ACHA TAKES OVER COUNCIL STOCK
THE era of council housing in Cowal came to an end on Tuesday when the remaining stock was transferred to a new body, Argyll Community Housing Association Limited.
The deal was signed in a special ceremony at Lochgilphead, and transferred the council’s entire stock of 5,400 houses over to the new body.
The transfer was overwhelmingly supported by a ballot of tenants nearly a year ago, which produced a vote of almost 90 percent in favour - a UK record.
Welcoming the com-pletion of the transfer, Communities Minister Malcolm Chisholm, said, “I am very pleased to see the successful transfer of these homes from Argyll and Bute Council to Argyll Community Housing Association.
“The Executive is committed to improving housing throughout Scotland. Tenants will benefit enormously from their decision to vote in favour of the transfer. Not only will they enjoy stable rents they will see much higher investment, more direct control and better services.”
However, the tenants’ support of the transfer is almost certainly motivated by the prospect of improvements to their houses, many of which have been seriously neglected following years of tight council budgets which have seen the maintenance of council properties sink lower on the list of priorities - people like Robert Hartley, a council house tenant in Sandbank, whose house was in such a bad state that he came to the paper last week in an effort to get something done about it.
Commenting after the announcement, he said: “I’m very appreciative of the Observer and Cllr Bruce Marshall for highlighting our problem.”
However, he had little good to say about the council” They only ever took money from us - they forgot who they were supposed to be working for. They told us what we wanted to hear but did nothing.
“I’m confident that ACHA is the way forward.”
ACHA says that the completion of the transfer means that tenants like Mr Hartley can look forward to improved housing services, including the delivery of a new repairs service, as well as a much-needed improvement programme for all homes, delivering new kitchens, bathrooms, heating systems and rewiring.
It also benefits Argyll and Bute Council, since £48m of housing debt - much of it generated in building houses long since sold off under ‘right to buy’ legislation - has been written off.
Alex Smith, a council tenant in Dunoon, is a member of ACHA’s management committee. He welcomed the news of the changeover.
“This is a very positive step which will bring real benefits to council tenants.” he said. “We’ve been training and working towards this for two years and have worked really hard at it.
“It’s tenant-led; we’ve appointed a chief executive and four directors, and the council staff responsible for housing have transferred to ACHA, so there’s no shortage of expertise.
“Tenants voted overwhelmingly for this, and I think they were wise to do so.”
On a day-to-day basis ACHA’s services, delivered from its network of nine offices including Dolphin Hall in Manse Avenue, Dunoon, will build on those offered by the council and will also include a mobile housing service.
ACHA Chairman Norman Beaton commented, “This is a momentous day for our tenants, who have been very patient in the run up to transfer, and for everyone at ACHA who has worked extremely hard to reach this stage.
“The whole ACHA team has been extremely busy since the ballot result, paving the way for as smooth a transition as possible and whilst we are delighted that the transfer process is now complete, we are also aware that in many ways this is where the real work begins. I can give tenants an undertaking that we will work tirelessly to deliver on our pledges and make social housing in Argyll and Bute an asset to the community and something of which we can all be proud.”
Now that transfer has taken place, ACHA will have more than £260million available to spend on improving homes and associated services over the next 30 years.
Councillor George Freeman, Housing spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: “This is a deal that will secure major improvements for tenants’ homes and their communities over the coming years.
“I would like to thank all transferring staff for their hard work over the years, the tenants for their patience while the deal was being finalised and finally, would wish ACHA all the best for the future.”
As part of its pledge to tenants, ACHA has introduced a guarantee that rents will not increase by more than the rate of inflation plus one percent for the next five years, and will be kept affordable thereafter. ACHA is also encouraging tenants to apply for life membership of ACHA, for a nominal fee of £1.
As members, tenants will be able to vote on key decisions and put themselves forward for committee membership.
Argyll and Bute becomes the sixth Scottish local authority area to transfer its housing after Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Berwickshire and Western Isles.
Whilst no longer owner of local homes, Argyll and Bute Council will remain the strategic authority for the area’s housing. As part of the transfer package the Council will receive up to £15 million in early action funding linked to regenerating communities across Argyll and Bute.


ARDYNE CONSULTATION BEGINS AT INNELLAN
THE public consultation process which developers hope will see the regeneration of one of Cowal’s landscape blackspots began in the Village Hall in Innellan last week when South Cowal Community Council received a presentation from Turley Associates on regeneration proposals for the former oil rig fabrication yard at Ardyne Point.
The yard closed nearly 30 years ago when the bubble burst on a short-lived boom in the construction of concrete oil and gas rigs. It was one of four sites in the west of Scotland designated for the construction of such structures, the others being at Hunterston, Portavadie and Loch Kishorn. It was anticipated that there would be a need for 65 concrete platforms in the North Sea; in the event a gas platform and two oil platforms were built at Ardyne and one at Kishorn before the concept was overtaken by changes in technology.
Since then Ardyne has lain dormant, with occasional flurries of interest when planning applications were renewed, and a controversial - and quickly dropped – plan to use the basins to strip out the reactor compartments of obsolete nuclear submarines.
The new plan, for a residential development on the site, which will include a hotel, a mixture of housing, and a marina, seems likely to receive a more favourable response.
The presenters explained that the Structure Plan and Local Plan supported some form of development on the site. An Environmental Assessment has already commenced (as reported in the Dunoon Observer back in August) and a number of organisations have been consulted on the scope of this to ensure that any environmental impact is addressed.
The aim was to provide a sustainable development with a mix of different uses which could include marina, hotel, business use and housing. Some of the benefits that might come from the development of the site would be an increased bus service through Toward, a potential ferry link from Ardyne Point to Port Bannatyne, reclamation of parts of the site, new employment opportunities and removal of an environmental eyesore.
The consultants are designing an energy-efficient and low-impact development. The hotel and businesses could be linked to a micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) system to provide both hot water and power. Houses would be super-insulated and would maximise the use of passive solar gains. Water and waste could be recycled on-site and the mix of uses would enable people to live and work locally.
Over the years there have been a number of proposals for the site and the consultants explained that on this occasion they were keen to pursue proposals that are realistic and that meet local needs and aspirations. They were looking for feedback from local people and their presentation will shortly be available on the South Cowal Community Council website.
Those present were largely in favour of the scheme, although there were concerns about the potential for increased traffic on the road through Toward and Innellan to Dunooon.
It was also pointed out that, while Western Ferries had frequently voiced an interest in the past in running a service between Ardyne and Bute, they would not provide the shore infrastructure. While the idea of travelling to Bute via Ardyne was more attractive than the long haul via Colintraive, it also had to be borne in mind that any threat to the existing service could be extremely damaging to the Colintraive area.
The timetable for the project would see a scoping response from Argyll and Bute Council later this month with an Environmental Statement appearing in January next year, followed by further consulation and the completed Evironmental Statement and Masterplan in place by February.
Barring any snags, the outline planning application will be submitted in February.
Members of the public wishing to comment or find out more about the scheme can do so by logging on to the South Cowal Community Council website (southcowal.org) or contact ardynepoint@turleyassociates.co.uk


WEATHER HITS FERRIES
ON Sunday afternoon, the services of both Western Ferries and Calmac were suspended due to the extremely stormy weather experienced throughout the country. The chaos resulted in many drivers having to drive round the long way and some foot passengers having no option other than to spend the night in hotels in the Gourock area.
The last Western Ferries crossing was the 16.55 Gourock to Dunoon, although at that point it was not yet known if the service would be back up and running later in the evening. As it turned out, the weather never improved sufficiently until the next morning.
During the 15.50 Calmac ferry from Dunoon to Gourock, the captain of the Jupiter made the decision that the 16.20 Gourock to Dunoon ferry would not sail, but it was not until after 7pm that the final decision was made to suspend all sailings for the evening.
We have had several complaints, however, from Scotrail passengers who were not informed that the Gourock to Dunoon ferries were not running.
One passenger, travelling from Ayr, who was changing train at Paisley said that the monitors in the station were saying that the Ardrossan to Brodick, and Wemyss Bay to Rothesay ferries had been cancelled for the evening, however there was no mention of the Gourock to Dunoon ferry. He therefore presumed that the ferry was still running, only to find out when he got off the train at Gourock that the ferry was, in fact, laid at the port until the morning. Luckily for this particular man he met some friends at the pier who gave him a lift home in their car.
A spokesperson for Calmac said that their procedures for disruptions were followed with Scotrail, BBC and other organisations being informed. They also said that their website was updated with the relevant details, and as their ‘Disruptions’ telephone number is printed on timetables, customers could have called to find out what the position was with regards to sailings that evening.


MP + MSP RESPOND TO CRITICS
Our lead story last week regarding the Gourock to Dunoon ferry route provoked a lengthy response from George Lyon MSP and Alan Reid MP.
Much of the response also appeared in The Herald on Tuesday.
The statement reads as follows: “In last week’s paper, the SNP and Tories were full of criticism of the Scottish Executive regarding the Dunoon / Gourock route. However, neither party put forward any alternative suggestion for the future of the Dunoon - Gourock ferry service, currently operated by Calmac.
“The reason why the service to Dunoon is under threat is due to the then Tories Transport Minister, John McGregor, in 1992 successfully driving through an agreement in Brussels to introduce the Cabotage Directive requiring every country in the EU to put their ferry routes out to tender and to justify why the subsidy is needed if there is competition on the route.
The stark fact is that failure to comply with that law would result in the EU stepping in and blocking the subsidy payment for ferry routes such as Dunoon / Gourock and risking the service being lost for good. That is why doing nothing is not an option.
“The Scottish Executive successfully secured agreement from Europe that they could continue to support the service by providing a passenger only subsidy. Their initial proposal was to tender for a passenger only service but the local community made their views clear when over 6,000 locals signed a petition declaring that they wanted every effort made to keep a vehicle ferry service on the route. They wanted Dunoon pier’s future secured and they wanted the current service to continue until an alternative was found.
“Nicol Stephen, the previous Transport Minister, and Tavish Scott agreed to do everything possible to meet the community’s wishes. That is why the council received full backing to build a breakwater to protect the pier and a link span was also added at the same time to attract operators to the route. That is why the Executive agreed to tender the route on a commercial basis as recommended in both Deloitte Touche and Prof. Neil Kay’s report and why they will continue to support the Calmac service until a replacement is found. The Executive’s policy is quite clear and that is to do everything possible within the constraints of EU law to deliver what the Cowal community has asked for.
“Sadly, the SNP’s response is to sit and snipe from the sidelines instead of telling us what their policy alternative is to meet the needs of the Cowal community whilst staying within the EU law. Are they going to withdraw from Europe as well as divorcing us from the the United Kingdom to circumvent EU law or given their absolute opposition to private sector involvement in public services, are they proposing to close down Western Ferries in favour of Calmac? It is time we heard.”