Fankerton Fish Counter
Jo Girvan - River Forth Fisheries Trust

We are delighted to announce that our new fish counter at the fish pass at Fankerton is now up and running. The technical difficulties we have had since the counter was installed earlier this year have been solved and we are starting to receive data on any movements through the fish pass. This information will shortly become available to view through our website and we will be providing regular updates throughout the upstream spawning migration this Autumn.

The fish pass at Fankerton has been in place for one season, which means that adult salmon could potentially have spawned upstream of the weir last winter. We carried out electrofishing at three sites upstream of the weir in August this year to see if we could find any evidence of salmon spawning, but we did not find any salmon fry. It may take some time for enough adult salmon to ascend the fish pass and produce sufficient young so that we can pick them up through electrofishing survey.

Because the area has been inaccessible for many years, there has been no salmon spawning here and it may take time for adult salmon to ascend the pass in any numbers and build a genetic homing instinct to repopulate this part of the river. The counter will help us to monitor this.

Fish counters are one of the primary mechanisms for fisheries management, providing accurate figures on the number of adults returning to a river. This type of information can help with many aspects of management such as assessing the passability of existing fish passes and accurate conservation limit setting. We hope this will be the first of many fish counters that we will be able to install on the rivers of the Forth District. Two more counters are already in the pipeline through the RiverLife: Almond & Avon Project, with plans for others to follow.

Thanks to Andy from ACE Ltd UK and Gareth from Vaki for helping resolve the technical issues.

FALKIRK COUNCIL
BRIEFING NOTE

From:         Douglas Duff, Head of Economic Development & Environmental Services

Subject:     Denny Town Centre Regeneration – update

Date         8 September 2016

1.0    Introduction  
1.1    The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the status of the Denny Town Centre Regeneration Project

2.0     Phase 1
2.1     Work is nearing completion on the first phase of the new town centre.  Clark Contracts Ltd is the Phase 1 main contractor and has confirmed that works are proceeding to programme.  The first stage of the Phase 1 works, including the development of the commercial building, is identified for completion on the 17 October 2016.  The second stage of works, include the demolition of the octagonal building, completion of the car park and town square will be completed during 2017.  


    Denny Phase 1

Phase 1 Marketing
2.2   The Council has appointed marketing agents to promote and invite interest in the vacant units within the Phase 1 development.  The marketing brief was issued on the 28 June inviting interest from prospective tenants with responses returned on the 26 August 2016. The responses will be considered at the Council’s Executive meeting on the 27 September.  Three units are already committed, with agreements in place with Lloyds Pharmacy, Boots and Café Anton.

Phase 1 Public Art Proposals
2.3   The Council, with support from a local community panel and Falkirk Community Trust, is currently agreeing contracts with the recruited artists for 3 of the 5 public art projects. 

1.  Interventions (Sculptural Treasure Trail) - Joseph Ingleby (details at: http://www.josephingleby.com/)

2.   Railings (Sculptural/Interactive) – David Annand (details at: http://www.davidannand.com/ )

3.   The Lazy Corner) – Blair Cunningham (details at: http://www.axisweb.org/p/blaircunningham/#info )

The additional Public Art projects are:

4. Way finding (The picture House) - At the initial stage of the recruitment process, only one application was received for the Way Finding (The Picture House) commission.  However during the assessment process the applicant withdrew their interest.  This commission will therefore be re-advertised and further information provided as this is progressed. 

5.  Staircase (A Visual Feature)
There were two applicants for the Staircase commission and one of the two withdrew their interest.  Whilst, the local community panel was very satisfied with the other bid that was proposed, however it was over the anticipated budget.  The available budget for this commission is being reviewed with a view to re-advertising the opportunity.

Public Art Project Timetable
·    August/Sept 2016: appointments/contract commences
·    Oct/Nov 2016: research, design and outline design proposals
·    Dec - Jan 2017: community engagement
·    Feb 2017: finalise design
·    Spring/Summer 2017: Installation

Public Wi-fi
2.4    The Council, in collaboration with BT, hopes to deliver a public wi-fi scheme as part of the phase 1 plans.  It is expected that the free wi-fi coverage will include the town square and surrounding area.

3.0    Phase 2 Development
3.1    Following B & M’s decision not to progress their previous interest in the Denny Phase 2 site, the Council’s Executive, on the 7 June 2016, agreed to remarket the site on completion of the Phase 1 development.

4.0    Denny Regeneration Office – 35 Church Walk, Denny
4.1    To progress the next phase of the town centre works, the octagonal building is scheduled for demolition.  Clark Contracts have now applied for the disconnection of utilities to this building and therefore, the Regeneration Office will close at 1pm on Tuesday 20 September.  Council officers will continue to liaise fully with members of the community on the project and enquiries can be made to the Growth and Investment Unit on 01324 590973.

5.0    Denny Newsletter Update
5.1    A newsletter will be issued in Autumn 2016 providing an update on the Denny town centre regeneration activity.