Welcome to the Tiree Community Council website
What do we do?
As a Community Council we are the first, or the grass-roots, tier of statutory representation in Scotland.
We bridge the gap between local authorities and communities, thereby ensuring that public authorities are aware of the opinions, and needs, of the Tiree community.
How do we do it?
We articulate the views and concerns of Tiree’s residents on a wide range of issues of public concern, and making representations to Argyll and Bute Council, Scottish Government and other public sector bodies within or affecting Tiree Community Council’s sphere of interest.
How do we gather the Community’s views?
Public meetings of Tiree Community Council are held regularly throughout the year, alternately in person and by Zoom. Our AGM will be held in person. You can find the digital joining details of our meetings under the ‘Meetings’ section of our website, along with the draft minutes of the previous meeting.
All members of the public are welcome.
Public meetings, and their agenda, are advertised a week in advance.
We are always happy to receive correspondence by e-mail with questions or issues to be raised.
Our website has a comments facility which requires you to register a named account to post.
We also operate a Facebook Page where routine issues are often flagged and comments can also be made there with a Facebook account.
Our public meetings are streamed on our Facebook page.
Both of these forms of comment are governed by a Moderation policy.
For those not wishing to use those mechanisms to comment on a page or a Facebook post, the option is always available to comment separately to us directly by email.
Planning Applications:
If you are interested in seeing what planning applications are currently being considered for Tiree, you can find the weekly lists of applications published here: https://www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/planning-and-environment/weekly-list-valid-planning-applications
You can search these PDF documents (Keyboard shortcut Ctrl-F) for “Tiree” to find any application within our area.
Our Facebook Page feed:
We heard that the Scottish Government has set aside £4.4.million Resilience Fund to compensate islands for the disruption caused by inadequate services.![]()
We wrote straight away to our MSP, Jenni Minto. She sent this reply:![]()
Announcing the new funding package, Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:
“We know that Scotland’s island communities face distinct challenges, not least in terms of their economic and social resilience. People and businesses require ferry services running reliably and frequently to support their livelihoods.
“An initial £4.4 million has been allocated to the new scheme and work within the Scottish Government will now proceed at pace to refine eligibility criteria with a view to supporting areas and sectors of most acute need.
“We know that the current situation of delays and ongoing maintenance to some vessels has created real difficulties for some. We are determined to do everything we can to support islands, their local businesses and employers through these challenging times.
“This business-focused funding complements the support that we have provided through the Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund since December 2022 to help vulnerable island households experiencing cost of living pressures.
“We will set out criteria for awards so that we can open for applications as soon as feasibly possible.”![]()
We'll keep you informed.
MINUTES
TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL (TCC) APRIL PUBLIC MEETING
7pm 9 April 2025
Online using Zoom streamed on Facebook![]()
1. Attendance: Gerard McGoogan (chair), Dr John Holliday and John MacCaskill
2. Apologies: Francis Khetrat and Tim Arkless
3. Minutes of March public meeting: Julie McKenzie’s name had been misspelled. The minutes were proposed by GMG and seconded by JMC.
4. Matters Arising:
• No new members had come forward for co-option. There remained two places, and anyone eligible was encouraged to approach a member of TCC
• We monitor posts on the TCC Facebook page rarely. Anyone wanting a quick answer to a problem is encouraged to approach the secretary directly
• Public consultation by SSEN expected before the May TCC meeting
• Issues of waste management in Scarinish and access to the all-weather pitch are ongoing
• The faulty equipment at the Crossapol play park has been mended
4. Correspondence not dealt with in the agenda:
• Letter from Melissa Stewart from Argyll & Bute Council (ABC) to community councils generally about a failure to send agendas and minutes to councillors. We have sent our apologies. The secretary has been off due to sickness for two months, but the situation should be back to normal now
• An environmental performance scheme consultation has been received from SEPA
• Concern has been noted about potential littering in Balevullin after the planned building of a take-away
• SEPA consultation on a proposed Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme. JH will post this on our website
5. Transport: there had been a recent meeting of the Tiree Transport Forum, generating eleven action points. The Forum felt that Tiree needed to make a more assertive case for itself and that winter connectivity needed to be improved:
• Winter timetable: a request was submitted for an additional Friday sailing to help island hauliers, although we do understand that many winter sailings are not full. We are waiting to hear a response from Coll
• Ongoing disruption: there has been significant concern over recent ferry disruptions and their major impact on tourism, businesses, and private travel. The linkage of the Colonsay route with the Tiree-Coll route is having a big impact, and this needs to be resolved. JH will write letter to the Minister and Transport Scotland
• Deck Space Pilot: there was frustration over a lack of meetings. We have completed the survey about this. JH will collate this and send to the relevant agencies. There was concern over the suspension of the pilot during future landmark events such as TMF when it is most needed
• Under-22s travel: there was disappointment over the exclusion of Tiree and Coll from this ferry concession scheme. Donnie MacInnes will raise the matter at the next CalMac Community Board meeting
• HIAL stakeholders board meeting scheduled for 22nd April on Tiree. JMC is attending. JH will apply
6. Tiree Library closure: TCC had written to the chair of LiveArgyll, our ABC councillors Peter Bain and our MSP. There is some confusion over the current status of the library situation. LiveArgyll has written that the library is 'temporarily closed due to resourcing issues'. It appears that they are doing a belated Island Community Impact Assessment. We continue to liaise with other affected communities such as Cardross and Tarbert. Councillor Jim Lynch has confirmed he is actively lobbying on our behalf.
7. ABC budget: there was no update on this.
8. Visitor Levy: there was no update on this.
9. TCC finances:
• TCC received a £454 council grant last year
• We agreed to pay Phyl Meyer, past TCC secretary and convenor for historic charges for our website that he had paid himself
• We agreed to pay an outstanding invoice of £1,360 for planning fees for the community garden. This project will now lie under Tiree Community Business. GMG will write to TCB formalising this
• We need to close legacy projects such as the cycle stations by the Coop and Bùth a' Bhaile, and decommissioning the phone boxes
10. R100 broadband project: deployment is on going. Residents with street connections are encouraged to register their interest with providers. The first connections are expected to be in May. Work in the east end is now starting.![]()
11. Environment: we have heard that funding from Dynamic Coast for a LiDAR study and the creation of a Shoreline Management Plan for Hynish, Gott and Balephetrish Bays is likely to come through. The SEPA flood maps for 2080 have been updated. The links will be posted online.
12. Planning Two derelict buildings in Heanish are to be converted into holiday homes. A polytunnel is to be erected in Hough. TCC had no comment on either application.
13. AOCB:
• The Clansman is currently expected back on the Tiree-Coll route on 22 April
• JMC has written to Steve Nagy is appreciation of his retirement as Port Manager. recognition of Steve Nagy's retirement. We welcomed the new manager, Lindsay McColl
• General support was expressed for the ferry staff as they operate in very challenging conditions
7. Next Meeting: 16 May online. The AGM will be in June and in person.
The meeting finished at 8pm.
Dr John Holliday, 12 April 2025
TCC’s April Meeting 9th April 7PM online only
Time: Apr 9, 2025 07:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 793 556 9301
Passcode: jrHrb1
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Letter from Terry Williams (Calmac) describing additional delay on the return of the Clansman. Affected travellers are being informed. ![]()
From: Terry Williams ![]()
I am getting in touch to let you know that, unfortunately, we’ve been advised the drydock operator requires an extra six days to complete MV Hebrides overhaul. This is to complete outstanding repairs to the bow visor and stern ramp. This means the vessel is now expected to exit annual overhaul on Sunday 20 April and return to service on Tuesday 22 April.
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This means MV Lord of the Isles will continue to cover Coll, Tiree & Colonsay services whilst MV Clansman covers MV Hebrides. It also means Lochboisdale services continue to be provided by MV Isle of Mull with her reduced passenger limit. The impact of this is that the current deployment plan will remain in place for longer, with MV Isle of Mull continuing to provide your direct service via Oban.![]()
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With MV Finlaggan departing for overhaul on Tuesday 22 April, there will now be no time for MV Lord of the Isles to provide any services to South Uist and she will immediately head to Islay. When MV Finlaggan returns to service on Wednesday 14 May, MV Lord of the Isles will resume the service between Mallaig-Lochboisdale, the MV Clansman will resume your service when MV Hebrides is back on Tuesday 22 April.![]()
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This situation has been compounded by the delays – which we know are due to issues outside of anyone’s control – with the delivery of MV Isle of Islay to service Islay. Were she here on time, we’d have had an additional major vessel in the fleet for a large part of winter and would not need to deploy one of MV Isle of Arran or MV Lord of the Isles to Islay during MV Finlaggan’s overhaul. ![]()
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Furthermore, the intermediate shafts on MV Caledonian Isles require additional machining and the vessel’s return date has been revised to the end of May. Her ongoing absence also impacts our deployment options. I know there will be concern about MV Caledonian Isles and understand there may be a lack of confidence in when she’ll be back. However, I can provide some reassurance that we have a high-level of confidence in the vessel returning and being reliable when she does. We’ve taken a thorough, diligent approach to these repairs and inspecting progress as we go. The extensive steel repairs that we’ve carried out have all been inspected before and after the vessel has been floated up – as she has been several times to let other vessels in and out of the dry dock. There are no signs of further structural movement or deformation, giving us confidence that the root cause of the previous deformation has been addressed. With the shaft line, we’ve been checking every element of the shaft line from the engine to the propeller and have identified and remedied any issues as we go. ![]()
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Kind Regards![]()
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Terry Williams
Agenda for Tiree Community Council Meeting 9th April 2025
Note: Meeting will be online only.![]()
1. Welcome
2. Apologies
3. Minutes of last meeting
4. Matters arising (not covered later)
5. Correspondence
6. Meeting reports
7.Transport update
a) LOTI staying on. Probable cancellations.
b) Free U22 inter island for Western, Shetland and Orkney islands.
c) Deck space Pilot survey.
8. Tiree Library
9. A&BC budget
10. Visitor Levy
11. Finance update
Bill for Community Garden, planning application, etc.
12. R100 update
13. Environment
New SEPA flood maps
Argyll & Bute Council, Climate Change Officer
14. Planning
15. AOCB
16. Date of next meeting 16th May 2025![]()
Online June is our AGM and will be in person.