Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated by:

Councillor Gordon Blair

Graham Revill

Keith Murray, Transport Scotland

John Forrest, Police Scotland

Paul Farrell, Technical Officer

Cowal Transport Forum 29^th January 2016

The minute of the meeting of the Transport Forum 29 January 2016 was approved as a correct record.

Verbal update by Transport Scotland.

Keith Murray, Transport Scotland had submitted apologies to the meeting and therefore no update was provided.

Verbal update by Transport Scotland and Roads Department.

The Community Transport Officer provided the Forum with a verbal update on the progress of resolving issues that are impeding the use of the new turning circle as raised at the January meeting of the Transport Forum. He informed the Group that a meeting had been held and that several improvements to the area were noted to be carried out with an estimated finishing date of the 23^rd May 2016.

Councillor McNaughton read out an email which addressed the Community Council’s concerns over the turning circle and the requirements of Scottish Citylink Coaches Limited to enable their use of the turning circle.

The Contracts Manager cautioned that the timeframe for completed works may be tight due to existing commitments but he will clarify this with Nigel Potts, Technical Officer and report back to the Forum.

Actions

1.    Contracts Manager to report back to the Group on the feasibility of works being carried out to the proposed timeline.

2.    Contracts Manager to enquire about the process of adopting the turning circle as a road to allow parking enforcement to be carried out.

3.    Contracts Manager to provide Iain MacInnes with an updated timeline for works by Friday 22^nd April 2016.

Verbal update by Argyll Ferries and Western Ferries representative.

Argyll Ferries

Simon Richmond from Argyll Ferries provided the Forum with the following update;

·         Argyll Ferries passenger numbers have decreased by 105 over the winter.

·         The Argyll Flyer will undergo a refit[%1] .

·         The marketing department is currently working on promoting the Cowal Games weekend.

·         Summer timetable is now in place.

·         Colintraive ferry has been very busy due to Wemmys Bay ferry closure.

·         A yellow level of service has been introduced which indicates to Ferry Users that ferries are running as intended but may experience disruption.

Western Ferries

Gordon Ross from Western Ferries provided the Forum with the following update:

·         Joint ticketing exercise that was put in place due to the Wemmys Bay ferry closure has worked well.

·         Clyde and Hebridean routes tender – Gordon Ross updated on discussions with the tenderers for the Clyde and Hebridean routes and set out possible opportunities to enhance customer access to the full range of ferries.

·         Plans are in place to replace existing linkspans and improvements to the berthing structure as well as improvements to the Kilmun Pier, with a hope to begin works in the next few months and an estimated completion date of December 2016. 

Actions

1.    Community Transport Officer to look into connecting bus service with the 20.20 ferry.

2.    Willie Lynch asked for a response on the feedback that Argyll Ferries had requested from him. Simon Richmond agreed to provide this.

3.    Figures on the uptake of RET to be brought to the June Transport Forum meeting.

4.    The Forum agreed that a letter should be sent to CMAL to express their concerns at the current steps berthing system and whether a more suitable pontoon system can be put in place. Ian McNaughton agreed to draft this letter which will then be circulated to the Forum for comment.

Verbal update by Community Transport Officer.

Verbal update by Community Transport Officer

The Community Transport Officer informed the Forum that some work has been carried out at Sligrachan and the area is now wide enough but the surface may not be suitable for new, low-floored, buses.

A further site meeting with a bus took place on Wednesday 13^th April to determine what further work is required. Nigel Potts will identify a cost for this but cannot undertake the work until June so it is probably going to be the start of the new school year in August before the two buses a day can extend from Glenfinart to Sligrachan.

Verbal Update by Community Transport Officer

The Community Transport Officer informed the Group that this issue is still to be discussed with West Coast Motors and a further update will be provided to a future meeting of the Transport Forum.

Action

Community Transport Officer will enquire about the bus timetable that still requires a stand that was raised by Willie Lynch.

Verbal update by Willie Lynch

Willie Lynch reported that he had representation from Kirn residents requesting if 482/483 service could run later as it currently finishes at 3.40pm. Martin Arnold agreed to look into this and report back to Mr Lynch.

Action

Community Transport Officer will speak to McGill’s to see if they can pick up local route passengers on the Dunoon side and he will also look at whether another route could be diverted to provide a later service.

Verbal Update by Councillor McNaughton

It was reported that this service is currently running smoothly and no issues were raised.

Verbal update by Councillor McNaughton

Councillor McNaughton read out the email response received by Scotrail in relation to a query raised as to whether they had received any complaints about the gap between the platform and the train at the Gourock train station. The response stated that the distance between services that use the Gourock station are within the accepted parameters and although the gap between carriages and platform may appear large they are within industry guidelines.

Verbal update by Contracts Manager.

Update by Contracts Manager.

Following on from the previous transport Meeting held in January the Contracts Manager informed the Group that the outstanding action which read ‘The Roads department will take the lead on setting up a meeting to be held between Western Ferries, Roads department, Hunters Quay Community Council and the Police to agree a suitable way forward and then report back to the April Transport Forum meeting’ has not been completed and is therefore outstanding. The contracts manager further added that this action would be looked at and a meeting arranged within the next month.

Actions

1.    Meeting re congestion to be arranged in the next four weeks by the Contracts Manager.

2.    Road condition on the far end of Argyll Street and Thom A Mhoid road to be looked at.

3.    Timeframe for review of disabled bays to be fed back to the Forum.

Verbal update by Contracts Manager.

The Contracts Manager and the Forum held a discussion regarding outstanding issues involving VMS signs.

A VMS sign is still not available for Lochgoilhead despite having been previously identified by Transport Scotland. The contracts Manager explained that VMS signs are only for use on strategic routes.

It was also noted that hinged signs were being put in place with responsibility for these signs being Transport Scotland’s.

Action

Transport Forum to contact Transport Scotland to request if another sign is available for Lochgoilhead.

Verbal update by Police Scotland representative.

A representative from Police Scotland was not present at the meeting, therefore no update was provided.

Verbal update by Scottish Fire and Rescue Representative.

Derek Wilson and Verina Litster from Scottish Fire and Rescue provided the Forum with a verbal update, the following points were included:

·         Scottish Fire and Rescue are implementing a variety of methods to help reduce road traffic accidents.

·         Work is currently being undertaken through the Argyll Safety Partnership.

·         Verina is the appointed person for taking road safety forward.

·         A two day event is taking place with a real time crash scenario in Dunoon Stadium on the 5^th May 2016 at 11am, is open to all, and  pupils from Dunoon Grammar School will be invited. The second day of the event will concentrate on fire safety.

The Group held a discussion on the completed and proposed works to Dunoon Pier. Gordon Ross congratulated Argyll and Bute Council on the works already undertaken and enquired about the next stage of the project.

Councillor Walsh informed the Group that Argyll and Bute Councils main focus in relation to the pier is to progress with the phase 2 works.

Friday 17^th June 2016, 10am, Wooden Pier Building, Dunoon.

The next Cowal Transport Forum will be held on Friday 17^th June at 10am in the Timber Pier Building, Dunoon.