Agenda and minutes

The meeting convened at 2pm in the Hill Street Office and immediately adjourned.  The meeting reconvened at 2.20pm in Castle House.

Apologies for absence were intimated from:

Councillor Dick Walsh

Councillor Alex McNaughton

Councillor Jimmy McQueen

Virginia Sumsion, Fyne Projects

Catriona Craig, Cowal Marketing Group

Brian Close, Planning Officer

Forward Dunoon and Cowal 10^th November 2014

The minute of the Forward Dunoon and Cowal Group 10^th November 2014 was approved as a correct record subject to a change at item 5 of the minute.

Councillor Gordon Blair updated the group on the progress made so far in terms of liaising with the Heads of Centres and schools in the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas, the following points were noted:

·        Councillor Blair has arranged a meeting with Iain Bruce, Head of Centre for Ardroy,on Monday 23^rd Feb.

·        An email contact list for all schools has been created and Councillor Blair has been in contact with the schools via email.

A discussion took place regarding proposed ideas for linking the outdoor centres with the tourism market in the area. Councillor Blair felt this was a market that could be tapped into and suggested looking into sourcing funds for a brochure which would promote the area and could be distributed to children visiting the outdoor centres with a view that they would come back to the area with their families.

Actions

·        The group to contact Cowal Marketing Group for funding assistance as they have access to third sector grants.

·        The group asked the Area Governance Officer to investigate who could advertise on the Council’s what’s on section of the website.

·        The group agreed to take the ideas discussed forward, keeping the Head of Economic Development in the loop.

Councillor Gordon Blair informed the group that Electric Car Charging Points had been raised at a recent Bute and Cowal Business day at his request, and that Members and the Head of Roads and Amenity Services had discussed that there will be one electric car charging point available for public use and this will be located at the Cole Pier.  It was also mentioned that the plant yard in Dunoon have two charging points for Council vehicles.

It was noted that the group would gauge feedback once the first charging point had been installed to determine whether other charging facilities were required in the local area to address the concern expressed by Councillor Marshall about the length of time each car required to be on charge for. The hope is that if Dunoon has an electric charging point, visitors from the central conurbation will have no fear of coming to Cowal and not being able to return.

Councillor Marshall informed the group that Elected Members had met with officers last month regarding parking issues in the local area.

Councillor Breslin took the group through some of the changes that had been discussed which included:

·        The road realignment at the Queens Hall through the CHORD project.

·        Hanover Street Car Park will be realigned for car use only and will be free.

·        The Glen Morag car park will be realigned for HGV use as well as cars and will also be free.

·        Disabled parking bays will become for exclusive use of disable badge holders 24 hours of the day.

·        It was also felt that the free parking for doctors should be discontinued

A discussion took place regarding other parking options ideas that could be implemented in the local area. The group noted that something more innovative should be done regarding the charging policy for parking which should also be linked into the tourism issues in the area and also noted that better signage in the main street is required.

Colin Moulson informed the group that at the Revival Festival PA23BID funded ferry travel for scooters and that this was very successful with the distinct prospect that visitors to the festival may return this summer with figures of 200-300 scooters discussed.

A discussion took place regarding the pedestrianisation of Argyll street in Dunoon along with suggestions of providing some form of canopy at the shops to allow shoppers to remain dry in bad weather.

Action 

The group requested that Pedestrianisation of Argyll Street be added as an agenda item to the Bute and Cowal Business Day meeting 3^rd March 2015 which would include a discussion on parking in general andverbal reports by representatives from Roads and Amenity Services, Economic Development, Planning and Licensing would be satisfactory given timescales.

Janet McKellar provided a verbal update on the following:

·        Help are currently very busy.

·        The project recently organised a WW1 commemoration tea dance for the service users of  Cowal  Befrienders, Janet reported excellent feedback from Befrienders and noted that they had tweeted a thank you via social media.

·        Janet McKellar and Ailsa Cunningham informed the group that they had discussed two potential environmental projects that would be suitable to be undertaken by Help clients, these were painting the crazy golf course on the west bay and tidying up the piece of land at the bottom of Moir Street.  Both options were agreed as being of value.

·        The group were informed that Help in conjunction with Dunoon Grammar School were running a pathway to employment day which would incorporate a jobs fare and employment workshops.

A representative from Cowal Marketing Group was not present at the meeting so no update was provided.

The Group noted that the Cowal Marketing Group were coming under pressure from some local businesses to lodge an objection to the Bachan Burn planning application.  The Area Governance Officer suggested that the Community Councils, in their capacity as statutory consultees, would be the appropriate body to represent the community views including the views of businesses.

Colin Moulson informed the group that PA23BID had a meeting arranged with PNE Wind for the 16^th March 2015.

Colin Moulson briefly took the group through a paper which provided an overview and update of the Bid’s current position and achievements to date.

Colin agreed to circulate the paper via email to the members of the group.

Colin also discussed an issue regarding the flag poles on Hillfoot street informing the group that a complaint had been received  and that PA23BID would now need relevant planning consent for them to remain.

Colin provided the group with a leaflet containing information about this years ride and run event, and informed the group that there are currently nearly 100 registered applicants for the event.

A representative from Cowalfest was not present at the meeting so no update was provided.

Ailsa Cunningham informed the group that she had recently met with Sue Minns to discuss future plans for the Bishops Glen and how this could be incorporated into Cowalfest events.

Unsightly Buildings

A discussion took place regarding two unsightly buildings within Dunoon. Councillor Breslin felt that the owners of these buildings should be pushed harder to improve the appearance of these buildings.

Concert in Argyll Gardens

Councillor Blair informed the group that he had been approached by a local resident who would like to hold a concert in the Argyll Gardens. Ailsa Cunningham informed Councillor Blair that they would need to contact herself and Paul Farrell for a licensing pack.

Helensburgh WiFi

Colin Moulson raised a query regarding why Helensburgh is the only area in Argyll and Bute to be getting free WiFi within it’s town centre.  It was felt that this could be due to the area being more populated or perhaps linked to their CHORD infrastructure.

SSE Open for Business Event

Councillor Marshall advised of a forthcoming event being organised by SSE in Inveraray which may be of interest to the business community.  He agreed to forward details to the Group for onward distribution.

Camanachd Cup

It was discussed by the group that Dunoon is shortlisted to hold the Camanachd Cup Shinty tournament this year and members of the group requested that this be added as an agenda item for the next Forward Dunoon and Cowal meeting in April.

2^nd April 2015

Wednesday 2^nd April 2015, 10am, 22 Hill Street Dunoon.