Present:
John Hay (Chairman), Clifford Bertram (Vice Chairman), Tom Dean (Secretary), Marnie McGregor, Jean Virtue, Peter Hood,  Kate Tulloch,  2 members of the community(from the Nursery Group) and PC Scott Dishington.
Apologies: Matt Deeming, Angela Brading, David Arnott and Councillor David Raw.

Previous minutes:
Minutes discussed and accepted.

Police:
PC Dishington gave a review of recent incidents including one involving a dangerous dog where somebody was charged, a couple of calls concerning youths and a general call again over youths at the Village Hall. An email notification had been sent to PC Nick Walker (our single point contact) regarding a harassment incident on a young women outside the Village Hall but as this was not reported at the time of occurrence not a lot could done subsequently. A review was given of the procedure that the police follow in the event of persistent vandalism involving damage which ends up with attendance with the childrens` reporter.
Mention was made of the break-ins which had recently occurred in the village and also in a nearby village. Advice was given on the dos and do nots in such events especially at this time of the year.
The question was asked if spot checks are carried out on local road traffic, the answer was `Yes`. Local patrols of the local Torness police are regularly carried out. Marnie asked if the monthly breakdowns of incidents could be made available for neighbourhood watch requirements.

Business arising:
ASCC –  Conference 2008 @ Scottish Parliament ........................................................................................................... 22 Nov
              Invitation to attend , no volunteers so far notification required by 18th Nov.
BCCF – Request for Agenda Items for next meeting to be held at COCKBURNSPATH Village Hall.................................4 Dec
              Items for the agenda to be submitted before the meeting.

Correspondence:
SBC – Vibrant Communities Handbook.
            Information only no response required
SBC – Town Centre Consultation and Conference ........................................................................................................19th Nov.
            No volunteers to attend.
SBC – Consultation – Planning Guidance on Play Areas ..............................................................................................9 Jan 09.
            No decision on this, time in hand.
SBC – Website.
            Reminder of space availability on site, not required as we have our own.
SBC – Model Constitution.
            Query on interpretation on elections clarified by Clare Malston
SBC – Consultation on Local Plan Amendment ........................................................................................................... 29 Jan 09
            No decision yet as there is more time for consideration.
SBC – Meeting of the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee.............................................................................. 2.Dec.
           Email with details.
           No petitions submitted so far by members/others, therefore no experience.
SBC – Local Road Closure.........................................................................................................................................17 – 24 Nov
            Details circulated and posted on the notice board.
SBC – Cllr M.Cook – Dog Fouling Latest.
            Information on the latest situation.
SBC – Decision on Sponsoring Telephone Boxes.
            SBC expressed no interest in adopting these boxes, but local communities can, but have to pay BT £500/annum.
SBC – Seminar on 19 November postponed.(Licensing)
            Notice of cancellation of this meeting.
SBCCN – October News
             Information leaflet which was circulated.
BCCF - Meeting Cockburnspath – Agenda ....................................................................................................................... 4 Dec.
            Request for Agenda items(email)
            Document from John Elliot
             Reminder that this meeting will be held in our Village Hall, request for agenda items one of which has
been submitted by Mr J. Elliot and circulated. Our Chairman will give a talk on the benefits to the Community of Crystal Rig Wind Farm.
Planning Aid for Scotland – Forum ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Dec
               No volunteers to attend.
Big Lottery Fund – 2014 Communities.
               Grant money available to enable promotion of the Commonwealth Games. Peter Hood will look into this.
NHS – 60 Anniversary
.            Information on the celebrations that took place.
Southern Upland Partnership – Autumn Newsletter.
            Latest information.
Postwatch – Post Office Closures Area Plan 6
            Last communication as it now ceases to exist.
Drone Hill Wind Farm – Email from Coldingham CC
            Email thanking us for our support.
J.LamontMSP – A1 Campaign Group.
                          Borders Railway Survey.
             Latest information on these two campaigning groups. Cllr Raw is to keep us up to date.
M.MooreMP – Borders Digital Forum.
              Update on the change over, Cockburnspath is not affected by the latest one.
EBDA – Awards - Nominations.........................................................................................................................................30 Nov.
             No nominations raised.
Digital UK – Update letter.
             Further update per M.MooreMP above.
Torness LLC – Meeting March 09
             Notification and information for next meeting.
Human Rights Commission – Meeting. ...............................................................................................................................2 Dec
             No volunteers.
RAF – Flying Activity..................................................................................................................................................17 – 27 Nov
             Information posted on the notice board.
 Wind Farms – Report on Community Benefits in Scotland.
            Received from a Final Year student at the Scottish Agricultural College to whom we contributed a copy of our Crystal Rig Agreement.

Planning Matters
Erection of house SE of Cove Farm Cottages.
             After discussing the application is was decided that the following observations should be made;
Neighbours bordering on the proposed site have not been notified as indicated on the application.
The statement that the land has not been used for agricultural purposes for nine years is incorrect.
The provision of a septic tank could raise environmental problems.
Access to/from the site is unsafe.
There appears to be inaccuracies in the plans provided.

Any other business
1 - Torness LLC – Meeting on Nuclear Waste – report.
         On site storage arrangements for the nuclear waste has still to be determined after which a public consultation will take place.
2 - Cockburnspath Nursery – Notice of possible closure.
            The notification has been sent to John Lamont and SBC pre-school dept. It was suggested that a meeting be arranged with Cllr Raw to determine if a solution could be found to the problem.
3 - Redcross – Scottish Borders `Neighbourhood Links`
            Hazel Smith (Service Co-ordinator) will attend our meeting in December to give an over view of the project.
4 – Aikengall Wind Farm
             Community Councils bordering this site to be approached to co-ordinate a meeting with the operators regarding their views on Community Benefits.
5 – Christmas Tree lights -  No change this year, but changes will be made for next year.
6 – Problem with water at old sewerage plant will be progressed.
7 – Primary School Inspection has taken place resulting in an excellent report, the council will send a card congratulating all concerned, also it was made known that the Nursery School was inspected by HMI with similar results. Our congratulations to them also.
8 – Leak reported on Crofts Road at the Doctors Brae, to be progressed
9 – Rat problem reported in the rear of the Square area. Authorities notified.
 
 
 

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY 10th  December  2008, in the Primary School