District news - June 24, 2022

Kilchrenan

 

A councillor has pleaded for Argyll and Bute Council to do all it can to keep mothballed Kilchrenan Primary School open.

 

The small school was mothballed in February but at a meeting of a council area committee on Wednesday June 15 Councillor Julie McKenzie appealed to council officials to take a broad view of the situation.

 

She said: 'I was on the community services committee which mothballed Kilchrenan Primary School. Members at the time did not have any information. That came to us on the day when we asked questions as part of the decision-making process.

 

'What is clear to me is that the wider community was not consulted on that. That is somewhere we were remiss, and hopefully in the future we will learn from that, and consultation does not just touch on parents and families in the school.

 

'The wider community has a massive interest, and I am planning to do some ongoing work with the community of Kilchrenan, so it would be good to speak to education about that.'

 

Acting education manager Sandra Clarke said that parents would be given the opportunity to talk to the authority before any decision was taken.

 

Ms Clarke added: 'The options are to continue to mothball, reopen or close, and it is my job to give community services all of the information they need.

 

'I will get in touch with my colleague who is doing the paper, and ask them to get in touch with you.

 

'Officially, the authority does not have to consult on mothballing as it is a temporary measure, but it is good practice to do so.'

 

Helensburgh

 

Compulsory purchase orders might not be needed to build the Helensburgh to Dumbarton cycle path, a council official has said.

 

Colin Young, strategic transportation delivery officer with Argyll and Bute Council, had factored a compulsory purchase order (CPO) into a timetable for the project.

 

However, he assured a local councillor that this was only a contingency plan in order to set a timescale, and no decision has yet been made on whether to proceed on that basis.

 

At a meeting of the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on Tuesday June 14 Councillor Math Campbell-Sturgess expressed concern at how long the process could take.

 

He said: 'I know it is about two and a half years. Is there any scope to shorten that part, or just get the ball rolling, rather than waiting?

 

'If we have to wait, then it will take another two years to build the path, so is there any way to start the process pre-emptively? I think this is the biggest roadblock.'

 

Mr Young replied: 'There has not been a decision to go for that. There was a CPO process in 2015 relating to an old route, which has since been discarded and was never progressed.

 

'The CPO timescale is effectively a worst case scenario. If members were minded to apply for a CPO, and it was opposed by one or more landowners, it could take two and a half years to get through.

 

'If not, it could be nine months to a year; potentially quicker if owners went for a fully-negotiated settlement.

 

'But on the question about whether it could be expedited, not particularly. It is a legal process and it could only happen faster if people do not oppose it.

 

'You have to show that the public good outweighs the owners’ right to their land. We need to complete the design process and identify exactly what land is needed before any CPO process starts.'

 

Achnamara

 

Following a successful bid to Highlands and Islands Enterprise for £30,000, vital refurbishment has been carried out on Achnamara Village Hall and the facility is back up and running.

 

Achnamara Community Trust SCIO applied for a grant to insulate the village hall and heard in January 2022 that it had been awarded the maximum available.

 

At the hall's official reopening celebration on Saturday June 18 the hard work of local volunteers to care for the hall throughout decades was recognised.

 

Achnamara village hall chair Kerrien Grant said: 'The village hall celebrated its re-opening in style at the weekend, starting with a piper and ribbon cutting in the morning, and followed by a well-attended Pot Luck Supper in the evening.

 

'More than 30 people came to each event, with some of the oldest and youngest residents of the village taking part.

 

'People who had helped to lay the foundations of the building many years ago shared memories with those who had re-decorated the hall after the insulation works were completed a month ago.'

 

The refurbished hall will again host regular activities including table tennis, circuit training, ‘Stitch-up’ craft group, singing, ‘Pop-up Pub’, Second Sunday Supper and its regular Saturday coffee morning ‘Café Connect’.