1. Present

KCC Members – Peter Ely, Colin Morton, Carol May, Alex Low, Jon Iddon (Associate)

David O Donoghue (General Manager Taymouth Castle Estate)

John Duff, Xander McDade (PKC)

Members of the local community:

Bill Oppenheimer, Resident
Lou Oppenheimer, Resident

2. Apologies

Shirley Shearer, Bill Howie

3. Declarations of interest

Peter Ely (Crannog Centre)

4. Previous Minutes

Minutes approved – proposed by Peter Ely and seconded by Colin Morton

5. Matters arising.

• Kerry Orr has resigned from KCC – replacement for Kenmore area will be progressed after AGM later in year.  Any new associate members for Acharn region would be welcomed.
• Finance – covered in main agenda.
• Keep Kenmore Clean – Peter will follow up with Shirley when she returns from vacation.  John Duff confirmed PKC could provide litter picking tongs.  A call up for volunteers will be made in due course.
• Kenmore ‘Brand’ – aim to get up and running before Christmas in Kenmore as support from local businesses would be welcomed.  Further update at next meeting.
• D Day commemoration – Peter confirmed there are no plans to commemorate the 80^th anniversary in Aberfeldy or Glen Lyon/Loch Tay CC areas.  Peter approached Keltneyburn Smithy to discuss whether a bespoke piece could be made, but it was confirmed that this would not be possible as the Smithy does not have the required equipment to handle the size of metal that would be needed.  As an alternative it was suggested to contact Poppy Appeal/British Legion who have 4’ 10” figures that can be purchased for £179 each.  Suggest putting 1 or 2 figures in the Reading Room gardens and could be used for other commemorative occasions in the future.  Lou Oppenheimer had also read an article about the British Legion distributing figures after the D-Day celebrations are over which would be worth investigating.
• Bill Howie was confirmed as an associate KCC member.

 

6. Finance

Accounts for the period ending March 2024 were circulated.  Balance in account is currently £10,429.

Earmarked elements

£3499 raised by Christmas in Kenmore available for use by local community groups eg. To use the Reading Rooms free of charge.

£803 - The Office balance is the money remaining from the Reading Room grant that allowed the meeting room to be equipped for meetings.

£3780 – balance remaining from SSE covid grant.  Peter has spoken to SSE and they are happy for the balance to be spent on resilience items.

£535 – micro grant balance available for local projects.  This will increase to around £5k when next year’s allocation is received, shortly.  There have been fewer applications for micro grants in recent months.  The only one outstanding currently is the application raised by Carol to replace the notice boards in Acharn.  Quotes have been requested to move this forward.

 

7. Planning

The following planning application details have been circulated to the local community for info and comment.

24/00654/FLL Taymouth Castle

Erection of 4 estate properties, 3 ancillary buildings, formation of vehicular access and associated works (Z2-01) at Land 470 Metres East Of Taymouth Castle Kenmore

Enquiries were received about the impact on trees in this area and water run-off.

Planning permission has already been granted for properties in this area and impact on trees was considered in the original permission granted.  Trees will need to be taken down for the properties to be erected and this is permitted.

Run-off is covered in the planning application.  Any water run-off will be managed by the Castle waste management installations (one for each housing plot)

Concerns addressed and KCC in support of application as a result.

 

24/00443/FLL Taymouth Castle

Siting of 2 mobile snack vans for a temporary period at Taymouth Castle

Covers a food truck and horse box for alcohol that will be used for events such as Christmas in Kenmore.

No concerns raised.

 

24/00618/FLL Taymouth Castle

 

Extension to Access Road

 

Extension of road required in order to access approved properties.  It will run from Hangman’s hill through Ladies Mound.  This area is a heritage site and DLC have committed to comply with any archeological conditions.  The purpose of the application is to formalize and clarify access to the properties.

 

No concerns raised other than DLC must comply with any archeological requirements.

 

24/00695/FLL Paul Strachan

 

Erection of dwelling house and associated works.

Land 100 Metres North West Of Inchadney Old Amulree Road Kenmore Aberfeldy PH15 2HE

 

No comments have yet been received from the community.  KCC will register similar concerns as those raised for the caravan site the other side of the Marina.  Main concerns are around access, run off and road safety for pedestrians and road users.  The road is narrow with poor visibility for access in/out.

Proposed Caravan site West of Taymouth Marina

It was thought that this application had been withdrawn.  However, it shows as ‘decision pending’ on PKC planning portal.

Balnaskeag Fence

John Duff confirmed there is an open enforcement case reviewing a) locked gate at bottom and b) siting of fence next to the road.

8. Crannog

No one from Crannog Centre was able to attend the meeting to provide an update. No comments or concerns have been made to the chair since the last meeting.

9. Taymouth Castle Estate – Kenmore and Loch Tay update

Two liaison meetings have been held with DLC and KCC since the last KCC meeting.  The last meeting was held on 30/5.   Notes of the previous meeting are available on the KCC website and notes from today’s meeting will be added shortly.  Topics discussed include those listed and Colin Morton and David O’Donoghue provided further updates as below:

Toilets

New toilet block has now opened.  This bucks the trend of public toilets closing and is very good for visitors.  Lou Oppenheimer commented that the gate in place is effective from a road safety point of view.  David confirmed that this was a temporary solution and would be replaced with a ‘kissing’ gate that allows for disabled access.  There is no charge for the toilet facilities, but DLC is considering adding a QR board that would allow people to donate to a philanthropic cause such as the Air Ambulance or possibly Loch Tay Association to help support the beach.

Kenmore Shop

Opening date confirmed as 12 June.  Lou asked if there would be an opening ceremony.  David is meeting with Ballintaggart team on 31/5 and will ask if they are planning any type of opening ceremony.

Economic Impact Study

The Economic Impact Study for the Taymouth Castle development has been published and is available for review.  The impact is expected to be positive for the local community.

Golf Maintenance Planning application – an updated planning application is near completion and will be re-submitted.  DLC will give KCC early sight of the updated application.

Additional topics raised at KCC meeting.

Gallops/dog walking paths

Will the current dog walking paths along the gallops remain open?  The answer was yes.  DLC is not only committed to restoring the core paths once the development is completed but they also plan to improve the accessibility of the paths.  Plans are underway to improve surfaces, provide dog and water stations, site benches and provide interpretive info boards on local points of interest/flora/fauna.

Maxwell’s Temple (folly at start of the Gallops)

DLC is planning to restore the monument.  A historian has also been commissioned by DLC to document the history of the local area/monuments and make this available to the Reading Rooms.

Lou advised that some masonry has fallen off of Maxwell’s temple and rolled down into the river.

10. Loch Tay Association

Bill Oppenheimer provided the following update:

The LTA has been reinvigorated and is now up and running actively.  The next committee meeting will be held on Mon 3 June.  It is planned to set up sub-committees:

• Environmental – will review impact of approx. 100 septic tanks discharging into the Loch
• Roads – liaising with Jon Iddon of the KCC Road Safety Group and Darren from Taymouth Marina who is also happy to participate.

Colin has worked on creating the LTA web site and Bill expressed his thanks for this.

Code of Conduct has been formulated and approved.  Due to be printed off shortly.

11. Tay Forest National Park

Xander McDade confirmed that Perth and Kinross Tay Forest has a good chance of being granted National Park status.  Due to announcement of general election on 4^th July there will be no announcement until after that date.

12. Reading Room Update

Update provided by Jon Iddon:

The Warm spaces initiative has been very successful and positively received.  Jon Iddon thanked those that have supported the initiative including PKC for grant, DLC for providing hot drinks and cookies, volunteers including Olive and her husband that provided soup on a regular basis and others who made cakes.  There were 11 volunteers and 177 members of the local community who came through the door.  It was felt that the initiative had a positive impact on people’s mental health.

The one downside was the very high cost of electricity.  If the initiative can run again (which hopefully it will), the grant application will need to cover the on-going cost of electricity.

Work is underway to repair the timbers.  The work required to address dry and wet rot is more extensive than initially thought.  Work is due to recommence on 5 June and is due to be completed at the end of June (just in time for polling to take place there).   Gutters and down pipes will also be cleared prior to polling day.

Reading Rooms have been granted the Tombola at Kenmore Highland Games on 3 July.  All donations are welcome and can be dropped at Mains of Taymouth Office or at the Locus centre in Aberfeldy.

Colin proposed a vote of thanks for Jon for all his hard work in making the above happen.  Jon accepted this but said it was a team effort.

13. Road Safety Update

Jon Iddon provided an update:

Road safety sub-group will now meet 3 times a year rather than on an ad-hoc basis.  Most significant issues continue to be the South Loch Tay Road (with safety issues around Taymouth Marina) and Drummond Hill Road.

Jon has had contact with William Mahoney in the roads dept at PKC and they have met briefly.  A follow up meeting is to be arranged soon to discuss local concerns.

General concerns were raised around lack of parking in Kenmore (18 spaces in car park) and spaces in lay-by.  Also limited parking in Kenmore square.  Beach Road is a free-way so no parking is permitted.  Signs suggested to highlight that only one night stays are permitted in Kenmore parking.   Drummond Hill car park allows overnight parking and is a short walk from Kenmore.

Limited parking in Acharn was highlighted by Carol.  Hard for residents to park when visitors are parking to access the falls.  Suggest more defined parking at the bottom of the path.

Perth Visitor rangers also patrol parking.  PKC are actively recruiting more rangers but there are not always people assigned to Acharn/Kenmore at the weekend.  John Duff agreed to email Arek Nowrotek to try and ensure coverage of local area.

Acharn Bridge has been reported and inspected but it was deemed that no immediate action was required.   Any new damage should be reported.

The section of A827 from the narrow bridge at Fort Brae to Kenmore was reported as extremely dangerous when wide vehicles are using the road.  There have been reports of tyres ripped and there was a serious crash last week.  Jon Iddon was forced into the wall on one occasion and the side of his car was damaged.  It is hoped things will improve when the new West Gate to Taymouth Castle is completed.

14. Kenmore “Brand” Update

Jon was invited by Mairi to present prizes to the children at Kenmore Primary that won the art competition in the Reading Rooms.  Following a trip to Newton Moore the head teacher said the children had an idea to have a Capercaillie walk around the sites of Kenmore would be a structured way to walk around the village.

Further updates will be provided on Kenmore ‘Brand’ at next meeting.

15. PKC Visitor Management

Arek Nowrotek provided an email update as he was unable to attend the meeting.  There was no real mention of Acharn/Kenmore which is presumably because so far there have been few issues this year.

The ranger rota is provided to Peter Ely with contact numbers.  This is circulated to KCC members only for use if an issue arises.  If there are no rangers on duty the Visitor Management email should be used or a central contact number.  The email address is monitored at the weekend.

 

16. AOCB

Christmas at Kenmore

Peter met with Mairi and Richard Pearson to discuss the next steps for Christmas at Kenmore.  The next community meeting will be 13 June with venue tbc (as Reading Rooms unavailable).

Mairi has a contact who should be able to repair the Christmas street lights in Kenmore for a total cost of £700.  It was agreed that this should be proceeded with.  Lights need to remain in place all year as there is no where to store them.

Carol raised the possibility of Christmas Street lights in Acharn.  Carol and Alex will review and apply for a micro grant to cover cost.

Resilience Centre – Jon Iddon provided update.

A resilience committee has been formed.  Originally Peter Ely and Jon Iddon – now joined by 2 more volunteers.  Peter and Jon met Frank Campbell from PKC to talk about setting up resilience hubs at the Reading Rooms and other sites including the Comrades Hut, Acharn.

A web site and leaflet distribution is planned to share the message about how to prepare from an emergency.  The proposed resiliency pack has been sent to Frank Campbell for his review and feedback.  Money is available in the form of grants from PKC to set up resilience hubs.  Jon intends to apply for a grant in the near future.

The resilience hub would have access to battery packs/solar panels for power.  It would also include torches, batteries, loo rolls, sanitary products, basic food, phone charging facilities, sand bags.

Frank Campbell has advised it should be possible to source 100 sand-bags.  Storage should be considered.  Battery packs could be sited in places of need eg residents with medical equipment that need permanent power.

Main purpose will be to provide support during severe weather events.

It was suggested that an ‘asset map’ be created to show where the defibrillators are located, who has a snow plough, chain saw, 4x4, spare rooms etc.

Option to deliver resources if some residents unable to travel.

17. Next Meeting

Next KCC Meeting will take place in Reading Rooms in July.