sorted out his technical issues
Thursday 24/09/20- Paul confirmed to Peter that he had not been able to connect.

8. Correspondence:- There has been a large reduction in unnecessary emails, maybe due to COVID.
The scheme for establishment of community councils has been amended for the second time in two months. Formal sign off will be required at the next meeting of the October 1 version.
Road reports are advised by D & G on a weekly basis.

An email was received from Corsock and Kirkpatrick Durham Community Council regarding forestry development in the area, where no planning permission is required. The Council supports notification of planned replanting but was concerned about its lack of knowledge of the remainder of the proposals. An e-mail confirming the limited support will be sent to Corsock and Kirkpatrick.

9. There are no bookings for Harbour Green.
10. Website/social media is being run by Andy Lund in Stranraer who has sent through various enquiries that have been dealt with.
11. Planning applications:-
The removal of the telephone box in Elrig – Jen has organised a survey in Elrig, feedback from which is due 2nd October. There is no mobile signal in Elrig.
Elrig Eggs received retrospective planning permission for a Biomass heating system.

12. Carscreugh Renewable Energy Plan (Wind Farm) grant applications.
After 6 years this is the firsts year the fund has not been oversubscribed. Interest is declared by Douglas and Peter on behalf of the Maxwell Hall and Jock and Richard on behalf of the Community Association. The Community Association applied for £500 – £850 has been granted. The Community Council has been granted £250 for seating at the Kings Green playpark, The Gardeners’ Group applied for £90 – £200 has been granted for replacement planters. Maxwell Hall Management applied for £700 – £1000 has been granted for curtains and sound insulation. About £400 is unallocated but will be retained by the Community Council to fund the maintenance of Garnets Walk, a Core Path.

13. Any other business:-
Jaqueline introduced the subject of polystyrene fish boxes and other equipment in the harbour. Planning permission has been approved for a compound to store these items but has not been actioned. A letter will be written to the Harbourmaster in Kirkcudbright on this account and enquiring about painting the harbour wall.

Co-options:- Jen Hendy from Elrig was proposed by Douglas and seconded by Paul and accepted by the Community Councillors present She will be co-opted at the next meeting following the statutory notification in the Agenda.
Garnets Walk:- In the summer, some contributions to social media commented on the difficulty of access to the path. Volunteers were requested and 8 people attended with strimmers and secateurs, followed by Jock with his ‘Jungle Buster’. Jock will check its current condition.
Climate Emergency:- Peter is undertaking a course. Jaqueline expressed an interest.

The meeting ended at 21:00.

The next meeting is 25th November 2020

Agenda for AGM to be held at 7:30 pm on 23 September 2020 (Online)

This meeting will be held online using Microsoft Teams.

Members of the public are welcome to attend.

For joining instructions, please contact Sheila via e-mail at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday 20 September 2020.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Minutes of AGM held on 29 May 2019
3. Matters arising from the minutes
4. Chairman’s Report
5. Financial Statement and Treasurer’s Report
6. Election of Office Bearers
   1. Chairman
   2. Vice Chairman
   3. Treasurer
   4. Secretary
7. Other positions
   1. Press Secretary- currently Sheila Smellie
   2. Planning Application monitoring- currently Paul Carrigan
   3. Wind Farm administration- currently Peter Smellie
   4. Website liaison with Andy Lund- currently Peter Smellie
8. Any other business

Draft Agenda for meeting to be held at 7:30 pm on 30th September 2020 in the Maxwell Hall
This meeting is planned to take place in the Maxwell Hall.

Members of the public are welcome to attend, however to enable us to plan the seating arrangements and provide details of Covid-19 control measures to be applied, please notify the secretary, Sheila at secretary.pwcc@gmail.com by Sunday September 27 September 2020. If members oi the public do not register an interest in attending, then we may not be able to allow entrance to the meeting.

1. In attendance/ apologies for absence
2. Declarations of interest
3. Police Report
4. Minutes of the last meeting- 26 February 2020
5. Matters arising from the minutes
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Review of Online AGM
8. Correspondence and updates from members covering the past 6 months.
9. Bookings for Harbour Green
10. Website/ Social Media update
11. Planning Applications
12. Carscreugh Renewable Energy Park- allocation of funds
13. Any other competent business

Next Meeting: Wednesday 28th October 2020, 7:30 pm Maxwell Hall, provisional, may be online.