News

Parents are being invited to have their say on their child’s school by taking part in Argyll and Bute Council’s Parental Involvement and Engagement Census. The census only takes around five minutes  to complete and will enable parents to help shape local planning and decision making, as well as shaping national education priorities. The census is available on the council website, whilst hard copies are available from your child’s school.

Two teams of pupils from Dunoon Grammar School are calling for help from members of the public after making it through to the Apps for Good UK final for the third year running. The youngsters beat of stiff competition from over 25,000 young people to be shortlisted for the people’s choice award after creating two unique mobile apps. However, in order to win, they need members of the public to vote for them.

For the first time, in 2018, an entire feature film was shot in Argyll and Bute, bringing in a crew of 200 for a total of six weeks. This was just one of 40 productions filmed in Argyll and Bute from January 2018 to January 2019, bringing in an estimated spend of £1,088,500 to the local economy. In total, over the year, there were 124 enquiries from companies looking for suitable locations in which to film or photograph.

Improvement in customer care by the council’s Roads and Amenity service has decreased the number of times residents have had to phone or contact the council via the website or social media. Members of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee heard on Thursday 6 June that a positive approach to getting things right, first time, over the past two years is steadily making improvements.

The official opening of Campbeltown’s new £26 million secondary school took place yesterday (Tuesday). Although pupils and staff moved into their new school last year, the old school building still had to be demolished to create a large car park, brand new 3G pitch and a sensory garden, complete with raised beds for pupils to cultivate. With all works now complete, invited guests went along to the new school for the official opening ceremony and to get a tour of the state of the art facility from pupils.

Today (Wednesday 5 June)  marked the official opening of Oban’s new £36 million high school. Although pupils and staff moved into their new school last year, the old school building still had to be demolished and ground works still had to be carried out to create an external social space, a new bus drop off area and additional car parking.

As the weather gets warmer, the council is backing the Dogs Die in Hot Cars campaign, stressing the dangers of leaving dogs alone cars. Stencilled messages will be sprayed in car parks reminding people not to gamble with their dog’s life. We will target our busiest car parks and those used by dog walkers. When it’s 22 Celsius outside, within an hour, the temperature can reach 47 Celsius inside a vehicle, which can result in death for a dog.

Communal bins at Uisken Beach, Mull, provided for the houses at the end of the road leading to the beach, will be removed in the near future. Home owners have already been provided with individual bins. This has been done because of persistent fly tipping, most recently of building materials. Not surprisingly this has brought complaints from residents and has meant the council has been forced to step up its refuse runs in the area. This in turn increases costs, not only in staff time, but also for landfill taxes.

Dalintober Primary School and Nursery in Campbeltown has received top marks from Education Scotland following a recent inspection of the school. In the report, inspectors praised the head teacher’s vision and strong leadership for inclusion that benefits children across the school and early learning class. Her values are embraced and demonstrated by staff and the whole school community.

Top civil servants from the Scottish and UK Governments visited Argyll and Bute this month to hear how a Rural Growth Deal could help the area thrive and achieve long-term economic success.