Author: Eileen Virtue

After our Christmas and New Year’s recess the Community Council was back to business in our January Meeting. We had an update from the police as to a few incidents that were reported to them in Inverkip & Wemyss Bay, details of which you can find in our January Minutes.

We discuss the switching on of the Christmas Lights in Inverkip & Wemyss Bay, both of which were successful. We did however find out that unfortunately in Inverkip’s case the Christmas Entertainer did not show up, however it was good to hear that the local dance group extended their slot to make up for this.

The Community Council provide Wemyss Bay & Inverkip with an equal share of money to provide for a Christmas Entertainer at the light switch on, we however did take the money back in the case of Inverkip due to the entertainer not showing up, as it was felt that the money should be put towards something to benefit the children in the whole community and allowing the Parent Council to keep it would not.

It was proposed at the meeting that the community council donate £100 to the dancing group for them stepping in at short notice to cover the entertainer showing up. This was agreed by the community council. It was also proposed that the Community Council donate money to the Inverkip Community Initiative (ICI) to support a community event at the Inverkip Hub, this motion was agreed, and amount will be decided after discussion between ICI and the Community Council.

We discussed our calendar of future meetings and the location of our Inverkip Meeting going forward, it was hoped that we might be able to relocate into the Community Hub, however the board of the hub advised us that their meeting rooms are not large enough for the community council, as a result we will continue to meet in the Inverkip Primary School for our Inverkip Meetings.

We discussed changing the number of times we meet in a year and as a result we have agreed that the normal summer break which is July to August, is long and as such we have agreed to meet in July going forward and no longer hold a December meeting.

That’s everything from our January meeting, until next time !

It’s hard to believe that this month’s meeting was the last one of 2016 ! This year has been a busy one for all of us on the community council, we have seen much achieved and a great deal of change for both village’s. This year we have dealt with hundreds of issues on a variety of subjects on behalf of villagers, made representations to local and national government and supported groups in both villages. Our community council email account has seen over 1,000 emails this year we have continually invested in our website and social media presence to keep people up-to-date with what is happening.

Returning to my usual monthly blog on our December meeting, at our meeting this month we received our usual police update about crime that has been committed in the area. This update included an update as to the missing person enquire on Margaret Fleming. Many of you know about Margaret by now and unfortunately, she still has not been found. But we know the Police are doing everything they can to find Margaret, I ask that if you know of anything about Margaret that could help the police then contact them via the 101 number.

Of the issues that were brought up at our monthly meeting, there was a discussion about the road condition in Inverkip at the bottom of Langhouse Road, the Community Council will be looking into this to find out why the roads have not been properly restored. Another issue was the state of the Wemyss Bay Hotel which again has windows broken on it, the Community Council is looking at this issue with Inverclyde Councils Warden Services.

We discussed and encouraged those present to participate in the council’s budget consultation, which you can find out more about here https://www.inverclyde.gov.uk/council-and-government/yoursay Unfortunately, the council needs to make savings of £22.5million during the period 2017/20, given the scale and pace of the savings required the Council will have no option but to reduce spending in some areas of service delivery. Meaning that some services that we rely on will either be reduced or stopped altogether. As such I strongly support the council in their budget consultation, seeking to engage public opinion on this issue, is the right and democratic thing to do by giving the public a say in the process. To that end please go on and complete the budget survey which you will find here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Inverclydecouncilbudgetconsultation

And with that we are at the end of my December blog and my last for 2016, I wish everyone from both villages to our local business a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year when it comes. Please make sure to stay safe this Christmas and New Year.

I am sure many of you in both Villages by now will have heard of about Margaret Fleming, who went missing recently from Inverkip. At our November meeting our local Police Area Commander Chief Inspector Elliot Brown, provided us with an update as to the progress of the police’s missing person enquire. The police have been conducting extensive enquires and searches of the village in order to find Margaret, they have been speaking to many villagers in the hopes that they can provide more information that might help find her. Sadly so far Margaret has not been found. But I strongly encourage people if they have seen or know information that might be useful in finding Margaret to contact the police by calling 101.

At our November meeting myself and my fellow community councillors as well as a significant number of community members were provided with a very interesting presentation on the Inverkip War Memorial project by Hilary Cameron. Hilary has done a significant amount of research into the Inverkip War Memorial and the stories of those whose names are on the memorial. Hilary has produced an interesting book on the project which is for sale in numerous point in the village including Inverkip Church, proceeds after production cost are going to the Erskine Hospital.

Hilary reached out to the community council, to ask if we would be able to have some restoration work conducted on the memorial. As such we were only too happy to help, one of my community council colleague Tracy Bunton dealt with this issues, and by working with the Inverclyde Council was able to ensure the restoration work happened in time for Remembrance Sunday.

Myself and my fellow Community Councillor Elieen Virtue, were honoured to represent the Community Council and the communities of both villages at the Wemyss Bay & Inverkip Remembrance Sunday Services this month. No matter what anyone’s view on wars, the one thing we can all do is come together and honour those who fought so that we may be free.

That’s all until next month !