Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 6 June 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership - Management Committee — 6 June 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Minutes of the Argyll and Bute Community Planning Partnership Management Committee held at Three Villages Hall, Arrochar on Friday 5 June 2025 at 1000 Present: Pippa Milne, Argyll and Bute Council (ABC) (Chair) Morag Goodfellow, Highland and Island Enterprise (HIE) Fergus Murray, ABC Takki Sulaiman, Argyll and Bute TSI Rona Gold, ABC Colin Buchanan, Chair OLI ACPG Gary I’Anson, Police Scotland Liz Pryor, NatureScot Barrie McCutcheon, Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFRS) Reeni Kennedy-Boyle, Vice Chair BC ACPG Andy Macpherson, ACT Graham Bell, NHS Highland Samantha Campbell, NHS Highland Alex Edmonstone, LiveArgyll Douglas Whyte, Argyll and Bute Council Gill Simpson, Vice Chair HL ACPG Ranald Robertson, HITRANS Cllr Anne Horn, ABC Donna Lockhart, CALMAC Colin Young, ABC Victoria Shaw, CALMAC John McLuckie, ABC Fraser McNab, CALMAC Suzanne Mason, ABC Tony McGloin, SFRS Jonathon Welch, ABC Ian Woodcock, Transport Scotland Daniel Farmer, ABC Andrew Boyd, Transport Scotland Iona Campbell, ABC Liz Jack, Transport Scotland Aileen Cameron, ABC Pauline Craig, DWP Rhona Grant, LiveArgyll Susan McRae, SDS Katie MacKenzie, ABC Nicola Reaney, ABC (Secretary) Apologies: Cllr Jim Lynch, ABC Cllr Mark Irvine, ABC Kirsty Flanagan, ABC Mary Holt, ABC Paul McCafferty, Scottish Enterprise Patricia Dowd, DWP Evan Beswick, Argyll and Bute HSCP Alison McGrory, NHS Scotland David Gibson, ABC Joe McKay, SFRS Cllr Julie McKenzie, Vice Chair OLI ACPG Mo McKenna, University of the Highlands and Islands Iain MacInnes, ABC Jean Moffat, Chair BC ACPG Graham Bell, NHS Highland Board 1. Welcome Pippa welcomed everyone to the meeting, giving an overview of the transport focus of the meeting and asking for full contributions from partners in the breakout sessions. Pippa also noted it was lovely to see everyone face to face. 2. Approval of last minutes The minutes of the April meeting were approved with the amendment to remove Gill Simpson and Morag Goodfellow from the attendee list and add Sarah Davies.
Page 2
3. Area Community Planning Group (ACPG) Report The area community planning report was sent to attendees prior to the meeting. Pippa thanked Sarah Davies, who has stepped down as Chair of the Helensburgh and Lomond ACPG, for all her work in that group and her dedication to the role as chair. Pippa said Sarah would be missed and a new chair for the group will be confirmed at the August meetings. 4. Climate Change Project Manager Report Pippa directed attendees to the Climate Change Project Manager paper in the meeting pack, highlighting the two recommendations that: - The Management Committee is asked to approve the Steering Group’s recommendation to use the remaining project funds for Argyll Countryside Trust to keep the project manager in post for 3 days per week from the end of October 2025 to mid-July 2026. - The Management Committee is asked to note the proposal outline and Committee members are asked to provide the Project Manager with any suggestions for priority actions, not tied to any single organisation, that they would like to see included. The recommendation for the use of reamining funds and extension of time using extisting funding was approved. Andy said that while he is still shaping up the action plan it is difficult to confirm the priority actions at this time. The direction of the CPP will determine the available funding streams. Andy proposed a 5 year duration to embed change in partner organisations to a working level. Andy felt today’s session was a great opportunity to see how the climate actions around transport shape up. Pippa noted the Climate Change Steering Group can consider the outputs from today, define what the climate priorities are for the CPP MC and bring them back to a subsequent meeting. This was agreed. ACTION - CCSG to identify the climate priorities for the CPP and bring them back to a subsequent meeting 5. Community Wealth Building (CWB) Charter Pippa noted the CWB Charter brings back the focus on CWB and the new Bill proposes the delivery of CWB as being a Council responsibility, rather than a CPP one. Takki added that a key ask of the Charter is for a CWB governance process. He said the CWB Steering Group work is moving forward with work that can be done now, rather than waiting for the Bill to be finalised. He recommended procurement is the main pillar to work on but this needs CPP support. Pippa suggested the CPP take the paper for consideration in individual organisations and bring back to a future session on CWB. This was agreed.
Page 3
ACTION – CPP partners to consider the CWB Charter within their own organisations. 6. Icebreaker An icebreaker exercise was conducted for attendees, with transport themed questions, and attendees finding a new partner to discuss each question. 7. Priority – Transport infrastructure Rona introduced herself and gave an outline of the background information on the process behind the setting of the transport priority in the Argyll and Bute Outcomes Improvement Plan (ABOIP) 2024 - 2034. She noted transport is a significant feature in terms of connectivity in Argyll and Bute, with lots of partners involved in their own organisations. She noted the ABOIP can be sent out to any partners if required from cppadmin@argyll.bute.gov.uk The ABOIP sets out long term objectives that can be achieved over the 10-year period. The actions will look at what the CPP can deliver collectively and within individual partner organisations. The 5 actions for the Transport Infrastructure priority will be looked at in detail today to define what the actions mean, so we can all head towards the same outcomes. Rona also noted the importance of working with the ACPGs for feedback and input into the actions. The Helensburgh and Lomond ACPG has decided to start a working group on transport to link into CPP actions, and feedback from today will be taken to each ACPG to shape actions locally and engage with Community Councils. The CPP has an improvement plan with an action to have better engagement with Community Councils. 8. Transport improvements in the pipeline a) Fergus Murray gave an introduction to his role in Strategic Transport in the Council – noting that due to the size of the Council area, transport connectivity is a top priority. He advised the Council is a key transport provider and enabler in Argyll and Bute – subsidising 90% of bus services, school transport, 4 ferry routes, 3 airports, drones and harbours, as well as maintaining and gritting over 2500km of roads and 500km of pavements - on the mainland and islands. The area has limited public transport options and an over-reliance on cars. Climate change is also impacting transport in the area. The Council remains ambitious, in the face of restricted capital and revenue funding, to growing tourism in the area - with timber, whisky, defence and marine research being other industries benefiting from investments in pier and port infrastructure. A new ferry has been commissioned for Lismore, dial a bus has been trialled in Kintyre, active travel routes are being built and they are trialling tech like drones and EV charging point delivery with the help of partners. The Council is trying to do as much as possible with the available resources, £10m will be invested in the road network in 25/26 and the Council are developing growth plans including exploring green tech like hydrogen and a
Page 4
launch local transport issues paper will be completed to identify local transport projects across the area. This will feed into the future transport strategy and the Council will work with regional partners about what the priorities are. b) Victoria Shaw, Area Manager Clyde North for CALMAC gave a presentation on resilience work, vessel updates and port enabling works for new ferries. Victoria advised the MV Isle of Islay is expected in Q3 25/26 after the delivery of the vessel from Turkey and crew testing / familiarisation is completed. The next vessel is expected 6 months later. In regards to operational readiness, CALMAC have been working with communities on timetables and completing retail preparation / marketing etc, prior to the ferry entering service. Port enabling works will be undertaken at Kennacraig, Colonsay, Port Askaig and Port Ellen to prepare the ports. c) Ian Woodcock, Area Manager, Transport Scotland (TS) gave a presentation. The trunk road network in Scotland covers over 2200 miles, split into 4 areas and are operated by BEAR Scotland and AMEY. Approx 250 miles of that total is in Argyll and Bute, looked after by BEAR Scotland. Improvement schemes over next few years include road surfacing, maintaining the network, A83 widening (including rockface removal), addressing road erosion at Furnace and remedial works on landslide areas (landscaping, drainage). Major projects include the A82 Tarbert to Inverarnan – a major trunk road for tourists which is too narrow and has drainage issues – where 17km of new road is to be built. They are also looking at long term solutions for the Rest and be Thankful. 9. Breakout Sessions to discuss and agree actions Before the attendees split into breakout groups, Rona asked partners to bring their knowledge and resources to shape the actions. The breakout groups rotated around 5 actions: - Establish a transport integration working group - Consider establishment of community Active Travel network - Research to understand areas of greatest transport-related inequalities, creating baseline for measuring successful delivery of the long-term objectives - Work with Area Community Planning Groups to promote local options for car-pooling/ sharing - Incorporate EV suggestions within CPP Climate Change Strategy At the end of the breakout sessions Pippa thanked the CPP team for putting together really structured discussion topics. Comments and feedback from each session will be compiled by the CPP team into actions to drive outcomes. 10. Intro to next priority session: Housing
Page 5
Douglas Whyte thanked the CPP team for a great day, noting he had been working in housing for a long time and it was great to have this level of support for housing, to have a real impact and make links with other partners. He said the Council no longer held Council stock but links to partners are essential in terms of delivery. The Council declared a housing emergency 2023 to address issues in the area including provision of more affordable homes, provision of more homes for local workforce and to make use of existing empty homes/second homes/holiday homes. He said there had been some successes in that and the Council had won an award, in partnership with the HSCP, for tackling housing issues. Iona Campbell, Private Sector Settlement Officer in the Council, then gave a presentation on her project which is funded by the Scottish Government to address depopulation in Argyll and Bute. Iona’s project aims to provide support to landlords and look at challenges faced by rural landlords. There has been a decline in private sector housing delivery in the area with this expected to reduce by a further 33%. Iona’s role is to try to prevent that reduction and find different ways to deliver alternative housing options. She looked at how the ABOIP actions on housing can link with her project, such as “work in effective partnership to access to affordable homes”, noting there may be an ask for CPP partners to get involved in this work. Other areas of the project that CPP partners can be involved in are tracking housing options for the workforce (including housing for younger working age people), reviewing property assets to deliver housing and working to prevent homelessness. Iona also encouraged partners to promote the HomeArgyll site. If anyone is moving, or thinking of moving to Argyll and Bute, they can sign up and this will help to measure housing need and demand in the area. Iona also asked partners to engage in the upcoming Housing survey which she will provide details for nearer the time. ACTION – CPP team to send contact details for Iona to partners - iona.campbell2@argyll-bute.gov.uk ACTION – CPP team to send link to presentations to all partners. Pippa thanked Iona for her presentation and looked forward to partner contribution at the next CPP event which will focus on housing. 11. Fire Service Presentation on Service Delivery Review (SDR) for Argyll & Bute Group Commander Barrie McCutcheon gave a presentation on the SDR which is looking at how the fire service can best resource staff and locate stations to best match demand across Scotland. The strategic priorities of the SDR include: - withdrawal of appliances - review of the estate (£800m capital backlog of repairs to stations, some of which have RAAC and Grenfell-type panelling in place) and station upgrades - removal of carcinogenic contaminants from firefighters kit - matching operation response to risk and demand
Page 6
- long term reduction in dormant stations In April 2024, SFRS consulted with the public and partners to see what proposals they would want to be involved with. Over 300 proposals have been filtered down to 23, which have just been approved by the SFRS board and will be open to further public consultation at the end of June. ACTION – SFRS to send the consultation link to cppadmin@argyll-bute.gov.uk to forward to partners to complete. In Argyll and Bute, SFRS are looking to close the long term dormant station at Colintraive and make changes to the crewing of Helensburgh Fire Station. Pop up engagement sessions will follow and Barrie is keen for partners to feedback their thoughts and community feedback on risks in any area of these proposed changes. Rona asked if SFRS could attend the August round of AGPCs to talk on this. Tony advised a paper has already been prepared for that to be a future ACPG agenda item. Fergus noted community concerns around fire risk from battery storage plants in the area. Barrie advised that SFRS are aware what is happening across Scotland on this and confirmed crews are carrying the required equipment to respond with that type of fire. 12. Close and DONM Pippa thanked everyone for attending and hoped attendees had enjoyed the day. She said there had been some positive conversations and asked partners to start thinking about the next discussion session on Housing. Pippa also thanked the CPP team for their assistance in setting up and running the day. She said the previous outcome improvement plan was a lengthy document, however the current plan is really focussed from the great community feedback received and the actions from these sessions have the potential to drive real and meaningful change.