Agenda and minutes

Venue: on a Hybrid Basis on Microsoft Teams and in the McCaig Suite, Corran Halls, Oban

Contact: Karen Campbell, Senior Committee Assistant - 01631 567855 

Items
No. Item

1.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

Apologies were intimated on behalf of Councillor Julie McKenzie.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

3.

MINUTES

3a

Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee - 8 March 2023 pdf icon PDF 288 KB

Minutes:

The Minute of the meeting of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee, held on 8 March 2023, was approved as a correct record. 

 

3b

Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Community Planning Group - 10 May 2023 pdf icon PDF 305 KB

Minutes:

The Minute of the meeting of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Community Planning Group, held on 10 May 2023, was noted. 

 

3c

Oban Common Good Fund - 30 March 2023 pdf icon PDF 105 KB

Minutes:

The Minute of the meeting of the Oban Common Good Fund held on 30 March 2023, was noted. 

 

4.

Oban High School Attainment Report pdf icon PDF 795 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Education

Minutes:

The Committee heard from Mrs Jackson, Deputy Head Teacher of Oban High School, who picked out some highlights from the school report which had been provided to Members. The report included information in relation to vocational additions to  Curriculum for 4th, 5th and 6th year pupils; the pass rates of National qualifications and the Insight dashboard, shows the school is above the virtual comparators in most subjects. Information in relation to wider achievement qualifications; equity and attainment and Pupil Equity Funding was also provided.

 

 

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee noted the contents of the report and information provided.

 

(Reference: Report by Head Teacher, Oban High School, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

5.

Tiree High School Attainment Report pdf icon PDF 328 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Education

Minutes:

The Committee heard from Ms Cooney, Senior Deputy Teacher of Tiree High School, who picked out some highlights from the school report which had been provided to Members. The report relates to the attainment of Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy and Gaelic; the pass rates of National qualifications and the Insight dashboard. 75% of the Teachers are now dual qualified which allows pupils to be offered 52 subjects compared to on 31 last year; NAT 5 results in literacy and numeracy had improved;  and that 100% of pupils gained full employment going to university.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee noted the contents of the report and information provided.

 

(Reference: Report by Head Teacher, Tiree High School, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

6.

Tobermory High School Attainment Report pdf icon PDF 656 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Education

Minutes:

The Committee heard from Ms Carmichael, Head Teacher of Tobermory High School, who picked out some highlights from the school report which had been provided to Members.  The report included information in relation to attainment of Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy and Gaelic; the pass rates of National qualifications and the Insight dashboard.  Since the COVID pandemic the focus has been on wellbeing working with community links and there was a recent trip on the Waverley Steamer from P1s and up which was a successful and enjoyable experience for all.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee noted the contents of the report and information provided.

 

(Reference: Report by Head Teacher, Tobermory High School, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

7.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Minutes:

Duncan Martin – Oban Community Council

 

The opportunities for more academic pupils has been talked about.  How well are schools stretching more gifted pupils?

 

Peter Bain commented that there are 98 subjects on the curriculum and that the number of students leaving with 8 or more highers places the school in the top 20 in the country.   Mr Bain also explained that academics were not purely the focus and that pupils, in addition to qualifications, also required to demonstrate experiences of disciplinary learning and personal endeavour.

 

Duncan Martin reflected that he was a friend of a parent whose child went to Cambridge University and that they hadn’t felt the support offer to pupils going to University outside of Scotland had been as well supported.

 

Mr Bain advised that Schools seek to support every individual and provide any necessary certification to get into any University in Scotland.  He commented that schools do have networks that pupils going to Universities in England or Europe and pupils are put in touch with others who have direct experience.  He also stated that schools offer interview training and support to sit entrance tests.

 

The Secondary School Head Teachers, and Depute Head Teachers, left the meeting at this point and the Committee considered the questions that had been submitted in advance of the meeting before taking questions from those attending.

 

 

Question 1 – 4 - Frank Roberts, Oban Community Council

 

It has often been suggested to me that parking wardens are routinely sent from OLI to other areas, leaving Oban under resourced.  Will the Council please advise therefore:-

 

  1. During the year 2022-23 how many parking wardens (FTE) were employed in each respective council area (by quarter)?
  2. Were parking wardens re-allocated from OLI to other areas during their normal working hours and on how many occasions also by quarter?
  3. Were parking wardens from OLI offered overtime to work in other Council areas and if so what areas?
  4. Have other parking wardens from other Council areas been sent to OLI either during their normal working hours or as overtime?

 

I would like to Council to respond in writing and would like a time limit on the response.

 

The questions will be put to the relevant department and Councillor Kain will request that the response is issued timeously.

 

Question 5 – Roddy McCuish

 

Roddy submitted the following question prior to the meeting by email:-

 

I recently reported rat increase of some alarming numbers at the junction of Polvinister Road and Glencruitten Road. I thought the quickest way to investigate this problem was to approach one of my elected members. I contacted Cllr Lynch who replied very promptly and reported it to the relevant department.  Unfortunately he was told the warden was unexpectedly unavailable at the moment and would look at it on their return. I fully understand that staff may be unavailable for various reasons. Surely there are other staff who can cover for the warden or even have someone seconded from another area. As you are all very aware Oban is very busy and to be without a warden of any sort is not a good position to be in as their duties are many.  Also I hasten to add the workload this person will have to come back to will place tremendous pressure on them. 

 

Mark Calder responded to the question stating that in reality the answer is No; there is no mechanism in place to cover unavailable environment wardens in each geographical area. Mr Calder, commented that as a former Councillor, Mr McCuish may recall, the service underwent significant savings which resulted the Environment Wardens cut from 9 to 4.  As a consequence there is no provision to cover when a warden is off.

 

Question 6 – B T MacDougall

 

B T MacDougall submitted the following question by email prior to the meeting:-

 

Have any of the representatives been to visit the two Piers in Taynuilt recently which are overcrowding with motorhomes, stealth caravans and tents which have resulted not only in human excrement and toilet paper in almost every shrub along the beach and repeated anti-social behaviour such as emptying cassette toilets into the Loch, driving on the beach and reckless driving on the single track road towards the Piers.

 

This has been reported to the council and the police, yet police patrols seem to have ceased or greatly reduced since the arrival of the sunny weather.

 

What needs to happen before this issue is being addressed by the council and police?

 

The local resident Otter population has already moved further up the river and it will only be a question of when and not if with all the fire pits etc before the wildlife is further impacted.

 

I am all for tourism but this is purely vandalism.

 

Mark Calder was able to pick up on part of the question, in that the Council would not have any responsibility for the piers or adjacent carparks as the land belongs to someone else.  Any anti-social behaviour should be reported directly to Police Scotland, however, fly tipping can be reported to the Council using the online form or by phoning the Council’s Contact Centre.

 

Chair stated that in essence the problems should be reported to the relevant Land Owners.

 

Question 7 – Neil MacIntyre

 

Question submitted by email prior to the meeting:-

 

Could you please put a question to Mark Calder or any officer that’s present about how much CCTV plans will cost if it goes ahead.

Even a projected cost would be great if they are putting these plans together and are waiting for further information.

 

Mark Calder advised that the costs are negligible between £500 - £2000 which could be absorbed as part of the existing budget.  We would be looking at installing 1 – 2 cameras at Ganavan possibly on the toilet block and one elsewhere to cover the area.  At the moment we are working with the Council’s Term Contractor who provides support for all our CCTV systems across the whole area, to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Primary School Area Attainment Report - Oban, Lorn and the Isles (OLI) pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Education

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to a report and presentation given by Ms Carmichael, Head Teacher of Ulva and Lochdon Primary Schools and Ms MacMillan, Head Teacher for Taynuilt Primary which provided a range of key information about primary school provision in the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area during the school session August 2022 to June 2023 and reported the National collection of attainment and achievement data from June 2022.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

 

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Education dated June 2023, submitted)

 

9.

AREA SCORECARD FQ4 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 478 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the Area Performance Report for financial quarter 4 of 2022/23 (January to March 2023) which illustrated the agreed performance measures for this period.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee:

 

1.    noted and considered the performance and supporting commentary as presented;

 

2.    noted that upon receipt of the Quarterly Performance Report the Area Committee should contact either the Responsible Named Officer or Sonya Thomas with any queries; and

 

3.    noted that work is ongoing and to respond to Sonya Thomas with requests or comments regarding the layout and format of the Performance Report and Scorecard.

 

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Customer Support Services, dated 4 May 2023, submitted)

 

10.

Cemetery Maintenance and Road Access Fund pdf icon PDF 209 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to a report that provided options on how to spend £75,000 that had been allocated from the Crown Estates funding to a Cemetery Maintenance and Roads Access Fund.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee:

 

1.    agreed the package of proposals up to the value of £75,000; and

 

2.    noted that regular updates would be provided via the Roads and Infrastructure weekly briefings.

 

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

11.

Traffic Regulation Order Proposed for Oban pdf icon PDF 200 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the updated draft report of the Oban on street Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) following officer engagement via the Community Participation Request process.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee agreed that the draft “Argyll and Bute (various streets Oban) (Amendment) Order 220_(TRO) is made.

 

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

 

 

12.

ROADS AND INFRASTRUCTURE UPDATE pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided links to the recent activities of Roads and Infrastructure Services relevant to the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

 

(Reference: Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

13.

Gibraltar Street Public Realm Project Update pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Report by Executive Director with responsibility for Development and Economic Growth

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to an updated report on the Gibraltar Street Public Realm Project.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee:

 

1.    Noted the content of this report and

 

2.    Considered and agreed an officer approach with regard to public consultation on proposed bespoke signage.

14.

HSCP Bi-Annual Update Report pdf icon PDF 3 MB

Report by Chief Officer, Argyll and Bute HSCP

Minutes:

It was noted that representative, Evan Beswick, had left the meeting due to a prior commitment and that if anyone has any comments, the Governance Officer is happy to feed back to HSCP. Consideration was given to the HSCP Annual Performance Report for 2022-23.  The report detailed how the HSCP had performed and also provided progress updates on how they have improved and adapted services which are fit for the future. 

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the report.

 

(Reference: Report by Chief Officer, Health and Social Care Partnership, dated June 2023, submitted)

 

15.

Supporting Communities Fund 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 455 KB

Report by Chief Executive

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which detailed recommendations for the award of the Council’s Supporting Communities Fund (SCF) for the 2023/24 round of funding that had been made available in the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee agreed that the 18 applications, marked as ‘Award’ within Appendix 1 of the report, are awarded funding from the Supporting Communities Fund Budget totalling £35,843.79, as follows:

 

 

 

16.

John of Lorn Bequest

16a

Report by Executive Director responsible for Legal and Regulatory Support pdf icon PDF 283 KB

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to a report which provided information regarding 23 applications that had been received for support from the John of Lorn Bequest. Of the applications received 3 were refused as they did not meet the criteria with £1.9k being awarded to 20 applicants.

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee noted and considered the number of awards made since December 2022.

 

17.

DRAFT OBAN, LORN AND THE ISLES AREA COMMITTEE WORKPLAN pdf icon PDF 231 KB

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the Area Committee workplan for future meetings. 

 

Decision

 

The Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee considered and noted the contents of the workplan. 

 

Paragraph 6  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (other than the authority).