BLACK MOUNT BUGLE

WELCOME TO RESIDENTS OF NEWBIGGING

This is the first edition of the Bugle to be distributed to Newbigging and the surrounding area. We offer a very warm welcome to all our new readers, and hope that they will find the Bugle an interesting and helpful source of local news and information.

The Bugle is published by Black Mount Community Council four times per year. If you have any items which you would like included, please send them to the address as shown at the foot of the last page.

Black Mount Community Council covers a wide rural area, including the villages of Dolphinton, Dunsyre, Elsrickle and Walston, and, following the latest reorganisation proposals by South Lanarkshire Council, will also cover the village of Newbigging and parts of Libberton Parish and Carmichael Ward. The proposed boundary is shown on the latest revised map which can be seen at the Council offices in Lanark. Final details of the reorganisation plans are still awaited - see the article on page 2.

Black Mount Community Council has been involved in matters as diverse as planning applications and windfarms, quarrying and sewerage. It has lobbied the various authorities on matters such as village speed limits and road maintenance, electricity supply and local bus services. Please contact any member of the Community Council if you feel that they may be of assistance of any kind. Their names and telephone numbers are listed later in this edition of the Bugle.

Finally, if you know of anyone who should have received a copy of the Bugle but did not, please let a member of the Community Council know.

Brian Curle
Chairman, Black Mount Community Council

Previous editions of the Bugle have reported about the South Lanarkshire Council proposals for the re-organisation of Community Councils. Despite repeated letters to SLC, we are still unable to give any further update, except
to repeat that we will remain as the Black Mount Community Council with the inclusion of Newbigging and some surrounding areas.

The Community Council has been frustrated by the lack of communication on this important issue. Two years of elections have been missed on the instructions from SLC, and there is still no timetable for setting up the new Community Council.

BLACK MOUNT COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Members 1998/99:

Mr Brian Curle	Chairman/Acting Treasurer	01968 682294
Mrs Joan Highton	Secretary	01899 810378
Mr Don Barrie	Church	01899 810276
Mr Robert Campbell	Young Farmers	01899 810237
Mrs Anne Hutchison	Dolphinton SWRI	01968 682256
Mrs Jennifer Kerr	Woman’s Guild	01899 810270
Mr Chris Miller	Walston	01899 810324
Mr Gary Ross	Dolphinton Bowls	01968 682227
Rev Ian Sandilands	Dunsyre	01899 810321
Mr Tom Simpson	Black Mount Club/Elsrickle Bowls	01899 810230

We say goodbye to Gerry and Fiona who have moved from Dolphinton to Dumfries. Gerry was Treasurer of our Community Council, and we thank him for his hard work in ‘looking after the books’ over the past years. We wish them both every happiness in their new home.

COUNCILLOR TOM McALPINE

Following the revisions to the electoral boundaries, Black Mount was merged with Biggar and Symington, and Tom McAlpine was elected as our Councillor. We welcome Tom as our new representative member of South Lanarkshire Council. He is available through the Hamilton Office (01698 454686), at his home in Biggar (01899 220423) and at surgeries held regularly through the area.

Tom takes over the mantle of representing the area from the Rev. Bev Gauld, to whom we send best wishes for his new ward of Carstairs/Carnwath. Tom, who will normally attend Community Council meetings, is already aware of the concerns about the planning applications at Garvald and Carmaben Brae, and attended the public meeting about the Garvald Quarry extension.

His involvement in Biggar with a wide number of capital expenditure projects is well known, the remodelling of the High Street perhaps being one of the best examples. He will be attending the Community Council meeting in September to talk about any projects which local residents would like to see take place in the Black Mount area. Please come along to the meeting on 6th September at 7.30 pm in Elsrickle Hall to give him your views.

RURAL CITIZENS NETWORK

South Lanarkshire Council is keen to set up a network in isolated rural areas like Black Mount by locating up to 10 Personal Computers in private households or other local venues, with a view to using them as a vehicle to allow residents to access Council information and other information of public importance.

They are looking for local ‘information citizens’ who would be prepared to operate such a scheme. If you are interested in learning more about the idea, please contact Lesley McCranor at South Lanarkshire Council Enterprise Resources on 01698 453662.

SPEED LIMITS

Many of you will have seen that South Lanarkshire Council has erected 30mph speed limit signs for Walston. We hope this will make life a little safer for the children in the houses there. In Elsrickle, a meeting is planned between representatives of the Community Council and SLC Roads and Transportation Services officials to discuss the traffic calming measures for the village.

Chairman's Report 1998/99:

The Community Council AGM is usually held in March of each year. However, because of the prolonged consultation process following reorganisation proposals for Community Councils, South Lanarkshire Council suggested that elections for Community Council members should be deferred until the final reorganisation scheme was in place. Consequently, the AGM will be held later this year.

During the past year, the Community Council has been involved in a number of projects of public interest.

Speed of Traffic through Dolphinton:

Work had started on traffic calming measures in Dolphinton towards the end of 1997. The history of this subject goes back to April 1994, when members of the Community Council met a representative of the Scottish Office to discuss the dangers of speeding traffic on the main road through the village. After a study by Strathclyde Region and an exhibition by South Lanarkshire Council as part of a public consultation exercise, various measures were proposed, including a speed limit of 40mph, new street lighting and a package of traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures. Work proceeded very slowly, but the Community Council continued to press during 1998 for a quick completion, and work was finally finished in the Autumn. We all hope that the main road through Dolphinton will be a safer place as a result.

Speed of Traffic through Elsrickle:

On very much the same subject as the preceding point, the Community Council has been working with residents of Elsrickle concerning road safety in the village. At the last Community Council meeting of 1997, held on 3rd December, the main speaker was Mr Campbell Ross, Supervisory Engineer for the South Division of the Roads & Transportation Department of South Lanarkshire Council. Councillor Tom McAlpine, member of the Roads Committee of South Lanarkshire Council, was also present, as was our local Councillor, Rev. Bev Gauld, and around 25 local residents.
It was explained that measures in Elsrickle would be undertaken in a number of stages. In the first instance, new higher visibility 30mph signs, and new village signs with an appropriate message to drivers, would be erected, and this work was completed during 1998. In addition, he explained that a report would be prepared to examine the traffic calming requirements for the whole of the A721 between Carluke and the Council’s boundary. Members of the Community Council met with members of the Roads & Transportation Services on two occasions, on 12th August and 2nd October to discuss their report. The Community Council’s view was that the new speed limit signs were not sufficient, and it was agreed that further proposals would be put forward for public consultation. These proposals have now been made, and we await the outcome of the consultation process.

Planning:

A number of planning applications were considered during the year, the two major ones being proposals for Carmaben Brae, Dolphinton, and Garvald Quarry.

Carmaben Brae:

Muir Homes submitted an application for 30 houses on the Carmaben Brae site which had been the subject of the Public Local Inquiry in 1995. In broad terms, the PLI determined that a maximum of 12 houses could be built on the site. Many members of the local community expressed their concerns and objections to the Muir Homes proposal, and, in October, the Community Council wrote to South Lanarkshire Council reflecting these views and restating the findings of the PLI. Subsequently, Muir Homes revised their application to reduce the number of houses to 24, and the Community Council again responded, repeating its previous views. We await further information on the progress of this application.

Garvald Quarry:

Tarmac Road Products submitted an application to extend the workings at Garvald Quarry westwards into the Upper Dunsyre Valley. The proposed work will take 21 years, using a conveyor to transfer materials to the existing plant area. A number of representations were made to the Community Council by local residents, both for and against the development, although mostly objecting to the proposals. As a result, the Community Council submitted a response in December to South Lanarkshire Council, giving its views, both in terms of the statutory provisions of the Local and Structure Plans, and to reflect public opinion concerning the application. We understand that revisions have been made to the Tarmac proposals, and we await further information in this respect.

Regular Annual Events:

The Black Mount Social Group was formed on 27th July last year with two major objectives: to foster a community identity, and to promote, support and organise social, cultural and sporting activities within the area for the benefit of all residents.

As a result, the only annual event to be organised by the Community Council was the Sports Evening.

Sports Evening:

The annual Sports Evening was held at Roberton Mains on Monday 1st June, having been postponed from its traditional Friday date due to the very wet weather on 29th May. This event is always good fun, and is one of the most popular of our local annual events, bringing together so many members of the community, both the young and not-so-young. Whilst we did not have a repeat of the excellent weather of the previous year, the rain did at least hold off, and this was a most enjoyable evening for competitors and spectators alike.

Three other events, the Sponsored Walk on 30th August, the Bonfire Night on 5th November and the Senior Citizen’s Christmas Dinner on 11th December were organised by the Black Mount Social group.

Finally, Black Mount Community Council continues to be active in a wide variety of areas of local concern and importance. As mentioned above, a number of planning applications have been considered during the past 12 months, as well as matters as diverse as road maintenance, local bus services and electricity supply. It continues to publish the Bugle four times per year, it publishes an information sheet regularly with a wide range of local information, and was one of the first Community Councils in Scotland to have its own website on the internet. As always, grateful thanks are due to all those, both Community Council members and others, who have helped with all these activities over the past year.

Brian Curle
March 1999

PLANNING ISSUES

Two major planning issues, both submitted last year, await determination by the planning authority.

GARVALD: Tarmac submitted an application to continue extracting sand and gravel at Garvald by extending the working area to the west of the existing quarry. They propose to work the Upper Dunsyre Valley for 21 years. Their planning application was accompanied by a Written Statement and Environmental Statement, both documents explaining the impact of the quarry on the area.

As a statutory consultee, Black Mount Community Council had a short period to read and absorb these documents and submit comments. These were sent on 18 December and covered 17 points. In each case it was suggested that the planning authority should seek further information from the applicants or review the statements made. At the time of writing this report we have had no response to these matters from the planning authority.

The issues covered in the Community Council response included the lack of any detailed analysis of the impact on Garvald School and Home Farm noise levels, the conveyor bridge over the Roberton Back Road, lorry routing, working hours (and maintenance periods), a footpath along the Quarry to Loanend road, the junction with the A702(T) at Loanend, etc.

Since the Community Council submitted these comments there has been much local concern about the proposal, resulting in considerable press coverage and a public meeting organised by Garvald School. People are quite naturally concerned about the impact of a further 21 years of quarrying in the area.

The planning authority is likely to judge the application against the Local Plan policies, which indicate they will give favourable consideration to such proposals only in areas physically related to existing areas of working where consolidation or rationalisation can be achieved. Although the site is a beautiful area shown in the Structure Plan as part of a Regional Scenic Area, it seems unlikely that planning officials would recommend refusal unless there are over-riding amenity and landscape factors.

The outcome of the public meeting was to press for amendments to the application. The current plans do not address all the concerns, and it is understood Tarmac will be submitting revised proposals. Once these are available we would urge all to study the details and let your views be known.

The Community Councils hopes to submit further representations once the new plans are available.

CARMABEN BRAE: The second planning issue is the application from Muir Homes to build new houses in Dolphinton. Their initial application was for 30 houses, but this was later revised to 24. A recent revision has made some minor adjustments to the plan but left the number of houses unchanged.

The housing site at Carmaben Brae has been the subject of much investigation over the years and was thoroughly debated at the 1995 Scottish Office Public Local Inquiry for the Local Plan. All parties agreed the site was only suitable for 12 houses and more would unbalance the village, and this was the recommendation of the Public Local Inquiry.

As a statutory consultee, the Community Council has submitted strong objection to each application on a number of grounds related to the Local Plan, particularly the over-development of the site with twice the agreed number of houses and inconsistent with the rest of the village, traffic concerns, being at odds with Government "green" sustainability policies, etc.

The local community in Dolphinton has been alarmed by the proposals and has organised a number of meetings of residents to encourage objections. Although the proposals are contrary to the Local Plan policies which should ensure the application is turned down, there is no confidence that this will happen.

GENERAL PLANNING ISSUES: As a result of these recent planning applications concerns have been raised about public access to the file that accompanies the proposals. Whilst there is public access to the application, we do not get to see the consultation responses and letters from interested parties until 5 or 6 days before the matter is due to be heard by the Committee. This seems to be a change from the Clydesdale District Council procedures, and the Community Council will be questioning the matter of freedom of access to this information further.

PETER GILFOYLE

We are delighted that Peter is doing well after his recent heart operation, and wish him a continued speedy recovery to full health.

CHURCH NEWS

Our parish minister, Rev, Ian S Sandilands, has regretfully announced his intention of retiring on 1st August this year, after thirteen years of service to the community. It has been decided to open a retirement testimonial fund, and consequently, anyone who would like to contribute to this can do so in the appropriate envelopes, which will be obtainable in the near future from members of the Congregational Board.

The Church would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Coffee Morning held in the Gillespie Centre, Biggar on Saturday 8th May when £300 was raised for Church funds.

THE "GUILD"

The last meeting of the season was our guest night with guests from Biggar, Carnwath and Cairngryffe. Mrs Margaret Adamson from Blyth Bridge cooked family favourites. The dishes she made were simple to make and very tasty. All the ladies got a chance to taste them and some were fortunate enough to win one in the raffle.

The summer rally will be at St John’s Church, Carluke on Thursday 3rd June. A bus will be leaving from Carnwath and names should be given to Marjory Muirhead or Effie Dickson

Marjory Muirhead
Secretary

SPORTS EVENING

The Black Mount Community Council Sports Evening will be held on Friday 28th May at 6.30pm at Roberton Mains, Dolphinton. There will be many prizes and trophies to be won. Events include cross-country, adult and toddlers races, welly throwing etc.

Everyone is welcome especially our new neighbours from Newbigging. We look forward to the extra competition!

The November edition of the Bugle last year (issue No 43) contained an article about Black Mount’s web site on the Internet, and about the World Wide Web in general. Space did not permit us to say much about e-mail, and a number of local residents have asked for more information on this subject.

E-mail or ‘electronic mail’ is a way of using the Internet to send messages to recipients anywhere in the world. In this respect, it is like sending an ordinary letter, except that the message is transmitted via the Internet rather than being delivered by the postal service.

The sender types the message on their PC, just as if they were typing it to send by ordinary mail. But then, instead of putting the letter in an envelope and posting it, the message is sent to the recipient’s address, directly from the sender’s PC, via the Internet. Both the sender and the recipient must have an Internet connection to use the e-mail service.

There are many advantages to using e-mail compared with conventional mail. Firstly, the cost of sending a message is only the cost of a local telephone call, no matter to where in the world it is being sent. Secondly, the message can contain ‘attachments’, like photographs, for example, in the same way that a photo might be sent in an ordinary envelope. Finally, e-mail is delivered almost instantaneously, certainly within an hour or so, even to the other side of the world.

The e-mail address of the recipient is not the same as their postal address. But just like a postal address, it is unique, so that nobody can have the same address as any other person. The e-mail system is very secure, and messages may only be read by their intended recipient.

More and more, e-mail is being used as an alternative to the postal service. Both businesses and private individuals are finding that it offers a low cost and effective way to communicate. Families, in particular, find that it is an easy and cheap way to keep in touch with far-flung relatives, no matter where in the world they are.

Finally, if you haven’t already done so, visit the Black Mount web site if you can. It contains a wealth of information and up to date news about our local area and our community.

AROMATHERAPY

The next essential oil to be looked at is CHAMOMILE (Roman) (Anthemis nobilis)

Herbal Tradition: Roman Chamomile has been used for over 2000 years especially throughout the Mediterranean region. Its name derives from the Greek words kamai melon meaning ground apple. This must be because of its strong fruity smell which resembles fallen apples.
The ancient Egyptians dedicated chamomile to the sun god Ra and used the oil for fevers and to anoint the body from head to foot. Edward 111 scented his linen with chamomile while the Elizabethans used it to fumigate their homes against odours. Chamomile lawns became popular during the Tudor period because of the strong growth and fresh fragrance when stepped on.

Home Use: Chamomile is noted for its calming effect and may be useful to use when children become fretful, upset and/or agitated. It is also a good oil to use for conditions such as eczema, rashes or allergies which can sometimes be triggered by an emotional upset.
Conditions such as arthritis, general aches and pains, colic, indigestion, headaches and stress-related complaints may also be helped.

Bath: Blend a few drops of lavender and chamomile essential oils together in 10mls of a vegetable carrier oil (e.g. sweet almond, grapeseed) swish around and relax.

Burners: Chamomile blends well with lavender, geranium and rose. Add a few drops of each to the water dish of the burner.
Other Species: There are many varieties of Chamomile but generally only Roman and German Chamomile (Matricaria recutica) are used in aromatherapy.

Lesley Kerr, Woodend, Dolphinton

01968 682331

We all send our best wishes to Mike for a speedy recovery and to his family, following the recent terrible incident at his surgery.

LAST DATE FOR CONTRIBUTIONSTO THE NEXT BUGLE IS THURSDAY 19th AUGUST 1999.

Please send all your articles, dates, reports, news and advertisements to
Liz Gilfoyle, 3 Oxengate Farm Cottages, Elsrickle (01899 810373).

The Bugle is published by the Black Mount Community Council, but the views expressed therein are not necessarily those of the Council.