Minutes:
At a recent meeting (May
10th 2022) it was stated by the Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services that,
in connection with the drafting of the Harbour Order, "wider consultation
with the community is due to start in the next few weeks". Can the Area
Committee inform us what the schedule of this consultation is to be?
Specifically, with whom will Officers consult on what specific matters and when
will each of these exercises start and finish?
Mark Calder, Project
Manager for Roads and Infrastructure Services reported that the council had published its programme of intention on Oban Bay on the
council website, which can be accessed via the following link - Oban Municipal Harbour (argyll-bute.gov.uk).
Mr Calder advised that the programme indicates when
the consultation process would commence and includes all known stakeholders who
have an interest in the Bay including community councils whose area have an
interest in the Bay from a transportation point of view. The Area Committee
noted that it would not be appropriate to make the list public for GDPR reasons
and that the council would update the project plan on a regular basis.
Phil Hamerton
stated that this response was not adequate, as the detail that Oban Community Harbour
Development Association were interested in is not referenced on the
website. Mr
Hamerton stated that OCHDA continue to be interested
on details around the what, when and who would be consulted during this
process.
Councillor Kain advised
the Area Committee that he had been appointed as Chair of the Harbour Board and
he would be happy to take forward the concerns of OCHDA and is committed to
ensuring that all lines of communication with the public would be open.
Ross Wilson (OCHDA) advised that Oban Community
Council were now members of the Oban Bay Management Group and that they would
liaise with all other Community Councils that are served by Oban Harbour. Mr Wilson advised that OCHDA were due to have
a meeting this afternoon where communication with stakeholders would be considered.
2.
Question
from Duncan Martin
Mr
Martin acknowledged that the Area Committee had approved the minute of the
previous meeting and highlighted that Oban Harbour item had been considered and
noted., with no reference to any discussion held. Mr Martin
believed that the Area Committee unanimously agreed, that since the Harbour was
central to the economy of Oban, Lorn and the Isles, updates on the progress
towards a new Harbour Authority would be a standing item on future Area
Committee agendas. It was Mr Martin’s opinion that it seems that unless the
views expressed in a meeting result in a formal resolution, these views are not
minuted. Do Councillors consider this
satisfactory?
Mr Martin had queried this with the Committee Manager and in his reply
the Committee Manager acknowledged that the meeting had recognised the
importance of Oban Bay. He also stated, correctly, that the Harbour Board is
the responsible committee, and that Oban, Lorn and the Isles members would be
updated as appropriate for information only.
Mr Martin added that unless a special meeting is arranged, the
Harbour Board won't meet until September 2022. Presumably only after it
has reached its decisions would some officers decide what information is
appropriate to be passed on to the Area Committee, presumably in November. This
is clearly not what the last Area Committee intended.
It seems that meetings of the council and its committees are merely
records of decisions reached. Mr Martin asked why is this and whether this is
standard practice in local government?
Mr Martin felt that this means that there is no audit trail, a topic
doesn't appear on a Committee's minute until it comes for a decision. Minutes
have to be much more than a list of decisions, they should enable a member of
the public or any outside body to have a grasp of the issues debated. They
should also enable Councillors in the rest of Argyll and Bute to understand
where we are in Oban, Lorn and the Isles. Is webcasting meetings an effective
substitute for proper minutes?
Mr
Martin believes that the Area Committee has very limited decision-making powers
e.g. in relation to community grants etc. Its main function has to be the
monitoring of the local activities of Council Services. It cannot do this
unless it is fully involved and informed. The committee should be ensuring that
all proposed service developments are co-produced with all those affected
(geographical communities or communities of interest).
Before
passing the question to the Committee Manager the Chair thanked Mr Martin for
his questions and expressed his support for all services being co-produced and
that Oban Bay is a strategic issue that will be considered at all levels within
Argyll and Bute.
The
Committee Manager confirmed that the style of minute is standard across the
council, adding that the council is committed to openness and transparency and
that all Strategic Committees are now routinely webcast which can be accessed
live or at a time of individuals choosing via the archive.
Regarding
representation on the Harbour Board, Mr McLean advised that the
Area
Committee is represented on the Harbour Board and that any Councillor may be
present at a meeting of a Committee or Sub Committee of which the Councillor is
not a member, as outlined within Standing Orders.
3.
Question
from Marri Malloy
At
the last Area Committee Meeting I asked for a breakdown of where the £91,000
staycation money allocated to the Local Authority was spent, particularly in
Oban, to date I have not received this information. I am also waiting on a response from Jim
Smith, Head of Roads and Infrastructure to attend an Oban Community Council Meeting?
Mark Calder confirmed that he
would ask the Staycation Officer to contact Mrs Malloy directly. The Committee
Manager also advised that an update report concerning Staycation was considered
at the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee on 2 June 2022 and
that he would send Mrs Malloy a link to the report and encouraged all those
with an interest in this subject to watch the archived webcast.