Present: Mrs J Priest Mrs E Gill Mr H Thomas Mrs A Cosgrove Mr D Wight Mr E Martin Mr M Askey Mrs L Shaw-Stewart
In attendance: Ms A Hunter (minutes), Anthony Jeffries, Cllr L Jardine, Julie Aitken
1. Apologies: Ms A Pearson, Mr R Russel
2. The minutes of the meeting held on 9th January were agreed.
3. Police Report/CAPP
Extra patrols and traffic stops this month have resulted in the following:-
1 x Drunk In Charge 1 x Drink Drive
1 x Fail to stop after RTC 2 x Miscellanious
In addition:
• Protecting the most vulnerable (Missing Persons, Elderly, Hate Incidents, Domestic Abuse.)
1 x Breach of Police Bail
1 x Communication Offence
• Reducing Violence and Antisocial Behaviour
1 x Assault
• Reducing Acquisitive Crime (Crimes of Dishonesty)
1 x Theft
There have also been a few reports of Housebreakings in East Lothian recently where vehicles have been the target. The community should remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity. Laura Jackson will be attending the carpark of Asda, Dunbar in the community engagement van on Tuesday the 11th February between 1200 and 1400 hrs for anyone that wishes to speak with their local community officer. Next CAPP meeting is 13th February.
4. Matters Arising
4.1. Julie Aitken, Fred. Olsen
Crystal Rig Wind Farm is now at the end of its consented life of 25 years. Decisions are required on the future of the site which currently consists of 25 100m tall turbines. Extending the life of these turbines would require investigation by the manufacturer and the expected lifespan is in the region of 5-10 years. A scoping exercise last year proposed 10 250m tall turbines with battery storage and solar panels. The panels and storage have since been dropped from the proposal as a new overhead cable to Dunbar would be required. Tip height has also been reduce to 200-230m. An exhibition will be held on 3rd and 4th March in Longformacus/Innerwick. The planning application is expected to be submitted to ELC and Borders Council as consultees in April/May but the decision will be made by the Energy Consent Unit. New bases will be required for the larger turbines. Julie agreed to provide details of how much concrete is required per turbine. Existing bases have steel cages of concrete and concrete slab on top. The slab will be removed and the cages re-covered but will remain buried. Capacity of the existing transmission cable is 62.5mW and the new design will deliver 72mW but the expectation is that they will run at 80% and so will be closer to the existing capacity. Fewer larger turbines are required for this which need more space between them. It is no longer possible to purchase 100m turbines so there canít be a direct replacement. Questions were raised about current curtailment figures but these were not available. Although wind farms produce more than Scotland needs at the moment the expectation is the demand in the South of Scotland will double in the next 5-10 years as more electric cars and heat pumps are utilized. Questions were also asked about why bills are still so high. Lower bills would need electricity to be decoupled from gas prices which has been done in Finland. Regionalisation of energy prices is also an issue with high transmission costs in the Highlands making it expensive to generate electricity there. Questions were raised about the visual impact of the taller turbines and how that affects community benefit. A 10km circle is drawn from the centre of the site and impacted community councils are contacted to form a liaison group. It is possible that DCC could benefit. ELACC community benefit fund will act as a vehicle for spending the funds. One Community Council has already agreed to donate 50% of their benefit to be spent across East Lothian. It was recognised that some councils have had benefit for a while and finished the work required in their community while other councils have as yet had no benefit.
4.2. Balfour Beatty Community Benefits
Peter Forsyth has confirmed there remains commitments in the programme for conclusion of the list of community benefits and they will work up a short programme for finalising these items and circulate shortly.
4.3. Vacancies
Mrs Priest has approached residents of The Orchard and will provide them with more detail on what is involved.
4.4. Meetings attended - Planning service Event
Mrs Cosgrove and Mrs Priest attended the Planning Service meeting. Keith Dingwall has confirmed that £62,500 is still available for a skatepark and has to be spent by 2028. DCC will be kept informed of when the discussion on spending is scheduled.
Questions were asked about uPVC replacement windows. Apparently the Scottish Government want rules relaxed but ELC want to judge each case by merit in conservation areas. Suggestions were made that a style guide or list of acceptable materials would be useful. Martin Hayman (ELC) who looks at local heat and energy efficiency will be contacted to confirm DCC supports replacements that do not detract from the look of the conservation area. Cllr Jardine suggested looking for planning applications and DCC putting in a letter of support.
Mr Martin attended the North Berwich Area Partnership meeting where concerns were expressed about the maintenance cost of defibrillators across East Lothian and the possibility of setting up a funding programme. Ms Pearson will contact Doug Haig with details on the defibrillators in Dunpender area.
Mr Thomas attended a trustees meeting of the Community Benefit group and reported that a feasibility study has been commissioned for a local heat network. A Communications Consultant has been employed. Pencaitland CC are planning a heat network linking to Glenkinchie. A biomass local network operates in Whittingehame linking approximately 30 houses using wood from the estate to feed 4 boilers. It was recognised that local networks could work well in addition to a county wide network. Mr Wight highlighted that using air, ground or water source heat pumps to fuel a local network results in water at a lower temperature than biomass or heat loss and would require alterations inside properties to improve insulation or alter piping/radiators. It was recognised that while biofuel could work well at a small scale larger scale projects have issues of sustainable management and cost to biodiversity.
5. Area Partnerships
Mrs Cosgrove reported that DELAP will circulate the area plan in the next few days ahead of the next meeting on 24th February. DCC have submitted a funding application of £500 for Dunpender News.
6. Finance
The available balance is around £3996. Mrs Shaw Stewart has a quote for £70 for the noticeboard at Whittingehame. There was a suggestion to repaint 5 finger posts. Cllr Jardine will take this up with Leisure and Recreation. She will also contact the Roads department about cleaning local signage.
7. Planning / Licensing / Consultations
7.1. Planning: Markle Quarry - Extension to Existing Quarry - 24/01366/P.
It was agreed there were no grounds to object to this application or the related application for Formation of Acoustic Bunding.
8. East Linton/Preston
Sean Govan has been asked to repair the lights at the fountain.
RR reported new beams on the mill lade bridge. There has been widespread local concern about the work on Dunbar Road in particular the reduced width of the road. Discussion covered issues on the path east of the junction of the A198/A199 which were felt to be a higher priority to address than Dunbar Road. Concern was expressed over the cost of the work and maintenance of the new pavement. DCC are meeting representatives from ELC Roads department, Sustrans and the site engineer on Friday 7th February. Following the meeting outstanding questions will be addressed to Morag Haddow (ELC) with Cllr Jardine copied on correspondence.
Mr Thomas reported that he had received positive comments about the new pavement from people with buggies going to Bostock.
Mrs Cosgrove reported that the December 2025 timetable will see 2 additional trains in the morning around 7.30 - 8am. Paul McLennan has met with train companies to address further gaps in the timetable.
9. Tyninghame/Whitekirk
Mr Wight reported that the bus shelter is being rebuilt in Tyninghame and that the noticeboard was lost in the storm.
10. Traprain/Markle/Whittingehame
A group of Markle resident have requested the following be noted:
Please can it be formally acknowledged that we would like to extend heartfelt thanks to Eileen for all of her hard work and diligence during the Scottish Water works in Markle. Many of us had quite a few issues with the switch over to the new water main and Eileen was very pro-active in liaising between residents and the contractors. She communicated all the developments and timescales by email keeping us all well informed. Eileen is also continuing to communicate developments with the Balfour Beatty project and we are all very appreciative of her representation.
Scottish Water Mains Upgrade work at Markle is now complete and all connections made. The road is fully reinstated & verges reinstated where damage was due to this particular job. Grass seeding will be carried out in March. The bridge is now in place. A TTRO is in place for 11th March to 8th April. During this time the new road junctions will be tied-in. Work will be phased to minimise disruption and to allow one approach to remain open at all times. The TTRO might be extended to allow work required to decommission the level crossing.
There's new survey information on the condition and alignment of the drainage run through Markle. Current thinking is that it is better than first thought. The hope is that the existing drainage can remain in place and disruption can be limited to a few limited repairs TTRO in place overnight 15th /16th Feb for a rail condition survey relating to stopping-up the Level Crossing. Siemens Mobility will be working nightshifts beyond this. Initially these works will not be noisy however we will be informed of a more detailed programme of what to expect and when there may be noise issues.
Overall the work on the bridge is hoping to complete by mid-year. Balfour Beatty have been informed that there is repair work to verges, road edges (including where verges are chipped driveways), potholes etc that will need to be dealt with.
11. Projects - Walks leaflet, Dunpender News
Mr Wight has completed his drafting of new information for the walks leaflet. The leaflet will by with Jill Taylor by the middle of the month. Mr Askey will proof read.
12. Correspondence
12.01 W Anderson: Veterans First Point Lothian
12.02 J Aitken: Fred. Olsen Crystal Rig 12.03 L Jardine: D Hamilton Colourful Connections
12.04 SPEN: R110-T3 Webinar 12.05 K Smith: New Cycle Path
12.06 T Humble: ELCAN Green Futures Festival 2025
12.07 J Riley: Robert Noble Scuplture
12.08 Env, ELC: Planning Consultation, Markle Quarry
12.09 I McKenzie: Survey re The Mart
12.10 M Tainter: Community Ownership Roadshow
12.11 K Wallace: Home-Start East Lothian
12.12 Regional President: Scotland Peace Symposium
DCC members have filled in a survey about The Mart (see East Linton website for link). Mr Wight has contacted Isla about how the Local Place Plan considered The Mart. It was suggested a noticeboard to show whatís there would be beneficial.
Mrs Shaw Stewart will contact Billy Agnew (ELC) about the lack of fibre broadband in Luggate. Mr Thomas raised complaints from residents about the 40mph speed limit on the road leaving East Linton just before the entrance to Dunpender Road with the feeling this is too high for a road running alongside a pavement and a crossing to the John Muir Way and the 20mph limit should continue until the village boundary. There were also suggestions that people were speeding up as they leave the village into the 40mph zone, or not slowing down soon enough as they enter, meaning that cars still go quite fast when they reach the houses on Drylaw Terrace.
It was confirmed that the white lines have been repainted at the A199 junction under the A1.
13. Any Other Business
Mrs Priest received emails from Scottish Power during the storm. It was agreed to put the 105 number on the DCC Facebook page to highlight people can register with the priority service. Local communication is managed well generally via Whatsapp. It was agreed that the next edition of Dunpender News would contain details of what to have handy in the event of a storm.
14. Date of next meeting: Thursday 6th March 2025 at 7.30pm