The Oban CHORD project board is making progress and early consultation is underway.

The project aims to alleviate traffic congestion in Oban’s town centre and reconfigure the Oban Bay and harbour area to better meet the needs of users. It will also refresh the Oban Action Plan and develop the town as the transport hub of the West Highlands.

Consultation has already started with key groups such as Business Districts Improvement Scotland (BIDS) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

There’ll also be members of the team on the streets of Oban so people can have an informal chat with them about the project – details of these events will be publicised in the media and on our website shortly.

Two new non – core members of the board Lorna Spencer from Caledonian Maritime Assets (CMAL) and John Forteith from Forteith Food Service were at the meeting and were updated on what has been happening. Also another non-core member, Ian Cleaver from Highland Heritage Coach Tours, was proposed and agreed.

The Oban CHORD project board were also updated on the Tax Incremental Finance Initiative (TIF). It’s a new government proposed funding model which looks for projects which clearly demonstrate that if a council borrows money to invest in infrastructure, they will be able to pay back their loans from rates of successful new businesses. Oban is being put forward for consideration.

Chair of the Oban, Lorn and the Isles area committee, Councillor Duncan MacIntyre said, “It was a very productive meeting and we welcome our new non-core members Lorna, John and Ian. It’s an exciting time for the project and I’m convinced there is a strong case for the government accepting the Oban TIF bid.”