Strachur & District Community Council
Minutes of Ordinary Meeting
Held 19:30 on Wednesday 16th April 2025
Strachur Heron Hall (New Hall)
Members present: Archie Reid (Convener), Ian Lowe (Vice-Convener), Catherine MacDiarmid, Lizzie MacDonald, Isabel McGladdery, William McGladdery, Kirstie Reid (Secretary) and Iain Wilkie.
Also in attendance: Cammy MacDonald (Strachur & District Community Development Company), Heather Grier (Strachur Medical Practice Patient Participation Group), Gordon Neish (Dunoon Observer) and nine members of the public.
1. Convener’s opening remarks.
Archie welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies and declarations of interest.
Cllr Sinclair apologised for non-attendance. There were no declarations of interest.
3. Minutes.
Minutes for the Ordinary Meeting held on 12th March 2025 were agreed as accurate.
4. Matters arising.
a. Reconfiguration of A815 school crossing.
It was reported that most of the necessary work had been done; new signs had still to installed.
b. Damage to railings at school crossing.
The railings had not been repaired.
ACTION: Cllr Sinclair
c. Poor state of A815 at St. Catherines.
A resident said that there had been some progress, as defects had been marked out.
d. Surface water on A815 at Loch Eck.
Cllr Sinclair had still to respond the letter Iain sent him on 13.12.24.
ACTION: Cllr Sinclair
e. TRO referring to A886.
Iain had submitted an online enquiry to Argyll & Bute Council on 17.3.25 and was informed on 18.3.25 this had been forwarded to the Network & Standards team. He had also sent a reminder on 11.4.25, but no response had been received.
f. New flashing lights on C57 near school: intermittent malfunction.
Iain had reported this to Argyll & Bute Council on 28.3.25. On 31.3.25 he was informed that:
“Your enquiry has come through as a roads fault, however, this would be for our Street Lighting team to address. I have forwarded the case details onto them.”
g. Police presentation on scams.
Iain had been in correspondence with Heather Grier (Hub) about this. A mutually agreeable date had still to be arranged.
ACTION: Kirstie
h. Request that charities be exempted from having to pay for the disposal of waste.
Iain had e-mailed this request to Stephen Hall (Head of Roads & Infrastructure Services, Argyll & Bute Council) on 28th March. No reply having been received, Iain had sent another e-mail to Mr Hall on 11th April. No response to this had been received yet.
ACTION: Kirstie, Cllr Sinclair
5. Police Report (received from PC Michael Cunningham by e-mail on 16.4.25).
Between 12/03/25 and 16/04/2025, the number of Incidents and Crime Reports respectively are 12 and 1.
Many incidents raised for road traffic matters and planned shoots.
The one crime report refers to one undetected S127 Communications Act offence, enquiries ongoing.
6. Health Report (from Kirstie).
I have attended various meetings over the year for both Health & Social Care and Unpaid Carers. We have also raised residents’ concerns with the relevant authorities on a number of local and county-wide issues. As always, this has been done unanimously, where possible, in order to protect the persons raising concerns (a practice I will continue to do). We have also passed on relevant Health Information sent to us.
Articles for Newsletter and/or Facebook.
Since the last meeting four articles had been submitted. These were on: Bus Travel Survey, Supporting Communities Fund, Argyll Rally 2025 Marshals, and Responsible Dog Ownership.
The main correspondence (in addition to any mentioned elsewhere) had been with:
a. Muirden Energy re: Creag Dhubh wind farm.
The secretary had noticed that Muirden Energy’s application to Argyll & Bute Council for an extension to the commencement of development deadline from 7.11.25 to 7.11.28 had been withdrawn. After requesting further information, the secretary had received the following response from Muirden Energy:
“I can confirm that the 24/01869/PP application is withdrawn and the next step would be to satisfy pre-commencement conditions to commence development by the 7th November. We are currently considering the options and hope to confirm the course of action in due to course. I will be in touch when that decision is made.”
Surveys and consultations.
No responses had been submitted.
Other activities.
None.
8. Treasurer’s report.
The bank balance stood at £2,399.94.
9. Transport update (from Kirstie).
a. Meetings.
During the last year we have been represented at the Cowal Transport Forum, Clyde Kintyre and Island Ferry Group, and the meeting with other Cowal Community Councils on trying to get better boat bus and ferry connections
b. Buses.
On Wednesday 16.4.25, I attended A stakeholder meeting with representatives from all other Community Councils regarding Bus Services in Argyll & Bute. All have reached the same conclusions:
1. Bus routes need to be fit for purpose.
2. Our local buses need to connect with other public transport modes, i.e. City Link, trains and boats.
3. Local buses should serve the community to allow residents to a) get to and from school, b) get to and from work, c) go to medical or other appointments, and d) attend social events.
It was unanimously agreed that, if the buses connected with other public transport, then more people would use them for the reasons highlighted above. This would also reduce the number of cars on the road, which is a government aim.
10. AOB.
a. It was noted that resignations had been received from Steve Mclaughlin and Iain Wilkie at the AGM.
b. Strachur Medical Practice.
Several members of the public who attended the meeting raised issues regarding the standard of service they had recently experienced at Strachur Medical Practice. The CC
had previously received a letter from a resident and a copy of a letter from Cairndow CC to Strachur Medical Practice Patient Participation Group, both of which expressed similar concerns. After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed that Kirstie, in her dual capacity as CC secretary and Health Representative, should take this forward.
ACTION: Kirstie
11. Date and location of next meeting.
The next meeting would be at 19:30, 11th June 2025 in Strachur Memorial Hall.
Iain Wilkie