Fearnan Village Association
Minutes of the AGM and Business Meeting
Held at 4.30 pm on the 14th March 2015
Welcome
The Chair, Sue Gardener, opened the meeting by welcoming members and explained that the meeting would be in 2 parts – the FVA Annual General Meeting, followed by the Business Meeting. The meeting was attended by 23 members.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Apologies: Apologies were received from Peter McKenzie, Nick Grant, Hazel and Keith Brockie and Cath McGregor.
Minutes of the AGM 2014
The Minutes of the 2014 AGM, along with the Minutes of the 2014 Business Meeting were adopted and signed by the Chair.
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising that would not be covered by the Agenda.
Chair’s Report on the Year’s Activity
The FVA’s aims include bringing people together to provide a meeting place and a social environment where friends, neighbours and strangers can meet, chat, and catch-up. Our events have continued to achieve that aim and happily, and although our events aren’t designed as fundraisers for ourselves, we have never made a financial loss.
Coffee Mornings are our staple events and much enjoyed by those who come along.
The popularity of the Winter Pudding Night rises year by year as does the number and variety of puddings, while our local musicians make it extra special.
Loosely based on strawberries and cream with some gentle music Strawberry TeaZ is becoming increasingly popular.
For the first time this year we provided Soup and a Roll after the Remembrance Day Service along with an exhibition of World War 1 Memorabilia. Attendance was good. The event was free but donations were collected for Help for Heroes.
Mulled Wine and Mince Pies seems to be a good launch into the Christmas Season and is becoming a regular fund-raiser for the Village Hall.
It is encouraging to see more members becoming involved on the production side of events bringing additional talents and helping to spread the load. On behalf of the Committee, the Chair thanked all those who have got involved over the past year.
Perth & Kinross Development Plan – Just when we thought we could sit back and relax, Perth & Kinross Council announced the next Main Issues Report for their Local Development Plan 2018-2023. The initial indications are that this will not involve us in as much work as the previous Plan but there is no room for complacency.
Fearnan Brae/Main Road Junction – Through the Community Council, the Chair has continued to press for action.
Broadband – Having suffered in a broadband “not spot” up until now, Fearnan finds itself in a pincer movement from Highland Perthshire Communities Partnership to the East and the Abernethy Trust Initiative to the West. We are in contact with both and do our best to keep members up to date with progress.
Fearnan History – Village history continues to attract interest. The Archive is at present with Christopher Rowley. No progress has been made on an interpretation board for our historical sites or the footpath we hoped would connect them.
Boreland Farm – Over the past year we have kept our ear-to-the-ground for news about the future of the farm as well as having contact with the solicitor. The suspense is now over. The farm has been bought and the Chair has met the new owners. As the FVA, we would hope to do what we can to foster a good relationship between the Farm and the Village.
Thank Yous: The Chair thanked Neil and Fiona Ballantyne, Laurie and Julia Lane, and Peter McKenzie for their commitment and hard work as committee members during the year. Thanks were also extended to Julia for representing us on the Village Hall Committee and a special thank you to Jim Fair for scrutinising the FVA’s accounts. Finally, the Chair thanked all our members for their support and participation throughout the year.
Key points from the Treasurer’s Report: A table setting out Income and Expenditure for the last year was presented to the meeting.
- Membership currently stands at 67.
- The Bank Account stood at £4171.91 at the end of the financial year.
- Donations to good causes during the year amounted to £200.
Committee Membership: In order to help the Committee, the Chair asked if anyone was willing to volunteer to undertake the role of Membership Secretary. (Leslie Raeburn subsequently volunteered and her offer was gratefully accepted.)
As there were no further questions and no items under AOCB, the Chair declared the AGM closed and moved on to the Business Meeting.
BUSINESS MEETING
Matters Arising from 2014:
Local Development Plan: The last Development Plan involved us in a lot of work as several sites in Fearnan had been identified for possible development. This time, Councillor Ian Campbell tells us that PKC are not looking for major development sites but rather development through windfall sites. However, we do need to keep an eye on things.
Broadband: As mentioned above, there are 2 possibilities for an improved service – HPCP and Abernethy Trust. Locally, speeds have improved a little but we are waiting to see what happens with these two initiatives.
Key Points from the Blog Report: There has been a 15% increase over the year in people viewing the FVA Blog. Most of this growth has come from people living elsewhere but with a connection to Fearnan. Apart from the UK, we have regular readers in the US, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and Australia. The Gallery Page is one of our most popular items and will be revamped shortly in order to better organise the photos. The most popular articles during the year were the ones about the project to identify the men commemorated on the Fearnan War Memorial and Alistair Barnett’s account of his childhood as an evacuee in Fearnan. We made contact with a number of descendants of the Fearnan men who died in the Great War, and two of them attended our Armistice Day Service and event in the Hall.
Fearnan History: This continues to be of interest. We had planned another photo board for the hall, but decided against this as there is not a lot of space. We do have the framed photos of the servicemen who are commemorated on the War Memorial and it would be appropriate to put that up.
Road Junction – The Community Council had a meeting with the Roads Dept who promised traffic calming measures. They are suggesting a monitor on the main road to warn drivers of traffic approaching from our side road. The CC has been promised that it’s in the budget this year so we need to wait and see if it happens.
Interpretation Boards and Footpaths: We were hoping to be able to develop a network of paths connecting the registered monuments and other points of interest in Fearnan, including the Market Cross, and develop an interpretation board and walking map. This has not proved possible so far but we will put map up on the blog to highlight the location of the monuments in the village for visitors.
Armistice 2014 – To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the start of WW1, we served soup and a roll in the hall after the service and also provided a Memorabilia exhibition. The meeting agreed that we should continue to provide refreshments and a social gathering on Remembrance Sunday.
War Memorial – PKC had promised to renew the steps, cut back the trees, paint the railings, and clean up the memorial in time for the 100th anniversary. After some initial tree work, they have backed off probably for budgetary reasons. They have got a general maintenance budget and are working their way round the various war memorials. We are hopeful that some maintenance work will be done, but we are unlikely to get the steps renewed.
Borland Farm: The Chair welcomed the new owners, who have joined the FVA and attended the meeting.
FVA Representations –Julia Lane sits on the Hall Committee on behalf of the FVA. Laurie Lane had been a Member of the Loch Tay Association, but has resigned as he didn’t feel it was beneficial.
Social Events: The Chair had received a request that a coffee morning be held on a Saturday so that those who work, weekenders and visitors could attend. Another suggestion was that at least one coffee morning be replaced with a Soup and a Roll gathering and be held later in the morning.
The following dates have been agreed:
Tuesday 14th April Coffee Morning at 10.30 am.
Saturday 23rd May Coffee Morning 10.30 am
Tuesday 9th June Coffee Morning 10.30 am.
Saturday 18th July Strawberry Teas 15.00 pm
Saturday 19th Sept Soup and Roll 11.30 am
Tuesday 20th Oct Coffee Morning 10.30 am
Sunday Nov 8th Remembrance Sunday 11.00, and after in the hall.
Saturday 5th Dec Mulled Wine & Mince Pies 4pm
Sat 20th Feb 2016 Pudding Night
AOCB
A question was asked about communication between the Village Hall Committee and the FVA and it was confirmed that there is now a good line of communication and that Hall events were being promoted on the FVA blog.
Julia Lane advised that the Village Hall Committee will put a bookcase in the hall for books, DVDs, CDs etc for residents to borrow. Contributions of the same for the bookcase would be welcomed.
A suggestion was made that a village BBQ might be held at Boreland Farm where the facilities are good and there is shelter in the event of rain. The new owners readily agreed to this, and a date will be set, most likely in July.
There was no other business and the Chair closed the meeting.
Fearnan Village Association 
Another stunning picture,Fiona.Thank you.