Author Archives: AdminTCC

Meeting September 9th 2020

Our next meeting following our taking a break over summer will be held on Wednesday 9th September – having been shifted to the second Wednesday of the month due to a clash with neighbouring Mull’s regular slot, to make it easier for our ward councillors to join us. As always, members of the public are welcome to attend to observe the meeting.

The agenda is below as are the draft minutes as previously published as well as a proposed correction to these, for the last meeting in July.

Agenda:

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL PUBLIC MEETING by Zoom

Wednesday 9 September 2020 7 pm

1. Apologies
2. Conflicts of interest
3. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
4. Correspondence: exposed dump on Crossapol beach; benches around
Tiree; meeting of Tiree Transport Forum; Electors Annual Canvass; Tiree
Wave Classic; campervan scheme; participation requests to Argyll and
Bute Council; car access to Tiree’s beaches; internet coverage; projection
of population on Tiree over the next ten years; Gaelic speaking on Tiree,
a new survey; governance issues
5. By-election (supersedes co-options)
6. Towards a new Tiree Community Council planning policy
7. Representation of Tiree’s on Argyll and Bute Council Sounding Board
and the Scottish Government’s Islands Strategic Group
8. Transport update
9. AOCB

Meeting joining link: https://bit.ly/31aQTnA
or by Telephone: 0131 460 1196
Meeting Zoom no. 825 7015 2533, password 705290

Minutes of last meeting:

DRAFT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES JULY 2020

Correction to Draft Minutes of Tiree Community Council meeting 1 July 2020

 

Guidance on joining the meeting:

Please note that by default you will join the meeting muted (i.e. you will not be sending sound out to the rest of the participants) – please leave yourself muted unless you need to speak, and when invited to do so by the chair, and remember to re-mute afterwards. This is needed to ensure that the call is not made very difficult to follow by background noise from multiple people, which can be extremely disruptive to the call.

If joining by computer, you can find a button to “Raise your hand” to ask to speak under the “Participants” menu, accessed by pressing the Participants button (looks like a human figure, in the middle of the bottom part of the window). You can also use the chat function to make a comment or to ask to speak on a point.

The mute and unmute button is in the lower left, and looks like a microphone, next to the button for switching your webcam on/off.

If you are using a telephone to dial in, the mute and unmute command can be given by typing:

*6

You can also “raise your hand” to ask to speak using:

*9

As ever if you have questions or if there is anything we can do to help you take part in the meeting accessibly, please let us know by e-mailing phyl@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk

TCC looking to recruit two new co-optees, keen to address diversity

The lockdown has seen a boom in volunteering and in participating in the Community Council public meetings, with around sixty people joining in by Zoom. We now want to appoint another two community councillors to take us up to full strength. It is no secret that the council has plenty of men of a certain vintage. We have recently been strongly encouraged to become more diverse, to bring in a younger generation, particularly women, as well as crofters and members of the fishing community. We would particularly, therefore, welcome expressions of interest from these groups.

If you feel that you have skills that you can bring to the council, we would of course also be interested in hearing from you whoever you are – though there is a requirement that you be a permanent Tiree resident who is on the electoral roll at a Tiree address, and only those aged 16 and above may be formally co-opted as members).

Please contact us within the next week. If you want to chat this through, contact John Holliday, Phyl or any of the other community councillors.

Ferry capacity increased with new 1m distancing guidelines

Calmac have released an updated set of information following recent easing of lockdown restrictions, which includes greatly increased maximum passenger numbers and also extension of the booking period to 30 days.

More information here: https://www.calmac.co.uk/covid19/calmac-latest-update-09-july-2020

We are hopeful that this, combined with an expected additional sailing to be added soon on Saturdays (EDIT: Now confirmed, starting July 18th), will substantially ease the difficulties many islanders have been experiencing with getting booked to travel – although capacity is still far short of what we’d usually expect this time of year pre-COVID-19 of course.

At the moment we have not heard if the provision for picking up tickets on the day of travel at the pier office, as mentioned in our article in this week’s An Tirisdeach, has changed – we are not sure if it would still operating on the basis of 20% given the increased capacity. (EDIT: WE have now had confirmation that this is still in place, for passenger capacity only, and will be reviewed on basis of demand as things move forward)

Islanders may wish to consider, however, that given the increased passenger allowance the availability of unbooked space on the car deck is likely to be much lower –  whereas with 86 passengers maximum it was very unlikely for the car deck to be fully utilised so those getting tickets on the day could generally be confident of also getting space for a vehicle – with the new higher passenger numbers it is now very much possible for the car deck to be fully booked in advance, so getting booked on in advance remains the preferred option. (EDIT 14th July: We’re told by Calmac that, thus far, there have not been capacity demand issues relating to this, but things may busy up as word spreads about increased capacity so best to book soon if you need to)

Ferry capacity and latest guidance – June 26th update

The situation with regards to easing of lockdown, how it will affect Tiree and ferry capacity remains rapid-moving and it has been challenging for TCC to pull together a summary without it immediately going out of date. We have been continuing to engage and make enquiries throughout the past week, including a Zoom call meeting with Michael Russell MSP and various conversations with CalMac and other officials. We have also been following various news reports, and of course the most recent updates issued by the First Minister.

Here is the situation as we currently understand it – please note that this is an attempt to usefully summarise current information, may become out of date at any point, and you should always check the latest updates when making any plans:

1) Currently family and friend visits involving travel to or from Tiree and staying overnight can effectively only be made by ferry under the provisions of an “extended household” – i.e. a single person or a person with children under 18 can form an “extended household” with one other household, and travel would be permitted in either direction for this purpose. This is because currently the restriction is that such visits must be outdoors, and not overnight – so unless you have another means of travel that can facilitate a day-trip, you can’t do it within the guidelines.
2) From 29th of June second home owners are allowed to visit “for the purposes of conducting essential repairs or checks”. Staying overnight is only meant to be for as long as repairs take. However it is “expected” that full use of second homes which do not have “shared facilities” can resume from 3rd July. Reference: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-second-homes-guidance/
3) From 3rd of July self catering holiday homes/caravans which are “self-contained” and do not include use of “shared facilities” can re-open, and visitors can come to Tiree to make use of them.
4) From 15th of July the rest of holiday lets and accommodations are expected to be able to open (i.e. B&Bs and hotels, or self-catering with shared facilities)
5) There currently seems to be a lack of clarity on if overnight stays for visits will be permissible in general after July 10th, when indoor visits are to be allowed for two households, other than under the “extended household” provision.

Reference: https://www.gov.scot/news/further-route-map-detail-announced/

 

In terms of ferry capacity and policy:

The latest update on timetables and bookings from CalMac: https://www.calmac.co.uk/covid19/calmac-latest-update-26-june-2020

This states that there will be a four-a-week service from July 1st to July 14th, and that bookings for this period will open at 9am on June 30th. We also understand that due to incoming construction freight there is expected to be an additional sailing on Sunday 5th and 12th July. Bookings are currently expected to open on a two week cycle thereafter, with an updated timetable to come for the period July 15th into October. This would appear to raise possible issues for people wishing to travel in one direction during one such period, while not being able to book a return trip in a following period.

Following our representations on this issue, we have previously been assured by our constituency representative Michael Russell MSP (and similar assurances have been sought on our behalf by regional representative John Finnie MSP), that the intention is for there to be some provision for a priority system for islanders, so that those wishing to travel will not simply find that all spaces are already booked up due to bookings made prior to these new arrangements (or prior even to the pandemic). UPDATE (June 28th): This does not appear to have been done for the booking window which is now opening up. We are yet to receive any explanation why.

As of today however we are still unclear as to if and how this will happen. Options could include those with existing bookings having to re-book, while residents also have the opportunity to book – and it’d just be a case of scrambling to get in first and being lucky. Another option would be for some sort of division of available spaces, with some reserved for islanders to have a chance to book first.

We continue to make a call for this to be resolved and to that end recently released an open letter to Robert Morrison, Managing Director at Calmac:

Letter Robert Morrison 24.6.20

To be absolutely clear, as previously, TCC are not calling for tourists to be barred from coming – rather that the needs of residents have to be considered and a fair provision made to give those of us who wish to the opportunity to safely take advantage of the easing lockdown restrictions.

Until we get clarity on what provisions if any for priority booking will be available we can only suggest that if islanders have a need to travel between July 1st and 15th they be prepared to seek to arrange a booking promptly as soon as Calmac opens them up, starting at 9am on June 30th!

UPDATE (June 28th): It appears to now be clear that existing bookings are being allocated to available capacity on the basis of earliest booked first – with no capacity being kept aside for residents/on the day bookings/etc. Some boats are being reported as already fully booked, before the option to place new bookings has even opened.

With regards to flights, Loganair are now operating a timetable of one flight a day, shared with Barra, until July 15th. Thereafter the flight will be shared with Campbeltown. A new timetable is expected from August 3rd.

UPDATE (July 1st): We received the following response from Robert Morrison at Calmac:

Dear John,

Thank you for your E mail of 25th June.

We are facing a number of challenges in managing the varying phases of lockdown and facing competing priorities with regards to islander view, tourism views, commercial views. At the same time working very closely with Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government in order to ensure our service offering mirrors Scot Gov expectations.

With regards to your specific questions I can confirm as follows,

1/Historic bookings will where possible be honoured first and additional space available will then be opened up to allow booking. The space will be based on Commercial block bookings for essential supplies, remaining space will be 80% advance booking and 20 % for on the day.

2/ We will allow 80% of the vessel space to be made available for advance booking and will retain 20% for on-the- day. This will provide for the kind of bookings that cannot be accounted for in advance. A good example here being patient hospital transfers etc. This space will be usable for local Islanders also. It should also be noted that some of pre-booked travel being honoured will also include local Islander bookings.

3/ Our Contract operates on a first come first served basis and we have been asked to open bookings in a similar way. In other words allow space to be made available on an equivalent way. I can appreciate your points around islanders looking to travel and I can only say that the best method is to ensure a booking is made. We will move to booking for foot passengers and vehicles. Whilst there will be opportunity to secure some space on the day the best and safest means will be to secure the advance booking. Tickets will be available to book on a rolling 14day basis so providing the return travel is within the same rolling 14 day window it should be possible to book the return.

Finally, we will continue to do our best to help to manage impact on the islands and whilst we are clearly very challenged by the impacts of the 2 M social distancing, we will continue to support the communities as much as possible.

I hope this info is of help.

Regards,

Robert Morrison
Operations Director
Calmac Ferries Ltd

Notice of meeting Wed July 1st 2020

The next meeting of TCC will be held on Wednesday 1st July at 7pm, once again via the Zoom online and telephone conference platform.

Agenda:

  1. Apologies
  2. Conflicts of interest
  3. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising
  4. Correspondence
  5. Ferry update
  6. Air service update
  7. Scarinish phone box
  8. Virtual Doors Open Day
  9. Complaint about governance
  10. AOCB

Downloadable version: TCC agenda 1.7.20

Minutes of the previous meeting, held on 3rd June 2020: DRAFT COMMUNITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 2020

Minutes of an informal members-only “agenda meeting” and discussion of a response to accusations of misconduct made against TCC, held on Monday 22nd June: minutes agenda meeting 22.6.20

The latest “landing figures” provided to us by CalMac for numbers of cars and passenger journeys to and from Tiree –  kindly agreed to be shared: Tiree – Shipped and Landed 26th June

We received a response from Calmac to our letter – details posted as an update to this page: http://tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk/ferry-capacity-and-latest-guidance-june-26th-update/

Meeting joining link: https://bit.ly/31aQTnA

or by telephone: 0131 460 1196

Meeting 825 7015 2533, password 705290

 

Guidance on joining the meeting:

Please note that by default you will join the meeting muted (i.e. you will not be sending sound out to the rest of the participants) – please leave yourself muted unless you need to speak, and when invited to do so by the chair, and remember to re-mute afterwards. This is needed to ensure that the call is not made very difficult to follow by background noise from multiple people, which can be extremely disruptive to the call.

If joining by computer, you can find a button to “Raise your hand” to ask to speak under the “Participants” menu, accessed by pressing the Participants button (looks like a human figure, in the middle of the bottom part of the window).

The mute and unmute button is in the lower left, and looks like a microphone, next to the button for switching your webcam on/off.

If you are using a telephone to dial in, the mute and unmute command can be given by typing:

*6

You can also “raise your hand” to ask to speak using:

*9

As ever if you have questions or if there is anything we can do to help you take part in the meeting accessibly, please let us know by e-mailing phyl@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk

TCC statement re our handling of the ferry capacity issue

It has been an interesting few weeks for Tiree Community Council. We have seen a bit of discussion within the island, off-island and especially here on our website, concerned with the news about the limited capacity that will be available on the MV Clansman on the Oban-Coll-Tiree route due to necessary social distancing measures being imposed onboard. The exact number talked about eventually settled, for now, on 86 passengers – which of course we share with Coll.

Tiree Community Council have spent a lot of our time between our now monthly online Zoom meetings speaking to people wherever it is safe to do so, getting a feel for what the public wishes us to represent on Tiree’s behalf. We have also spent a lot of energy gathering information, and speaking to key people in CalMac and the Scottish Government.

As you are likely aware we wrote a letter (published on our website) to Michael Matheson MSP, The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity, calling on him to listen to the particular problems that Tiree could face if all existing bookings on the ferry were to remain in place, greatly exceeding the expected capacity. We have as yet to receive a formal response from Mr Matheson, however our MSP, Michael Russell, assures us that our letter has been well received, and that he has discussed our letter with the Minister Since then, new changes have been announced, and we immediately saw new potential issues with the policy, and have therefore just met with Michael Russell MSP to discuss how the new policy will work for Tiree – which cannot currently be visited for single day trip by ferry. We maintain regular contact with CalMac officials.

There have been one or two characterisations of our letter as implying “No tourists welcome on Tiree” – this is simply not accurate. Central to our decisions has been our overriding determination to place islanders at the heart of the matter. This means that we are encouraging Transport Scotland to give CalMac the necessary consents to “introduce a managed booking system that will satisfy fairly the competing demands of essential services and goods, islanders, family, visitors, and also the competing demands of Coll and Tiree”. We made it clear in our letter – and copied our request to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance – that the island’s businesses need further financial help to tide them through the year: they simply cannot trade their way out of this crisis in the way mainland companies are now able to.

Notwithstanding these efforts, there has been some recent negative, and in some cases hurtful comments regarding the competence, impartiality, and democratic awareness of the current Community Council – allegations which we totally refute. Each voluntary member of the Community Council is keenly aware of their obligations regarding high standards of selflessness, impartiality, and governance. We believe that we maintain these standards, and that it is not reasonable to expect as some have demanded that we log and account for every phone call, e-mail, message or conversation that each of us has in order to prove it. We have done everything we can, and our role requires us to exercise our sound judgement. Should any member of the public disagree with our conduct that is of course their right, and there is a formal complaints procedure available. Alternatively, there will of course be elections taking place at some point to form the next community council which would allow anybody the opportunity to put their own name forward and work for the Tiree community.

To the many members of the community who have contacted us, or commented, to offer their support to the work that we do and have done here – thank you.

In amongst all the recent focus on the details of whose rights are more important and how to prioritise travel between island residents, their families, second home owners and tourists we should not lose sight of the fact that we are still in the midst of a pandemic which continues to cause illness and death. Keeping the people of our community healthy and safe must surely be the first priority of Tiree Community Council, and we hope that we can all work together to this end.

We will now continue to focus our efforts and energies forward, as the situation continues to develop quickly – a new statement concerning the latest things we have learned including at our recent meeting with Michael Russell will be published shortly, and updated at our next meeting – taking place at 7pm on Wednesday July 1st

Regarding recent staff visits to Tigh a Rhuda

At the request of several concerned members of the local community we sent the following letter to the Chair of the Health and Social Care Partnership for Argyll and Bute:

Good afternoon,

I write on behalf of the Tiree Community Council in connection with concerns expressed to us by a number of residents regarding the fact that two staff (senior social workers, we are told) have on two occasions now travelled from the mainland to the island, spending significant time in the care home over a couple of days, apparently for the purpose of carrying out meetings with other staff, dealing with paperwork and such. There is great concern being expressed at the risk that this poses in terms of possible transmission of COVID-19 to the island, and particularly to the home place of some of our most at-risk residents, and why these staff meetings and paperwork could not be accomplished via electronic means, telephone, web conference and such in order to avoid that risk.

A previous attempt to query this matter following complaints being made to us about it resulted in a response that seemed to rest solely on an assertion that this was a matter for managers to decide, but we were left without any satisfactory explanation as to why the work could not have been delivered in an alternative, remote, way, A new wave of complaints has now come to us following a further visit. We realise there may well be very good reasons why this work absolutely had to be carried out in person, but the people contacting us seem to be firmly of the impression that it wasn’t about providing key worker support to care residents that couldn’t have been provided locally or remotely, but rather about administrative staffing matters.

Many of us here on the island have had to adapt to working fully remotely, unable to travel back and forth, and have done so knowing that this helps keep our community (which faces particular challenges and risks compared to the mainland) safe – so you will understand the concern about this when there is a question of it being truly essential, and given the current climate of well-justified fear for the well-being of our older family members this has led to understandably strong feelings on the subject being expressed to us.

We would be grateful if you could look into this and help either find an explanation that would reassure our community, or prompt a review of the necessity of what seems a risky activity which may be avoidable.

Yours sincerely,

Phyl Meyer, Secretary

Tiree Community Council

 

We have received the following response from Kieron Green, Policy Lead for Health and Social Care:

“Careful consideration is given before mainland based Health and Social Care Partnership staff travel to islands, including Tiree, to conduct essential work. All appropriate precautions are then taken in terms of physical distancing, accommodation and minimising interactions on the island when not working. Additionally for further assurance, and as the individuals involved are entering a care environment, they are being tested on a weekly basis for COVID-19.”

“Travel in this instance has been necessary due to the requirement to maintain the safe operation of Health and Social Care Partnership facilities, ensure high levels of care quality for residents and users of services, and give staff appropriate levels of management supervision and support. It has not been possible to facilitate this on a remote basis due to the nature of the work involved, including the need to directly observe the environment which care is provided in.”

Kind Regards,

Kieron Green

Councillor, Oban North and Lorn