Argyll and Bute Council is encouraging people to come along to workshops and give their views on the proposed Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust.

The council is working in partnership with the Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network through the Argyll Bute Local Services Initiative, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission Scotland to develop the proposed trust.  The remit of the trust would include outdoor access, marine and coastal, built environment and biodiversity projects.

Following a competitive tendering exercise STAR (Small Town and Rural Development Group) consultants were appointed to look at how a trust could operate in Argyll and Bute. Workshops will be held across the area during April and May to determine public support.

The workshops will take place in:

Head of Planning and Regulatory Services Angus Gilmour said, “I am delighted the council is working together with our partners on this study.  There will be a strong emphasis on involving our communities and third sector partners.  We will also make sure that we take economic development, including our important tourism sector, into account.

Colin Roxburgh of STAR said “We are delighted to be contracted to develop a feasibility study for the proposed Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust.   We recognise that it comes at a time of budget cuts, but that it is also an opportunity to put in place a partnership organisation that can make a positive contribution to the important work of protecting, enhancing and developing Argyll's coast and countryside and its rich natural and built heritage.

“The feasibility study will engage with key stakeholders including those involved in land management, access, recreation, natural heritage, biodiversity, and cultural heritage to ask for their views on the establishment of the Trust and how it might support and compliment their own work as well as take on projects of its own.”

A key aim of the trust is to look at ways of involving the voluntary sector better. One of the specific goals of the trust is to ensure it does not duplicate, or be in conflict with, other community trusts operating in Argyll and Bute.  The proposed Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust will operate separately to the council but will be supported by officers from both the council and its partners.

You will find more information of the workshops and how to get involved in them along with an online survey on the council website at www.argyll-bute.gov.uk.