Argyll and Bute Council – the way ahead
Argyll and Bute Council last week announced its agreed Corporate Plan and statement of intent for the next four years.
This will have a direct impact on each and every resident of the Argyll and Bute area, and it makes interesting reading.
The document acknowledges obvious challenges of geography, as well as perhaps less apparent issues linked to population change, and deprivations caused by ‘living on the fringe’ and higher relative service delivery costs.
Within the 31-page document, there are targets for the environment, housing, education, transport and economic development.
Argyll and Bute has set itself the admirable aim of being a ‘Leading Rural Area’. With the aim of justifying this title, there are three main headline qualities which the council would like the area to demonstrate:
Outstanding Environment; Vibrant Communities; Forward Looking.
These are considered in greater detail below.
Outstanding Environment
Within the environmental section, the council warns of stiff penalties if EU and national waste diversion targets are not met. To ‘encourage’ a greater level of recycling amongst residents (thus diverting waste from landfill), the council proposes the introduction of bin collection every two weeks, forcing greater sorting and recycling by individual households.
There is a stated aim to develop an Argyll and Bute Energy Strategy, encouraging renewable energy schemes, ‘without compromising sensitive areas’ – a tricky juggling act, and a sure cause for debate.
In one of the most heavily forested regions of Britain, the council will develop an Indicative Forestry Strategy to encourage biomass development, habitat protection, on top of access and employment opportunities in our woods.
Vibrant Communities
Education features heavily in this section. The council records the fact that it has a current capital investment backlog of around £75m, while stating that it wants ‘action to modernise the school estate’. This process, however, will not begin until a review is completed by June next year.
Deteriorating infrastructure aside, the council also wants to see school inspectorate (HMIE) ratings in the region to progress from the current ‘good’ to ‘very good’, saying ‘schools will be challenged and supported’ in the process.
To accommodate the findings of a recent social work inspection, an agreed Social Work Improvement Plan will be developed and implemented to improve services in this area of responsibility.
The lack of affordable housing is a significant problem across Argyll and Bute, and there is a stated aim within this Corporate Plan to release more land for housing and create more affordable housing. How this is to be achieved, however, is not made clear.
Five major roads and transport hubs are noted as priorities for improvement: A848 (Salen-Tobermory); A85 (Oban Development Road); A816 (Lochgilphead-Oban); ferry/public transport facilities at Dunoon and Oban Piers; and transport facilities associated with Helensburgh waterfront development.
One area of Argyll is notable by its almost complete absence from priority road upgrading - Cowal. Other than works around Dunoon Pier, it seems the council has forgotten that a significant part of the people and economy of Cowal does not rely on ferries, but on road transport to and from - and within - the peninsula. The A815 (Cairndow-Dunoon) requires urgent upgrading in many areas, while this and other roads have taken a recent hammering due to inclement weather, lack of maintenance and increasingly heavy lorry traffic in recent years.
Kintyre also seems to miss out in this round of priorities, but the main artery serving this peninsula - the A83 - is a trunk road, for which the Scottish Government agencies are responsible.
Forward Looking
The council is clear within this plan that the time for talking about business improvement within the authority has to stop. A review board on service delivery and management has concluded that ‘there needs to be a strong move to action rather than further review’, also stating that there needs to be a ‘step change’ in service delivery within the council.
Also within the plan, Argyll and Bute Council promises to involve customers and communities; value its employees; and to build services for future - using the example of NHS Highland as a template for this process.
Council Leader, Councillor Dick Walsh, said: “The plan sets out the broad strategic direction and priorities for Argyll and Bute. It describes progress and charts the way ahead.
“The plan has been developed through extensive dialogue with members, directors and services, together with external information from the Citizens Panel and the Community Planning Partnership.
“It highlights the tough challenges we face and our key priority is to get the very best for Argyll and Bute.”
The new Corporate Plan focuses attention on the main priority items for delivery by the council and includes campaigning priorities to highlight areas where the council wishes to influence the actions of others, for example the Scottish Government.
These are linked to objectives focused on the environment, social change, the economy and service improvement so that Argyll and Bute can be recognised as the leading rural area.
Councillor Walsh said: “The corporate plan focuses on the difficult challenges and priority work area for the council. There is also a wide range of services delivered by the council on a day-to-day basis that are essential for local communities.
“The statement of intent complements the Corporate Plan and gives a flavour of the range of these services we provide for the public and shows what the public can expect to see delivered in the next three to four years.”
Both these documents can be viewed on the council’s website, www.argyll-bute.gov.uk.


Affordable housing plan for ex-Forestry Commission land
Argyll and Bute-based Fyne Initiatives (a subsidiary of housing association Fyne Homes) has unveiled plans to build four new affordable homes in Kilmun, situated on land previously owned by the Forestry Commission.
Work begins on the site, acquired under the National Forestry Land Scheme, by local contractors John Brown (Strone) Ltd at the end of the month. The new homes will be available for sale through Communities Scotland’s Homestake scheme.
The Homestake scheme is targeted at young families and key workers, who have been excluded from the housing market due to soaring house prices, helping them get their foot on the property ladder. It allows them to purchase a share of the property rather than the full market value whilst remaining the ‘owner’ of the property in the usual way and free to sell their share on when they wish.
Earlier this year locals were invited to attend a community consultation, providing them with the opportunity to express their views about the construction of these homes. The reaction was extremely positive, with many expressing an interest in living in the new shared equity homes.
The National Forestry Land scheme makes surplus woodland and forestry available for the construction of affordable housing. As a result people will benefit from Scotland’s surplus forestry and woodland, communities are strengthened and the environment protected.
To reinforce Fyne Initiatives’ commitment towards creating environmentally friendly housing, the houses - designed by Iain Campbell of Oban-based CP Architects - will be built using Scottish larch timber frames and cladding. Each property will feature a wood-burning stove and an outdoor wood store for drying fuel. The wood-burning stoves will provide hot water heating backed up by an immerser heater and electric panel heater.
Peter McDonald, New Business Director said: “This is another exciting chapter for Fyne Homes and we look forward to providing this much-needed quality affordable housing in Kilmun.
“We strongly believe that this latest initiative is a great opportunity to help strengthen communities and provide affordable housing at a time when the market is expensive and competitive.”


Ettrick Bay fails to meet standards – again
The wettest Scottish summer for over thirty years has resulted in Bute’s Ettrick Bay failing to meet bathing water quality standards for the seventh time since 1999.
The bay met minimum standards for the first time in 2005 and 2006, but the latest failure means that it retains its record of the worst water quality among all of Scotland’s 61 officially designated bathing beaches.
From samples taken at the bay by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), two were recorded as “poor quality”. Both had been obtained after periods of heavy rainfall, which caused agricultural excrement from nearby farms to wash into the burns leading to the bay. Known as “diffuse pollution’, this was enough to fail the bay for the entire season.
Local farmer Robert McIntyre (also Argyll and Bute Council Depute Leader) confirmed that all surrounding farmers did their best to avoid this situation occurring, but expressed his frustration that despite their best efforts and precautions, heavy rain prior to a testing day would almost certainly result in failure.
A new EU directive which enforces stricter standards for bathing water comes into force in March 2008 and SEPA and the Scottish Government are looking at ways of addressing this and improving standards.


Bute firm secures CalMac contract
Ardmaleish Boatbuilding Company from Bute has secured a three year contract to overhaul and maintain 24 ferries belonging to Caledonian MacBrayne.
The signing of the new contract cements a long-term relationship between the two companies, as Ardmaleish have been servicing the ferries - CalMac’s island and loch class craft up to 400 tonnes - for over twenty years.
The current project involves a major 24-vessel overhaul contract spread over three years. The first ship to be dry-docked this autumn as soon as the CalMac timetable changes to the winter schedule on October 22 is MV Loch Riddon, which will be the first of eight to be slipped at Ardmaleish this winter and next spring.
John Salton, CalMac Technical Manager said: “The continuity this order gives ourselves and the yard is mutually beneficial and enables the yard to proceed with planned investment.
“We are delighted to have at Ardmaleish a very strong operator bidding for our work in what is a very competitive and demanding area. The order, being spread over three years, gives both our companies continuity and stability, and we are delighted to be in a position whereby we have been able to award this work to a yard, which is so near the centre of our operations.
“We have been tremendously impressed with the quality of work produced at Ardmaleish over the years and the commitment and flexibility of the workforce. The yard has plans for further investment and that is another great option for us when allocating work.”
Euan Ferguson, managing director of Ardmaleish Boatbuilding, said: “Having work like this enables us to maintain our workforce at a level of between 20 and 25 people which is a substantial commitment for us and the island of Bute. We are also in a position where we can consider additional investment such as a 650-ton winch, and we are also looking at further development of the slipway.
“The security and continuity of employment offered to us when we get work like this is invaluable and it gives us a very solid base going forward. We are delighted to be able to work with Caledonian MacBrayne in this way as the ferries are obviously a very important part of the infrastructure servicing not only this island but the whole of the west coast.”
“This new contract will enable us to upgrade our facilities and we aim to have the capacity to cope with the bigger ferries - up to 1,000 tonnes - in the future.”
The company has also recently installed a new 30-tonne hoist and is about to launch one of its more unusual refurbishment projects - a former Antarctic survey vessel which the yard has transformed into a pleasure craft for a private owner.
Local MSP Jim Mather welcomed the announcement of the contract renewal, saying: “This is excellent news for the management and workforce at Ardmaleish as it provides them with a degree of security and continuity in a highly competitive business over the next three years.”