Fearnan Village Association

Get your diaries out!  Here are the dates for social events in 2012.  We understand that the Village Hall will close for renovation at some point this year but, as the dates for this are not yet decided, we have set dates for our events and will alter them as and when necessary.

Coffee Mornings 2012

Tuesday 24th April                                                Tuesday 22nd May

Tuesday 19th June                                                 Tuesday 17th July

Tuesday 11th September                                       Tuesday 9th October

Members’ Evening                                          Saturday 4^th August (A free event)

Pudding Night                                                   Saturday 9th February 2013

Chair’s Report March 2012

Sue Gardener reported as follows:

April will be our 5^th anniversary!  It seems longer than five years!

Membership – By my reckoning we have 57 members.

Shoreside – has gone quiet and we have had no further contact from the owner Andrew Hutchinson.

Quarry Road Cemetery – we dealt with PKC to get the collapsed wall repaired.

Postbox – we tried very hard and failed to move Royal Mail and get an additional postbox – my thanks to Laurie in particular for his efforts on our behalf.

Broadband – we keep looking at possibilities and are in contact with others who are doing the same. Wearing my other hat as Chair of the Community Council, I am hoping to meet with my counter parts in our neighbouring CCs to see if we have enough common ground for some sort of initiative.

Calendars – we produced another beautiful calendar – special thanks to Peter and Keith for its production. We had an excellent response to the competition we ran to get pictures and the involvement of so many people was, in itself, a good thing.

Coffee mornings and social events – while our social events are hard work they are very rewarding and much appreciated by people who attend. The Winter Pudding Night is becoming well known, although, strangely, numbers don’t go up much!

Web site – our newest acquisition thanks to Fiona who set it up and maintains it. It seems particularly popular with expats! and is a great way of keeping up with what is going on – worth a look just for the pictures. Other people and organisations are beginning to ask for two-way links to their own websites, which is a pleasing development.

Thanks – my thanks to the Committee who all work very hard for the good of the Village and for their support of me, personal especially for taking the burden off me at the end of the Summer when I was extremely tired and had to step back from everything.

It has been a good year  – thank you all for your support.

Key points from the Treasurer’s Report

Laurie Lane reported that:

• Funds continue to grow slowly, with the main contributions coming from calendar sales, coffee mornings and the BBQ.  Calendar sales of 150 were achieved this year against 200 last year, suggesting that we need to consider how we proceed in the future.  Coffee mornings show a profit over hall hire as all baking and drinks are donated, while the BBQ produces a clear profit over costs.
• The FVA is run very economically, now that email is the main contact medium. For those paying annually, membership fees are now due for the year commencing 1^st Feb 2012 and membership cards are being issued this year.  Current fees are £2.00 per annum or £6 for 3 years.
• Our funds are built up to enable us, as a village, to back projects of communal benefit, fight plans that we agree are detrimental to us, and to make life in the community generally better if we can.

Jason Oliver writes:

‘As we know, the BBC forecast for our neck of the woods is not too accurate and a bit unpredictable.

I have set up a website which gives accurate weather data over a seven day period, including a detailed forecast, radar images of the weather systems, plus astronomy data, so we can see what’s in the sky over Fearnan on a particular night.

I have set up a weather station in my garden which sends a live feed to the website. Please take a look round the site, I hope you find it useful. It is accurate to about 10 miles in each direction from Fearnan and is updated every minute.

I am also in the process of setting the station up to send information to the Met Office, which should mean that every so often, Fearnan will show up on the national/regional weather reports on the BBC!’.

You can find the web site at http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=56.621752,-3.866969

You can also reach it anytime by clicking the link Fearnan Weather Station on the right hand side of this page.

Syrup Sponge, Jam Roly Poly, Rice Pudding, Lemon Meringue Pie, Pear and Ginger Trifle, Bread and Butter Pudding…..…………….

Yes!  On Saturday, it was Pudding Night again!

More than 40 hungry villagers, their friends and families, met to tackle the task of demolishing a delicious spread of 24 home made puddings.

They succeeded – by 8.30pm there was very little left and Kate Conway was sufficiently inspired to send us this wonderful poetic summary of the evening!

The table was laden,
the puddings were there.
The people were gathered
to sample the fare.

There’s dumpling and rice pud,
bread pudding red hot,
baked apples and cheesecakes,
with custard in pot.

The music was playing,
the candles were lit,
we filled up our own plates.
Forget the keep fit!

Thanks go to Katy and Andrew, who provided the music and to Bea, Andrew’s daughter, who sang a song.

Thanks also to the pudding-makers – Sue, Julia, Sheila, Hazel, Tricia, Jane, Jeanette, Laurie, Councillor Mike Williamson, and Fiona. And special thanks to Kate Conway for her poem!

Perth & Kinross Council has issued the Proposed Development Plan for the area. The first draft of the Plan was put out to consultation at the end of 2010 and the FVA, along with several Fearnan householders, submitted comments in early 2011. The Council states that “The Plan will influence the location and form of new development by providing a basis for determining planning applications up to the year 2024.”

So it is really important that we continue to engage with it, and with the process, before the Plan is finalised.  The new Proposed Development Plan can be accessed through the P&KC web site by going to www.pkc.gov.uk/ProposedLDP   (Please note that the P&KC website can be unresponsive at times.)

There is now a 10-week consultation period ending 10th April and, during this period, comments on the proposed plan can be submitted.

Consultation events are taking place throughout Perth and Kinross. There is one at Aberfeldy, in the Breadalbane Campus, on Saturday 3rd March between 10am and 3.30pm. This event will provide an opportunity to see the proposed plans for the area and to discuss them with council staff.

Both the area in Fearnan affected by the Plan and the scale of development that might be permitted have been reduced in this new version, but development of the village is still being proposed. The Plan will be an agenda item at the FVA Annual General Meeting on 3rd March at 4.30pm in the village hall.

Jane Watts writes:

Want to celebrate Burns Night but don’t enjoy the lengthy speeches?

Like haggis but want to have fun as well?

Then come to The Big Shed ‘alternative’ Burns Night!

It’s on Saturday 28^th January 2012 from 7.30pm till midnight

Tickets are £10 (£7 conc) and include a 2 course meal, a large dram of whisky, “poetic” entertainment and a ceilidh. There’s a bar as well.

Tickets are available from “News First” Killin, and Kenmore Post Office

Transport will be available to/from Killin, but please phone Jane on 07766 566935 in advance to arrange.

Sue Gardener writes:

Following elections in the Autumn, the new Glen Lyon & Loch Tay Community Council members are:-

Susan Gardener – Chair (Fearnan)- Tel: 01887830493, e-mail: sg1ardener@talktalk.net

Kath Douthwaite – Vice Chair (Fearnan)

Stella Dorey – Secretary

June Riddell – Treasurer (Fortingall)

Margaret Gosling – (Fortingall)

Jane Watts – (Fearnan, Lochside)

Community Councils are voluntary bodies established within a statutory framework but do not have statutory duties or powers. They are intended to act as a voice for their community, representing the views of the community to local authorities and other public bodies operating in their area and otherwise to act to further the interests of their communities.

Meetings are open to the public so please come along and support us so that we can better represent you. Meetings are also attended by local PKC councillors and the police – a useful opportunity for members of the public to meet both.

In Fearnan, Minutes are posted on the notice board outside the McLean Hall, and published in the Quair and Comment.

Dates and times of meetings for the coming year are:-

19th January at Fearnan Village Hall, 7.30pm

15th March at Molteno Hall, Fortingall, 7.30pm

17th May at Glen Lyon School, 7.30pm

19th July at the Big Shed Tombreck, 7.30pm

20th Sept at Glen Lyon School, 7.30pm

22nd Nov at Molteno Hall, Fortingall, 7.30pm

The celebrated Edinburgh String Quartet is coming to The Big Shed!  The concert is the first of The Big Shed’s Classical Concert Series and is on Friday, January 27^th 2012, starting at 7.30pm.

The programme is:

Beethoven Op 18 No 1 in F Major

Beethoven Op 95 in F Minor

Tchaikovsky Quartet No 1 in D Major

Tickets are £10 each and are available from Jane (07766566935) or from News First, Killin.  There are only a limited number of tickets available, so book now to avoid disappointment!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt from the FVA website’s Annual Report:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 33 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

A Happy New Year to Everyone!

Here are some dates to put in your brand new 2012 diary – or your glossy 2012 Fearnan Calendar!

Saturday 11^th Feb is Pudding Night!  The legendary Fearnan Pudding Night will get underway at 6pm with the best selection of winter puddings anywhere – ever!  Last year there were 19 puddings to choose from but, just in case your all-time favourite wasn’t on the menu, you can put in a special request by clicking the ‘Comment’ link at the end of this message and tell us which pud you would really like on the menu.  We’ll do our best to oblige!

The FVA Annual General Meeting will be on Saturday 3^rd March at 4.30pm in the Village Hall.  One important agenda item will be the Proposed Local Development Plan (due out soon from P&KC).

Please note that there will not be a Coffee Morning in either January or February, and they will start again on Tuesday 6^th March at 10.30am.  The dates for the rest of the coffee mornings in 2012 will be announced at the AGM.