Post Office Ltd ‘ill-prepared’
EnviroKirn members met with repre-sentatives of Post Office Ltd on Monday to discuss the possibility of running a community post office in Kirn, following the selection of Kirn as one of the 2,500 offices due to close this spring.
Post Office Ltd’s Sally Buchanan (Network Change Manager), Mark Wright (Regional Development Manager) and Connie Howell (External Relationship Manager) were in attendance, together with Chris Thirkettle, who is the Scottish Network Adviser for Postwatch, Alan Reid MP and Councillor Ron Simon of Argyll and Bute Council.
Brian Chennell, acting chair of EnviroKirn, said: “We believed that the purpose of Monday’s meeting was to discuss the possibility of a community-run post office in Kirn, and to be able to obtain the information we will require in order to prepare a business plan and determine the feasibility of such a project.
“However, this information was not forthcoming.”
Post Office Ltd is reportedly considering adopting a new model for community-run post office ventures, however full details of this new approach were not made available to EnviroKirn at Monday’s meeting.
It was confirmed that Kirn Post Office will definitely close no later than April 9, although the business case for any community venture does not have to be submitted by this date.
Mr Chennell continued: “The Post Office Ltd representatives seemed ill prepared - a remark during the meeting that it was still “early days in the process” surprised us, as they have known that our community would be prepared to run a post office for some time.
“We discussed a similar community venture in the Highlands, but it was said that small wooden building used there would be too small for Kirn - this is amazing considering they are closing the Kirn facility down!
“We will be meeting with Post Office Ltd again, but as it doesn’t have the figures that we need for the business case available, we have to wait for them to confirm the date.”
Mr Chennell concluded: “Because of the lack of information provided to us, and the announcement that the Kirn branch will close on April 9, there may well be a gap - temporary or permanent - in the provision of a postal service from Kirn village.
“However, we have not given up all hope.”
Councillor Simon commented: “I remain to be convinced about Post Office Ltd’s case for closing Kirn, and nothing it had to say at the meeting made things any clearer. It does seem, however, to be keen to see a community-financed model developed, which in a strange way indicates an admission that there should be a post office service in Kirn.
“There was some discussion about the costs in setting up such a model but Post Office Ltd was unable to provide any detailed figures which would allow any community group to even start putting together a business plan at this stage.”
LibDem MP Alan Reid stated that he was shocked at how little support was offered to EnviroKirn at the meeting, saying: “Post Office Ltd wasn’t even able to supply EnviroKirn with basic information about what running the Kirn branch would involve. The fact that EnviroKirn is the first community group to express an interest in taking over a post office was no excuse for coming to the meeting unprepared.
“The government’s stated policy is to encourage more community-run post offices and to ensure that suitable advice is available to interested parties. Encouragement and advice were sadly missing from Monday’s meeting.
“I will write to Post Office Minister Pat McFadden telling him this and demanding that he makes sure that Government policy is put into practice. He must instruct that the appropriate information is supplied to EnviroKirn.”
A statement received from Post Office Ltd just before the Observer went to press said: “We have been involved in initial discussions with EnviroKirn about a possible proposal for Kirn Post Office to be run as a locally funded branch.
“Post Office Ltd has been asked by the Government to look at how best to respond to serious expressions of interest from stakeholders, including local authorities and community groups, in providing funding for post office services for a particular community.
“We are now developing a framework through which we can develop a dialogue with groups or authorities who have a serious proposal. Post Office Ltd is, of course, very willing to work with such groups or bodies, but any proposals will need to demonstrate ability to provide premises, staff to manage the provision of services and, crucially, sufficient funding to cover any ‘ one off ‘ set up costs of the operation and the ongoing fixed costs until at least March 2011.”


FERRIES FURORE
Following last week’s Observer report on the Transport Minister’s visit to Dunoon to hold meetings on the Dunoon-Gourock ferry issue, local ferry campaigners are calling for the people of Dunoon to fight back for the ferry service.
As background, the meeting with local and Inverclyde councillors, and other interested parties, was held under the Chatham House Rule. The decision to do so resulted in some attendees feeling unable to comment on proceedings in anything other than general aspect, despite the fact that this is not the primary aim of the rule.
Dunoon Community Council, last week stated that it felt “pessimistic”, but has rallied to announce a public meeting on February 8. The community council plans to invite local politicians and councillors to a fully open event where members of the local community can make their feelings clear on this vital issue.
Secretary of the Pier Pressure Group, Ronnie Smith, attended the meeting but was among those who felt unable to comment. Following last week’s story which included a transcript of comments made to the Observer by Mr Stevenson, Mr Smith claims a “gross betrayal” on the part of the minister in his apparent attitude to the lifeline route, and is urging local residents to “make it clear to Mr Stevenson that this community has only just begun to fight” for the ferry service.
Speaking to the Observer, he said: “The public will now be looking for two new ferries - and one new minister!”
Professor Neil Kay was also at the meeting. Commenting subsequently on the minister’s published remarks, he said: “The most generous interpretation possible of Mr Stevenson’s statement is that he has been very badly advised.”
Please see Safety Valve Extra on pages 8 and 9 for letters on the issue, including submissions from both Mr Smith and Professor Kay.
Jim Mather MSP stated: “I am pleased that Stewart Stevenson has engaged with local people, both in person in Dunoon and in subsequent exchanges by email, letter and phone.
“He is listening and, while he has yet to table firm proposals, he is being open to understanding local circumstances and is working to ensure that ferry services meet local needs, help the local economy to grow and improve over time.
“For my part, I am making sure that he knows that the majority of local people want a town-centre to town-centre vehicle and passenger service with no frequency restriction and that there appears to be a recognition in some parts of the European Commission that this should be possible.
“My own preference would be to follow the advice of Professor Neil Kay and seek to use public service obligations, as such a move should make passenger subsidies EU-compliant.
“I will be pressing Mr Stevenson to take steps to do this, and also urging Westminster to make this happen, given the economic and social justification.
“As Professor Kay says, I believe that this could result in a lasting solution where financial compensation could be granted to operators on both the McInroy’s Point-Hunter’s Quay route and the centre-to-centre route to cover the costs involved in meeting public service obligations.
“Such compensation should be recognised as not constituting State aid, as this move would appear to comply with earlier precedent set by the European Court of Justice in its judgment in the Altmark case, which related to bus services in Germany.
“I remain committed to ensuring that he makes decisions that will foster growth and better services.”
Meanwhile, the Transport Minister has plans to visit Argyll once more - this time to a public meeting in Lochgilphead, organised by SNP Argyll and Bute branch.
Mr Stevenson will be in the Mid Argyll town on Monday January 28 to outline the government’s transport proposals for Argyll and Bute and answer questions from the public.
In stark contrast to his Dunoon visit, the publicity material for the meeting urges members of the public to “come along, ask questions and make your opinions known.”
Convener of SNP Argyll and Bute, Alan Clayton, told the Dunoon Observer that the meeting was part of the SNP’s promise to make government more open, answerable and available.
“Although we chose Lochgilphead as the most central venue, people from Cowal are more than welcome to attend and ask questions of the minister,” he said.
“Several people have commented that Lochgilphead is too far away. Since the minister will be travelling direct from his Banff and Buchan constituency that day, I confess that this is a complaint with which I have little sympathy.”
Monday’s meeting will take place in the assembly hall of Lochgilphead Joint Campus at 7.30pm.
The Dunoon Community Council-run public event will be held in the Queen’s Hall, Dunoon on Friday February 8, starting at 7pm.


Windfarm survey results
Over the past couple of weeks, the Dunoon Observer has carried a straightforward windfarms questionnaire in order to canvass opinion on this topic. By the time midday on Tuesday arrived, we had received 125 completed questionnaires.
We have collated the responses, and the results make interesting reading. Questionnaires could be completed either on paper or via our website at www.dunoon-observer.co.uk, and we received responses from all over Cowal, adjoining areas of Argyll and the Firth of Clyde, around the UK and overseas.
When interpreting results from such general surveys, there should always be a health warning. Those who respond to such questionnaires will generally hold strong views on the subject. There is always the suspicion that there will be a large number of people ‘out there’ who perhaps hold no firm beliefs either way, are not the form-filling type, or have no interest whatsoever in the windfarm debate.
With this firmly in mind, the results are summarised below:
On the question of two proposed developments in south Cowal - Corlarach Hill and Black Craig - more than 70 percent of respondents were not in favour of these projects. Of the 22 replies from the Innellan/Toward area, closest to the planned sites, this figure rose to over 80 percent against.
We received 11 questionnaires with no name or address. Interestingly, of the anonymous returns, over 80 percent were in favour of both developments.
On the more general aspects of windfarms, 35 percent overall thought that windfarms could make a worthwhile contribution to energy provision in Scotland, while 56 percent disagreed with this view and 9 percent of people were undecided.
The vast majority of respondents - 78 percent - favoured the consideration of other renewable energy sources ahead of wind power, with a similar proportion of people voting against the siting of wind turbines in scenic areas.
On the question of whether large turbines could be accommodated in our hills without adversely affecting landscape, wildlife or heritage, a quarter of respondents felt this could be done. 71 percent did not agree with this view, and 4 percent were undecided.
We also asked whether people felt that windfarms could actually be a tourist attraction in south Cowal. The answer, according to our survey, is an overwhelming ‘no’ - only 17 percent thought that turbines would bring tourists, with 78 percent feeling the opposite.
The full results will be published in next week’s Dunoon Observer.


SWIA ‘confident’ about council’s action plan
At a full meeting of Argyll and Bute Council last week, councillors and representatives of the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) reviewed the council’s action plan for improving its social work services.
SWIA carried out an inspection of social work services in Argyll and Bute last year, as part of the first round of inspections of the 32 Scottish local authorities.
Its Performance Inspection Report, released in October, revealed that the council had some work to do in almost all aspects of its social work services.
The nationally-utilised Performance Improvement Model was used to evaluate the council. This model identifies ten evaluation markers, such as outcomes for service users, impact on staff, the community and users, and delivery of key processes.
In six areas Argyll and Bute Council was evaluated as ‘adequate’, with three markers labelled ‘weak’. In only one area - capacity for improvement - was the council evaluated as ‘good’.
As a result of its inspection, SWIA identified 24 recommendations, and these have formed the basis of an improvement plan prepared by council officers. This plan was under discussion at the Kilmory meeting, attended by Alexis Jay and Rosie Docherty of SWIA. Mrs Jay is the agency’s Chief Social Work Inspector, while Ms Docherty is the SWIA link inspector who will monitor Argyll and Bute Council’s progress as it implements its action plan.
The plan is based on three main priorities - leadership, key processes and impact on service users. The council identifies four key drivers by which the recommendations will be delivered - planning, commissioning and performance management, practice and process, communication and consultation and management and support of staff.
The 24 recommendations made include the continued development of a systematic approach to measuring planned outcomes for service users, reduction of the need to place children in care outside of the authority, and preparing a strategy for staff support and development. The report lists all the recommendations and identifies the action, resources and monitoring required together with timescales, against the four drivers mentioned above.
Mrs Jay reiterated that SWIA was encouraged by, and had confidence in, the council’s proposals, before dealing with questions from the elected members.
Councillor Andrew Nisbet (LibDem, Helensburgh) expressed concern about how elected members could effectively monitor the council’s progress, and this point was echoed by several other councillors throughout the course of the discussion.
SWIA advised that it was the task of council officers to determine the delivery of such information, and this was addressed by the Director of Community Services, Douglas Hendry.
Pointing out that the improvement plan was “not the end, but the end of the beginning”, Mr Hendry confirmed that the plan would evolve and change as milestones and targets were met. In response to questions he advised that progress reports could, and would, be issued to councillors to keep them abreast of the situation.
He was unable to be specific about budgetary requirements but stated that he was confident that the council had moved on since the SWIA inspection took place, that there had already been improvement, and that the issue of budget and resources was being worked on.
Council leader Dick Walsh proposed that regular and detailed progress reports should be provided to elected members. With this proviso, members voted to approve the improvement plan.
The council’s progress will be monitored internally by two weekly updates to the departmental management team, and externally by the SWIA link inspector.
Inspectors will make a further visit in July 2008.