​As you may know or remember we submitted our Community Asset Transfer request on 20th April 2023, and then applied for some funding to conduct the first stage in the purchasing process, where the Architect's initial ideas and any property surveys are completed. It has been confirmed that there are two commercial offers for the property along with ours and we will all be assessed for Best Value. The PKC Property Sub Committee will make a decision on the 7th August and we will be told after that if we have been successful. 


In the meantime to add more support for our CAT request, I am contacting you to ask if you havent already become a member of Sprout and would like to support us and become a member here is the link https://forms.gle/pUwMW2biLG6ZrXeX9 But maybe more important with the additional commercial offers, if you would like to write us a letter of support from either a personal perspective or business/group perspective to help us with what we are trying to achieve - a community & social eco hub in Pitlochry to support as many ideas and initiatives related to becoming more sustainable. It would be much appreciated. 


You could write a physical letter and hand it to me or email one to me at [email protected] or you can email it directly to James Gardner at [email protected] or by post to him at 2 High St, Perth PH1 5PH. The final deadline is Monday 31st July 2023. 


If we are successful with getting the property it will allow us to establish this Hub which would include a workshop space, an information and a multi-purpose space and a Reuse Space with some public accessible toilets. The green space outside would make a great social and outdoor workshop space too.


Please forward this request if you know of anyone who may wish to support us, this would be greatly appreciated too.   



See below for  a draft letter for your convenience if you wish to copy and paste it.  


Thank you,


Carol

Address:
​Date:

Dear James and Jonathan,
​
I would like to add my support for the Community Asset Transfer of the Burnside Toilets in Pitlochry to Sprout as it will be so good to have a range of sustainable living initiatives in one place which will make it so much easier for residents, our wider communities and visitors to find the answers they are looking for. It will also make sure the communication between different initiatives such as the Climate Cafes and the Men’s Shed, Repair Cafes, The Heat Project and UpperTay Transport is supported and nurtured and inspires future collaborations reducing the duplication of work and time spent.

Within close proximity to the property, we also have the Men’s Shed, three Charity Shops, Handam Refill Shop, and a café, who is more than happy to support the Hub, plus the town’s public transport facilities. It is also helping to establish an area in Pitlochry that is focussed on promoting how to be more sustainable.

I think it is an extremely important and worthwhile initiative and during this time of Climate Crisis it is essential. The more Sprout is able to achieve in Pitlochry and Aberfeldy the more potential there is to support the spurring of ideas in other communities in Perth and Kinross.

Therefore, from a Perth and Kinross perspective I believe that transferring this property to Sprout would represent Best Value for our community and will help to address the need for some community eco and social facilities in Pitlochry.

Kind regards:

1:  Concerns re single use plastics in sanitary products provided at Breadalbane Academy.
2: Concerns re vaping at the school in general, and the plastic waste it can generate

Julie C raised this. She has a child who attends Breadalbane school. Sanitary products are now made available in all schools in Scotland. Obviously for hygiene reasons there needs to be individual wrapping, but nearly all involve single use plastic wrapping. We discussed alternatives. Compostable wrapping is probably an improvement but is still far from perfect, depending on which type is used. In the long run re-usable options such as moon-cups and washable pads are good but may be more difficult for girls to manage in the school setting. We were also not sure how many girls know about such options, and whether they are covered when girls are taught about menstruation and its management in schools.


We also discussed vaping, which is apparently widespread at the school, despite the fact it is not allowed there. Concerns were expressed about the harm it can do, as well as the waste it creates.
Julie will contact the school’s Parent Council to discuss sanitary products provided and to ask about education in their use and will also discuss vaping. She may also contact the Aberfeldy Climate Café which is now fully up and running again.


Carol will contact members of the PKC Climate Action Team, in particular Viv Milford, from the Waste Management Team, to see what they know about sanitary products provided free in this area-or if they have any recommendations.
The reply from Ana De Miguel PKC waste team –
Single Use Sanitary products: Definitely the best option will be to change to reusables, however more education will be needed to explain the options, period pans, cups and reusable cloth pads.  There is some information at the Zero Waste Scotland Website Trial Period | Zero Waste Scotland
But the best option for information and more sustainable products is ‘Hey girls website’. They work specially with the Public Sector and Schools, providing education and products, see more in the link hey girls | Award Winning Period Product Social Enterprise


Vaping: Vaping is a growing problem from the health and the environmental point of view. Earlier this week, Perth & Kinross Council voiced their support for a ban on single-use, disposable vapes. For now, they are asking people to dispose of the whole vaping kit with your electrical recycling at recycling centres.

1. Regional Hubs SCCAN=Scottish Communities Climate Action Network.

After the Earth Day event on the 22nd April, there followed a meeting with Louisa Harvey, the leader of the Scottish Governments Community Action Team about the setting up of regional climate action hubs as part of the Scottish Government’s work on climate change communities engagement. SCCAN provided regional coordinators to contact individuals, community groups and businesses regarding their opinions on these hubs. Hubs will work to build awareness of the climate emergency and actions local groups can take, develop local plans, help groups take up funding opportunities, facilitate networking, ensure a more joined-up approach to tackling climate change at a regional level.


There are already two regional hubs in existence, the Highlands and Islands Climate Hub, (covering the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland) and the NESCAN Hub (covering Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire) Both were set up in 2021.


At the moment Perth and Kinross already has a network through the efforts of our PKC Climate Change & Sustainable Development team and Climate Cafes, but it is not formally aligned to SCCAN. During a number of discussions regarding either having a Tayside wide hub, or a Perth & Kinross Hub, Louise Harvey has mentioned Perth & Kinross can be a Hub too alongside all the others around Scotland. Discussions are still ongoing.

1. Burnside Toilets

Valued at £35,000. Bids for it’s sale closed 20th April and along side our Community Asset Transfer there are two commercial bids. We are now in the process of applying for funding to conduct a feasibility survey on the property to judge the extent of deterioration of the building and contamination on the site before moving forward.

1. Repair Cafe

Julia Harriman has received more funding for the Repair Café so it is covered for the next 12 months.
Dates for the rest of 2023: The recent Repair Cafe on Sunday 4th June is the last one before the summer break of 2 months to return again in September. Then they resume on 3rd September, 1st October, 5th November and 3rd December.

1. Thursday 11th May Birdie – Jenni and Isla Moncrieff

Jenni and Isla came along to chat to us about their new sustainable business in Pitlochry – Birdie. They chatted about their experiences setting up the business, sourcing sustainable products and how challenging it was, the process they went through to make decisions on where and what products they have in the shop. It was very interesting and enlightening to hear about their experiences and we thank them for coming along and wish them well in their new venture. The shop is definitely worth a visit. Lots of lovely products.   

1. Highland Mainline Community Rail Partnership.

From Sally Spaven Two good news items for the community. We have a second member of staff, Alex at the Station, being trained by Colin.
Pitlochry Station was shortlisted in the World Cup of Stations by Tim Dunn, Railway Historian. 1,200 stations in the UK have Community Groups, 100 were nominated and 48 made the shortlist, key to this is the Bookshop which has just raised £400,000 for its charities selling donated books.

1. Let’s Talk Transport! Its not too late to add your thoughts to this survey as it closes on the 11th June

 
Our Transportation and Development Team would like you to share your thoughts and experiences on the transport network to help identify further problems and opportunities as presented in our Let’s Talk Transport, main issues report. This will allow us to develop a robust evidence base to inform the draft Mobility Strategy.
It would be greatly appreciated if the link is shared with colleagues, friends, and family to get as many participants as possible. This will allow for a robust evidence base to inform the draft Mobility Strategy.
The Big Place Conversation – Let’s Talk Transport - Perth & Kinross Council Citizen Space - Citizen Space (pkc.gov.uk)

1. Clothes Swap:

Would anyone be interested in helping Michelle Mcandie organise a Clothes Swap/alteration workshop in the next few months?

1. Next Climate Cafes are: Tuesday 11th July, 1pm and Thursday 13th July 7pm in the Library. There will be no Climate Cafes in August.

Questions for members of the PKC Climate Change and Sustainable Development Team.
Viv Milford (Climate Change and Sustainable Development Officer) attended the Climate Café. Questions and answers:


-Planning permission difficulties, including for green initiatives such as solar panels etc. - Can you check with the planning dept re - installation of double or triple glazed windows, pv solar panels etc in conservation areas. Treatment of people wanting to do eco builds? It was raised at the last council climate change and sustainability committee meeting and the outcome of that motion was that Councillor Watters would write to the relevant Scottish Government minister to ask for a review in to permitted development rights within conservation areas. And then the council would complete a review of their own conservation areas and boundaries.   


- Pedestrian/bike access. Residents are complaining that people on foot or on bikes are not allowed to enter the recycling site. (Not only does this encourage car use, but it also prevents people without access to a car from recycling. Viv mentioned this was all due to having had pedestrian access at all sites and then there was a fatality of a pedestrian (local man) at Friarton, and along with there being less staff at recycling sites now, so PKC stopped people coming onto the site unless they were in a car or van.
 
- Paint and chemicals can't be tipped here but can in other places, as has been the case for a few years. Paint in its liquid form is a chemical waste and they don’t have a licence to take them. There used to be places that took old paint, one being near Castle in Cupar in Fife but they found that so much of the paint was frost damaged so they could not recycle/reuse it and ended up with more paint going to land fill than being reused. It was too costly.
We need to stop storing paint in garages and huts etc as its too cold for them. The recycling centre will only accept tins of paint that is either allowed to dry completely so it’s a solid lump or to pour sawdust, sand or ash and allow to dry out completely. Not a great solution. The best solution is to use up all your paint even if that means mixing it or sharing it with someone else. Maybe something for the Mens Shed?       


- Freegle store or charity items eg. PUSH at Friarton. Viv asked that we contact Ana De Miguel at PKC Waste team worked with Remake to get them reuse/storage containers in Crieff. They had a service agreement with PKC for taking the reuse items from the container. We could approach Ana and ask for her help in Pitlochry to find a site for a storage container etc and a space for stopping to drop off. Maybe at the PKC Waste Depot. She could give us some advice on what they did in Crieff to set this up. A recent source of funding for community projects of this type is SUEZ a dry mixed recycling and waste management service.  (In the past they paid for things like the reuse containers, signage etc). What helps with the reuse of bigger items is locating reuse containers somewhere where people can stop to offload these items and most charity shops don’t have the space outside to offload and don’t have the storage space indoors. Remake works because it does and they are happy to diversify what they take in etc.   


- Is there any new information on possible sites for allotments and lack of an allotment officer/greenspace ranger? She wasn’t sure what was happening with the position as the full extent of the cuts has not been fully published yet. She did mention that PKC were looking for volunteers to help with keeping cemeteries clean and tidy. However, in terms of food growing, Rachel Robson [email protected] (Good Food Project Officer); Kim MacDonald [email protected] (Good Food Coordinator -Communities) would be good people to get in touch with.
- Is the vacant land at the entrance to Lettoch Terrace PKC land and if so could we get permission to plant some fruit trees or bushes there? Susie Norris PKC is going to check to see who owns this piece of land and let us know if its ok to use.


- Can we get permission to plant trees at Mount Zion to replace felled one. Viv is going to check this out as she knows there are two officers looking into this about replacing the trees etc.


Update on CAP Steering Group - Just to keep you updated, the Community Action Plan steering group were informed on Monday 13th March that we are now a Development Trust - Pitlochry Community Action Trust. This will consist of members of the existing steering group becoming trustees until an EGM can be organised. However we are also looking to recruit new trustees of the Trust to join or even replace the current team. Becoming a trustee will be a very fulfilling and varied role.


Insulate Pitlochry another event? As the event in January between PCAT Theme 5 group,  the Climate Cafe and the Heat Project was so successful Martin (Heat Project) has suggested it would be good to have another event soon. There were 14 home surveys completed from that event. So the next event in the Co-op has been organised for Saturday 15th April 10am to 2pm. The event will focus on energy and insulation, and potentially be called ‘Insulate Pitlochry: A project of PCAT’ and again be supported by PCAT Theme 5, the Heat Project and Climate Café. On arrival volunteers parking at the Co-op should let staff know their licence plate number to avoid parking tickets. This event could also be used to launch a smart meter survey for a possible local community energy project and we are also investigating a Highland Perthshire Community Energy project which could include any or all communities in the Tay and A9 area. A few people are happy to help would anyone else like to help for an hour?


Energy Fair PCAT Theme 5 group are also planning an Energy Fair on Saturday 2nd September again with Climate Café and the Heat Project. If you would like to help, please get in touch soon.


Recyclosaurus and Escape Rooms Workshops – Drew Scott is offering a workshops. There is a children’s upcycling event, Recyclosaurus on Saturday 15th April just for some Easter fun.  And a number of Escape room sessions as a part of Earth Day, Saturday 22nd April. Please check attached posters.


Earth Day – PKC ha also organised an event in Perth and there will be a Climate Café Network stall there to help promote ourselves in Perth.


The Big Place Conversation has begun! This is a conversation happening in Perth & Kinross communities throughout 2023 to find out what you love about your place, and what could be improved. We'll be talking about things like :

• Are you able to get where you want without using a car?
• Do the houses in your area meet people's needs?
• Can you get to good quality parks and nature?
• Are there the shops and services that you need in your place?

Be part of the conversation! People that work or live in a place know it best so are the best judge of what is good and what could be better.
https://www.pkc.gov.uk/article/22957/The-Big-Place-Conversation


Waste Reduction – I had contacted Etape, Pitlochry Highland Games and NYSP about waste reduction last year but didn’t get very far. Thought it might be an idea to ask them again this year as there is more time to do so. Would anyone like to help?


Burnside Toilets Update. Thank you to everyone who has become a member of Sprout, our new community environmental organisation. The deadline has changed to 20th April due to Easter holidays so there is still time to support the project. We have 68 members and at least 8 letters of support now.
Biodiversity Town? Catherine Lloyd – Tayside Biodiversity Partnership has been in touch with me regarding this as they have now received some funding to roll out the Biodiversity Villages, Towns & Neighbourhoods Initiative. The basic concepts behind the project are:

• the proposal is that each local community holds a mapping session to enable everyone to say what they would like to see wildlife-wise in the area (and add to the knowledge of what is already present).
• PKC Greenspace staff will hopefully be present so they can say what they will or will not allow where greenspace changes are suggested.
• Wildlife corridors and pollinator stepping stones can be mapped or planned, and details shared as to potentially interested farmers and landowners nearby where we can extend the habitats beyond the town itself.
• Biodiversity projects (and citizen science surveys) can be listed, including existing initiatives, those that people have heard about from elsewhere, plus ideas listed in the Toolkit.

 Catherine would be happy to answer any questions on this and we can organise a community mapping session in May or June. Some people from the Pitlochry Community Action Trust, Theme 5 E & S group are interested so what do you think?


Presentations and workshops - I am going to sort a monthly talk or workshop for the Climate Cafe as I still have funding for this so any ideas would be appreciated.


Climate Week and or Tattie Bogle Trail October – Drew Scott is interested in helping with this event this year so looking to see if anyone else would like to be involved.


Guided tour Martin Mathers is doing a guided walk in Black Spout Woods on Sunday 7th May at 11am, through the Tayside Woodlands Partnership. Meet up in the bottom car park and dogs are welcome.


Next Climate Cafes are Tuesday 11th April 1pm and Thursday 13th April 7pm in the Pitlochry Library. Everyone is welcome.