Consultation on a new contract Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service 3

There is a consultation on a new ferry contract. Details can be found here:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/public-transport/ferries/clyde-and-hebrides-ferry-service-3/#overview

Transport Scotland is coming to Tiree to talk about this on 14 February. Individuals can make their own submissions at:

https://consult.gov.scot/transport-scotland/clyde-and-hebrides-ferry-services-and-islands/

Submissions have to be in by 8 March

Democracy Matter consultation from the Scottish Government

‘Democracy Matters’: phase 2 consultation from the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance

Contributions have to be submitted by 28 February 2024.

The fundamental question being asked is: do those of us wo live on Tiree want more control over our own lives?

In general, Tiree Community Council thinks that the answer is yes.

Tiree has made great progress in building community capacity over the last twenty years:

  • There is a community-owned livestock mart and cafe
  • There is a community-owned hall
  • There is a community development trust owning a wind turbine, community broadband, a harbour and two piers, a community shop, fuel station, business units, and employing a ranger (operating a croft camping scheme), Gaelic development workers and a youth worker
  • There is a community business running the Crossapol business centre and the Scarinish public toilets
  • There is a community trust running the Hynish lighthouse shore station

However, there are challenges:

  • Recruiting enough directors and councillors is not easy. The island’s population is only 650, and there is a small-community reticence to stick one’s head above the parapet
  • There is always a fear that a few people with sharp elbows will take over
  • We know it costs more to deliver services on an island than on the mainland. If we were given our own budgets, we would need to make sure there was enough money in the kitty

So, any changes in the way we are governed:

  • Should allow communities to opt-in. Not every community will be ready at the same time
  • Should be slow and evolutionary, so the community has time to adjust and build capacity
  • Will be more expensive, so funding will need to go up
  • Will need support, possibly involving mentors from places where this sort of thing works
  • While we try to keep up-to-date with our neighbouring islands, Tiree is a stand-alone community. We want to keep it that way, rather than be amalgamated with other areas.

 The full consultation is at:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/democracy-matters-phase-2-consultation-local-governance-review/

You are encouraged to engage with this individually.

John Holliday

17 January 2024 public meeting

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

JANUARY 2024 PUBLIC MEETING

17 January 2024 7pm

by Zoom and on TCC Facebook

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89113075106?pwd=ZkZYQk1FUmswM212M29CVlRXdUV4UT09

If you need to join by dialling in:

• +44 131 460 1196 United Kingdom

Meeting ID: 891 1307 5106
Passcode: 713150

AGENDA:

  1. Welcome
  2. Apologies
  3. Declarations of interest
  4. Minutes of last meeting
  5. Matters arising: including steps at the Soroby graveyard; Community Emergency Plan; Scottish Water request for report; re-instatement of a bin at the pier
  6. Correspondence: police report; Forum of A&BC community councils; Oban Harbour Revision Order; local recruitment to help the housing shortage
  7. Meeting reports: Ring n Ride meeting with Argyll and Bute Council (A&BC); Mull CC; Coll CC; Government review of the Community Empowerment Act and Participation Requests
  8. A&BC Councillor reports
  9. Recycling: to bag or not to bag?
  10. Estate shooting parties
  11. Airport Consultative meeting regarding the Oban air link
  12. Tiree phone boxes: should we remove the boxes that have not been claimed?
  13. Scarinish retail park fence: do we need to find another way to rebuild this?
  14. Planning applications for the month
  15. AOCB
  16. Date and location of February public meeting

Minutes of the previous meeting: Minutes of TCC November 2023

Guidance on joining the meeting by Zoom:

You can choose how you view the meeting using the app if joining via the internet – “Gallery view” shows you multiple participants

Please note that by default you will join the meeting muted (i.e. you will not be sending sound out to the rest of the participants) – please leave yourself muted unless you need to speak, and when invited to do so by the chair, and remember to re-mute afterwards. This is needed to ensure that the call is not made very difficult to follow by background noise from multiple people, which can be extremely disruptive to the call.

We suggest that members of the public not enable their camera, unless wishing to be seen when making a contribution to the meeting. This saves bandwidth and reduces the size of the recording for the minutes. Please note that our meetings may also be streamed to our Facebook page, where they may remain and be viewed after the meeting has ended.

If joining on a PC, tablet or other device, please set your screen name to a recognisable form of your actual name so that other participants know who you are – this is required if you wish to participate via either speaking or using the text chat.

The mute and unmute button is in the lower left, and looks like a microphone, next to the button for switching your webcam on/off.

If you are using a telephone to dial in, the mute and unmute command can be given by typing on your handset: *6

Requesting to speak:

If joining by computer, you can find a button to “Raise your hand” to ask to speak under the “Participants” menu, accessed by pressing the Participants button (looks like a human figure, in the middle of the bottom part of the window). You can also use the chat function to make a comment or to ask to speak on a point.

You can “raise your hand” to ask to speak if phoning in by using the code: *9

As ever if you have questions or if there is anything we can do to help you take part in the meeting accessibly, please let us know by e-mailing phyl@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk

 

Agenda Tiree Community Council December public meeting

EDIT: PLEASE NOTE THIS MEETING HAS NOW BEEN CANCELLED – we will pick the items up in the first meeting of the new year, date tbc.

 

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

DECEMBER PUBLIC MEETING

13 December 2023 7pm

by Zoom and on TCC Facebook

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83865908405?pwd=cCtjY0FidGpCRHdXUmZlNzhOQ0Nidz09

  1. Welcome
  2. Apologies
  3. Declarations of interest
  4. Minutes of last meeting
  5. Matters arising: including steps at the Soroby graveyard; Community Emergency Plan; Scottish Water request for report; re-instatement of a bin at the pier
  6. Correspondence: police report; Forum of A&BC community councils; Oban Harbour Revision Order; local recruitment to help the housing shortage
  7. Meeting reports: Ring n Ride meeting with Argyll and Bute Council (A&BC); Mull CC; Coll CC; Government review of the Community Empowerment Act and Participation Requests
  8. A&BC Councillor reports
  9. Recycling: to bag or not to bag?
  10. Estate shooting parties
  11. Airport Consultative meeting regarding the Oban air link
  12. Tiree phone boxes: should we remove the boxes that have not been claimed?
  13. Scarinish retail park fence: do we need to find another way to rebuild this?
  14. Planning applications for the month
  15. AOCB
  16. Date and location of January public meeting

 

 

Letter from the police about cover 10.8.23

This letter was received from Sergeant Shaw on 10 August 2023.

Dear Phyl,

Thank you for making contact with the concerns that you and the community understandably have following last night’s incident [when a police party was flown in by helicopter, and, when that was unable to land, arrived on the lifeboat].

You are correct, PC Tanner, who is normally resident on the island was off on holiday. Our usual stance as a Division is to place someone on the island for continuity whilst he is off. You will have seen other officers undertaking this duty in the past and is something that we intend to continue.

Regarding the lack of Officer on the island currently, unfortunately, it is my understanding that we struggled to resource it on this occasion. This was due to a mixture of absences and demands on Policing Teams on the mainland, where we would normally pull the resource from. Due to the nature of the deployment we also need to ensure such an officer has a requisite level of experience to work in isolation, which narrows the pool we can utilise. As a consequence of this, we could not sanction the usual abstraction on this occasion. I apologise for this. Where an abstraction is likely to be more than a week or more we’ll routinely look to ensure someone is on the island. For example, PC Tanner is away for almost 2 weeks later this year and we’re already in the process of looking to ensure an office is out there to cover.

With regards to your last point, it is my understanding that we have no plans to remove the Police presence from the island. As soon as PC Tanner confirms his retirement it is the current intention to immediately review recruitment to ensure a seamless handover to the new post holder, to ensure continuity of service for the island.

I hope this helps to allay any fears the community might have. Should you wish to know anything further, just ask.

Kind regards,

Matt Shaw, Sergeant for Partnerships & Management Support