Live News Feed from www.forargyll.com

CalMac get their ferries back in place -
Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne reports that the MV Caledonian Isles will return to the Arran service today (Wednesday 22nd February); and the MV Isle of Mull will return to operating the Oban-Craignure service at the weekend. MV Caledonian Isles was taken out of service while repairs were carried out to damage sustained when she was [...]

Freeman nails the fiction on council administration roads funding -
With the hillside above the A83 on the move again, closing the artery to the county, roads are the issue of the day. Argyll and Bute Council is an administration that has neglected to maintain Argyll’s roads for so long that they are amongst the worst in the country,  In the light of that straightforward [...]

A83 closed with another landslide at Rest and Be Thankful -
(Updated below 19.00) The A83 has been closed in both directions at Rest And Be Thankful because of another landslide. The road is closed between the A815 junction and the B828 junction.. The usual marathon diversion is in place – via A83 to Tarbet, A82 Crianlarich, A85 to Dalmally, to return to A82 via A819 [...]

Council CEO statement on Spygate investigation -
Argyll and Bute CEO, Sally Loudon has issued the following statement on the council’s investigation into what the suspended Communications Manager herself chose to describe as ‘Spy Accounts’. We note that this is now being spun as ‘social media issues’. INVESTIGATION INTO THE RECENTLY REPORTED SOCIAL MEDIA ISSUES Statement by the Chief Executive You will [...]

81%-full Hillhead school closed on an educational benefit statement copied from Arbroath? Who needs a law? -
(Updated) The decision from the Education Secretary to close Hillhead Primary school in Wick, demonstrates – yet again – that what is wrong in the system supposedly governed by the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 is not the law but its non observance. Highland Council had proposed, consulted upon and decided to close four primary [...]

RIP Helensburgh town centre: Waitrose out of town location approved -
A day-long marathon public planning hearing at the Victoria Halls in Helensburgh has ended in the approval of a highly contentious application against the insistent and repeated recommendations of professional planning officers for its rejection. The joint application – from Waitrose and Drum Development (Helensburgh) Ltd – is for a retail development out of town [...]

New HIE Chair appointed -
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has now got a new Chair. Professor Lorne Crerar was today appointed to the post by Scottish Ministers. Lorne is a founding partner and Chairman of Scottish commercial law firm, Harper Macleod LLP, which has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness. He has held the part-time Chair of Banking Law [...]

McGrigor hosts parliamentary briefing from SPAA and flybe -
Jamie McGrigor MSP today (21st February) hosted a briefing in the Scottish Parliament organised by the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) and airline flybe to discuss their concerns about the rising level of Air Passenger Duty (APD). The briefing proved to be of widespread interest at Holyrood, attracting MSPs and staff from across the political [...]

Business interest in Kintyre on government Ferries Review new route proposal -
22 businessfolk operating in Kintyre have met with Highlands and Islands MSP, Mike MacKenzie, in Campbeltown to discuss the Scottish Government’s Draft Ferries Review, now in consultation.. The meeting was chaired and organised by Campbeltown Councillor, John Semple, The Ferries Review has only one proposal for a new route in the whole of Scotland and [...]

Suzanne Pilley murder trial under way in Edinburgh -
The trial of  49 year old David Gilroy began at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday. Gilroy is charged with murdering Suzanne Pilley on 4th May 2010 and of trying to conceal the murder. The premises of the firm they both worked for – Infrastructure Management – are alleged by the prosecution to be the [...]

Initiative of the year? Stramash launches outdoor nursery -
Oban’s Stramash outdoor adventure social enterprise company, has launched the best social initiative we’ve seen for a while – an outdoor nursery. They say:  ‘We believe in using the outdoors to enable the holistic development of children, encouraging them to learn about themselves, others and the environment around them.’ Getting young children used to an [...]

Russell nails the ‘bloody disgrace’ of Craignure ferry gangway -
Argyll and Bute’s MSP claims that the gangway to the Isle of Mull is not only failing residents but the visiting public to the west coast. Michael Russell is insisting that a new system is purchased immediately to end the misery of ferry travel to the island. Iromically, the MSP was on the way to [...]

Waitrose has £325k on table for Tuesday planning hearing – and opposition rolls in -
We understand that discussion between Waitrose and council officers on what is called ‘mitigation’ - or planning gain – had not concluded by the time the report for the planing hearing on Tuesday 21st February had to be written. This means that the figure on the table going in to the hearing is not £190k [...]

Loch Fyne Oysters sold to Scottish Seafood Investments -
In what is said to be a seven figure deal of several million pounds, the employee-owned Loch Fyne Oysters has been sold to Scottish Seafood Investments. Both the management of the business and all 105 employees will remain in place, under a Scottish Salmon Company director in place as Chair of the Board. The investment [...]

OLTA AGM on 22nd February -
Oban and Lorn Tourism Association (OLTA)  is holding its AGM on Wednesday evening – 22nd February, at 7.00pm in Oban Fire Station. The meeting is planned to end around 10.0pm. OLTA is an engaged tourism and marketing  group with a good track record on initiatives. Potential new members should contact Linda Battison by email: info@cologin.co.uk

ARSN submission to Rural Education Commission -
The Argyll Rural Schools Network (ARSN) has made its submission to the Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education, with the Commission due to hold a public meeting in Lochgilphead on 6th March – time and venue to be announced. The Executive of Argyll and Bute Council had lodged a submission with the Commission on [...]

Campbell Cameron: The Living Years -
It is good not to be struck with the old withdrawal symptoms after Celtic Connections, that being so as a result of  another jaunt to the city  – the order of St Valentine’s Day. Truth be told the tickets were ordered back in October, long before the thought of winter music festival self denial had [...]

New Cowal Events Diary -
As a follow up to the Stronger Cowal meeting two weeks ago, a meeting was held last week to discuss the planned Cowal Events Diary. This meeting was well attended and after some lively discussion it was decided that Michaela Goan of Argyll Voluntary Action and Jean Maskell would work with Cowal Marketing Group to [...]

£6million for next generation community buy outs – ‘Britain’s new radicals’ -
Environment and Climate Change Minister, Stewart Stevenson is making an announcement at midday today – that £6 million is being made available for community land buy outs. The announcement was made at the 5th anniversary celebrations of the last major buyout at Galson, on the island of Lewis. David Cameron (no, not that one), Chair [...]

Ellis Cameron: Clever thinking -
Now’s the time of year where it’s time to get a little frugal with your cash.  So here are my thoughts on keeping the pennies in the purse. Things To Remember When You’re Waiting to Become A Millionaire Books & Films The library is your new best friend. It has lots of free dvds and [...]

Cameron on the back foot on independence referendum choices -
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, was said today (19th February) now to realise that he cannot busk the Scottish independence referendum with vague promises of more powers to a devolved Scotland-  if it first chooses to stay in the UK. The failure to understand that the status quo will not do, even as an interim [...]

Herald reveals Faslane and Coulport failed 11 out of 13 nuclear safety tests -
The Herald’s star Environment Editor, Rob Edwards, holds the Ministry of Defence (MoD) regularly to account for issues across the spectrum of  safety standards at its nuclear bases of Faslane and Coulport in Argyll. Edwards today published, in The Herald on Sunday (19th February), the shock revelation obtained under Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation, that [...]

First Minister pays graceful tribute to retiring COSLA ptresident -
First Minister, Alex Salmond, closed the 2012 COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) Conference at St Andrews with a tribute to its retiring president, Pat Watters. The First Minister honoured Mr Watters’ 11 years as head of Scotland’s local authority body, describing local government as ‘essential to the quality of life in all our communities’ [...]

Opposition evaluations of three year council budget -
With the May local authority elections on the near horizon, this was always going to be a goodie-bag budget as the troubled administration of Argyll and Bute Council uses the tools it controls in the cause of retention of political power. However, goodie-bag budgets – this one covers a prospective period of three years, do [...]

Pine Falls Manitoba and Argyll’s Walking Theatre Clompany: ‘The day we danced with Canada’ -
Nancy Kovachik, a teacher from Pine Falls-Powerview in Manitoba – she lives in the first half of this amalgam town and teaches in the second – met Sadie Dixon-Spain of Argyll’s Walking Theatre Company in the most improbable circumstances. Pouring rair, the conjuring of a well known folklorist in the wild outdoors on the Isle [...]

Query on legal status of Waitrose co-applicant for out of town Helensburgh store -
(Updated below 19.15) Wandering Wild Ltd is a co-applicant with Waitrose for permission for a retail and filling station development at Colgrain, on Cardross Road in Helensburgh. The name attracts attention but after searches at Companies House and a lot of fruitless googling, we drew a blank. Continued searching and a comment prompt from a [...]

Argyll writer John M Wylie to feature in Lomond Writers’ Gathering anthology -
John M.Wyllie, a writer from Tarbert in Argyll’s Kintyre, is to have his poem Heroes in an Autumn Storm included in a prestigious  anthology published in association with the inaugural Lomond Writers’ Gathering This is taking place from 26th to 29th March 2012, in The Kilted Skirlie at Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch John Wyllie [...]

Birds stolen early this morning from Loch Lomond Birds of Prey Centre -
At 4.30am this morning – 17th February – Loch Lomond Birds of Prey Centre suffered the dreadful experience of having some of their birds stolen. They lost two male Harris’ Hawks – Rolf & Coco; and they lost one male Red-tailed Hawk, Storm. All three birds are ringed. The most likely scenario is that the [...]

Help the Scottish Wildcat survey -
The Scottish Wildcat Association is currently collecting information on the Scottish Wildcat populations within the highlands, including Argyll. The increasingly rare species – Britain’s most endangered mammal -  is under threat from habitat loss and from the dilution of its gene pool through assumed interbreeding with domestic cats. Shy, wishing above all to avoid physical [...]

Spygate: Who was ‘John McKinnon’? Was Russell a victim of dirty tricks by a council false persona? -
(Updated below) Just over a year ago, in very early January 2011, the incendiary schools closure issue in Argyll and Bute was coming to superheat. At a critical point in the sequence of events at that time, a confidential email was leaked in circumstances which were always suspect. Now, however, in the light of admitted [...]

Thrilling proposal for Helensburgh Housing Expo on former academy site -
The architectural practice. Gareth Hoskins Architects, has led a collective now proposing one of the most exciting initiatives in housing development, planning and placemaking we have seen. It is to use the site of the former Hermitage academy to host a Helensburgh Housing Expo – and to use it to sell the site. The first [...]

Spygate: Russell demands confirmation that investigation will be independent -
As we reported in our piece last night on Jo Smith’s involvement in the forced departure from Oban FM of council critic and presenter George Berry from Oban FM last year, Council Leader, Dick Walsh had issued an ambiguous statement in his denial of any complicity on the part of the council in what Ms [...]

10 BBC ALBA programmes shortlisted at Celtic Media Festival 2012 awards -
The 33rd Celtic Media Festival taking place from 18th-20th April, revisits the Irish city of Derry for 2012, seeing the Celtic broadcasting and media world come together to celebrate the languages and cultures of the Celtic countries on screen and in broadcasting. Some 400 nominations were received for the awards across 19 categories with ten [...]

Meet Scotland’s little post-devolution sleeper -
In a hilarious mistake of considerable potential advantage to Scotland, it has emerged that in the 1999 devolution settlement the UK’s rights and responsibilities for the territory of Antarctica were accidentally devolved to Scotland by the Foreign Office. The UK’s late 20th century space cadet, Tony Blair, had made sure to reserve to the UK [...]

Deacon, Price and all staff to stay at Oban Marina under new local owners -
There is immediately reassuring news for users and well wishers of Oban Marina – actually on the Isle of Kerrera, facing Oban across the bay. The respected and knowledgeable former manager of the marina, Sue Deacon, is to stay with the marina’s continuous operation under new owners. She is now Operations Director. Neil Price, Yard [...]

Ellis Cameron: Hazy days – tea solves everything -
This week I’ve been feeling a little dozy; it was our formative assessment day on Monday, where we handed in all of our work from the year so far, so I was pretty exhausted from getting everything ready. I handed in all my projects so far – Texture & Line, Xmas Sale, Casting, Rhino, Chain [...]

Mulll and Iona Community Trust packs a political punch to open An Roth -
It could have been ‘scissors at dawn’ were it not that politicians had put their differences aside to be part of the welcome on the Isle of Mull for the opening on Friday of the An Roth Community Enterprise Centre at Craignure. And this is one of the most compellingly interesting photographs of such occasions [...]

No Tiree Array campaigners play the Trump card -
In a battle to save the offshore Isle of Tiree from vanishing behind a modern-day marine forest of onshore to offshore wind turbines – the Tiree Array will be around five times the size of the Island itself, wrapped around sunny flat little Tiree from the south east to the north west and both enveloping [...]

Public out for Angus Council secret vote to take Education Secretary to Judicial Review -
There is more than one pantomime in town at the moment so max the popcorn and settle down for the ride. The big question is what does Angus Council know that the spectrum of legal opinion we have seen on this matter clearly does not know? No matter. They’re going for bust. ‘Those whom the [...]

Council now deploys online ‘Spy Accounts’ in covert surveillance of local critics -
Today’s edition of The Herald reveals, in a headline article on Page 6 by Stephen Naysmith, that Argyll and Bute Council has an embedded practice of using online ‘Spy Accounts’ (the council’s own term, not ours) in covert surveillance of local critics. This covert surveillance includes the private Facebook activities of campaign groups. These will [...]