German play park trip condemned
A PLAN to send community representatives to look at play park facilities in Germany has been condemned as a waste of money.
Local woman Jackie McBurney said she was ‘gobsmacked’ at the plan which she described as ‘a jolly’; she said that the necessary information was already available, and suggested that the money would be better spent in Cowal.
However, local councillor Bruce Marshall defended the trip, saying that it would be of benefit to the area, and represented good value for money.
Mrs McBurney said: “Some time ago the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park was asked - out of the £7.3m budget for 2006-7, what percentage was spent in the Cowal area?
“The answer that came back was nothing less than astonishing. And I quote “The NPA does not analyse its budget to that level of detail”.
“They were only asked for a percentage, hardly fine detail.
“Now the park is to send one member of every Community Trust to Berlin on a four-day, all expenses paid visit to look at play parks!
“My understanding is that the trip is to‘re-enthuse’ play park development within the National Park.
“Is the National Park able to analyse its budget to some detail, and tell us how much this trip is going to cost the taxpayers?’
Mrs McBurney said that in 2003 as part of the ‘Play in the Park’ initiative, jointly organised by the Community Partnership, National Park Authority and Stirling and Argyll and Bute councils. Sue Gutterige of Stirling Council came to Strachur Hall and presented “an inspiring presentation: to the public and members of Community Development Trusts.
Her presentation contained findings from a trip to Copenhagen that she and others undertook to see how play parks were developed and built in Europe, the successes and failures and most of all, how they could be incorporated into the National Park.
Said Mrs McBurney: “What happened to this research? And why are we not applying it?
“How many play parks have the National Park created since its inception? And at what cost to the National Park Authority?
“How much of their substantial budget have they actually put into the hard landscaping and equipment of the play parks rather than into the pockets of consultants?
“More to the point, if there was no benefit from the Copenhagen trip, what guarantee is there of any benefit from yet another trip abroad, this time to Berlin?”
Mrs McBurney added that she understood some of the trusts had expressed their concern that the Park Authority is spending public money on trips to carry out much the same research as has been done in the past, when this money could have been better spent on other projects in desperate need of finance.
She asked: “How many times can the National Park come up with jolly jaunts, initiatives and so-called management committees when the end result is no more than trying to re-invent the wheel at our expense?
“In this age of information technology - the internet, web cams etc. we can easily access a wealth of this sort of information.
“For instance, there’s a website full of information on urban greenspace and children’s playgrounds in Berlin - a few hours perusing it would be a lot more productive use of time.”
However, Councillor Bruce Marshall, who has been actively involved with the park since its inception, defended the decision to organise the trip.
He said: “Communities around the National Park have been involved since 2003 in the “Play in the Park” initiative. Led by the National Park Authority, this initiative has sought to address the concerns of many communities to provide quality play spaces for their children and young people, now and in future generations. “
He went on to say that staff from the National Park Authority, Stirling Council, Argyll and Bute Council and Forestry Commission Scotland have worked with community groups over the last four years to take forward designs and projects which fulfil this vision for sustainable play spaces. He cited Graham’s Point at Kilmun as an example of what has been achieved, and said that communities in Lochgoil, and Sandbank, were working on similar ideas.
“The National Park Authority has indeed organised a five-day trip to Berlin,” he said, “and is funding the cost of the NPA staff member and the community representatives. “The cost per person is approximately £650 (including participant’s fee, accommodation and travel costs). Other participants on the trip will be self funding.”
The trip includes visits to a range of public play spaces, with and without manufactured play equipment, and including both small local spaces and big parks.
Cllr Marshall commented: “It could be argued that this is a waste of public funding – that the same could be achieved “closer to home”, for less cost.
“However, the sad fact is that there are very few local authority areas in Scotland who share this vision for natural, sustainable play areas and therefore we have to look further afield to European enlightenment to seek such examples of good practice.”
Cllr Marshall pointed out that the community representatives participating on the trip had spent many hundreds of unpaid hours developing play areas for the benefit of their own young people, as well as for children visiting the National Park.
He concluded by saying: “To ask them to also pay for the cost of this journey would be an insult to all their efforts over the last four years.”


Public meeting planned on Burgh Hall’s future
THERE may finally be light at the end of the tunnel for Dunoon’s Burgh Hall.
The once-magnificent hall, which has been a blight in the centre of Dunoon for the last two decades, is currently owned by Fyne Homes.
It has been the subject of controversy for years, having been ‘inherited’ by Fyne Homes from the portfolio of Dunoon and Cowal Housing Association, which had bought it in 1993. The plan then was to restore the already failing property as office accommodation - a plan that fell by the wayside five years later.
The predecessors of Fyne Homes, the Isle of Bute Housing Association, planned to convert the building into flats in 2002 in the face of local opposition, but this also failed to materialise.
Two years ago Fyne Homes said that they would consider transferring the 120-year-old building to anyone who could demonstrate that they could give the building a sustainable future; shortly after that the local SNP made an offer of £10 for the building, which was not accepted.
However, things have moved on since, Fyne Homes have enlisted the aid of the Strathclyde Buildings Preservation Trust, and an Options Appraisal Team has been formed to explore the prospects for the buildings future.
Since the group was formed, a wide range of options have been explored and a shortlist of four has emerged.
These are now being studied in detail.
The group is currently keeping the nature of the four proposed uses for the building under wraps until they have been fully explored.
Sarah McKinnon, chief executive of Strathclyde Buildings Preservation Trust, explained: “For each of these options our architects are producing sketch plans and cost estimates for the work needed will be prepared.
“We will then explore what funding opportunities are available for each option and whether the end use will be viable in operation.
“We have also had interest in the hall from a number of outside organisations and we are increasingly optimistic that a solution can be found to save this fine building.
“We expect to complete the Options Appraisal in early July and hope to be able to present the findings at a public meeting in the town that same month.”
The group has renewed its appeal for memories from Dunoon residents regarding the historical use of the hall. They are keen to hear from anyone in possession of old photographs of the Burgh Hall, or who worked in the building or who attended functions there.
Alan McDougal, director of Fyne Homes, said: “We’re very pleased at the progress that is being made on this important local project and would urge Dunoon residents to come forward with their memories of the hall which can be used to help shape its future.
“If you have any information on the Burgh Hall that you would like to pass on, please e-mail Strath-clyde Building Preservation Trust at conservation@sbpt.org.uk.


Pan Fish Scotland sold
MARINE Harvest, the world’s largest salmon farming company, has announced that it is selling Pan Fish Scotland to the company which owns Scottish Sea Farms.
The deal will create the second largest salmon farming company within Scotland, after Marine Harvest itself. The buyout will also create a business that can provide an integrated production system from egg production, to processing the harvested salmon ready for consumption.
The statement from Marine Harvest said: “Norskott Havbruk, which is owned 50/50 by Lerøy Seafood ASA and Salmar ASA, has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Pan Fish Scotland for £70m. The agreement is subject to approval from competition authorities in relevant countries and there will be performed a due diligence process. The divestiture will give Marine Harvest an accounting gain in the range of £16.3m.”
Marine Harvest was forced to hive off Pan Fish Scotland by the French competition authorities when the merger with Pan Fish and Fjord Seafood was announced.
Marine Harvest announced in December that it was looking at a number of options including sale. This adds another twist to the convoluted dealings in the salmon farming industry, and will result in a company producing around 40,000 tonnes of farmed salmon in total. Marine Harvest produced 55,000 tonnes of salmon last year.
Scottish Sea Farms was founded when Marine Harvest was forced by the Department for Trade and Industry to divest itself of the Scottish operation, Hydro Seafood GSP, when it bought Hydro Seafood in 2000, and the Scottish company was renamed. It now has 300 employees, and operates 37 marine sites, four freshwater sites, and three hatcheries at locations along Scotland’s west coast and in Shetland.
It has also got two packing plants in Oban and in Scalloway in Shetland and produced an estimated 24,000 tonnes of salmon in 2005.
Pan Fish Scotland which produced around 16,000 tonnes of salmon in 2006, has 169 employees and 31 sea sites from Loch Eriboll in north-west Sutherland to Loch Fyne, as well as a number of freshwater sites, two hatcheries and a processing facility at Cairndow.
Earlier this year Pan Fish Scotland bought Highland Fish farms for £4.1m, which gave it access to egg production and ongrowing facilities.
This latest buyout will create an integrated salmon production company, with egg-production and on-growing facilities around Skye, in Loch Carron and Loch Torridon and a contract with a freshwater salmon ongrowing site in Loch Ness. In addition, the two packing plants will complement the processing facilities on Loch Fyne.
The buy-out also raises the prospect of rationalisation of some of the west coast sites, where both companies have a presence.


Western Ferries’ new linkspans in place
IN an operation which must have set a few nerves on edge the appropriately-named Mersey Mammoth successfully placed the two new linkspans at Hunter’s Quay and McInroy’s Point.
The two-hour operation at the Cowal side saw the 140 tonne structure slotted into position.
Western Ferries’ Managing Director Gordon Ross broke his holiday to watch the operation.
Afterwards he spoke to the Observer about the impact of the linkspans on the company’s operations.
“The existing installations have served us well,” he said. “However, we’ve moved on substantially since they were built, and it was time to look at the future of the service.
“Our ships are much larger than those that provided the service in the early days, and there were a number of factors which prompted the decision.
“There was a maintenance issue, in that with only one linkspan on each side, maintenance had to be carried out in off-service periods. The additional linkspans mean that we can now carry out maintenance and continue to operate the service without interruption.”
He likened the operation to building a house: “If you take the linkspan as representing the main structure, then you have to look at the finishing work,” he said.
“We have to redesign and tarmac the marshalling areas on both sides. When this is done it will provide us with more parking space, in particular disabled parking, and also better shelter for foot passengers. The improved parking will also reduce the number of vehicles which spill on to the roads at peak periods such as bank holiday weekends.”
He insisted that the new linkspans should not be taken as an indication of plans to increase service frequency.
“They will enable us to provide a more robust service,” said Mr Ross. “We have been affected by weather in the past because of the angle of the linkspan; with two linkspans at different angles it gives us options when berthing in difficult conditions.
“The new linkspans are longer, which makes for easier loading of large vehicles such as buses.”
Work is now going on apace to get the new linkspans operational by the end of the month.