Category Archives: Announcements

Castle Moffat road closure

East Lothian Council will be undertaking drainage improvement works on the Castle Moffat road from Tuesday 19th February 2019 for approximately four days, weather permitting.

To comply with current health and safety legislation, it will be necessary to close the road to through vehicular traffic from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd February between 9am and 4pm daily. No through access will be permitted between the entrances of the Scottish water treatment works during these times. A local diversion route is shown in the attached map.

Vehicles wanting to travel north to Garvald will have to travel south to the B6355 then along to the B6370. Vehicles wanting to travel south from Garvald to Castle Moffat will have to use the same diversion route (see attached drawing EL19762118-003). Emergency vehicle access will be maintained at all times.

Adverse Weather Information

Be prepared! Garvald and Morham can get cut off in the snow in winter and/or have power cuts.

What to do right now:

  • Please let Penny Short (the Community Emergency Co-ordinator) know if you might need extra help in the event of adverse weather or power cuts. This includes if you are vulnerable or have specific health needs, a chronic illness, a requirement for carers or use electrical medical equipment. Please contact Penny using the form below.
  • Pack a small emergency kit and keep it in a safe place at home, in a waterproof bag. Your kit should include a torch and spare batteries (or a wind up torch), a battery-operated radio and spare batteries (or a wind up radio), mobile phone charger, essential medication, some toiletries and a first aid kit, 3 days’ supply of bottled water and ready-to-eat food (that won’t go off), copies of important documents like insurance policies and birth certificates (in case you need to locate these quickly or prove your identity), pencil, paper, a penknife, matches and a whistle.
  • Think about what else you and your family might need, should an emergency occur over an extended period. For example, ensure you have enough food supplies (keep some tinned food and long-life or powdered milk), formula/baby food, pet supplies. Consider purchasing alternative heating methods, a camping stove and an analogue phone (modern digital cordless phones will not work in a power cut).

What to do in adverse weather conditions or a long power cut

  • Keep as warm as possible. Wear layers of clothing and keep at least one room in the house heated.
  • Please try your best to check on vulnerable neighbours and help them to prepare.

Before travelling in severe weather

  • Consider whether you need to travel, or if you can wait until the weather improves
  • Check the weather forecast, and keep up-to-date with the latest weather warnings and road conditions
  • Make sure your car is ready for poor weather (check tyre pressure, windscreen washer supply and fuel levels)
  • Tell someone your destination and when you expect to arrive
  • Allow extra time for your journey
  • Take a fully charged mobile and charger with you
  • Pack an emergency kit in your car. The emergency kit could include a first aid kit, battery jump leads, a torch and spare batteries, a map for unplanned diversions, a blanket, a reflective warning sign. In cold weather, you should also take a shovel for snow, warm clothes and boots, some food, and a warm drink in a flask.

Obtaining information

Listen to local radio:

  • East Coast FM (107.6FM)
  • Forth 1 (97.3FM)
  • Radio Scotland (92-95FM or 810MW)

if you have access to the internet, you can get current information from these websites:

  • Police – www.scotland.police.uk or telephone 999
  • Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – www.firescotland.gov.uk or telephone 999
  • NHS Lothian – www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk or telephone 111
  • Scottish Power – www.spenergynetworks.co.uk or telephone 105 or 0800 0929290
  • Scottish Water – www.scottishwater.co.uk or telephone 0845 6018855
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (flooding) – www.sepa.org.uk or telephone 08459 881188
  • East Lothian Council – www.eastlothian.gov.uk or telephone 01620 827827 or out of hours 01875 612818

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This information has also been published on the Community Council web pages so you can access it when necessary.

Village Christmas Dinner

Many thanks to all those who attended last night’s village Christmas Dinner. Moreover, thank you to all those who helped in some way. There has never been so much food on the buffet, especially sweet treats. Garvaldians are both generous and greedy – the latter in a good way of course!

The event was staffed by DoE volunteers and their tips jar yielded £190 at the end of the night, thank you. They were very grateful for the monies and the warm welcome they received.

As always, any thoughts or feedback on the event would be very gratefully received by the organisers. Drop Katy Mowat at email or pop a snail mail note in the letter box at The Rowans.

Garvald and Morham Community Council News

Penny Short has decided that now is the time to stand down from the Community Council and the Chairperson’s role. Penny has served on the council since 2012 and as Chairperson from October that year. She has been a great asset to Garvald & Morham district.

We would all like to thank Penny for her dedication and excellent work over the last few years.

At our last meeting in December, with Penny resigning, the position of Chair was accepted by Phillip White from Garvald who has been the Vice Chair since 2012. The position of Vice Chair was accepted by Anna Derricourt from Morham.

In due course we will be looking for an additional person to join the Council and this will be advertised on the Garvald website soon.

Phillip R White

Chair, Garvald & Morham Community Council

Public Consultation on Council Budget

East Lothian Council have launched a public budget consultation.

A message from Angela Leitch, Chief Executive of ELC :

The consultation is an opportunity for local residents and council employees to have a say on how the council spends money to support local services. As highlighted recently by the Accounts Commission, the council performs well and has a good record of delivering services within budget.

ELC have embraced new ways of working and become increasingly efficient and effective. ELC couldn’t have achieved any of this without the good work and commitment of council employees. Like all councils, we continue to face financial challenges. East Lothian is Scotland’s fastest growing council area and our external funding – 72% of our income – has fallen in real terms. While ELC are still awaiting news of next year’s funding, it’s expected that significant savings will be required in the coming years. This means it’s increasingly important for ELC to look at innovative new ways of delivering services.

Elected Members will meet in February to agree the council’s 2019/20 budget. In the meantime, council services have been thinking about further options for reducing costs or increasing income.

The public budget consultation sets out some possible options from officers which could help us to address the challenges faced. While it’s important to stress that absolutely no decisions have been made, the council must look ahead and continue to plan for the future..

Please have your say on the consultation.

Angela Leitch, Chief Executive

Missing cat

Elizabeth Haggarty’s cat has gone missing from Castle Moffat and may be on a quest to his previous abode in Papple. If anyone spots him in Garvald or the surrounding area, please get in touch. He’s a two year old black cat, with thinning eye brows and tiny flecks of white under both front legs. Thank you.

Christmas Craft Day – Thanks

Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the Christmas Craft day in the hall yesterday!

We had a very good turn-out and lots of appreciation for the goods available on the stalls and the all different craft activities taking place.

The Christmas Tree lights were switched on and so now we can officially start Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making yesterday a success; setting up the hall, decorating trees, home baking and manning of stalls – all very much appreciated!

Walk around the Donolly reservoir and Danskine Loch

Core Paths around Garvald

Last week our local paths warden Dave Hapgood, from Snawdon, escorted a group of Garvald walkers on a wonderful walk around both the Donolly reservoir and Danskine loch. The aim of the excursion was to have a look at the state of the paths and to see if any improvements were possible or desirable.

In case you are new to the village, the way to reach this walk is to take the bottom road heading west out of the village, sign-posted Carfrae. Just before the road starts to climb up the hill there is a left turn to Garvald Mains Farm, and then about 30m along this road a right-hand track leading to the reservoir. Dave has attached core path signs at various points to show the way.

Thanks to Dave’s work in thinning out self-seeded trees there is now a good path right round the Donolly and this makes a very nice circular walk from Garvald. There is a bit of mud on the south side of the reservoir and the path winds around in and out of trees on the north side but it’s a lovely walk, with occasional feathered company. The circle can be completed in approximately one and a half hours.

We would like to hear comments from other walkers so please take advantage of the mild autumn weather and report back via the website.

A core path leads from the west end of the Donolly through a very muddy field, across the road and then around the Danskine loch. It is then possible to walk on core paths all the way to Gifford. The path round Danskine loch is good, but the intervening muddy field presents a bit of an obstacle. We would be keen to hear any creative suggestions about how to improve this part of the path.

So, dig out your boots, your camera and go walking, but don’t forget the chocolate biscuits like we did!

Dave’s description of the walk to Gifford
https://www.elcv.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DH-walk-garvald-to-gifford.pdf

Other core paths in East Lothian
https://www.elcv.org.uk/library/path-descriptions/

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Community Emergency Plan

A message from Penny Short, Chair of Garvald and Morham Community Council:

Following the severe weather we experienced last year I have been working on a Community Emergency Plan to better prepare us for any similar emergency events. Villagers will recall how we were completely cut-off due to the roads being closed by snow and the situation could have become extremely difficult had the extreme weather continued, especially if we had also lost power. I was very proud of how the community came together, particularly the valiant villagers who kindly sourced some milk and bread.

It is sensible to formalise arrangements should such a situation arise again. I have been consulting with the Council’s Emergency Planning & Risk Manager on what the Council can do to help, but we must also take steps to improve our own resilience – the severe weather in February highlighted how little the Council could actually do to help once we were cut off and not everyone was fully prepared.

The main threats to our community include severe weather, such as snow, ice, flooding and high winds, which can cause falling trees and other hazards including first aid emergencies, fires and children/vulnerable people going missing.

Do you have any skills, tools or other resources that could help in any of these situations? For example, local farmers or tree surgeons may have equipment or expertise they are willing to offer. People may be trained in first aid or happy to be called upon should a search party be required. Maybe you have a 4×4 vehicle and could offer transport to pick up supplies in snowy weather, when other vehicles cannot get out of the village.

Would you be happy to be called upon in an emergency? If you would like to be added to our list of local skills and resources please respond using the form below.

Many thanks,

Penny Short

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