Scottish Minister visits Argyll
“A positive first meeting” – Walsh
John Swinney, the Scottish Executive Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, met with Argyll and Bute Council representatives at Cairndow yesterday to discuss the way forward for the Executive and the council.
Mr Swinney’s visit was part of his summer tour of Scotland, to meet with local authorities and discuss their new working relationship with the Executive.
After a tour of the Here We Are information centre, Mr Swinney met with Argyll and Bute Council Leader, Dick Walsh, and Councillor Robert MacIntyre, Depute Leader of the council, before proceeding to Lochgilphead to tour the new Construction Training Centre and visit the joint campus site.
Mr Swinney advised that plans for abolition of the council tax, as presented in the Scottish National Party (SNP) 2007 election manifesto, would take some time to implement and legislate. He said: “In the short term, we plan to freeze council tax at 2007/2008 levels, to offer some respite and to compensate for the significant increases in recent years. This has been a significant part of my discussion with Argyll and Bute Council today.”
With the lack of affordable housing being of increasing serious concern in our area, we asked Mr Swinney for his views on this issue. He confirmed that the Scottish Executive would be making a concentrated effort to address this issue, with the establishment of the Housing Supply Task Force. “The affordable housing problem is especially acute in Argyll and the Executive will undertake a series of sustained actions to increase the amount of social housing available,” he said.
On another hot topic locally – funding improvements to our roads – he was less optimistic: “This is dependent on spending review discussions, but available resources are not coming through as fast as in previous years,” he said. “We do expect that funding will increase by perhaps one percent above inflation, rather than the five or ten percent available to previous Executives. Budgets will be tighter – but the Executive will be committed to maximising value.”
Councillor Walsh was confident about the new working relationship with the Executive: “This was a positive first meeting, and while discussions were fairly general – we did not make any specific funding requests at this stage – we were impressed by the fast response to our request for a meeting, and we are pleased with the talks that took place.”
Councillor MacIntyre stated that Mr Swinney had an impressive grasp of the issues faced by Argyll and Bute communities, and joined with Mr Swinney in looking forward to a successful working partnership between the council and the Executive following the encouraging initial discussions.


Local MP blasts Post Office closures
The Westminster government has announced their timetable for the closure of post offices, including one in five of Argyll and Bute branches.
Earlier this year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced plans to close 2,500 post offices UK-wide, in a bid to improve efficiency.
The DTI justifies the closure programme by claiming that the post office network lost more than £200million in 2006/7, and that there are four million fewer customer visits every week compared with two years ago. Ironically, the government itself has played a large part in this state of affairs, as rural and ‘urban deprived’ post offices have been hit hard by the decline in government business. Revenue from Government transactions fell by £168 million in 2005/6.
Post office closures across Argyll & Bute, Glasgow, Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Stirling and Falkirk are due to begin in February next year. The process will begin, however, with discussions between the DTI and local postmasters during August and September. The closure announcement of branches which are to close will be made in October.
Following this, there will be a six-week consultation period. Final decisions on closures will be announced at the turn of the year, with the closures taking place next February.
The closure programme is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008, and will leave a post office network of approximately 11,800 post offices across the country once the closure programme is finished. This compares with 20,000 branches across the UK a decade ago.
With Post Office Ltd set to close more than 20 of the 98 post offices currently in Argyll and Bute, local MP Alan Reid has been critical of the methods used in this process.
Speaking after receiving a letter outlining the Post Office’s plans from Sue Higgins, the Post Office ‘Programme Director’ in charge of the closure process, Mr Reid was especially critical of the Post Office’s decision to lump his Argyll and Bute constituency in with Glasgow and a large area of the urban central belt.
Mr Reid commented: “I have always opposed the Government’s plans to close one in five of the country’s post offices. I will support local communities in my constituency in their campaign to keep their local post offices open. Argyll and Bute is a large rural constituency, very different from Glasgow and the other urban areas which will be subject to a consultation on the closure programme at the same time.
“The Argyll and Bute closure programme should be considered separately from Glasgow. The issues are very different.
“The contribution of post offices to their communities cannot be simply measured in terms of profit and loss. Staff in local post offices give free help and advice to local people, and are often the first to raise the alarm when an elderly person has fallen ill in their home and has not gone out that day. Often the post office supports the only shop in a village and the loss of the post office will mean the loss of the village shop.
“I will fight to save as many post offices as I can from the Government’s closure programme.”


WHEN WILL OUR NEW SCHOOLS BE READY?
The council gives us the latest
With the handover to Argyll and Bute Council of the new Dunoon Grammar School campus planned for this coming Monday (July 30), this is an appropriate point to provide an update on the ongoing programme of school building going on around the local authority area.
Argyll and Bute Council has kindly provided the following statement on progress:
Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh:
This new secondary comprehensive with a design capacity for 1,700 pupils is designed to replace the existing school, which was deemed to be beyond economic repair.
The school is being constructed on a new greenfield site and in addition to the normal school provision, two all-weather, fenced, floodlit synthetic pitches are included at this site.
An area of ground has also been identified within this site for possible future community use. Contract completion is scheduled for 25 February 2008.
Dunoon Grammar School:
The new school is currently being constructed on the existing site on the existing playing fields and, after construction, the old school will be demolished, the land cleared and turned into playing fields. In addition to the normal school provision, two all weather, fenced, floodlit synthetic pitches are included at this site. An area of ground has been identified within this site for possible future community use. Contract completion for occupation of the School was scheduled for 25 June 2007.
The council is now advised by its project partner, ABC Schools Ltd, that completion for occupation of the school is expected on 30 July 2007.
There are further external works to be completed after that date.
Lochgilphead Joint Campus:
Incorporating Lochgilphead High, Lochgilphead Primary and Whitegates Learning Centre, this campus will make provision for pre-school, primary and secondary education, together with provision for pupils with additional support needs.
In addition, and uniquely at this site, additional and enhanced sporting facilities have been included - this has been enabled by the planned closure of the existing Mid-Argyll Sports Centre and the transfer of budgets and activities to this new site.
Externally, this campus will have one full-sized, fenced, floodlit all-weather synthetic pitch, plus two half-sized grass pitches.
Contract completion is scheduled for 22 October 2007.
Oban Primary Campus:
This campus will incorporate Rockfield Primary, St Columba’s RC Primary and Drummore Learning Centre. Both denominational and non-denominational primary education will be provided at this joint campus.
Whilst each school will have its own separate identity and structure they will share some common facilities including, dining room, PE facilities, playground and shared administration offices. In addition pre-school (English and Gaelic) will be provided within Rockfield Primary as well as provision for pupils with additional support needs. Gaelic Medium Education will also be provided within Rockfield.
The construction is being undertaken in Phases, with Phase 1 being completed and handed over in August 2006. Phase 1 is now occupied by the pupils and staff from Drummore Learning Centre.
The building contractor has not met the contract completion date for occupation of the whole school facility. The council, together with its project partner, ABC Schools Ltd, is currently working with the building contractor to achieve completion.
ABC Schools Ltd has indicated to the council that completion is expected in the first week in August 2007.
Rothesay Joint Campus:
Rothesay Academy and Rothesay Primary are combined in the Rothesay facility. This joint campus will provide education from ‘three to degree’, as in addition to the normal school provision there is a provision also for pre-school, and uniquely among Project schools, this facility will also encompass the Argyll College provision for the island.
External facilities will provide one full-size fenced, floodlit synthetic pitch and two half-sized grass pitches.
The building contractor has not met the contract completion date for occupation of the whole school facility, and the council, together with its project partner, ABC Schools Ltd. is currently working with the building contractor to achieve completion. This is expected to be achieved in the next week or so.


NEW BID FOR LOCH FYNE RESTAURANTS
Loch Fyne Restaurants (LFR) may be sold for the second time in two years, it was revealed earlier this week.
The business was purchased by directors and private investors for £21.8million in October 2005, and is now in discussion with pub operator Greene King.
LFR’s origins are in the Loch Fyne Oysters (LFO) company established at Cairndow in 1977 by the late Johnny Noble and his associate Andy Lane.
The restaurant aspect became increasingly popular, expanding south of the border, and in 2003 LFO was bought out by its management, leaving LFR as a stand-alone restaurant chain.
LFR is now the largest seafood restaurant chain in the UK, with 36 restaurants serving more than one million customers a year.
Greene King, the owner of Scottish brewer Belhaven and various pubs around Scotland, said: “Discussions are ongoing and, while a transaction is not guaranteed, a further announcement will be made as and when appropriate,” following reports that a £70million bid for LFR was under consideration.
It is understood that the sale would include exclusive rights to use the Loch Fyne name for future developments.
LFR’s first Scottish outlet is due to open in Edinburgh next month.