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Post date: 06-Jul-2017 00:10:53
THE JOHN CRANE YOUNG CITIZEN AWARD
At a crowded end of year service at the Church, pupils and family members saw the presentation of the Young Citizen Award, made in memory of the late John Crane who died in June of last year after four decades of service to our community, and presented by Marie Crane. Teachers at the school were unanimous in their choice of P7 pupil Cailyn Symons to receive the 2017 award. Being a Responsible Citizen is an element of the Wider Curriculum and from the start of the new term all pupils at the school can work towards winning the 2018 award. We hope that all parents will encourage and support their children in this endeavour.
NB: the email address for contacting the editor or submitting articles for the bulletin is now editorsandsbulletin@gmail.com
COMMUNITY COUNCIL MATTERS
David Chisholm welcomed a very good attendance to June's meeting.
He began by advising that the school had unanimously agreed the recipient of the first John Crane Community Service award. John's family has paid for the shield that will be retained in the school and the trophy for the winner. As mentioned above, this is Cailyn Symons. Well done, Cailyn!
The meeting raised one new issue but there was considerable discussion on updates from the May meeting and on Catharine Idle’s talk on Fife Leader
Playground Group
Nicola Smith, Lisa Murray and Laura Chesby reported on their latest fund-raising event, climbing Ben Nevis. This has raised £3,000 with more expected. Well done, the organisers and all who participated. Some candidates for Citizen of the Year?
There was considerable disappointment that Fife Council has still not provided the maintenance agreement required by Fife Leader and Fife Environment Trust. It was pointed out that an early decision is required if work is to start on improving North Road drainage.
Cllr Bobby Clelland indicated that the new administration's policy was to continue to maintain North Road and he felt that part of the problem is misinterpretation of council policy by some officials. He has spoken to the joint leaders of the council and strategic committee chairs, who have been supportive. Accordingly, he was confident that the matter will be resolved and agreed to maintain contact with Nicola.
Path Developments
Work has started on the path along the south side of Saline Golf Course. The Development Trust has appointed the West Fife Woodlands group to improve the path and install benches at good viewpoints. Thanks to the assistance of Saline Golf Club, the path has been re-routed to avoid walking on the Cowstrandburn road. The club's help is very much appreciated and hopefully walkers will make use of the club's excellent and good value catering facilities.
This path also appears in one of the Saline and District Heritage Society's Heritage Trails leaflets that will shortly be available from the museum, church, shop and golf club. Ideally, the leaflets will encourage visitors to stay here for longer and spend in local businesses.
Traffic Matters
West Road continues to generate complaints about speeding with several near misses at the chicanes. Some residents have suggested speed tables, which will be raised with Transportation who will also be asked for copies of recent speed surveys.
Drivers are warned that our volunteer Speedwatchers will shortly be able to go out with speed guns. While drivers will not be prosecuted, the information will be noted by police and will possibly be taken into account should there be a future offence. You have been warned.
The community heard about the difficulties of delivering a disabled child to school due to parking on Oakley Road. Transportation are to be contacted to see whether a disabled parking bay can be provided.
Blair House Site Restoration
Cllr Bobby Clelland advised that the judgement on the restoration bond, expected by Christmas 2016, has still not been made. However, Fife Council officials are confident of success. Bobby also commented on the possibility of the restored site being handed over to community ownership.
The Blair House Trust is also winding up and trustees now have to decide on how to distribute remaining funds. Before anyone rushes off to submit bids, there isn’t much money.
Fife Leader
Catharine Idle who heads up the Fife Leader team gave an interesting and informative talk about this initiative. She advised that Leader is an initiative to regenerate North West and West Fife that is jointly funded by the European Union and Scottish Government.
She mentioned several successful bids, including the Playground Group's, and discussed possible options for projects in this area.
Fife Leader has a budget of £3.4 million over the next two years. Grants of up to £100,000 are available for community projects, subject to match funding. However, all projects must be completed by the end of 2019.
Catharine noted that Leader is keen to encourage applications from the West Fife Villages but also contrasted the differences in attendance at Leader seminars. Those in North West Fife seem to be well attended compared with West Fife. At the recent event in Charlestown, the Saline and Steelend contingent accounted for a good proportion of the attendance. This enabled us to get more face-to-face information though. Details of Leader can be accessed on Fife Direct. Catharine confirmed that she and her team are more than happy to discuss projects. Again, contact details are available on Fife Direct.
This is an initiative that wants to encourage community projects so, if you have an idea, get in touch with them. The Playground Group has shown what can be achieved.
Community Centre and Community Action Plan
The possible acquisition of the community centre was discussed at the recent Fife Leader event and the Community Council was subsequently contacted by David Wright from the Coalfield Communities Regeneration Trust. David Chisholm and Donald Murdoch met with David and the conclusion was that there was a need to establish community priorities, including the community centre.
David and Donald subsequently met Lesley Campbell who many will remember led on the preparation of our Community Action Plan. Lesley advised on the availability of Scottish Government funding through Participatory Budgeting and it has been agreed that a bid to fund an update of the Action Plan, a business plan for the community centre and funds for locally agreed priority projects be submitted. If successful, there would be considerable consultations and decisions on spend would be taken by the community. Further developments will be reported in this Bulletin and on the community website.
Planning Application Notification
Fife Council has advised that planning applications requiring advertisement will now only be posted in the Courier. Such applications are rare but the Community Council has agreed to post the weekly list on our own website and in the community centre
Kincardine Bridge Refurbishment
Works to refurbish the approach viaduct at the south end of the bridge will take place between 21 July and 25 August. This requires lane closures and a traffic light system will be in place. This is likely to create average delays of ten minutes. Some overnight closures will also be required and traffic will be diverted via the Clackmannanshire Bridge.
SESplan
This strategic plan for the Edinburgh City Region has been submitted for Scottish Government approval. The only project relative to this area is the proposed use of the Dunfermline to Alloa railway for passenger traffic. More information can be found at www.sesplan.gov.uk.
Hotel Site
People living around the site of the former hotel on West Road are concerned about the state of the site. The developer appears to have abandoned the site in a dangerous condition and access to the site has been created illegally. Residents are concerned about children being injured.
There are rumours that the developers have ceased trading and Jim Currie will try to establish an accurate position. In the meantime, the Community Council will raise the matter initially with Fife Council
Main Street Phone Box
Many people will have noticed that the phone has been removed from this box and several have asked that it be removed. The community agreed to raise this with BT.
Next Meeting
Tuesday 29 August at 7.30 pm in Saline Community Centre. All welcome.
Editor's Note
The Editor reserves the right to refuse, edit or factually correct all items submitted for publication. All views expressed in this Bulletin are purely those of the author of the item concerned and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Communications Group as a whole.
116TH FIFE SCOUT GROUP
The Beaver Colony recently enjoyed their summer outing to Edinburgh Zoo. They were blessed with good weather. Unfortunately, they were only able to get a glimpse of the pandas. The trip was rounded off in the afternoon with ice creams all round. At their last meeting, the Chief Scout's Bronze Award, the highest award in Beaver Section, was presented to Ryan Muir by Owen Forrest, Assistant District Commissioner for Beavers. Well done Ryan. We are looking forward to Ryan joining the Cub Pack after the summer.
The Cub Pack held an evening of award presentations in June. This evening was well attended by parents and friends of the Pack. Along with Challenge and Activity badges to most members, two Cubs, Robbie Muir and William Kierszten, were presented with the Chief Scout's Silver Award, the highest award in the Cub Section. The awards were presented by Assistant District Commissioner for Cubs Don Yard. Well done, Robbie and William. We look forward to seeing them in the Scout Troop after the summer holidays. The Cubs and their guests also enjoyed a slide show of the Pack's past activities.
The older members of the Scout Troop have been practising for a forthcoming two-day overnight expedition. On the successful completion of this activity they will have gained the Chief Scout's Gold award, the highest in the Scout Section.
The Explorer unit are also preparing for their two day overnight expedition which is planned for their return after the summer break.
The last meeting for all sections was held on 22 June with the Group's AGM, the youth membership enjoyed hot dogs and a games evening. The existing Executive Committee were re-elected, though our Secretary has intimated that she would like to hand over her role in the near future.
Meetings will restart on Thursday 17 August for Cubs, Scouts and Explorers; Beavers will restart on Friday 18 August, all at the usual times in Carnock Community Centre.
Peter Philp
Group Scout Leader
01383 852612
116th Fife Scout Group
Registered Charity Number SC031132
STEELEND GALA WEEK
Events in Steelend Club:
Monday 31 July, 7.00-8.00 pm, Animal Man - a children's entertainer.
Wednesday 2 August, 7.30 pm, Family Quiz Night.
Thursday 3 August, 6.30pm until 8.00 pm, Children's Disco, £1 entry
Saturday 5 August, Gala, parade leaves Club 11.30 am. Tickets £2 per child and £2.50 for adults. Please come along and have some fun.
Gala Dance, 8.30pm till late. Dancing to Mason, a top vocal duo.
Tickets on sale in Club for £5; this includes buffet.
SALINE & DISTRICT HERITAGE SOCIETY
The visit from the Thornhill Foundation went really well and 46 American visitors enjoyed seeing the church, the museum and a tour of the graveyard. Despite the awful weather forecast, the sun shone for the 75 minutes they were in Saline so it could not have been better. The Heritage Society have now established a strong link and friendship with the American descendants of John Hardie and they even met a Saline resident who is related to the Hardies, Carol Pringle, so they were delighted.
The museum is now open for the summer so please come in and have a look around and bring friends and family too. Our Facebook page has been updated and West Fife Woodlands have been very busy clearing and improving the Core Path behind the golf course - a lot of tree cutting, so many thanks to their volunteers and for help from the Development Trust. The path has been cleared so that instead of walking beside the green on the way back to the clubhouse, you can now follow a cleared path between the road and the trees - have a look on Facebook to see some photos. The Heritage Society will be producing walk leaflets for this area very soon.
FIFE GOES APP!
Are you looking for ideas for days out in Fife this summer? Download the new Welcome To Fife App to your smartphone or tablet and go exploring!
The App features tours on lots of different topics like family fun, outdoor activities, family golf, arts and crafts, and food and drink. There will eventually be a total of 50 tours, giving you lots of options.
The tours include directions, tips and tourist information to make it easy to plan your trip. They are all beautifully presented and easy to navigate
The App is available to download on Google Play (Android) and the App Store (Apple) and costs 99p – just search for Welcome To Fife.
NORTH ROAD PLAY PARK GETS THE GO AHEAD
We are pleased to report that after months of frustration and prevarication the issue of the future maintenance of the North Road play park has been resolved and the project can proceed. For a while it appeared that Fife Council’s intransigence was going to thwart the efforts of the play park group in raising over £100k towards the project. But after a direct approach last week to the new Council Leader by our local councillor Bobby Clelland, common sense has prevailed. It is hoped that the first stage of the work to resolve the drainage issues will start soon.
STREET NAMING
Fife Council has advised that there is a need to choose a name for the street in the forthcoming Kingdom Housing Association development and has asked the Community Council for nominations.
Several names were mentioned at the Community Council meeting but the Community Council wishes to obtain the community's view on the name requested by Kingdom, Elistoun Place after a hilltop in the Ochils, and suggestions for submission. If you wish to comment or nominate, please contact Laura Chesby on Facebook or email Donald Murdoch at djmurdoch47@btinternet.com. Nominations must be received by 9 July.
WEST FIFE FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS
For many years, there has been an exhibition of art and photography held in the community centre in Saline. This was initially the brain child of the late John Crane. After this year’s exhibition, it was thought that a good way to honour John’s memory would be to, not only continue with the Exhibition, but to take it to another level and turn it into a celebration of all the Arts and of Crafts throughout West Fife.
The thought is to include performing arts such as music, drama, poetry, book reading; visual arts, such as painting, drawing, photography, sculpture: crafts from wood carving to knitting, and any other that may have been missed out. The different events will be held in a variety of venues in and around Saline, with free transport between the venues.
To run this next year, the steering group will need help!
In Saline, there are many good people who have skills in all different spheres. We would like to ask any or all of those people to lend some of their time and expertise to making this venture a success. For those people who would like to be involved but feel that their skills are not suited to the organizational side of the event, there are lots of ways in which you can still be involved. The simplest and best way in which we can all make this a success is to invite one person, or better still one family, to come along. If every family in Saline brought one other family to the Festival, that would be about 800 families from outside Saline who attended. That alone would almost guarantee a successful event.
There are many jobs directly involved with organizing and running the event, but there are also many jobs that will impact on the success of the event but are not directly a part of it. What I am thinking about are things like tidying the village, making sure that your garden looks its best, possibly helping someone less able with their garden and many other, seemingly small things that collectively will have a large impact.
If you feel that you would like to be involved, please contact Vic Beasley on telephone 07792 759583 or email coffeeshop@shieldbank.co.uk.
SALINE BLOOMS
Summer is here although, of course, we don’t always enjoy traditional summer weather; by that I mean nice warm sunny days! Perhaps this year will be better after a nice spring. We are eternally optimistic about the weather and this is particularly so if you are farming, gardening or just wanting to be outside.
Talking about being outside, perhaps I can ask a favour? When you are walking or driving around the village and take a look at the planted areas and various planters that have been installed over the years by the Horticultural Society with help from the Environmental Group and grants from Fife Council. Hopefully you will agree that these do help to brighten up our village. Have you ever wondered how these are maintained, who plants them and who looks after them, for sure they don’t look after themselves? Well, we have to thank the Horticultural Group for applying for a bit of money each year from Fife Council and then for Annabel and George Davidson for planting and re-planting the planters. When it’s dry, George and Annabel have been taking care of watering and that’s a big task. So perhaps you can see where this is leading.
If you live near any of the planters and if you enjoy seeing them flourish, then perhaps you might volunteer to become a carer of your nearest planter? It would just involve watering occasionally to make sure the compost does not dry out and cause the plants to die. To volunteer contact salinehs@gmail.com or phone 01383 852887.
On the subject of blooms, this is a reminder about the Saline Flower, Vegetable and All Other Things Show held the first weekend of September; in the May issue of the bulletin you received the show schedule. If you have hanging baskets, patio planters or a patio garden, then why not enter this year? During late July or early August, we will come round and take some pictures of your blooms and then we ask folks attending the show to decide who should be awarded a prize. It worked well last year so it would be great if we could have more entries this year please. If you have misplaced your schedule, you can find a copy on the Saline Community website under the Horticultural section.
You may have noticed that another seat has been installed at the Glen entrance; this is one of four new seats that will be installed around the area at Steelend Park, North Road and West Road green. These have been made using funds arranged by the Saline Development Trust. Further funding is available and this will be used to re-establish a village notice board for Saline and another for Steelend and there are also plans to create a central planter with seat to be located at the Glen entrance to tidy up the centre area. If anyone is interested in helping with seat installation or a bit of woodworking, please get in touch with Gareth Turner on 852887.
BRIGHTSIDE COMMUNITY CAFÉ
First, a huge warm welcome to our new member of staff, Susan Smith, who will be working alongside me.
On 9 June, a brave Scott Hunter kindly volunteered to have his chest waxed to help raise funds to add a few things in the café. He did an amazing job of raising £176 which will go a long way in helping us achieve this.
Do you have some spare time to volunteer in the café? You can pop in for an application pack or get in touch from the details below.
Michelle Graham, Manager
Contact: 07869 581599 or info@brightsidecommunitycafe.org.uk
Facebook: Brightside Community Café
CHERRY TREE LODGE -
looking for part-time support
Cherry Tree Lodge is a retreat space, a wee group venue, and guest house one mile outside Saline village, a place where folk can come to balance mind, body and spirit, a place where they can just “be”. A focus for well-being, art and nature, it was set up by Mark and Till in 2011 and numbers of visitors are such that part-time help is needed to maintain our consistently high standard of guest care.
We are looking for one or two house-proud people who can help maintain the 5-star visitor reviews for cleanliness, who can be sensitive to the needs of retreat guests, and who can contribute to the “cared for” look and feel of the house and garden. Please get in touch for more information about the work on offer and the personal qualities that are needed.
You can take a look at www.cherrytreelodge.net where you will also find contact details.
CHURCH NEWS
Sunday services will continue as usual at 9.30 am with a midweek service on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 11.30 am. There is provision for the children during the Sunday service.
Coffee morning in the church hall every Wednesday at 10am till noon also continues. The craft group continues to meet fortnightly in the hall on Tuesdays from 2.00-4.00 pm; this month is 4 and 18 July.
The Church is open to visitors on Tuesdays 6.00-8.00 pm and Wednesdays 10.00 am-12.00 noon and 2.00-4.00pm. This is a good opportunity to view some items of interest or just spend a time of quiet in peaceful surroundings.
SALINE ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
Saline Environmental Group are about to launch their plans for the year. We are looking for volunteers who care about where they live and would like to maintain and improve the environment. Could this be you?
We had a great year last year and took part in many activities. Probably the most well-known activity is the twice a year Glen clean-up. Saline Glen, whilst less litter-ridden than in previous years, still has its fair share of crisp packets, empty bottles and some more obscure objects such as fire extinguishers, wheels, beds and burnt benches (no, the fire extinguisher was not found nearby!).
We, in particular Liz Mills, established the colourful heather bed at Oaklea. Bulb planting was carried out on the Oakley Road and up at Oaklea, as well as organising the wildflower planting and weeding the beds.
A meeting was set up with our local tree officer to identify the protected trees in the village. The wooden benches and signs round the village were treated to maintain and improve their appearance.
A partnership was formed between SEG and Saline Primary School to help the local bird population. SEG purchased 20 boxes and the Primary 1s and 2s painted them. Later, the boxes were put up behind the tree line on the common ground (behind West Road) next to the cemetery.
As you see, there is a plethora of activities! This year we have had fewer members as some people have moved onto pastures new. What we do next year is an open book and we are looking for new ideas to help improve the village. If you feel you have the time and energy, please join our committee. The meetings are very informal - sitting round a kitchen table with a cup of coffee. On the other hand, you may wish a more casual arrangement in which case you put your name down on the volunteer list. This way you would simply be contacted by email to notify you of the next event. Either way we need you!
Contact Di Crawford on 01383 852705/07809 109308 or at dicrawford1@talktalk.net.
FORTHCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS:
Saline Golf Club
First Saturday of each month: Family Night, 5-7pm
Tuesdays: Bingo Night, 7.30pm
Thursdays: Quiz Night, 8.30pm, entry £1/person
Sky TV and free Wi-Fi. Associate membership £10 per annum, £4 concessions
Q’zine Catering: also available for all functions.
Steelend Miners’ Club
Monday 31 July, 7.00-8.00 pm, Animal Man - a children's entertainer.
Every Tuesday, Sambangra Drumming Group, 7.00pm-8.30pm, £2
Wednesday 2 August, 7.30 pm, Family Quiz Night.
Thursday 3 August, 6.30pm until 8.00 pm, Children's Disco, £1 entry.
Saturday 5 August, Steelend Gala,
Parade leaves Club 11.30 am.
Tickets £2 per child and £2.50 for adults.
Please come along and have some fun.
Gala Dance, 8.30pm till late. Dancing to Mason, a top vocal duo. Tickets on sale in Club for £5; this includes buffet.
Rainbows
Every Thursday 5.00pm-6.00pm, Saline Church Hall
Brownies
Every Thursday 6.00pm-7.30pm, Saline Church Hall
116th Fife Scout Group
Beaver Colony
Every Friday, 6.00pm-7.30pm
Cub Pack
Every Thursday, 6.30pm-8.00pm
Scout Troop
Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm
Explorer Unit
Every Thursday, 7.30pm-9.00pm
Carnock Community Centre, Camps Road, Carnock. Open to both boys & girls
Community Council Meeting
29 August, 7.30pm
Saline Community Centre
Highland Dancing Classes from 22 Aug
Tuesdays 4.00pm-5.00pm
Thursdays 6.30pm-8.00pm
Tel Betty on 852610
Adult Badminton from 21 Aug
Mondays 7.45pm
Wednesday 1.30pm and 7.30pm
Saline CC T: 852610
Saline Smilers (Toddler Group)
Tuesdays 9.30am-11.30am during school terms
Saline Community Centre
Craft and Chatter
Thursdays 10.00am-12.00noon
Last Friday of month 7.00pm-9.00pm
Shieldbank Coffee Shop
Sambangra Drumming Group
Tuesdays, 7.00pm-8.30pm, £2
Steelend Club
Afternoon Craft Group
Every second Tuesday through the summer from 11 July. Everyone is invited to join with any sewing, knitting or craft - and enjoy the blether! 2pm-4pm, Saline Church Hall.
Shieldbank Riding & Vaulting Club, North Road, Saline, Fife KY12 9LN
Telephone: 01383 852874 Website: www.shieldbank.co.uk Also on Facebook.
Just call or email to book.
Shieldbank Coffee Shop
Telephone: 01383 852621 Also on Facebook.
Open Tuesdays to Sundays 9.30 am- 6.00 pm.
Craft Group meet here on Thursday mornings 10.00 am until lunchtime.
New: Group for Amateur Photographers meet on Friday evenings at 7.30 pm.
This Community Bulletin is produced by Saline and Steelend Communications Group
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