Argyll and Bute Council are running a consultation about local bus services, to establish priorities for current and future bus service provision.
Do visit the online consultation to have your say, it closes at 5pm on 30th April.
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Category: News
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Community Council meeting on 14th April
Everyone is welcome to attend the Community Council’s next meeting on Monday 14th April, 7.30pm at Glendaruel Village Hall.
The meeting will follow our standing agenda, with topical issues including Cowal Community Energy, Local Place Plan, Cruach Mhor Windfarm Trust and Harbour Order Consultation.
Do come along to hear more and share your view.
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Cruach Mhor Windfarm Trustee Election
Interested in supporting local people and community projects? You could be a candidate for election as a Trustee of the Cruach Mhor Windfarm Trust, the grant-giving body for the Cruach Mhor Windfarm, sited above Glendaruel.
The Windfarm Trust is seeking to elect three Trustees for a 4-year term. If there are more than three candidates a community ballot will be held. The closing date for nominations is 4pm on Wednesday 23rd April 2025.
Visit cmwft.scot or email info@cmwft.scot for forms and information.
*Candidates must live in the ColGlen Community Council area, be 16 years or older on the closing date, and must not be an employee of either Argyll and Bute Council or ScottishPower Renewables.
We are pleased to announce the launch of the Windfarm Trust’s new website at cmwft.scot.
It includes information about the Cruach Mhor Windfarm and Trust, the Deed of Trust document, Minutes of Trust meetings and details of Trustees. The website has an application form available to download for those wishing to make a grant application.
Any news items will be posted on the website also.
Please direct any enquiries to us by email at info@cmwft.scot.
On Friday morning, March 14th at 10am residents in Colglen are invited to take part in the Place Plan Proposal Creation discussion at the Colintraive Village Hall. This is the critical stage for the whole Local Place Plan process, so do come along to make your voice heard!
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Community Council Recruiting for a Secretary
Freelance Contract for the position of
Secretary of the Community Council
£20 per hour / 50-70 hours per annum estimated.
The Community Council is seeking a secretary to work freelance on a flexible contract with between 50 and 70 hours per annum. With attention to detail, an understanding of local government and voluntary sector and a passion for our community the successful candidate will help the CC in its efforts to improve the life-chances
of all its residents.
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CGCC Meeting with Bute CC in March
As noted in our minutes in November, and elsewhere, our next meeting will be on March 10th at 7 pm with the express purpose of hosting Bute Community Council at the Colintraive Village Hall in a joint discussion on common issues, such as Calmac, a Fixed Link and other matters.
- Standing Agenda to be used.
- Draft minutes of previous meeting
The Community Council has been contacted about several surveys which we list here:
BUDGET SURVEY
The first is a survey on budgets and services from the Council. This is extremely important as they are looking for millions in savings. Help our community by insisting our lifelines are not cut, and that the council find different ways to balance their budgets. You have until 14th February:
https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/form/budget-survey
“With a budget gap of £27 million over the next five years, we do not have enough funding to meet demands. We’re asking you what services should council budgets prioritise?
“Over the past 10 years, we have delivered more than £50 million in savings to continue providing services to our communities. We continue to look for more savings but the size of the budget gap means we face having to deliver further savings in the years ahead.”
R100 SURVEY
In the three years to 2019 the c ommunity, through “Kyles Community Broadband” attempted to procure fibre optic broadband for the community. With a budget of £1.5M promised KCB got as far as the competitive tender, but were stymied by a combination of budget and capacity of the organisations tendering. At that point the Scottish Government promised to make our area a priority after the ten areas already allocated official priority status. Over the intervening years, despite a six-monthly reminder from the CC, nothing has happened, or has been intimated to happen. Therefore this survey is very important and we encourage everyone to answer it. Here’s what the SG say about it:
“The Scottish Government is investing in broadband infrastructure in Your area through its Reaching 100% (R100) programme and we’re keen to get your support to help gather feedback.
“The £600+ million programme is extending access to faster broadband to sub-30 Megabits per second homes and businesses who are unlikely to receive upgrades through commercial plans. You can find out more about R100 at: gov.scot/digitalconnectivity.
“To understand whether and how households and organisations have benefited from R100, the Scottish Government is undertaking an evaluation of the programme. As part of this, we are surveying households and organisations who:
- Are scheduled to receive broadband access via R100 but have not yet been connected
- Have been provided with broadband access via R100 and have taken up the connection
- Have been provided with broadband access via R100 but have not taken up the connection
“The surveys are available online and can be accessed at https://tinyurl.com/R100Evaluation“
VISITOR LEVY CONSULTATION
“People in council areas across Scotland are considering a visitor levy for their area and we would like you to have the same chance to consider one for Argyll and Bute.
“Why? Because at a time when funding for public services is shrinking, a visitor levy is an option for raising investment to sustain local services used by visitors, as well as residents, and to keep the area as a top visitor attraction.
“Support for individual tourism businesses, or for extending the tourism season are examples of how levy income could be used. Services used by the visitor economy, and so could benefit from levy funding, include for example, waste, roads, transport and leisure services.
“We are running a 12-week consultation and invite you to take the time to find out more about what a levy could mean for Argyll and Bute, and then give your view.”
You can find more information on the council website, plus:
- Weekly updates through news round up email subscription, which is a briefing on general council and other news
- The Visitor Levy email update service
- Regularly as required on our website and social media channels
Our next meeting on Monday 10th February will discuss various matters, but particularly resilience in ColGlen to major weather events after the major electricity / water outtage caused by Storm Éowyn. Please come to the meeting and share your experiences.
from the council ….
At a time when funding for public services is shrinking, a visitor levy is an option for raising investment to sustain local services used by visitors, as well as residents, and to keep the area as a top visitor attraction.
Support for individual tourism businesses, or for extending the tourism season are examples of how levy income could be used. Services used by the visitor economy, and so could benefit from levy funding, include for example, waste, roads, transport and leisure services.
We are running a 12-week consultation and invite you to take the time to find out more about what a levy could mean for Argyll and Bute, and then give your view.
What services would people want income from a levy to be spent on, if one was introduced? What support would tourism businesses like with managing a levy? For anyone against a visitor levy, how else would they see the visitor economy being funded in future?
These are some of the questions we are inviting views on.
You can find more information on our website, and over the next 12 weeks we will be providing updates:
- Weekly through our news round up email subscription, which is a briefing on general council and other news
- Our new Visitor Levy email update service
- Regularly as required on our website and social media channels
We are also organising a series of information events over the next 12 weeks. We will announce further information about these soon.
Please do take time over the next 12 weeks to find out more and get involved with assessing a visitor levy for Argyll and Bute.