Meeting re Strathblane MUGA
1 October 2009, 3 pm – Strathblane Primary School
Present: Linda Barclay
Patsy Fischbacher
Barbara Allan
Lesley Malkin
Jean Cowie
Barbara recapped that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the £15K awarded via LCDF to Strathblane Community Council in January 2007. The award was termed & conditioned that it would not be released until the full funding package to deliver the MUGA project was in place. (The award was to the Community Council but the Strathblane Development Trust has agreed to future funding applications in its name, with Linda Barclay of the Parent Council taking the lead on writing applications.)
Linda explained that they had been unsuccessful in their Stage 1 application to Sportscotland but they intend to appeal and a meeting will take place with Kevin McGurkin of Sportscotland around the 18 October.
They have currently raised £29K (including £15K LCDF) towards a total project cost of £120K max.
Barbara stated that to retain the £15K LCDF offer she required the following no later than 20 October 2009:
Timescale of all applications to be submitted and the likely decision date to ensure the full funding package is in place
Date the job will be tendered
Date the work will begin
Confirmation that at least £15K worth of work will be completed by 31 March 2010 (thus £15K LCDF grant will be spent by then).
These above points are indisputable.
The question of ongoing maintenance of the MUGA was raised. Lesley explained that due to much reorganisation happening within the Council at the moment no decision had been made on maintenance of MUGAs in general, therefore unable to say what the likely outcome will be for Strathblane MUGA.
Linda asked if they could still request SC to project manage the MUGA; Lesley said this could be done and SC would write up a contract that said it would tender the project, appoint the contractors and oversee the work, and reclaim the VAT. The group (Development Trust) would be billed for this. She advised that the Trust’s legal advisers would probably wish to cast their eyes over this contract.
Given that there is a very tight timescale for the Trust to meet the conditions to retain the £15K towards the MUGA other options were discussed.
Lesley had arranged for a contractor to visit the site on Monday this week to advise on drainage. The contractor proposed drainage of the whole area but in short, there is no guarantee that it will work. There is a long history of the area holding water, hydrologically because of the adjacent burns it will likely always be a problem area and it appears on SEPA’s map as a flood problem area. The drainage would cost £30-40K, the field would be unusable for the following year which would require the area to be protected with Heras fencing at a further cost of £10K.
The Trust will have a think about this option and whether they wish to take advice from another Contractor.
The same conditions apply to this option, ie they will have to confirm to Barbara by 20 October that they can raise the outstanding funds to complete this project, where they can raise it, and they will commence the work before the 31 March 2010 and carry out at least £15K worth of work by this point.
Jean advised that it would be unlikely for external funders to fund a project that was purely the drainage of the field.
A further option discussed was the purchase of new pieces of equipment for the existing village playpark.
Colin MacKay, SC can quickly provide the Trust with quotes for a range of playpark equipment.
If the Trust decides on this option again they should inform Barbara by 20 October.
Barbara requested that the Trust ensures the Community Council, as recipients of the LCDF award, are informed of today’s meeting and can confirm they are in agreement with what has been discussed and any subsequent decisions reached by the Trust.