Author Archives: AdminTCC
Agenda Meeting 3 April 2019
Banked Flights
Banked Flights :
TTF and LoganAir have agreed to the same banked flights for 2019 as we had in 2018 Ie
1. Additional Easter Friday flight (any time) on Friday 05th April
2. Tiree 10k – Additional morning flight on Sat 04th May;
3. Tiree 10k – Additional afternoon flight on Sun 05th May;
4. Additional Peak Summer flight – Sat 06th July;
5. & 6. TMF – Additional morning and afternoon flights (4 flights in total that day) on Fri 12th July;
7. TMF – Additional lunchtime flight on Sat 13th July;
8. TMF – Addition lunchtime flight on Sun 14th July;
9. & 10. TMF – Additional morning and afternoon flights (4 flights in total that day) on Mon 15th July;
11. Additional Peak Summer flight on Sat 20th July;
12. Additional Peak Summer flight on Sat 27th July;
13. Additional Peak Summer flight on Sat 03rd Aug;
14. Additional Peak Summer flight on Sat 10th Aug;
15. August Livestock Sales on Sat 17th Aug – Additional flight with a requested 08:30am departure from Glasgow to fit in with sales times. Also requested a later amended departure time to the current scheduled second flight time to 16:30pm out of Glasgow, again to accommodate sales times);
16. Tiree Ultra – Additional flight (any time) on Sat 07th Sept;
17. Tiree Ultra – Additional flight late afternoon on Sun 08th Sept;
18. Tiree Ultra – Additional flight (any time) on Mon 09th Sept.
Proposed Banked Flights Saturday Reductions (Down to 1x Saturday Flight) on:
26th October to 21st December 19 = 8 flights in total
11th January to 14th March 20 = 10 flights.
This gives flexibility to amend the Tiree flight schedule, on a cost neutral basis , to meet peak summer demand , also added flights for TMF , the Tiree 10k and the Tiree Ultra
This is achieved by offsetting against some reduction in the schedule later in the year ie
Saturday Reductions (Down to 1x Saturday Flight) on:
26th October to 21st December 19 = 8 flights in total
11th January to 14th March 20 = 10 flights.
Tiree-Oban Air Service Re-Tender
A&BC has decided to re-tender the original faIled tender
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There is NO increase in the subsidy.
Irrespective there will be a break in service from mid May through to mid Oct, unless some interim service provision can be agreed.
However A&BC’s Re-Tender COVERING LETTER 8 Mar 2019 offers any tenderer a panoply of flexibility, and freedom, to develop their own proposals on:-
● The aircraft type they wish to use;
● The service timetable they wish to implement;
● Any seasonal variation to the service timetable they wish to implement;
● Months of service operation e.g. spring to autumn service only;
● The pricing schedule they wish to implement;
● The marketing and advertising approach for the service
These flexibility options linked to other incentives should ensure there is a tendered proposal which A&BC may, or may not, take to a positive conclusion by Oct.
For your information Argyll and Bute Council published the re-tender on 7th Mar.
These links take you to the to the re-tender documentation with submissions required latests Thursday 2nd May 2019 at 12 noon.
Contract Notice – Public Contracts Scotland:
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=MAR347645
Invitation to Tender and access to Tender Document / Submit a Response – PCS-Tender:
Minutes Feb 2019
Minutes Dec 2018
Tiree-Oban Air Service Update
TIREE-COLL-OBAN FLIGHTS TO BE GROUNDED
Tiree’s air service to Oban will stop on 16 May.
Argyll and Bute Council, having cut the subsidy it proposes to pay to an operator, has failed to find an airline willing to service the route on at the lower subsidy level . Flights to Coll and Colonsay will also stop
As per the previous edition of AnTirisdeach, TCC advised that the Policy and Resources Commitee (PAR) of the Council had decided at its February meeting to to re-tender. To date TCC has no infomatiion as to when this will happen, nor any of the details of any 2nd tender . TCC has stated that a simple repeat of the original tender is not likely to succeed.
At a meeting with two of our councillors( Roddy MacCuish and Jim Lynch) it was decided that TCC would make a further submission to A&B Council ,to garner the political will, to derive a 2nd tender more likely to succeed in maintaining, in full or part, the existing Argyll Air Services.
In view of the critical importance the Tiree-Oban air link has to Tiree High School, TCC has copied the submission to John Swinney , Minister of Educatiion and Micheal Russell MSP
TCC has done so covering the topics which TCC identified as Tiree’s primary Connectivity Issues:-
Education/Health/Veterinary/Construction/The Democratic Deficit/Tourism/ Our link with Coll
In turn TCC submitted this conclusion:-
Tiree Community Council and the Tiree Transport Forum place the utmost importance on the continuation of the Argyll Air Service. The island is well served with an air link to Glasgow. But Argyll and Bute Councillors must not forget that Tiree is part of Argyll and Bute Council, and that our regional centres are Oban and Lochgilphead. Other island groups in Scotland have similar or better air services. We do appreciate the problems in the service as it stands (see our previous correspondence) and we accept that there may be timetable and fare changes in a new successful tender. What we cannot accept is the loss of this service.
Our councillors also requested that TCC , as a supplementary ,commented on Oban Airport’s development potential .
In deriving the submission, TCC reviewed the tender process and documentation . Some anomalies were evident, consequently TCC added a supplementary to the submission
This final submission was circulated to Tiree’s Councillors, for circulation within A&BC, but view the implications for education at Tiree High School, TCC sent copies directly to John Swinney MSP , Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, also Michael Russell MSP
Agenda 6th March 2019 Meeting incl AGM
Tiree-Oban Air Services Under Threat
TIREE-OBAN AIR SERVICE
Tiree may lose it .
Cast your memory back to the summer, and the August Consultation regarding Argyll Air Services from Oban to Coll, Tiree ,and Colonsay which are subsidised by Argyll and Bute Council (A&BC)
A&BC decided in Feb 2018 to reduce its subsidy to £512,207pa for the new tender period ie 2019-2022. This was a reduction from £720,756 pa from the previous tender period .
Argyll Air Services were put out to tender in Sept 2018. When the tender closed two months later (Nov), only one submission was received. It was rejected, being deemed non-compliant. This sole bid was from the current service provider, HebAIR. TCC /TTF has not been informed as to the reason(s) HebAIR bid was rejected ,but can only assume the reduced subsidy was a significant factor.
In the interim period A&BC has considered options to move forward. After intense lobbying, jointly from Coll,Colonsay and Tiree Community Councils, the Policy and Resources Committee(PAR), at its most recent meeting decided to re-tender the tender, but under EU tender rules, any resulting positive tender award can only re-commence services from 28 June 2019.
It is unclear, at this stage, what the re-tender will specify , but Tiree has to anticipate that air services to Oban may cease as of 15 May 2019.
TCC/TTF has submitted the letter below to all parties ,incl Mike Russell MSP ,and hopes for a positive outcome from this re-tender to ensure a prompt re-commencement of Oban air services.
To all parties :
Argyll Air Services.
We were obviously relieved to hear last week that the Policy and Resources Committee (PAR)decided to re-tender for the Argyll Air Service.
We do appreciate the considerable sums that Argyll and Bute Council have spent over the last decade, both on the PSO itself and the running of three airports.
We on Tiree place an extremely high value on this service for the reasons set out in our joint letter to the PAR Committee. Clearly, it would be a major step backwards if an island group such as the Inner Hebrides did not have an air service connecting it to its regional hub. We are committed to restoring the service as soon as possible after it lapses on 15 May 2019.
Our concern now, however, is that simply sending out exactly the same tender documents to the same airlines will result in the same answer: no compliant submissions to the tender.
Our feeling now is that Argyll and Bute Council should introduce additional flexibility into the second tender document to allow any potential operator to make a value for money bid, based upon their own operating and cost centre criteria. This would maximise the chances of retaining a renewed Argyll Air Service within the financial constraints agreed by the Council for the next three years.
As part of this flexibility, one proposal that you might want to consider is switching the Oban-Tiree service to a commercial basis route. On this basis, Oban-Tiree would come out of the PSO and operate in much the same way that Hebridean Air Services currently operates the Oban-Islay route. Our understanding is that passenger figures and profiles are broadly similar on the Tiree and Islay routes.
We have to say that we have been disappointed over the last two weeks by the lack of information and consultation that our community’s representatives have received from elected Council members and officials. We do understand the principles of commercial confidentiality, but we do not think we should be receiving almost all of our news from the media. We would certainly be interested to see a copy of the new tender document.
Please come back to us if you would like to discuss this further. Thank you for your work on this project,
Yours sincerely,
John MacCaskill, Chair, Tiree Transport Forum
Dr John Holliday, Convenor, Tiree Community Council
Marine Litter
Marine Litter
Stephanie Cope (TRS ) has submitted this progress report to follow on from TCC’s discussion at its Dec meeting
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Tiree Ranger Service [TRS] is currently engaged in the following actions with regard to marine litter:
1) Inviting community volunteers to become part of the project design and event planning process [see attached]:
I am seeking volunteers to create and adopt a long-term project plan for The Big Tiree Tidy; in addition to organising and running a follow-up 2019 beach cleaning event. My aim is to reduce the strain on TRS by delegating some tasks to willing and capable volunteers.
The first step will be a meeting between TRS, the new volunteers, and representatives from partner and stakeholder organisations.
I would like to use this discussion to thrash-out some of the commonly suggested ideas, and their potential pitfalls (such as issues with the abuse of collection points at beaches; issues with beach litter being taken home and placed in holiday-let bins; the additional cost to A&BC of beach waste uplift; issues with Tiree’s capacity for sorting and recycle beach waste etc.)
2) Producing a long-term project plan:
Once discussions have taken place, I would like to take the most feasible and island-appropriate ideas forward to draft up a long-term project strategy. TRS will then have a better sense of where financial support is required, and at what scale.
3) Securing financial assistance:
Once these drafts are in place and we have a clearer plan, I intend to pursue grant funding to support delivery.
In the short term, a one-off grant of ca. £500 would be sufficient to cover the cost of a single large event for 2019. In the longer term, partnership with other organisations may be required to sustain the effort into the future.
Working on the premise that TRS (and therefore TCDT) would be the organisation applying for funding, TRS would have to retain ultimate control over any activities financed by grants awarded to TRS/TCDT.
That said, I believe that working closely with community volunteers would ensure delivery of a more considered and more appropriate project. I also believe that involving community members would aid succession once the current ranger leaves the post; increasing the longevity of this initiative.
NGOs that TRS is currently in contact with:
– Surfers Against Sewage: I contacted SAS to register Tiree for an upcoming campaign. On doing so, I was told that the island had already been nominated. Manifestly, it would be good to ensure that effort and resources are not duplicated.
– Sea-Changers: This organisation looks like a potential source of short-term funding. TRS has two contacts in the organisation (Guy Grieve and Maya Plass). Maya will be visiting Tiree in August to lead an unrelated TRS session.
– The GRAB Trust (Group for Recycling in Argyll and Bute): Terry Donovan plans to visit Tiree in mid-March, and has been extremely helpful and supportive so far. There appear to be some possibilities for long-term collaboration here.
I hope this information is helpful.
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TCC thanks Steph for this report and will be actively encouraging volunteers to contact Steph to take this initiative forward
TCC is also investigating what funding may be available from Scottish Government.
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Further to the above TCC Mike Russell MSP passed on this response he received from Scottish Govt in reply to a direct approach to him by a Tiree visitor