ARGYLL TOWNS TO BENEFIT FROM REGENERATION PROJECTS
The waterfronts of five towns in Argyll and Bute will be transformed as a result of a regeneration project prepared by Argyll and Bute Council.
At a meeting held on Wednesday afternoon councillors and council officials packed the Council Chambers in Kilmory to discuss the way forward following on from the Initial Business Cases (IBCs) for Dunoon, Campbeltown, Oban, Helensburgh and Rothesay being submitted.
Based on a complex scoring and weighting exercise, after the IBCs, the recommendation was that Dunoon was to be given top priority with Helensburgh, Campbeltown, Oban and Rothesay respectively benefiting.
During the meeting, however, Council Leader Dick Walsh proposed several motions including the temporary postponement of prioritisation until each town has submitted its Outline Business Case (OBC). Basically this means that until each town has submitted its final plan, there will be no prioritisation.
Once the OBCs are all submitted, they will each be subject to a process of independent scrutiny based on the weighting criteria approved by the council in February of this year. Controversially to some there was no time limit given with regards as to when the OBCs had to be submitted. Cllr Walsh, however, promised that the situation would be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
Although still in the early stages, the plans for Dunoon include upgrading of the Queen’s Hall and the pier area along with the possibility of a marina development. The total cost for this is expected to be around £30.5m, although approximately £26m of this would come from external funding.
If implemented, Dunoon’s town centre environment will be greatly enhanced, securing the improvement of the economic, social and environmental qualities of the area.
Helensburgh officials hope that their plans to develop and implement a traffic management system will drastically improve the traffic flow and pedestrian safety and the improvements to the area around the pier will make the town a better place to live, work, shop and do business. Virtually all of the estimated £40m will come from external funding.
Rothesay’s Pavilion is the Island of Bute’s main area for upgrade at a cost of £4.5m, whilst the objectives for Campbeltown are to attract new investment to the area and create sustainable, high quality jobs at the same time as retaining skilled, economically active residents and bringing high-spending visitors. The cost for this is estimated to be around £2m.
Oban plans to spend £8.95m seeking to review the key infrastructural constraints, especially with regards to road, water and drainage with the area at the train station and ferry terminal the main focus.
The total cost of the makeovers is expected to be approximately £90m, which will consist of council and private sector funding. The redevelopments work is provisionally expected to begin in 2010.


Health Secretary comments on Tighnabruaich ambulance situation
FOLLOWING last week’s story about ambulance provision in North Cowal in the light of Tighnabruaich Ambulance Station currently being unstaffed, Nicola Sturgeon, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, has become involved in the situation.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I am aware of the current problems in obtaining staff for Tighnabruaich. The Scottish Ambulance Service has assured me that it is continuing to attempt to recruit ambulance staff for this area.
“The Ambulance Service has also discussed with Argyll and Bute Community Health Partnership the feasibility of a programme of mixed skill working, with paramedics working in Dunoon hospital and responding to calls in the community, in partnership with medical and nursing health care professionals.
“In the meantime the ambulances stationed at Dunoon and Inveraray will be tactically deployed enabling them to cover the north of the Cowal Peninsula.”
Meanwhile, Dr Coull of Strachur Medical Practice came back to us with some thoughts about why there is an increasing number of GP referrals to hospitals out-with Cowal. He said: “The reason for the increase in GP referrals to Inverclyde mentioned by the SAS is the downgrading of both Dunoon General and Vale of Leven hospitals (neither of which now have anaesthetists or surgeons, which are mandatory for managing seriously ill patients).
“The Ambulance Service points out that the problem is largely related to the fact that the Health Board still classifies Dunoon Hospital as an ‘acute’ hospital capable of receiving 999 calls, when in fact it can only deal with relatively minor problems. It insists the Health Board needs to fund more ambulance provision to provide for the long journey times to Inverclyde”.
So where does this leave us? It’s great that politicians in the Scottish Government are talking about the situation, but I can’t help feeling that the Ambulance Service, the Health Board and the Scottish Government need to get round a table together with local health practitioners and find a manageable, affordable and long term solution to this - before an avoidable tragedy befalls the area.


CalMac ferry contract confirmed
The Scottish government has confirmed that ferry operator CalMac has been awarded the contract to run the Clyde and Hebrides services.
State-owned CalMac, which already operates the services, was forced to tender for the routes in a bid to satisfy European competition rules.
Two private operators who expressed an interest pulled out of the process. Despite bitterly opposing the process, the incoming SNP administration decided to see it out as the quickest way of settling the six year contract, which last year cost the taxpayer about £30m. This, however, formally marks the end of the previous Scottish Government’s controversial tendering process.
The only private operators who expressed interest in the routes, which total over 20, - the offshore company V Ships, and Dunoon’s Western Ferries - pulled out thus leaving CalMac as the only bidder.
The Scottish Government contract, which is effective from October 1, 2007, will last for six years.
Speaking at the formal signing of the contract documentation in Glasgow, CalMac Ferries Ltd’s Chairman Peter Timms said: “Today’s signing marks the completion of a tender process which is the culmination of more than six years’ sustained hard work by very many people. I would like to pay particular tribute to the efforts delivered by everyone in the company.”
Jim Mather, MSP for Argyll and Bute welcomed the news, saying: “I welcome the end of this tender process and the decision to award the contract for Clyde and Hebrides ferry services to Caledonian MacBrayne.
“The tender of these ferry services has been a long and very fraught process and I am pleased to see the final result brings improvements for Argyll and Bute.
“Ferry services are essential to life in Argyll and Bute and I hope the award of this contract brings some certainty to people reliant on the ferry, employed on the ferry and to businesses that rely heavily on ferry services.
“Ferry services are a hot topic in the constituency and CalMac now has a crucial role to play in assisting the development of Argyll’s economy and communities.”
The controversial Gourock to Dunoon route however, where even CalMac failed to bid, remains to be settled.


Out of this world
Innellan’s Eilidh Henderson has returned from the trip of a lifetime to the NASA Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
16-year-old Eilidh, a pupil at Dunoon Grammar School, was one of 52 Scottish pupils selected from over 3,000 candidates in a Careers Scotland science and technology initiative run last year.
The group spent ten days at the Space Centre and Eilidh has described it as a “life changing experience.”
“I have come back feeling a lot more positive and more confident,” she said. “Careers Scotland and especially NASA gave us lots of encouragement, telling us how well we were doing.”
The programme was very intense and Eilidh says that they did not get much sleep, although it was a lot of fun. Five days were spent at NASA’s Space School and the group was split into two teams, working on designing or constructing various projects including landing systems and rockets - all from scratch and with a theoretical budget of over $300m!
Eilidh’s team triumphed in the rocket building with the best rocket design. “Our rocket flew the highest, and landed closest to its original take-off point which was fantastic.”
The teams often worked until as late as 3am but Eilidh states that it was not all work and no play - the pupils had the chance to attend parties and dinners at some of the astronauts’ homes; there was a function with the new British Consul General; and the grand finale was their Graduation Ball.
Among those who met with the group during the programme were Paul Lynch, the British Consul General; Dr Rick Scheuring, NASA Flight Surgeon; Bob Cabana, Deputy Director and former shuttle pilot, and many more NASA astronauts and employees. Eilidh cites her personal highlights as meeting Gene Kranz, the flight director of Apollo 13, and also having the opportunity of sitting in the Apollo 13 mission control.
“I had the time of my life,” she said. “I’ve made friends from all over Scotland - as near as Tarbert and Glasgow, and as far away as Dingwall and Inverness.
“We all got on really well together and are planning a group reunion soon. We will definitely keep in contact with each other - it was great to spend time with people who share this interest.”
Eilidh’s enthusiasm is clear as she says: “The trip was truly life changing and inspiring.
“It’s really given me a greater sense of direction in terms of knowing my own potential. NASA and Careers Scotland have encouraged us to aim high - failure is not an option - and I am so grateful to have been given this amazing opportunity.
“I would say to anyone else who’s thinking about doing any of the Careers Scotland courses - just go for it - aim high!”