Issue - meetings

Question from Mr Duncan Martin, Oban Community Council

 

Mr Martin asked if there is a budget for the inspection and maintenance of the pontoons in Oban.

 

Response from the Committee

 

The Chair confirmed that there was a budget and that this information was contained within the report at item 5 on the agenda.

 

Question from Councillor Roderick McCuish

 

Councillor McCuish asked if there was an update on the review of the Traffic Road Orders (TROs) process.

 

Response from Committee Manager

 

The Committee Manger confirmed that the review of the Council’s current operational TRO process would be considered at the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on 17 March 2020.

 

Questions from Mr Andrew Spence, representing the business community and Mr Martin, Oban Community Council

 

Mr Spence asked for confirmation on what was happening regarding the parking issues in Oban town centre stating that Lochavulin car park was regularly empty and its use needs to be encouraged so people do not just use major retailers’ car parks. He stated that some payment machines use cards but not others which was confusing.

 

He said there is a need to address the issues of long term parking in the town, as it is  not easy for public and tourists to park their car for more than 24 hours especially with the increased likelihood of people staying local for holidays this year.  He stated that there is a need to engage with businesses, communities and tourists to seek a solution.

 

Mr Martin asked about the options for a public meeting to address the issues mentioned with the view of creating a pilot that kept the finance the same in order to speed up the process by avoiding the need to go through strategic committees for approval.

 

Response for Officers and Committee

 

The Chair confirmed that card payments were to be introduced soon following on from the clear results of the community council’s survey and a review of all parking in Argyll and Bute is to be conducted.

 

Councillor Lynch stated that there needs to be a meeting with businesses to get a plan together despite the delay in the TRO process so that there is information ready to be put forward when the TRO process is reinstated.

 

Councillor Kieron Green stated that the Lochavulin car park is a maximum of 24 hour stay which was routinely ignored prior to the introduction of charges. He stated that there needs to be a balance between long stay parking for workers and islanders and short stay as reduced costs in the town centre may fill up with long stay parking and may impact on short stay users.

 

Councillor Lynch and Councillor McCuish stated that there is a need for a structured public meeting. 

 

The Committee Manger confirmed that he would pass the concerns raised to colleagues within Roads and Amenity Services. 

 

Request from Oban High School Eco Committee

 

The Committee Manager read out a statement from the Oban High School Eco Committee as recorded below;

 

The Oban High School Eco Committee would like to invite you to a meeting at our school to discuss some of our concerns about Climate Change and to find out more about what Argyll is doing to tackle the crisis at hand.  As young people, we recognise the drastic influence that the climate crisis poses on our futures and feel passionate to ensure that Argyll and Bute Council is doing everything in its power to help suspend the challenge we face.

 

We have some suggestions on actions that could be taken in the town and across Argyll.  The aim of our meeting is to find answers to our questions about the lack of recycling bins on the streets, compost bins in Argyll, places where glass can be recycled, green spaces in the town, as well as other issues that we, as young people feel are particularly relevant considering the crisis we face.

 

Human actions have caused drastic changes to our planet’s climate.  We are on track to overshoot the limit of 1.5 °c of warming agreed by world leaders in 2016.  This will result in permanent, catastrophic changes to the Earth’s geological, biological and ecological systems.  In the midst of this Climate Emergency, it is shocking that governments have not yet put sufficient preventative measures in place.

 

We hope that the councillors of Argyll and Bute feel similarly passionate about the Climate crisis determining our future and will consider attending our meeting.

 

Response from Committee

 

The Area Committee agreed that they would engage with the Oban High School Eco Committee and requested that the Chair arrange a convenient date and time.