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MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE MERKINCH PARTNERSHIP HELD IN MERKINCH COMMUNITY CENTRE ON THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2006 COMMENCING AT 4.15PM

PRESENT:

Peter Corbett, Ross MacGillivray, Alistair Murray, Bette McArdle, Alistair Locke, Colin Downie, Anne Sutherland, Graham Strachan, Fiona Robb, Jamie McJimpsey and Alison Berg.

APOLOGIES: Joan Tracey and Bob MacKinnon.

• Welcome and Apologies
   
  
• Previous Minutes/Matters Arising

  A Berg questioned her presence on the Partnership as a representative of the Community Centre. G Strachan confirmed that members of the Partnership did not represent the interests of specific groups.

• Constitution

  Copies of a draft constitution were circulated for discussion and provisional approval. A constitution would give a more formal structure to the group and could be ratified by the wider community at a public meeting in April. After some discussion the members agreed to adopt the draft constitution.

  The question of membership was raised. It was agreed that A Sutherland would circulate a membership form to the wider community, with a one off subscription of £1.

  R McGillivray was elected as Treasurer and Secretary. A Sutherland agreed to be Minutes Secretary.

  It was formally agreed that Merkinch Enterprise would provide the Partnership with administration and accounting services, if required.

• Community Plan Update

  An Agency meeting was held on 25th January, when the Community Plan was presented, discussed and agreed. A Sutherland will circulate the meeting report to the Partnership members.

  The Community Plan is a dynamic document and will enable Highland Council to submit a spending plan for the Community Regeneration Funding. It will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis. G Strachan thanked A Sutherland and J McJimpsey for their hard work on the Plan.

• Funding Priorities

  G Strachan circulated a "proposal of spend" document, detailing the allocation of CRF to projects in the Merkinch area, for approval by the Partnership (see Appendix). The figures involved were an indication of possible spend and could be amended if required. After some discussion the proposal was endorsed by the Partnership members and would now go through a further process of approval until finally endorsed by Communities Scotland.

• Partnership Officer Post

  It was agreed that the Partnership would require a Manager and that there was no shortage of locations for this post. G Strachan circulated a job description for discussion. Funding for the 4 year post would come from CRF, Highland Council and INBSE. Administrative or other support would also be needed. The Partnership would need to consider the question of who would employ the Manager - the Partnership itself or Merkinch Enterprise on behalf of the Partnership.

  The Partnership Manager's post would not be an extension of the existing Project Officer's post.

  Other staffing issues were discussed - the Community Warden post and the need to involve the wider community in staffing decisions.

  The Partnership Manager could be located in the proposed Waterfront Centre.

  Scottish Natural Heritage could be approached regarding funding for the Partnership post, as long as this post incorporated a "green element". G Strachan agreed to draw up a person specification for discussion at the next Partnership meeting.

• Community Engagement

  A summary of the document "Community Engagement Standards" was circulated. It was felt that the groups and organisations active in Merkinch are already engaging successfully with the wider community. The guidance is also for agencies to help them engage meaningfully with their communities.

  A Sutherland agreed to circulate copies of the summary to all community groups in the area.

• A.O.B.

  None

• Date and Time of next meeting

  The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 14th March at 4:15pm in Merkinch Community Centre.

This project is being part-financed by the European Union under the Inverness and Nairn CED programme.