Agenda and minutes

The Chair ruled and the Group agreed to take item 11 of the agenda (Community Focus) after item 6 of the agenda to allow Jennifer Lane Lee of East Kintyre Community Trust to leave the meeting early.  This Minute reflects the order in which discussion took place.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

 

Apologies for absence were received from –

 

Donald Watt, Acting Head of Adult Services

Jean Mary Knowles, Islay and Jura Transport Forum

Mary McCallum-Sullivan, Ardrishaig Community Council

Councillor Sandy Taylor

Councillor Rory Colville

Julie McLeish, Police Scotland

Anthony Standing, Skills Development Scotland

Antonia Baird, Community Development Officer

Alison McGrory, Health Improvement Principal Officer

There were none intimated.

Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Community Planning Group held on Wednesday 1 May 2019

The Minutes of the meeting of the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group held on 1 May 2019 were approved as a correct record.

Election of Chair of Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group

The Group gave consideration to a report relating to the appointment of Chair of the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group.

 

Partners were asked to appoint a member of the Group to carry out the role of Chair of the Group for a two year period.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group agreed –

 

1.    To appoint Ian Brodie as Chair of the Group for a period of 2 years and that he would take the Chair from the next meeting of the Group.

 

2.    To appoint Andy Buntin as Vice-Chair of the Group for an interim period of 1 year.

 

3.    That a further report would be brought to the Group after 1 year seeking nomination of a Vice-Chair.

 

(Reference:  Report by Area Committee Manager, submitted)

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group gave consideration to a report briefing them on the meeting of the Community Planning Partnership Management Committee held on 26 June 2019 and its consideration of issues raised by Area Community Planning Group Chairs.

 

Discussion took place on the new structure of the HSCP locality groups and concerns were raised about organisations missing important information.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group –

 

1.    Noted the content of the report.

 

2.    Requested an update report on the new structure of the HSCP Locality Planning Groups including feedback on conversation cafes be brought to the group after 1 year and that any issues in the interim be brought to the attention of the group.

 

(Reference:  Report by Community Planning Officer, submitted)

Report by Community Planning Officer

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group gave consideration to the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Action Plan progress report.

 

The Community Planning Officer advised that reference no. MAKI01 (Develop Phase II of Kilmory Industrial Estate) had been moved from “not on track” to “on track”.  She also advised that there had been no further update in relation to action MAKI12 and specifically the speed surveys.

 

Discussion took place on the format of future reports with the Chair asking that officers look at providing detail in terms of each action which would highlight what work had been carried out.

 

Decision

 

1.    The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the content of the update provided; and

 

2.    Agreed in respect of the action MAKI12, that this be highlighted to the Management Committee to see if an update could be provided in relation to the outstanding speed surveys.

 

(Reference:  Report by Community Planning Officer, submitted)

Report by Community Planning Officer

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group gave consideration to a briefing paper in relation to the ongoing consultation “how good is your place?” which went live in May 2019 and would be live until 30 September 2019.

 

Discussion took place on the best way to engage with younger people and the Youth Worker advised of an opportunity to target young people at an event in Helensburgh which would have over 200 young people in attendance.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided and agreed to circulate the information to their respective organisations.

 

(Reference:  Report by Community Planning Officer, submitted)

Update by Carradale Community Trust’s Planning Sub-Committee

Jennifer Lane Lee of the Carradale Community Trust gave an informative presentation on the objectives of the 2020-2024 East Kintyre Local Development Plan which had been prepared by the Carradale Community Trust.  The Plan focused on realistic targets informed by an ongoing visitors and residents survey.  Some of the areas identified for development included creating a permanent shop and renovating the harbour.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information given during the informative presentation and noted the work already undertaken by the community .

Presentation by Lucy Sumsion, NFU (Scotland)

Lucy Sumsion of National Farmers Union Scotland gave the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group an informative presentation on the work of NFU Scotland.  She advised of the structure of the organisation, some of the issues and challenges faced by the farming community such as climate, quality of land, lack of skilled labour and the need to involve younger people.  She spoke of the benefits that farming brought such as environmental benefits, benefits to wildlife, the economy and tourism.  She advised of various opportunities for farming by way of diversification projects going forward including deer farming and new enterprises such as ice cream, breweries and gin.

 

The Chair thanked Ms Sumsion for her very educational presentation.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided in the presentation.

Jennifer Lane Lee left the meeting at this point.

 

Lucy Sumsion left the meeting at this point.

Presentation by Kenny McNab, Clyde Fisherman’s Association

There was no one available at the meeting for this item and therefore it was not considered.

Presentation by Anthony Standing, Skills Development Scotland

The Chair advised that Anthony Standing had been in contact to advise that he would not be available at the meeting and therefore this item would be considered at the next meeting.

Presentation by Mid Argyll Youth Forum

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group were shown a video that had been produced by Argyll and Bute Youth Services in 2018.

 

The Group were then given a presentation by Hannah Nicolson and Yasmin Bowden of Mid Argyll Youth Forum on the work undertaken by the Youth Forum in 2018 and so far during 2019 which included the Malawi backpack project, Armed Forces Day, WW1 DVD and audio project and the WW1 time capsule project.

 

The Chair thanked them for their very impressive presentation and they were congratulated for the work they had undertaken over the past year.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided to them in the video and in the presentation.

Health and Wellbeing Annual Report

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group gave consideration to the annual report from the Health and Wellbeing Network.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the content of the report.

 

Update from Police Scotland

Michelle Rusden of Police Scotland provided the following update –

 

Staffing Position  

 

We have a new Divisional commander, Chief Superintendent John Paterson with Superintendents Kenny Armstrong and Brian Gibson making up the Senior Management Team based at Dumbarton. 

 

We continue to be committed to recruiting and retaining Police officers and staff and following UK wide advertising we have successfully recruited a new Sgt for MAKI with another one in the pipeline.

 

We continue to attract new probationers and we ensure all of our staff are developed and supported.  We are currently working with 2 local individuals who are in the police recruitment process. There is absolutely no doubt there has been an increase in local police recruitment.

 

We are also in process of recruiting a new Special Constable for Islay and for the first time the recruitment process is based locally to save extensive travel to training establishments. This is a hugely positive move for us.

 

Police provided accommodation has been reviewed across the division as well as police offices to make sure all estate is of an acceptable standard. 

 

Youth Engagement Officer Update

 

Campbeltown Police Scotland Youth Volunteer scheme continues to build under the direction of Youth Engagement Officer PC Karen Cairns.

 

We are working towards appointing a Youth Engagement Officer for Lochgilphead. In the meantime we will continue to link in directly with Lochgilphead Joint Campus.  We also continue to work closely with Tarbert Academy one example being a very successful emergencies services day which took place there in June.

 

Local priorities

 

The local priorities continue to be road issues and driver behaviour, Anti Social Behaviour and Disorder, Drugs and alcohol abuse. 

 

We have suffered several incidents of what we refer to as travelling criminals – where persons travel from other areas to our area to commit thefts taking advantage of our remote geography and rural opportunities. After enquiries we are able to establish that these crimes are being committed by people from outwith our local area. Other areas have also been targeted in the same way which allows close liaison with other areas (quite often Central Scotland).

 

Roads

 

There have unfortunately been a significant number of fatalities and serious injuries caused through roads related incidents across the division. 

 

Recently an additional roads policing officer has been appointed to the road policing team with another officer expected to join the C/town team soon.

 

The time taken for accident investigation with roads closures continues to be a public concern. Social media is of great help to communicate current information to the public with improvements being made in technology which should hopefully help with this too.

 

Anti Social Behaviour

 

Anti Social Behaviour forum and resulting action goes from strength to strength with a very strong attendance including partners from housing, Social Work, Mental Health, police, homeless services and Council Anti Social Behaviour coordinator.  We have had a lot of success via this group with information sharing helping to deal with problem tenants resulting in positive outcomes for communities. It is recognised privately owned dwellings are more challenging to deal with but by sharing information and joint working the full range of options can be considered.

 

Scams and frauds

 

Various telephone and postal Scams remain very prevalent with elderly people particularly vulnerable and we continue to work with trading standards to address these.

 

Local Livestock Campaign

 

PC Ben Rusden has been the Police Scotland Lead for a successful local Livestock Campaign in partnership with NFU, Argyll and Bute Council, local farmers, local vets and MSP Emma Harper. This campaign raises awareness of the overall impact of livestock attacks and the importance of keeping your dog under control at all times. This campaign is now used as benchmark for other areas and has been supported at Government level.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided.

Update from Jonathan Hart, Coastal Operations Area Commander

Jonathan Hart, Coastal Operations Area Commander introduced himself to the Group and distributed a short presentation providing the Group with information on a summary of the local asset base, a summary of incidents responded to by the Coastguard over a period of 3 years, operational trends, prevention highlights, resilience engagement and an outlook to the future.

 

Discussion took place on ways to make other agencies aware of the capabilities of the Coastguard.

 

 The Chair thanked Jonathan for his educational and enlightening presentation.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group noted the information provided to them in the presentation.

 

 

Opportunity for verbal updates by Community Planning Partners

Robert Judge, Live Argyll

Robert Judge, Area Operations Manager for Live Argyll advised that Live Argyll was an Arm’s Length External Organisation responsible for the delivery of leisure services on behalf of the Council.  He advised that the majority of facilities were in Campbeltown, but there were also those on Islay, In Lochgilphead and in Tarbert.  He advised that all revenue was put back into service delivery and that recently they had undertaken a  major overhaul of pricing for leisure facilities and memberships. He advised that there had been drastic cuts in the prices of memberships with a view to increasing use of the facilities.  The Group noted that a written update would be provided by Live Argyll to future meetings of the Group. 

 

Councillor Donald MacMillan

Councillor MacMillan highlighted the ongoing regeneration programme in Lochgilphead and Ardrishaig and advised of a tremendous presentation that had taken place the previous Friday on past and present artefacts from the canal during the opening of the Egg Shed in Ardrishaig.

 

Councillor John Armour

Councillor Armour raised concern over the shortage of numbers at a mainland meeting and highlighted the problems caused by the Burnett Building closing at 12.30pm which could be a reason why people had not been attending.  The Area Committee Manager advised that the location of meetings would be investigated for future meetings to ensure that members of the group could participate in all parts of the meeting.

 

Councillor Anne Horn

Councillor Anne Horn advised that Tarbert Life, which had been the former Visit Scotland office, had opened as a heritage centre and had been very busy.  She advised that it was staffed by volunteers.  She spoke of the archaeological dig at Tarbert Castle, advising that the artefacts were still being researched and that they had found another entrance to the village.  She referred to the Tayinloan play area and that it was good to have it reinstated.  She advised that the committee had worked very hard to raise money in a short time. She referred to the Council owned waiting room that had lain derelict and that various asset transfer requests had been knocked back.

 

Councillor John Armour

Councillor Armour gave an update on Campbeltown Creamery advising that milk was now going elsewhere and that staff had been made redundant which was concerning.  He advised that there was still the possibility for a farmer buy out but that it was a worrying situation for those involved. He advised that no Mull of Kintyre cheese was available from the creamery now.

 

Andy Buntin, Lochgilphead Community Council

Andy Buntin advised that the 4^th Celtic festival had been held in Lochgilphead the previous weekend, that it had been very successful and that they had raised money towards funding the event the next year.  He referred to the opening of the Egg Shed in Ardrishaig which had been successful and had helped to regenerate the whole area, which had been a great boost to Ardrishaig.   He advised that Ardrishaig were also working on regenerating its public areas which was a step in the right direction.

 

The following update had been provided in writing by Mary McCallum-Sullivan, Ardrishaig Community Council, who could not attend the meeting –

 

By the date of the meeting, Ardrishaig will have seen the opening of a major new building and development in the Eggshed, and the Steamer Terminal Cafe, as part of the regeneration of Ardrishaig waterfront, driven very largely by Scottish Canals and funded by SG, A&BC and a range of other funding bodies, including EU Leader funds. A range of events has been organised and will have taken place on Friday 2nd August to mark this event.

Planning  and consultation is also well advanced for Public Realm improvements at the north end of the village, as well as the refurbishment of Ardrishaig Public Hall, and it is anticipated that work on these complementary developments will commence later in this or early next year.

 

Discussion facilitated by Area Committee Manager

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group discussed the best way to facilitate meetings to allow young people to attend and provide representation on a regular basis.

 

Decision

 

The Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Area Community Planning Group agreed to explore the options of young people attending the meetings via VC from their school premises or inviting young people to attend the meeting from the school closest to the venue in which the meeting was being held.

The next meeting will take place at 10.00am on Wednesday, 6 November 2019

The date of the next meeting was noted as 6 November 2019 in Campbeltown.

 

The Area Committee Manager thanked the Chair, Andy Buntin, for his contribution to the Area Community Planning Group.  Andy thanked the Group and passed best wishes to Ian in his new role as Chair.