Uplawmoor Development Trust
Transport Project Actions & Agendas
Minutes of UDT rural walks and pathways group 28 April 2014 held at Uplawmoor Hotel.
Present: John Raeside, Stewart White, Graeme McKinlay, Deneka Ward, Emily Wallace, Irene Hughson, Jenni Wright, Lorna Gomez, Cath Close.
Minutes of previous minutes read and agreed.
Caldwell Estate.
- Cath had contacted Julie Nicoll ERC to register interest in exploring/developing pleasure paths on the estate. Encouraging response received and Julie advised contacting Mark Brand ( ER Access officer) and she will maintain contact re Caldwell Estate.
- Land ownership of previous access route to estate behind golf course unconfirmed. Action : Cath to contact golf club and Mark Brand to ascertain access route ownership.
- John West from Uplawmoor Historical Gardens and Landscape Group arranging a talk/visit to estate on May 21st 2014.
Loch Libo
Gill Smart (Scottish Wildlife Trust) to be invited to next meeting May 12 2014.
Action: Irene to contact Gill Smart re meeting/availability
Uplawmoor/Neilston old railway.
Ann Corbett had attended a meeting of the local Sustrans group on April 23. Report already circulated to members. Conclusion was support in principal to exploring this as a route. Neilston DT will arrange meeting with UDT/walks group. Action: Ann and Deneka will represent UDT. Main issues are :-
- Determine land ownership
- Assess feasibility of route
- Explore funding
Holy Hill
John had informally spoken to landowners Irene and Robert Smith. Initial concerns re close proximity to back gardens.
A few members had walked the paths on Holy hill and advised re route avoiding the back gardens.
Action : John and Paul to meet with landowners again.
Blaeberry Woods ( Shilford)
The members exploring Holy Hill had also walked from Libo Ave/Arthurlie to Blaeberry Woods and on to Shilford and returned via circular route to the old railway bridge at the North end of the village. There was evidence of used paths and rough maintenance (slabs and logs bridging bog). A route under the bridge appeared feasible after some clearance of debris. Land ownership of the woods thought to be a subsidiary of Burnthills and 5 acres owned by homeowner in Shilford. Mark Brand may be able to determine.
Castburn Path
Ian McLeod probably owns both ends of the path. Unwilling to sell land and proposed a sum of £200 - £300—per year to lease. We need to review this as raising this amount of money each year could be challanging. Negotiation/discussion ongoing. Upgrading of path under the railway bridge is under negotiation.
Playing Field
Action: ALL Next work party scheduled for 17 May. Meet at the park 10 am, bring rakes/barrows and spade if you have them.
The Glen
“Welcome to the Glen” signs have been made from circular segments from felled trees. Work still in abeyance awaiting ERC re-tendering for tree surgeons. A further large branch has fallen and consequent tree felling will be required.
Grants
Initial funding (paths for all) should cover the park. Another application is to be made once next working area identified.
Next meeting.
Monday May 12th 7.30 Uplawmoor Hotel .
Gill Smart will be talking re Loch Libo
Agenda item : - List of requests for Mark Brand ERC Access Officer to be determined with a view to inviting him to June meeting.
MINUTES of Paths Committee Meeting, Monday 10th March 2014
Attended by:
J Wright A Corbett A Patterson J Houston L Dempster D Ward
G McKInley A Rae C Riddet I Hewson Emily, from the Hillock
ACTION
CALDWELL ESTATE
Ownership of Caldwell Estate ongoing C.C.
Send note of thanks to Tony Shaw L.D.
Ownership of rough ground between Golf Course and Staniforths L.D./C.C.
Possibility of underpass for A736. A.R. suggested it would be cheaper than a bridge
as a route to access the bus to Glasgow and walks on Caldwell Estate. G.McK.
LOCHLIBO
Establish landowners adjacent to Lochlibo. Show them on a map.
Who did John Raeside rent his fields from last year? L.D.
RAILWAY WALK
D.W. to contact Laura White(Sustrans) re: route from Neilston to Uplawmoor . D.W.
GLEN
L.D. has meeting with person from East Ren. Re:tree cutting in Glen. L.D.
WORK GROUPS
Next “party”, Sat 29th March 10am – 1pm
John Raeside needs to organize hire of a small, dump truck. L.D.
Concern was raised about co-ordination between groups, that work done by one
group was not undone by another. Conversely, two groups might want very similar
work done. ACTION LD spk to PF
To encourage more parents to become UDT members, Marion Raeside could speak
to School Board. UDT membership forms could be made available at the library and
Mure Hall. L.D.
A.R. brought a map showing potential circular village walk. All at the meeting thought
This would be a do-able project and good PR for the UDT.
Next meeting 31st March 2014 @ 7.30pm Hotel Cocktail Bar
Meeting on Monday 10th February 2014
Apologies – Jan Houston, Paul Forrest,Dineke Ward
Caldwell Estate
Cath & Lorna had met with Tony Shaw to have a guided walk around the estate’s “Pleasure Walks”. Tony, who lives on the estate, has made huge effort to clear some of the paths of debris and fallen tress but it needs more hands, some drainage work and some light machinery to scrap years of mulch and dirt. Many of the walks are still passable but do require some work and some subtle signage to ensure walkers stay on the paths. Dog walkers are welcome.
Tony has researched the history of the estate and has many fascinating facts that could be used in leaflets or signage.
The estate can only be accessed from the B775 as the old drive behind the golf club is now privately owned. The estate has multiple owners, some of whom are unclear. The Gun Club carry out shoots approximately 12 times a year but do put up warning signs when they are there.
It was questioned as to whether a piece of scrubland bordering the golf club and the estate could be used as an access path to the walks.
It was agreed that this group should have a site visit to Caldwell and hopefully, weather permitting, walk around the estate.
Action
John is going to contact Scottish Woodland (who own some parts of Caldwell) and Cath will contact Julie Nicol at East Renfrewshire Council to start gaining permission for the work. ERC are very keen to help preserve the landscape aspect of the estate.
- Cath is to contact Tony to inform him that we are arranging a group walk on Saturday 1st March at 10am.
Loch Libo Walk
Irene spoke to Gill Smart at Scottish Wildlife Trust about our wish to create a walk at Loch Libo. Gill was keen to support our proposal and to hear our aspirations, as she is soon to start her management plan of the site and would like to potentially include our plans within it. She has agreed to come to one of our meetings to give a presentation and answer questions. She has stated if we do build paths, we would need to be able to show we had the finances to maintain them.
Currently there are no hard paths and it is not possible to make a circular route as at the east end of the loch there is floating fen.
The woodland plantation above the loch at the east end, is owned by Jim Goldie but managed by Scottish Woodland. Stiles have been built over the deer fences so walkers would get through if at sometime we were eventually able to link this walk with the Caldwell Estate.
Action
The group will incorporate a visit to Loch Libo on 1st March after the Caldwell walk.
Railway Walk to Neilston
Paul, Dineke and John met Laura Carswell from NDT who have already started to develop a path along the old railway line. So far they have only managed a small section from the existing station going west out to the Bovis housing estate. Unfortunately the old line has multiple ownership which will cause the new path to be halted if they are not willing to either sell, or allow passage over their land.
If the full length of the line became available to be used then it was suggested that Sustrans should be contacted to allow development of a cycle path. Apparently they completely take over the project and deal with the landowners and all the finance.
Action
Dineke will continue to look into this project.
Castburn Path
This path is in generally good condition and only needs a small amount of maintenance. Stuart has already dug a number of small drainage trenches to try and allow the water to run off the path. There are a number of broken metal fence posts that need to be removed as they are a potential danger. McTaggart & Mickel were approached for funding for the path but they insisted there was no further money for the village. M&M stated that they had provided large sums of money for the school (120k), the playpark (30k) and to the tennis club (3k).
Alastair has approached Iain McLeod to ask if we can remove the gates that are sited halfway along the path as they are now not necessary. They make access for prams, wheelchairs, etc very difficult. Iain has agreed to their removal although has stated that he has rights to move stock over the path if in some future time he needs to do so. Ramps will need to be installed at either side of the concrete block.
John has also spoken to Iain to get permission to carry out drainage work and to take machinery down Station Road that leads onto the path. It is hoped that we will be able to continue the path under the railway bridge to the new pathway that leads into the glen.
Any Other Business
Alastair has offered to obtain maps so that we may draw up a visual plan of all our current and future path plans.
- Cath informed the group of the 2014 Legacy for Active Places fund which can provide grants from 10k – 100k for the development of new pathways. Cath has agreed to look into this.
- Lesley Gibson has asked if we could consider investigating the possibilities of pathways in the local woods.
- Work Day 15th Feb. It was agreed this would go ahead in the hope that our insurance policy would be up and running by this date. Graham has agreed to take photographs or before, during and after. John will organise a log of who attended the day.
Next meeting is Monday 10th March at 7.30pm in the Uplawmoor Inn.
Agenda
13/01/14
Mark Brands, Outdoor Access Officer ERC
- Introduction
- Assistance & Support
Barrmill Visit Feedback & Report
Glen Paths improvement Project
- Meeting with ERC
- Insurance
- Timing
- Grants
Progress of other sub Projects
- Libo Walk
- Caldwell walk
- Neilston to Uplawmoor walk
AOB
- Date of Next meeting
Actions 13th Jan 14
Rural Walks and Pathways group
|
Action |
Who |
When |
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Agreed Scope Glen path ( near side ) should allow wheel chair access, with an approach that path is created with low future maintenance in mind and is of an aesthetical appearance to fit in with surroundings. This will be the first of hopefully many Glen enhancements. |
All |
Start Feb 14 |
|
Agreed to start feasibility of other projects see Project mind Map for Projects and their facilitators. Project facilitators will report back at the next meeting. |
All |
|
|
Agreed to have a regular work group to progress the Glen Path & Other projects to Maximise grant input and community involvement. All volunteers and members agreed to spread the word and encourage others to join and become involved |
All |
|
|
First working day : Feb 15th 9:00-12:00 |
All |
Feb 15th |
|
Communication of this and other meetings, Posters (Inc Glen) Gazette, UDT Web site |
Paul |
Jan 14 |
|
Gain approval from ERC and submit methods & risk statements |
Paul & John Raeside |
Jan 14 |
|
Mark Brand : Out door access officer ERC
|
Mark Brand |
Jan 14 |
|
Investigate Local area forums to determine if we can apply for financial assistance |
Lorna Dempster |
Jan 14 |
|
Visit Voluntary Action Barrhead to ascertain all grant funder’s |
Paul & Owen Evans |
|
|
Next Rural walks & pathways meeting |
All |
10th Feb |