MINUTE OF COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING 13th January 2014 – Service Point,

ICC Members Present: Glen Roberts - Chair GR Catherine Gilchrist - Secretary CG John McGillivray - Treasurer JM Geunda Young GY Ina Glover IG William McFarlane WM Liz Redman LR Alastair Redman AR

Argyll & Bute Council: David Ferrier – Roads Department DF

Police: Sergeant Cammy Rae CR PC Douglas McFadzean DM

Public: Mr John Trawber, Mrs Mairi Trawber, Dr Jean Knowles, Capt. Calum Anderson, Mr Richard Henderson, Mr Stan Richards, Ms Kirsten Laurie, Mrs Catriona Bell

Apologies: Islay McEachern, Roberta MacNeill and Cllr Anne Horn

Action 1. Welcome – Glen Roberts opened the meeting and noted apologies from Islay McEacharn, Roberta MacNeill and Cllr Anne Horn. He also welcomed members of the general public who numbered 8.

2. Minutes of the ICC Inaugural meeting and subsequent meeting of 2nd December 2013 - The minutes of these meetings were agreed as a true record and their adoption was proposed by GY and seconded by CG.

3. Matters Arising

i ICC Webmail – the password had been changed and all ICC members notified

ii Renewables Sub-group – AR reported that no one had yet come forward to volunteer to serve on this group

iii Port Wemyss Notice Board – Mrs Trawber complained that this notice board had been installed without planning consent or prior consultation with the community. She believed there to be a Health & Safety issue as lines of sight were being compromised. Captain Anderson noted that the board was currently sited on land owned by the Dawson estate and leased to the community with a period of 15- years still to run. DF believed that the board was currently sited inappropriately, but that it could be moved through 90 degrees which would solve the safety problem. Another suggestion was to move the

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board to the other end of the bus shelter, but it was pointed out that with the prevailing winds, it would quickly be damaged. DF pointed out that there is not a budget in place to cover maintenance of this board. & Bute Council had suggested that Islay Community Council adopt it, but GR and JM reminded the attendees that ICC does not have the finances to take this on. It was agreed that LR would ask the owner of the wall which would be involved if the board was turned through 90 degrees, for permission for its re-siting. GR offered to meet with the owner to discuss the issue. Mrs Trawber agreed that this last suggestion met with her approval.

4. Treasurer’s Report – JM reported a balance of £946 in the ICC bank account.

5. Islay NHS Review – Catriona Bell, Member of Communications and Engagements Committee

Mrs Bell had asked to address this meeting of ICC to update members on the status of the Islay Healthcare Review and also to seek help with ideas to encourage the Islay community to engage more in the process and to make their views known on areas such as Out of Hours/NHS24, the proposed merger of Health and Social care and the recruitment of GPs (to enable the full, agreed complement of 6 to be achieved – although funding has not yet been finalised).

The merging of Health and Social care will result in NHS Highland appointing a joint manager for Islay and Jura, and this person will be based on Islay. As previously publicised in the Ileach, the three existing GP practices may ‘merge’ whilst keeping their surgeries as is.

Mrs Bell noted that at a recent, well advertised meeting held to discuss NHS24, only 2 members of the public, in addition to the organisation’s members attended, served to underline the difficulty of arousing interest.

Mrs Trawber suggested an approach which would be more sociable and as an idea thought that afternoon teas could be put on in the different areas. Mrs Trawber offered her help with this in . KL of South Islay Development, noted that at , the fortnightly afternoon teas are about to restart and she invited CB to attend.

CG put forward the idea of placing leaflets in key public buildings, such as surgeries, post offices etc.

Dr Knowles advised the meeting that as the owner of the Port Ellen surgery, she has an ad hoc arrangement with NHS Highland for its current operation. However, she has notified NHS Highland that this will cease on 31st March 2014, but as yet, NHS Highland have failed to arrive at a conclusion as to the next step.

6. Police – Sergeant Rae reported that during the month of December 2013, approximately 50 incidents had been attended. There had been road traffic accident matters, two of which had led to charges being made. Also there were two calls relating to late night annoyance. There had also been

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instances of telephone fraud. Of four crimes reported, three had been detected and one remained outstanding. Under the umbrella of the National Road Safety Campaign, 3 fixed penalties and 1 speeding ticket had been issued. The police station will now be unmanned, but the public should telephone 101 for non-emergency help.

7. Planning –

i Community Planning Forum – Single Outcome - LR announced the

public meeting which is to take place at ICCI on 29th January 2014, 7 –

9pm at which the young of the island, education and the economy

will be on the agenda, in relation to the decrease in the population of

Islay

ii Scottish Power Renewables – The planning consent for the sub- station at Dunlossit has been withdrawn due to emergent legislative issues. This decision was taken following a review with the appropriate authorities. Subsequently, a further addendum to the Offshore Section 36 application to progress onshore planning was submitted

8. Roads a. Capital Works – £650k will be spent on Islay’s main roads, with the final third from the road end to being completed. Various areas of surface dressing are to be carried out and larger patching works on the Low road into Port Ellen

b. Repairs - In recent weeks, there have been pothole repairs carried out, although DF noted that he was dissatisfied with the performance of the cold tar material being used. A representative from the manufacturer has visited Islay and is now investigating a solution to this problem. Footpaths and thoroughfares are also being repaired and these are being prioritised by usage. DF assured CG that the work to be done on Jamieson Street pavement will be safe, aesthetically pleasing and of one material. Various members of ICC and public commented on the deterioration of several roads

c. Portnahaven – DF reported that King Street has been measured and priced up with a view to being adopted by A&BC, but pointed out that if this plan should come to fruition, it will have to be paid for by the Capital Works budget which would mean that other roads on the island would not be dealt with. It was pointed out that Scottish GR Water should be approached regarding broken mains pipes which currently allow water to flood onto the roads. GR to contact

9. ICC Ferry Users Sub-Group – GR advised the attendees that at the recent meeting with Calmac and Transport at which he was present, it was decided that a ferry users sub-group should represent the entire island and stakeholders. The existing ferry users sub-group have a meeting scheduled for 15th January 2014 at ICCI at which the foregoing will be discussed. The next meeting with Calmac will be on 20th January. GR requested that the community send emails to ICC with their concerns about the ferry service and he will ensure that these are brought to Calmac’s and Transport Scotland’s

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attention.

10. AOB

i Dental Service – An email had been passed to ICC containing complaints about this. GR circulated the message to the Healthcare Sub-group and now awaits a response. When this is received, he will respond to the complainant

ii Scottish Rural Parliament – GR has registered ICC’s interest in the forthcoming meeting during November 2014

iii Islay Energy Community Wind Turbine – Share Launch – AR reported a good response from the residents of Portnahaven in connection with the share launch of this project which will take place on 14th January 2014

iv Land Reform – Mrs Bell urged ICC to become more involved in the Land Reform issue. Mr Stan Richards noted that a few parcels of land had already been earmarked for social housing development (e.g. Port Charlotte), but these had never progressed, thus leaving Islay with a continuing housing shortage

The chair thanked the attendees and confirmed that the next meeting will be held on Monday 10th February 2014 at 7pm – Service Point Bowmore

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