MINUTES

MAY PUBLIC MEETING OF TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL (TCC)

8 May 2024

Tiree Trust Conference Room, Crossapol

and by Zoom/Facebook

1. Present: Gerard McGoogan, Dr John Holliday, Tim Arkless, John MacCaskill, Frances Khetrat and Aran Khetrat. One member of the public was in attendance. There had been 73 views on Facebook by the following morning.
2. Welcome: by JH. The new councillors were introduced.
3. Appointment of office holders for new council: GMG was proposed as Convenor by JMC, seconded by FK. There were no other candidates, and GMG was duly elected. He highlighted the ee mast in Cornaigmore and Solar Tiree as ‘wins’ for TCC in the past. We decided to leave the post of Treasurer vacant until the AGM next month.
4. Apologies: none were received.
5. Declarations of interest: there were none.
6. Minutes of last meeting: these were accepted as a true record. Proposed JMC, seconded AK.
7. Matters arising:

• JH had been contacted by Euan Innes, Water Supply Optioneering Manager for Scottish Water, for a chat about the future water requirements for Tiree. This had not yet taken place.
• Additional Hynish passing place: JH has looked at the site on the Hynish/Mannal boundary, and there does not appear to be room for one
• Scarinish fence update: JH has asked the contractor again for a quotation
• Scottish Islands Federation: TCC is now a member
• Fuel prices: TCC has submitted a letter to TCEL. This is on the TCC website
• Accounts: these should be ready for the June AGM. GMG and JH will prepare them
• Thatched house in Balevullin: JH had looked into this, following a request from the public at the last meeting. As far he was aware, the owner was still alive. It was a Grade B Listed building. It was not on the Buildings at Risk register. It is a much loved local landmark. We will continue to monitor the situation offline
• Use of the all-weather pitch: JH has written to the Council Leader, Jim Lynch, who has taken the matter up with officers

8. Correspondence:

• Police report: there had been 14 calls in March and April, with three crimes, including a Hate Crime. The First Aid box from Scarinish harbour was stolen on 24 or 25 March
• There had been a request for a memorial bench on Gott Bay. JH had passed this on to the estate
• We had received a letter from three young people on the island, highlighting the difficulty they have experienced getting a house. If they are unsuccessful, they will have to leave the island. We decided to ask the Trust to come to the next meeting to tell us about their current housing plans. There was an immediate need. JH will do this

9. ABC Councillors reports: there were none present
10. Planning: there was a pre-planning application for Balinoe (24/00837/PPP), two agricultural buildings (24/00707/PAAGRI and 24/00509/PNAGRI), and a change of use for Turas in Heanish (24/00181/PP). None came within the TCC Planning Policy.
11. Tiree Transport Forum: JMC reported on the first meeting of the re-convened TTF on 2 May. He had been elected chair. They decided to expand their membership to include one of the pier staff, one of the doctors and the vet and a crofter. They decided to contact Loganair about the recording of bank flights. Alongside TMF and the 10K, the Sea Change film festival in the autumn may need extra flights. There had been a request for a bus stop at the pier. The number of bikes on the boat had been restricted at a busy period. Families at Pier View were looking for a bus shelter for the school bus. TTF are going to ask the Trust to provide a wheelchair at the airport and pier.
12. Ferries: the pilot deck space reservation scheme is still not widely known, and so is not benefitting the island as it should. There appears to be a problem with booking cars on the mezzanine while the desk space is not completely filled. The scheme, which is still under review, is likely to need further revision.
13. Aviation: JMC had had a long and useful phone call with Michael Bratcher of Transport Scotland. Shortfalls to the Scottish Government budget meant there were no funds to build in extra capacity beyond the current fleet of three Twin Otters. This has reduced resilience, and was a ‘known risk’. Our service, however, was safe from cuts until October 2027. The resident card scheme is being well used, but passenger numbers this year have fallen. High ticket prices might be partly to blame. We wondered about more flexible fares. There had been an episode in Oban, when an elderly Tiree patient had been left ‘in limbo’ when the plane had broken down. JMC had contacted HebAir and they had apologised for this.
14. Island Connectivity Plan: JMC had filled in this consultation. This goes up to 2046. There is no mention of the Clansman being replaced. The Tiree pier will get some investment. There were questions about a banked ferry scheme, and changes to the RET scheme.
15. Communication: GMG had dealt with this portfolio before. He thought it unlikely that Tiree would get another Open Reach engineer. One option might be to have a bank of cheap mobile phones for people who were experiencing a failure of their copper line. He will liaise with the Trust about this. The vet’s surgery had been without a phone line for three weeks. The providers had been perfectly attentive, but Open Reach were very slow in sending an engineer.
16. Community garden: this had now received planning consent. GMG volunteered to take the project on again. He would like to thank the Trust for keeping the project going. It is poor ground. Seventy trees had been planted, but none have survived. TCC now owns a Keder house.
17. Phone box disposal programme: JH had contacted Keith to ask him to disconnect the boxes. JH has contacted John Patience to ask if there was any documentation that came with the boxes from BT. He did not have any. JH will ask Rhoda Meek.
18. Format of future public meetings: we agreed to continue the present pattern of alternate in-person/on-line meetings.
19. Date of next meeting: 12 June, which will be the AGM and will be in-person.
20. AOCB: use of the playing fields during school hours by the community. We decided to discuss this in a closed meeting. JH and JMC then met with the petitioners in person offline. JH will correspond to ABC about this.

The meeting closed at 9pm.

Dr John Holliday 9 May 2024