Gullane, Aberlady, Dirleton and Drem Area Community Council

Our local community police officers have set up a new scheme to improve contacts with and responsiveness to communities in the Coastal Ward (the areas covered by Gullane Area and North Berwick Community Councils). The Community Action Police Project (CAPP) brings together monthly our local police officers (PCs Colin Banks and Cameron Tait), local Community Warden Murray Thomson and ELC’s seconded police officer, PC McLeod, East Lothian Councillors, Community Council reps and other parties (such as tenant groups of youth leaders). The meeting is chaired by Councillor Berry.

At the meeting we are able openly and frankly to exchange information and concerns about policing in our areas. The police reps provide a detailed statistical breakdown of complaints, incidents and police action. This covers our area right down to street level and helps to build up a map that can focus action. The community reps can bring local knowledge to bear and the police can also tap into their own resources such as traffic police. As a result the police agree with community reps what targets there should be for police action over the coming month, and report back at that stage.

Community reps and police are keen to break down public reluctance to contact police and have shared ideas of how to do this. We have also stressed the importance of feedback from the police about how they deal with telephone calls and reported incidents. Our community police officers are already taking steps to demonstrate how important they regard contacts with the public. For example they are to have police ‘surgeries’ at supermarkets and in Gullane library. We are now likely to see more of police on bikes as well as in cars. During the summer there are police beach patrols on horses. There will be a police presence at forthcoming events such as the Golf Amateur Championship, Gullane Games, North Berwick’s Highland Games and Law Race. Our Community Warden, Murray Thomson, has for some time worked closely with police and the Community Council and has an excellent knowledge of the locality.

This new idea is at an early stage, but already the benefits of co-operation and sharing of knowledge are evident. Your GACC rep has been impressed by the willingness of the police to listen and the importance they place on being on the community ‘frontline’. Of course the key to responsive policing is the co-operation of the public in passing on information and reporting incidents. Here is an open invitation to do so to the police, or through GACC and Gaddabout to get us to feed in your ideas and concerns to CAPP.

North Berwick Museum was closed in 2002 because the former school building in which it was housed did not meet fire safety and disabled access requirements.

A study in 2008, involving public consultation, recommended that it should be reopened but should represent a wider area stretching from Aberlady to Tyninghame and the hinterland. East Lothian Council set a budget in 2009-10 to prepare the building for reopening a museum. This has been carried forward to 2010-11.

Following a meeting in early 2010 attended by ELC Councillors and Officials and interested parties a Coastal Museum Working Group was set up to act on behalf of the communities in the above area to coordinate with ELC the reopening of a museum. This Coastal Museum Working Group currently consists of representatives from North Berwick Community Council, The Friends of North Berwick Museum, Dirleton Village Association, Gullane Area Community Council, Gullane and Dirleton History Society and Aberlady History Society.

The Coastal Museum Working Group has met with Councillors and Officials of ELC on several occasions to consider various plans put forward by ELC for the use of the former school building to continue to house the Library and to include the reopened museum. The whole scheme becomes more viable if the building can also absorb some ELC staff currently housed elsewhere in North Berwick.

A plan which it is hoped will satisfy the requirements and can be achieved with available finance is being prepared. There is a genuine desire among the members of the Coastal Museum Working Group and the ELC Councillors and Officials to make progress towards the reopening of a museum. Preparatory work and discussion is ongoing. The aim is to agree a sound plan so that work can start on the building as soon as possible.

The concept is that the content of the museum will be heavily influenced by all the coastal communities and will regularly change to maintain its appeal. Once opened it will be operated by a combination of ELC staff and volunteers from all the coastal communities.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held on Thursday 24th June, in Gullane Village Hall, starting at 7.00pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

The draft Minutes of the May meeting can be downloaded from the Local Diary page, under Meeting Minutes sidebar. These Minutes include an important message from the Lothian and Borders Police, as well as news about Village Greens in Gullane and Dirleton, Gullane skatepark and an initiative to address roe deer problems.

The May meeting of the Community Council will be held on Thursday May 27th, in Dirleton Church Hall, starting at 7.00pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

The Draft Minutes of the April meeting can be downloaded from the Local diary page of this site, under Meeting Minutes.

The Community Council Newsletter has been printed and distributed widely in the local area, including the Library, Surgery and Post offices. The Newsletter can also be downloaded from Gaddabout, from the Local Diary page under Meeting Minutes.

GULLANE SKATE/BMX PARK
RECREATION PARK

This is to notify you that a Planning Application has been submitted for a Skate/BMX Park in the Memorial Recreation Park.

The Plans can be viewed at East Lothian Council Offices, John Muir House, Haddington, or on the Council website.

In addition a member of the Community Council will be available to answer any questions you may have as follows:

Gullane Library April 22nd.
From 2-4 pm; 6-8 pm.

The Accessible Art Company, run by Dirleton resident Gordon Duncan, is currently working with The Childrens Hospice Asociation Scotland (CHAS) on an exhibition of the children’s artwork based on the title ‘Colours of Rachel House’. The exhibition will be held in The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, opening on Saturday 8th May at 11am until 1pm and run until Friday 11th June. The exhibition will be opened by Local Councillor Stuart MacKinnon.

Artworks will be for sale with a suggested price for the children’s work. The volunteer art teacher, Julie Robertson will also have her works for sale with 50% of her selling prices going to The Hospice. All funds raised are to enable more equipment to be purchased for the children.

Further information about the exhibition and CHAS can be downloaded from our Local Diary page under Meeting Minutes.

The next meeting of the Community Council will be held in Aberlady Kirk Stables, on April 29th, starting at 7.00 pm.

The draft Minutes of the March meeting can be downloaded from the Local Diary page under Meeting Minutes.

The Community Council intends to distribute a Newsletter in May.

A coffee morning will be held in Gullane Village Hall this Saturday (13th March) from 10.00 to 1300. The coffee morning is to raise funds for the Gullane Skatepark project.

In addition to coffee and tea there will be a cake and candy stall, a bottle stall, a raffle and facepainting as well as skating demos.

The event has been organised largely by the young people of Gullane themselves. So please come along and see what young people are doing to support their own projects.

The next meeting of the community council will be held on Thursday March 25th, in Gullane Village Side Hall, starting at 7pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

The minutes of the January and February meetings can be downloaded from the Local Diary page of Gaddabout, under Meeting Minutes.

As a Community Council, East Lothian Council gives us a sum of money each financial year to allocate to local priorities.

How do I access this money?
To make sure we are fair, open and accountable we have an application form which each group needs to complete and submit to the CC.

Where can I get the Form?
You can get the form from any Councillor, from this website (from Local Diary page under Meeting Minutes) or through emailing info@gaddabout.org.uk

What happens after I submit the form?
The application is considered by a commitee of the CC which then makes a recommendation to the full CC at our monthly meeting. So that we do the job thoroughly we have a set of agreed prodecures which can be accessed from the Local Diary page under Meeting Minutes.

What example of grants are there?
This year we have given grants to Dirleton Church Hall, Aberlady Community Woodland Association, Aberlady After School Club, Gullane Football Club, Gullane Bowling Club, Gullane and Dirleton History Society and Gullane Youth Arts project. East Lothian Council does not encourage us to carry over any unspent funds and currently we have £1,820 left to allocate before the end of March.