Category Archives: Argyll & Bute

By-elections for Tiree Community Council

By-elections for Tiree Community Council

There will be a by-election for Tiree Community Council on 2 May.

There are four seats up for grabs. Candidates have to live on Tiree, be in the electoral register and be 16 and over in age.

Please consider putting your name forwards. I’ve got the forms and can help with all the paperwork. You can phone if you want to talk it through.

Nominations have to be in Lochgilphead on 21 March.

Dr John Holliday, secretary | 07786 496 275 | doc.holliday@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk

Decision Notice by Argyll and Bute Council on our application for an Island Community Impact Assessment Review

Last autumn, Tiree Community Council asked Argyll and Bute Council to review their decision that an Island Community Impact Assessment was not needed during the appointment of the Executive Head Teacher at Tiree High School.

This was not a criticism of the appointment itself. It was an attempt to see how the Council was interpreting their duties the Islands Act.

A recent report by the Scottish Government about the Island Act includes the passage:

‘Part 3 of the Islands Act gives island communities a strong voice in relation to policy through the obligation on relevant authorities to have regard to island communities in carrying out their functions and to undertake Island Communities Impact Assessments (ICIA) when required and if not required by making such an assessment or taking such other steps thought appropriate. An ICIA must take place when a piece of legislation, policy strategy or service will likely affect island communities in a different way than how it would affect communities on the mainland or other island communities. Scottish Ministers are determined to ensure that this is not simply a tick box exercise.’

Or submission ended with the passage:

‘We therefore believe that there is a clear and compelling case under the Islands Act for ABC to do an Island Community Impact Assessment (ICIA) on the shared headship involving Tiree and Oban High Schools.

We go further. Argyll and Bute Council has carried out just three ICIAs in the last twelve months. We argue that only when the Council starts to perform ICIAs frequently, without being asked and with a genuine desire to improve their understanding of their island communities, will they be able to discharge their responsibilities to their twenty-three inhabited islands.’

This is the Council’s decision.

Decision Notice

Correspondence – Reply Regarding Lighting at the School

We have received the following reply from Argyll and Bute Council regarding the issue of lighting around the school.

Dear Dr Holliday,

Thank you for your letter to Douglas Hendry on behalf of Tiree Community Council regarding exterior lighting at Tiree High School.

I can confirm that all but 2 of the exterior lights at the school are timed to switch off at 7pm which allows cleaning staff to leave the building and get to their cars safely as there are no street lights and these provide the only lighting in the area.

In relation to the 2 other lights, one stays on until 10pm and is located at the gym door to support school lets, the other is at the staff door so that staff can also come and go to support the lets or attend meetings in the school which go on later than 7pm.

The safety of all users of the school will always be the Education Service’s top priority and we would not look to change the current arrangements that we have in place, at this time.  It may be possible in future to look at changing the type of lighting currently in place as part of a programme of improvements/upgrades at Tiree.

Kind regards

Susan

Susan Tyre, School Services Support Manager

Notice of Proposed Final Amended Scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils and Associated Documents

Tiree Community Council have received correspondence from Argyll and Bute Council, notifying us that the proposed final amendments to the scheme for the Establishment of Community Councils are now available to view online.

These proposals are subject to a four week period of review; unless material considerations are submitted during this phase of notice, the Scheme will come into effect from the 20th of October, to coincide with Community Council Elections.

You can find the Amended Scheme and related documents here. 

Hustings on Tiree

It’s election time!
Tiree Community Council will be holding a virtual hustings on Friday 29 April at 7pm.
Eight of the eleven candidates for our ward in Argyll and Bute Council have told us they will be there, and we hope we will be able to confirm more over the coming week.
This will be an opportunity to ask questions about things you feel are important, although, with so many candidates, time will be limited!
We will post the joining details for the virtual meeting in the next few days.

Consultation on future of Argyll and Bute air services

The Argyll and Bute Council is consulting on local air transport services on the West Coast area, linking Oban, Tiree, Coll, Colonsay and Islay. This consultation will inform the next contract for the service and shall consider issues including:

•            Current use of the air service
•            Preferred flight times and days
•            The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to deliver services

The last item is under active consideration following successful trials of UAVs to deliver supplies during the pandemic, resulting in significant savings for the NHS. Active work is in development to create a UAV Hub at Oban airport, with Royal Mail also interested in the possible applications.

If you would like to respond to the consultation directly, or just find out more, you can do so here: https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/consultations/argyll-and-bute-council-west-coast-air-services-pso

TCC will be happy to make a submission on behalf of Tiree constituents, so if you would like to feed in your views to that, please email TCC member Phyl Meyer at phyl@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk