Councillor learns multi-skilling as staff stay home
THE row over proposals to implement ‘Single Status for Argyll and Bute employees manifested itself in the streets of Dunoon over the Easter weekend, with employees of a local building firm carrying out street-cleaning work which would normally be carried out by council employees.
And there was an even bigger departure from the norm in the West Bay and Innellan, when the local councillor took on the role of toilet attendant.
The situation fell short of industrial action as such; in theory it was created by council employees exercising their right to take public holidays rather than provide holiday cover.
There is, however, no question that the move was an indication from normally far from militant council employees that they want the Single Status issue satisfactorily resolved, and it is clear that the matter won’t go away.
While the council recently moved to extend the period for the lodgement of appeals and promised to look at anomalies in the system, there was no indication that it would address what many employees regard as an attack on the poorest-paid among them.
Innellan and Auchamore Councillor Dick Walsh confirmed that over the weekend he had been looking after the public toilets at West Bay and at Sandy Beach.
He said that he had found out on Thursday that staff responsible for street sweeping and public toilets would not be working overtime over the holiday weekend; while it was not industrial action, it was clearly linked to dissatisfaction over the job evaluation issue.
Cllr Walsh said: “I suggested that contractors be brought in to sweep our streets, in particular the town centre, and for action to be taken with the opening, closing and cleaning of our public conveniences.
“I volunteered to deal with the ones in my area, at West Bay and Sandy Beach at Innellan - arrangements were in place for Innellan Pierhead.
“It was not acceptable to me at this important holiday weekend that our streets would not be swept or our public conveniences would not be open and clean for locals and visitors.
“I set about giving the toilets a good scrub. I cannot begin to understand the behaviour of some people - goodness knows what kind of homes they live in or come from with their inability to perform simple actions like using the urinals provided and also simply flushing the toilet after use.”
Cleaning public toilets may be a new experience for Cllr Walsh, but he has jumped into the breach on numerous occasions in the past, gritting footpaths and lanes and delivering supplies of water to the elderly during periods of supply disruption.
Cllr Walsh praised the work done by the contractors - employees of Stewart McNee Ltd - and added that if it had been necessary he would have equally been prepared to enlist the help of volunteers to sweep the main street.
He was adamant that his actions were not intended to undermine council staff.
He said: “I regret very much the outcome of the Job Evaluation process and the implications that it will have on the earnings of many of our employees; I also regret that I was, along with six other councillors prohibited from participating in the discussion process because of a pecuniary interest and the requirements of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct.
“The decision to accept the option was unanimously agreed by all the participating councillors who presumably had all the relevant and factual information before them to enable them to take the decision that they did.
“ I am more than willing to do whatever I can to find a solution to the current position.
“We need to look again at the matrix and weightings that were used in the evaluation process, and to resolve the issues.
“We then need to set about finding the money to pay for this over what has been provided for in the council’s budget.”
Cllr Walsh estimated that the additional costs could be around £3m. As part of the current agreement the council had agreed to put £1.6m into the budget to pay towards the costs as well as agreeing that 144 jobs would be reduced over three years through a process of efficiency.
The council also needed to look at best practice and what other councils in Scotland had been doing to arrive at a solution.
He regretted the Scottish Executive’s failure to come up with any cash for Single Status.
He said: “They provided monies for the teacher’s settlement (McCrone) and they have funded the Agenda for Change within the Health Service - a similar exercise - but no additional money for local government.”
He urged council staff affected by the job evaluation exercise to respond positively to the consultation and to appeal their particular situation if they felt justified for doing so.
None of the council workers we spoke to had anything but praise for Cllr Walsh’s voluntary cleaning role, and there was certainly no suggestion that he was trying to capitalise in view of the impending elections.
There was, however a different view of the decision to subcontract the street-cleaning to Stewart McNee. One angry council employee said the approach would split the community, and drew unfavourable comparisons with the miner’s strike. Another suggested that the builder should reconsider the wisdom of getting involved in the dispute, and that his employees should refuse to work.


Problems for Argyll Terrace
ANOTHER threat is looming to refuse collections in Dunoon because of vehicle access.
The problem this time, however, isn’t the state of the road, but bad parking which is preventing the refuse lorry from turning.
The road in question is Argyll Terrace, a cul-de-sac running off the northward side of Kirn Brae.
The issue was brought to the Observer’s notice by council SNP candidate Ron Simon, who said he had been approached by residents who had received letters to the effect that their kerbside collection was under threat.
He said: “For many years lockups at the end of the terrace were used as a turning point; however when this land changed hands and a private house was built on the plot, residents became concerned about access for bin lorries and emergency vehicles. After a lengthy campaign the council agreed to open up the road end and created a turning point on a small area of land formerly leased by Dunclutha Market Garden.”
However, the matter was already being addressed by the existing councillor, Brian Chennell.
He explained: “The turning circle which was put in as a temporary measure some years ago is being misused in that people are parking there on a permanent basis.
“No parking” signs were erected and still exist to this day.
“Due to pressure for parking space a very small number of vehicles including a couple of commercial vehicles, are regularly parking within the area designated as a turning point - much to the annoyance and inconvenience of everyone else including the refuse collectors.”
He said that, although he did not agree fully with the noted intentions of the amenities services department, he understood the difficulties they were facing.
He added: “It’s interesting to note that when the yellow lining of the east side of Argyll terrace was mentioned last year, some residents considered that there was no problem regarding traffic congestion and turning areas.
He offered a ray of hope, saying: “The Dunclutha project will be starting soon and this will give further parking space and a turning area. However until this happens, and although I will be speaking to the department on their intended actions, I would advise all residents to show a degree of responsibility by not parking in the turning area, and I would hope that this would allow the refuse collection to continue.”
He concluded by saying that he would be discussing the matter with the Roads Manager, Alan Lothian on Wednesday.
Mr Simon has written to the head of the department concerned on behalf of a number of residents concerned at the threat of the removal of their refuse collection.
He said: “As a regular visitor to the Terrace for many years I am well aware of the parking difficulties partly due to this street taking the parking, overspill from the surrounding area.
“Local residents are angry and distressed that this blanket threat has been issued to everyone when only a few regular offenders are causing the problem.
“As council tax payers these residents are entitled to the same services as anyone else, including refuse collection; they also expect the same level of services as those in Dunoon town centre where parking regulations are rigorously enforced.
“Residents want to know why the “No Parking” arrangement is not enforced; they are also concerned that any alternative arrangement introduced may present a significant risk to public safety, and that the removal of the refuse collection will not address the issue of access for emergency vehicles.”


Park plans go to discretionary hearing
A final decision by Argyll and Bute Council on two separate planning applications by Cowal Leisure Ltd has been deferred until a discretionary hearing can be arranged.
At a meeting of Bute and Cowal Area Committee held in Rothesay on Wednesday, councillors heard from council officials that their initial recommendation was that both should be granted, but that no decision should be made until a hearing was held.
Councillors were told that a large number of letters objecting to the proposals had recently been received by the council, and it was agreed that the correct procedure would be to allow objectors the opportunity to have their say at a separate hearing.
The two planning applications relate to Hunter’s Quay Holiday Park. The larger of the two proposes the installation of 66 static caravans with ancillary works to create a further three ‘holiday villages’ within the park. The second application concerns the retention of 31 static caravans, plus the erection of eight additional chalets close to existing lodges within the site.
Councillor Chennell, chairing the Area Committee meeting, suggested that the planned hearing should be held in Cowal, and this was echoed by Cllr Marshall.
Another Cowal councillor astutely enquired whether the hearing was likely to be heard before the forthcoming local government elections, to which the chairman replied “extremely doubtful.”
Objectors to the proposals have argued that the planning process in this particular case has appeared ‘rushed’. When it became clear that the Area meeting at which the applications were to be considered was to be held on the Isle of Bute, this added to their sense of injustice. The announcement that a hearing is to be held, in all likelihood within Cowal, may allay some of their fears.


National award for local estate agent
Dunoon estate agency, Stewart Property, won a highly coveted Silver Award at the Estate Agent of the Year Awards in London last week.
After being shortlisted in 2005, this year’s award confirms the high standards Stewart Property achieve. The results of the competition are determined by research carried out amongst the agency’s customers, which is then validated by an independent adjudicator who carries out spot check audits.
Phil Spencer, of TV’s ‘Location, Location, Location’, who presented the 2007 awards at the Savoy Hotel, commented: “This is the fourth year of the Estate Agent of the Year Awards. It’s fantastic to see agents getting the credit they deserve.”
The awards are sponsored by the Property Search Group, supported by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
Lorna Stewart, Managing Director of Stewart Property, said: “These awards help raise and maintain standards. I feel this award is a big ‘thank you’ to my staff from our customers.”
Jeremy Leaf of RICS added: “Being nominated or actually winning one of these awards, which are widely recognised throughout the industry, demonstrates an agent’s commitment to delivering the highest standards of service. This accolade is especially coveted as it is the agent’s customers who have judged the service to be excellent, a considerable achievement when the reputation of estate agents is not always so highly regarded.”