Ayton
Community
Council

Minutes for meeting held Tuesday 1st April 2025

Held in Ayton Community Hall at 7:00pm.

Present

Apologies for Absence

Members of the public present

Minutes of the meeting 4th March: AW proposed, and DH seconded, and minutes were unanimously approved.

Public Forum

2 Members of the public were present at this evening’s meeting seeking an update from the previous meetings regarding the situation at the Hemelvaart Bier Café. TS advised the meeting that he had still not had a reply to the letter he was asked to write to the owners regarding their future plans for the property but as with the previous meeting would advise members if anything was forth coming. Members also questioned if the current premises licence remained appropriate as it was not trading as a public house and the impact this might of on any business rates exemption as other business activities are believed to still be running from the premises. It was agreed to seek further advice on this.

MMWR

The police report had been received and circulated ahead of the meeting. There were no points on note for Ayton and no one wished to comment on any items noted in the report.

Community Summer Event

Further discussions were held around a summer event and the proposal of a beer/cider festival with possible live music was agreed. AF who attended indicated that he would be happy for the outside space close to his house, the former Royal Bank of Scotland site to be used, were a small Marque could be housed. Members of the CC thanked him for this and agreed to include him in future plans. AF also suggested that he could speak to the owners of the Waterloo Arms in Chirnside who might be happy to provide such a marque. In addition to this it was suggested that local brewers such as Tempest, Bom, Bear Claw and Winton Brewery could be approached and areas such as the village playing field could be used to house these. AM and PI agreed to look at this further. It was also agreed that the issue of licencing would need to be looked at and TS agreed to speak to SBC’s Licencing Department to see if one licence would be required or if each of the individual stall holders would be expected to hold their own licences.

Clock Tower Flag

DH advised the meeting that after speaking to someone from BHA they have advise that there is no mechanism on the flag pole for attaching/raising a flag and it is currently unsafe to install one. In order to do this they would need specialist equipment believed to be a cherry and this can’t be agreed until the next financial year. A further update will be provided in 6-8 weeks time.

Defibrillator

TF advised that he had sought advice from Leanne Gillie, a Community First responder who was unable to offer further suggestions to those that had already been made. TF also advised that the application he had made to BHF had been rejected however there was nothing stating we were not able to reapply in the future. In the meantime, a new battery has now been purchased and is working as it should. TF has advised that we do not currently have child’s pads for the current device and it has been agreed that he will order those. We have been advised that Asda were able to support the purchase of a defibrillator in Chirnside and PI agreed to contact the community champions at Asda, as well as Tesco and Morrisons, who were often keen to help support their local communities.

Treasurer’s report

Project Account Balance stands at £702.96.
Treasures Account Balance stands at £1013.66.

AOB

Community Consultation: AM advised that we do need to start looking at a Community consultation and it was agree to establish a subgroup with this in mind. AC would lead on this and PC who was in attendance also agreed to support this. Speeding Vehicles: It was reported by a member of the public that a Red Vauxhall Corsa has been driving dangerously in the village, particularly around the school and the Beanburn. The member has been advised to report such incidents to the police on every occasion with any evidence they might have. This advice is in accordance with advice received from the community police team at a previous meeting.

Dog Fouling: Following a number of complaints regarding dog fouling in the village AW advised the CC that pavements around the village have now been marked by SBC advising people to clean up after their dogs. We will monitor the impact this has and hope dog owners will take notice.

Next Meeting

The Next Ayton Community Council meeting will take place on 6 May 2025 at 7pm in the Community Hall.