• Special General Meeting 8 October 2008
• AGM 2008

Saughtonhall Community Association

MINUTES OF SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

8 OCTOBER 2008 AT 7.30 PM

COMMUNITY HALL, 22A SAUGHTONHALL AVENUE, EDINBURGH

Present : Anne Craig (Chair), Morag Stevenson, Bill Goodall, Julie Happer, Pat Charlton, Muriel Ross, Peggy Bridgewater, Edith Conner and Mary Murray, together with approximately 60 members of the local community.

1 Welcome and Opening Remarks

It was explained that the special meeting had been called to attempt to address problems in the area, including the Association’s grounds, with youth crime, antisocial behaviour and general security issues. Welcomed to the meeting were:

Councillor Jeremy Balfour and Natalie Hoy, West Neighbourhood Partnership Manager (City of Edinburgh Council)

Walter Spence and Milton Park (Murrayfield Community Council)

Sarah Boyak MSP

Chief Inspector Allison Strachan, Inspector Murray Dyke, and PC Lyndsay Barr, Community Beat Officer (Lothian and Borders Police)

Apologies had been received from Councillors Edie and Wheeler and John Barrett MP but they had asked if they could be kept informed. Apologies were also received from Tara Adam, Community Beat Officer and Lyndsay Barr would brief Tara.

2 Youth Crime, Antisocial Behaviour and Security Difficulties

A number of incidents had taken place in the area, particularly in the Baird Drive area and in the streets which surrounded the Association’s grounds. Incidents had included apples and stones being thrown at windows, windows being shot at with an air rifle, particularly car windows, and a car being bumped across a road and set alight. There were also concerns about underage drinking, noise and general antisocial behaviour. Difficulties had been experienced since about May but seemed to have escalated in recent months. There had been some problems with 20-30 youths gathering in the Association’s grounds, drinking alcohol, and then going out and causing damage. There was a serious problem with vandalism at the Scout Hall. To day there had been approximately £3,000 worth of damage and wire mesh had now been installed on all downstairs windows. So far, however, some 6 culprits had been caught.

Some initiatives were already in place to deal with these issues. The Council and the Police were working together, and in partnership with other agencies such as the fire and rescue service, voluntary organisations, etc. A Neighbourhood Action Unit had been set up as a partner organisation, involving these various agencies, based at the West Neighbourhood Office at Chesser House, with the remit of dealing with antisocial behaviour and vandalism. Under the ‘Safer West’ initiative, members of the Action Unit were regularly visiting known hotspots on Friday and Saturday nights.

Carrickknowe Golf Course had previously been a hotspot for teenagers congregating, drinking alcohol and generally causing problems. More recently, Tesco’s car park had been targeted. Once hotspots were identified and action taken, the problems just tended to move on. Tesco’s car park is no longer a problem, but now there is similar antisocial behaviour in Roseburn Park and around Murrayfield Ice Rink. The Police are present there from 10pm but are sometimes called away to deal with urgent incidents.

It would often be local youths causing the trouble, usually known to members of the community and these individuals tended to be known to the police also. It was asked what action the police could take against individual juveniles who kept on causing problems. The Police answered that they would need to identify the circumstances surrounding each offending juvenile and bring together all agencies to find the best way of dealing with them in the longer term.

The Tesco car park difficulties were fairly easily solved as the young people causing the difficulties had been caught on CCTV. The police invited their parents along for coffee and a chat and played the CCTV video. The parents were quite shocked at what they saw and the problems have been sorted out.

It was emphasised that only a very small percentage of young people were out to cause bother but teenagers often tended to travel in groups because they, also feeling under threat, often felt safer that way. It was also pointed out that 40% of vandalism in this area was caused by known individuals aged 20-29 years.

The importance of reporting each incident, no matter how minor, was stressed. Sarah Boyak praised the work of the police but said that they could only work with the information they had. It was important that they know when and where incidents were happening so they could build a bigger picture and tackle any crime or antisocial behaviour effectively. If there was a concentrated effort, these problems could usually be fixed but there needed to be representations from within the community to assist this process. Sarah welcomed the high turnout to the meeting and said this was a good example of a community exercising strength in partnership. Lyndsay Barr echoed this, saying that she or Tara would be only too happy to be contacted about any incident.

Jeremy Balfour reported that a Community Learning and Development Officer, John Fraser, would shortly be joining the team. Unfortunately there were not enough facilities in this area to keep teenagers and children entertained and bored young people needed diverting into something to help to lessen the crime rate. Jeremy suggested that John would probably like to work with the Association to find interests in the hall for young teenagers. It was also likely staff from the Neighbourhood Office could advise on security measures the Association could take with regard to securing its ground.

The Chair thanked all for coming, particularly the panel of guests and noted the various actions that had been suggested. The Committee would try to keep local residents informed of progress via the Association’s newsletter.

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Saughtonhall Community Association

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

9 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 7.00 PM

COMMUNITY HALL, 22A SAUGHTONHALL AVENUE, EDINBURGH

Present : Anne Craig (Chair), Morag Stevenson, Bill Goodall, Sheila Sutherland, Agnes Goudie, Catherine McElhinney, Julie Happer, Pat Charlton, Muriel Ross, Annabelle Walker, Joyce Craig, Margaret Smart, Margaret Cullertson, Ken Blackwood, Mark Kirkbride, Sue Kirkbride, Colin Happer, Tom Happer, Andrew Gosdon, Shona Kidd, Arthur MacGregor, Betty MacGregor, Bette McKendrick, Randi Docherty, Edith Semple, Peggy Bridgewater, Damir Skrigatic, Arthur Fernie, David Simpson and James Ogilvie.

1 Welcome and Opening Remarks

The Chair welcomed all those present and thanked the Minister and her husband for finding time to attend the meeting and for their support over the year.

2 Minutes of Annual General Meeting – 4 September 2007

The minutes of the Saughtonhall Community Association’s Annual General Meeting, held on 4 September 2007, were approved as a correct record.

3 Chairperson’s Report

The Chairperson reported that it had been a busy year for the Association. There had been Halloween parties and Christmas parties held for the children, a Burns supper, a music evening, and a craft fair. The main event of the year had been the Fayre and, despite being rained out, it had been great to see members of the community rally round anyway. The Chair thanked all those who had helped out at the various events and particularly thanked members of the Association’s Committee who worked very hard over the year.

4 Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer circulated an Income and Expenditure report for the year ended 31 May 2008. Even though the weather had been very wet, the Fayre had managed to generate a few hundred pounds but, as it had been held on 1 June, much of the income and expenditure would not show up until the next end of year report.

Other smaller events had also generated a little income for the Association but, more importantly, these events brought people from the local community together, which was what the Association was about.

Income from hall bookings was up but more needed to be done to advertise the hall for one-off bookings. The Treasurer thanked Muriel Ross for all her work as Hall Convener.

The purchase of 4 pop-up gazebos had proved to be a worthwhile investment, particularly with regard to the Fayre event, most of which is held outside in the grounds. Other one-off purchases had included a filing cabinet, and paper towel holders.

Expenditure had also covered regular maintenance of the hall and grounds. It was noted that the drains had been causing some difficulties which may result in necessary expenditure over the coming year.

5 Election of Office Bearers/Notification of Representatives

The Secretary asked, if any member was willing to help out, e.g. serving teas at events, delivering newsletters, etc, that they jot down their contact details on the sheets provided.

6 Any Other Competent Business

A number of serious concerns were raised about youth crime, antisocial behaviour and general security in the area. These concentrated on Baird Drive and the surrounding area, including the Association’s grounds. Incidents included apples and stones being thrown at windows, windows being shot at with an air rifle, particularly car windows, and a car being set alight. There were also concerns about underage drinking, noise and general antisocial behaviour.

Decision

It was agreed to hold a Special General Meeting to address the issues that had been raised and to invite the police and local politicians to attend.

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