The minutes for the Garvald and Morham Community Council March meeting are now available on the GMCC meetings page.

Public workshops are being held so you can share your views on the draft Local Transport Strategy. These are taking place on the following dates:

• Haddington – Town House Main Room – 18th April, 7pm – 9pm
• North Berwick – Hope Rooms – 19th April, 7pm – 9pm
• Dunbar – British Legion – 24th April, 7pm – 9pm
• Prestonpans – Town Hall – 25th April, 7pm – 9pm
• Musselburgh – Esk Rooms, Brunton Hall – 26th April, 7pm – 9pm

You can also read the draft documents and submit your comments online, via East Lothian Council’s consultations hub.

Message from Penny Short, Chair of Garvald and Morham Community Council

Do you ever feel lonely, isolated or just want a bit of company?  In our rural location loneliness can become a real problem and although we don’t have any official clubs in Garvald or Morham that can help with this issue, there are two currently running in Gifford and I’d like to find out if any residents of Garvald and Morham would be interested in going along to them.  The Gifford Lunch Club meets on the 2^nd Monday of every month and costs around £7.50 including lunch.  The Good Companions Club meets on the third Wednesday of every month and costs around £1 a session which includes refreshments.  Both the clubs were set up to be as inclusive as possible but the Good Companions Club in particular is geared more towards older and/or disabled people.  I’d like to gauge if any of our residents would be interested in attending either or both of these clubs.  I’m told there aren’t many spaces left on the Lunch Club and transport to Gifford isn’t offered as part of membership but if I could get an idea of how many people would be interested in joining these groups we can work from that.  So please get in touch with me and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Penny.

(If you are reading this as an email update, please view this post on the Garvald website if you wish to complete the contact form).

Rufus Bellamy has decided that the time is right for him to stand down from the Community Council. We would like to thank him for his dedication and excellent work as Council Member and Secretary for the GMCC for many years.

As a result of this, we have a place on the Community Council for a new member.

New Year – New Challenges!

Would you like to be more involved with the local community and take part in initiatives that can really make a difference? If so, you are invited to apply for a position on Garvald and Morham Community Council (GMCC).

The Community Council needs a new member who can commit to attending regular GMCC meetings (6 per year) and other relevant meetings as required. Ideally the new Community Councillor would take over as Secretary and so experience of taking minutes, preparing agendas and dealing with relevant correspondence would be advantageous. Members of Garvald and Morham CC are a small but dynamic group who, amongst other duties, administer a sizeable Windfarm Fund and, although there is a lot of responsibility involved with being a Community Councillor, it is also very rewarding. This position is, of course, on a voluntary basis and in the interests of fairness invitations are particularly sought from Garvald residents as three of the six positions already belong to residents of Morham.

I would be grateful if you could indicate your interest by replying in the attached form with a short note explaining why you would like to join the Community Council by Friday 2 February 2018.

If you have any questions or would like to chat about this post please contact Penny Short using the contact form below:

Crystal Rig Grant Allocations

Your Community Council has had a busy year in 2016-2017 and we wanted to update you on what the Crystal Rig Fund has been used for.

The following local young people were supported: Aiden & Lucy B, Molly C, Isaac & Daisy, Harry Lee, Conal, Thomas R and Scott T. Our funding aided them in their competitive sporting and educational achievements, enabled two young people to speak at a UK Space Agency Principia conference and provided a musical instrument grant.

Larger projects helped were:

• Morham Village Hall (repairs to a wall)
• Morham Hall Refurbishment
• Morham Treasure Hunt
• Woodland Project 2 (4 year project)
• Knox Academy
• Yester Primary School
• Garvald Fun Day
• Halloween & Christmas Parties
• Garvald & Morham Theatre Trip – over 80 people from both villages travelled to Edinburgh to see Arabian Nights and by all accounts the trip was a great success.
• Christmas Trees for Garvald and Morham

As you can see a large and varied amount of projects were given support, in total we approved £28,500.00 last year.

We are currently arranging a planning application for a External Defibrillator to be located in the vicinity of the Garvald Public Toilets.

We are looking for any ideas you may have for allocating 2018 funds. We should have a similar amount of money available and any projects that meet the strict criteria will be considered. Please read the Crystal Rig 2018 application form or contact Philip White for more information.

Meeting minutes are now available on the GMCC page. Details include information on traffic and speeding in the village, funding allocations, core paths and an update from the Haddington and Lammermuir Area Partnership.