Minutes:
Question from Duncan Martin, Oban Community Council
Oban Community Council insists that this summer
Ganavan Car Park must be effectively managed to facilitate its use both by the
residents of Oban and by the many visitors expected this summer.
Could Mr. Smith please provide his management plan.
This must include some method of controlling the
use of the car park by caravans and campervans, which at times made the area
unusable by the general public. It must also address the wider issue of accommodating
these visitors elsewhere in Oban - perhaps the old Council yard could be used
temporarily? It has water, electricity and sewage facilities.
Response from Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services
In the absence of a relevant officer the Committee
Manager read out the following statement from the Head of Roads and
Infrastructure Services.
At the Council Budget meeting held on 25th
February, the Council allocated funding to deal with staycation visitors as
detailed in the table below.
|
Investing in Argyll and Bute’s
Opportunities - £0.830m |
||
|
£500k |
Staycation Argyll and Bute -
Supporting recovery and renewal by maximising the potential for growth in
Argyll and Bute’s camping and campervan staycation market |
Additional funds to be spent
across 2021/22 and 2022/23 to support the delivery of a range of facilities
across Argyll and Bute necessary to support camping and caravan
staycations. This will include provision of additional waste disposal
facilities to be available prior to the summer of 2021 and other facilities
that will be informed by the Motorhome and Informal Camping Survey.
Additional wardens to be employed over the period April to October 2021 to
raise awareness in respect of camping responsibly. |
At a Council wide level work is currently underway
to help promote and manage responsible staycation experiences across the
Council area. The work on the ground is being progressed by officers from
Development and Economic Growth, Roads and Infrastructure and a multitude of
partner agencies.
In terms of parking generally, a report was
presented to the EDI Committee in December 2020 and it was agreed that follow
up reports are to be taken to the June Area Committee which will cover TROs and
parking matters across the council area.
The current TRO for Ganavan car park permits the
following vehicle types to park:
Within the rules for use the following applies:
Article 7 (iv) “No person shall use any part of a
parking place or vehicle or trailer in it for residential or camping purposes.”
Article 7 (vi) “No person shall use any vehicle or
trailer as sleeping accommodation while it is parked upon a parking place
except where specifically authorised by the Council.”
Response from Committee
Concerns were raised by Councillor McCuish, Councillor
Robertson, Duncan Martin and Marri Malloy that the report and response from the
Head of Roads and Infrastructure were general in nature and did not
specifically address concerns in Ganavan or the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area
as a whole. It was agreed that the Committee Manager would seek a further
response from the Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services providing specific
detail in relation to Ganavan and the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area.
Following a query from Councillor McGrigor, it was
agreed that the Committee Manager would also request more detailed information
from the Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services in relation to facilities
which would be available across the Argyll and Bute area. The Committee Manager agreed to circulate any
responses received to Mr Martin and Members of the Area Committee.
The Chair confirmed that she had raised concerns
around the situation at Ganavan and across the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area in
advance of restrictions being eased with the Policy Lead and Council Leader.
Question from Marri Malloy, Oban Community Council
Marri Malloy requested clarification as to how the
situation at Ganavan would be managed and whether wardens would be able to
manage the situation at Ganavan whereby people used the car park to stay in
overnight and left early in the morning.
Response from Committee
In the absence of the Head of Road and
Infrastructure Services, it was agreed that the Committee Manager would forward
this question to him and circulate any response to Ms Malloy and Members of the
Area Committee.
Question from Charles Fothringham, Appin Community Council
Mr Fothringham advised that concerns had been
raised by local parents at the beginning of the pandemic around possible issues
in recruiting teachers for Oban High School, following reports that some pupils
did not have teachers for some subjects.
Response from Committee
Councillor McCuish sought and received confirmation
from Mr Fothringham that he would be happy for Councillor McCuish to ask the
Head Teacher of Oban High School this question at item 5 (a) of the
agenda.
Councillor Devon provided information around the
planned co-ordination of timetables for Tobermory, Tiree and Oban High Schools that
helps to expand the number of subjects pupils can access.
Due to their similarity in nature, it was agreed by the Chair that the
below questions would be raised and answered jointly:
Question from Alison Chadwick, Friends of Ganavan
On behalf of Friends of Ganavan could we ask our
Area committee members who makes the decision the Local Development Plan 2
(LDP2) is the ‘settled status’ of the council? Is this taken by elected members
and if so was this done by a vote of the full (elected) Council? Did you all
vote to approve the settled status?
Question from Councillor McCuish, submitted on behalf of a constituent
It has been stated the
Council has a settled view on the LDP 2 how did this arise and what meeting of
the full council did this take place were selected members consulted or is the
settled view that of officials only.
Response from Committee and Development Policy and Housing Strategy
Manager
The Chair confirmed that the settled status of the
LDP2 had been unanimously agreed at a full Council meeting in September 2019,
with the understanding that further consultation would then be undertaken. The
Chair confirmed that it was her understanding that this consultation had taken
place between November 2019 and January 2020.
The Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager
confirmed that the settled status of the LDP2 had been agreed unanimously at a
Council meeting on 26th September 2019 and that this decision had
been reached as part of the statutory process set out by the Scottish Government,
with the governance arrangements having been agreed by Council in 2016. The
Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager advised that the settled status
of the LDP2 had followed a lengthy period of consultation.
Councillor McCuish advised that Councillors Devon,
McKenzie and he had not been present at the meeting of the Council at which
settled status was agreed and noted that the recommendation agreed by
Councillors were subject to the settled view being progressed via further
consultation. Councillor McCuish advised that he did not understand how the
Council could come to a settled view on something that was then subject to
further consultation.
The Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager
advised that a complex procedure had taken place in accordance with Scottish
Government policy, noting that the settled status of the Council had been
agreed as the final position of the Council following consultation which had
taken place over a number of years. The Development Policy and Housing Strategy
Manager outlined details of the forms of consultation which had taken place
prior to the Council coming to a settled view on the LDP2 and noted that from
the point of having a settled view of the Council, the LDP2 could then be
tabled for public examination whereby people could make relevant objections to
the Scottish Government reporter. The Development Policy and Housing Strategy
Manager confirmed that this was a part of the statutory process and any
objections made during the period of consultation would then be sent to the
Scottish Government alongside the Council’s response to these objections for
them to consider, with the Scottish Government then being able to make
recommendations to the Council in relation to potential required changes.
Alison Chadwick raised concerns around the process
and noted that she would prefer that the process was changed or efforts were
made by Officials to adapt the procedure to ensure that settled status was not
agreed prior to consultation being completed as she did not feel this was a
democratic way for a major planning document to be agreed..
Alison Chadwick requested clarification from
Members on how many of them had taken up the offer from Officers for a
one-to-one session in relation to the LDP2. Discussion took place around the
methods of consultation which had taken place over a number of years in
relation to the LDP2 and it was agreed that The Development Policy and Housing
Strategy Manager would confirm details of the consultation process to Ms
Chadwick and Area Committee Members following the meeting.
The Chair confirmed that questions in relation to
the process could be raised with relevant Officers and the Scottish Government,
advising that she shared concerns around the Council coming to a settled view
prior to further consultation.
Duncan Martin noted that this process may change
under new planning legislation and The Development Policy and Housing Strategy
Manager agreed that this may be the case.
The Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager
confirmed that consultation had taken place before the Council had decided on
the settled status of the LDP, noting that this had largely taken the form of
the main issues report. The Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager
advised that the main issues report had included a list of possible options and
that this was the point at which people could express their views and suggest
any required changes. The Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager noted
that following consultation on the main issues report, the report had been
discussed with Councillors at various Committees and workshops. Mr Mulderig
advised that an offer had also been made to Councillors offering one-to-one
discussions in relation to sites and issues relevant to them, noting that he
was unsure which Councillors had taken up this offer at the time. The
Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager confirmed that the main issues
report had also been consulted on at an Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Business
Day and agreed that he would check consultation records and report back
information around this to Members following the meeting. Councillor Green
confirmed that an Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Business Day in November 2017 had
included the main issues report on the agenda.
Following a query from Councillor McCuish as to
whether the main issues report was an advisory or statutory document, The
Development Policy and Housing Strategy Manager confirmed that the consultation
process was dictated by statutory legislation.
Question from Councillor Jim Lynch
Councillor Lynch requested that an update was
provided on concerns raised at a recent meeting of Mull Community Council in
relation to the condition of the Tobermory High School building.
Response from Committee
Councillor Devon provided an update on concerns
raised by parents and plans for Salen Primary School children to be temporarily
moved to Tobermory High School during the refurbishment of the Salen Primary
School building. Councillor Devon confirmed that the Head Teacher of Dunoon
High School was being invited to talk to parents about the process of decanting
pupils. Councillor Devon advised that parents remained concerned about having a
safe, healthy environment for their children and the school being fit for use
by the additional 74 pupils.
Councillor Lynch sought and received confirmation
from Councillor Devon that regular updates around this would be shared with
Ward 4 Councillors.
Councillor Devon highlighted issues around
availability of offices for the school nurse to see pupils in need of
assistance, noting that this had been raised with the Head of Education and
assurance had been provided that an office would be available for this purpose.
Question from Marri Malloy, Oban Community Council
Marri Malloy raised concerns around the Council’s
selling of assets, such as car parks and the leasing of toilets. Ms Malloy
advised that this was affecting the recreational and green spaces available to
those who lived in Oban. Ms Malloy requested confirmation from the Council as
to when something would be done to rectify this situation.
Response from Committee
The Chair sought and received confirmation from Ms
Malloy that this comment was in relation to item 10 of the agenda and confirmed
that an update on this matter and the ‘One Council’ approach would be discussed
at the relevant point in the meeting.
Question from Tracy Mayo, Chair of Parent Council
Tracy
Mayo requested that concerns raised by parents around the decant of pupils to
Tobermory High School, the lack of head teacher and the condition of the
building be given due cognisance.
Response from Committee
The Chair confirmed that concerns would be noted and
provided assurance that Councillor Devon had been in correspondence with
Officers over a number of months and would continue to work on this matter,
alongside Councillor Lynch.
Question from Councillor Julie McKenzie
Councillor McKenzie requested that thanks were
provided by the Committee to staff at Easdale Primary in response to their
handling of a recent situation, particularly their taking into account the
views of the community and positive communication with parents.
Response from Committee
The Chair noted her agreement with what Councillor
McKenzie had said.