MINUTES

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL (TCC) JUNE PUBLIC MEETING

7.30pm 11 June 2025

Tiree Trust Conference Room

In person, on Zoom and on live Facebook stream

1. Present: Gerard McGoogan (chair), Dr John Holliday, Frances Khetrat, Tim Arkless (all in person) and John MacCaskill (remotely). Cllr. Amanda Hampsey was present in person. Kirsty MacFarlane, convenor of Coll Community Council, was present remotely. One member of the public was on the Zoom call, and there had been 636 views on Facebook within two days.
2. Apologies: there were none.
3. Minutes of the last meeting: these were accepted: proposed GMG, seconded TA.
4. Matters arising:

• All-weather pitch: there was nothing new to report
• Re-use container: JH had contacted John Blake from Argyll and Bute Council (ABC) and he suggested speaking to Hazel Cowe on Mull. They have had a re-use container for a few years. Hazel is employed to go up once a week to remove items that might sell in the three second-hand shops run by the Mull Trust. It has been quite lucrative, but it takes time. JH had asked the Tiree Trust and the Hall if they were interested, but neither had the capacity at the moment. No other group had come forward. The Coll container has arrived already. We supported this project, and agreed to suggest this starts as a self-service arrangement in the first instance. It was pointed out that Tiree Facebay is well used. JH will write to John Blake and liaise with the Tiree Council staff
• The £4.4 million given to Councils to compensate for poor ferry services: AH had not heard what was happening with this. We have not heard back from Jim Lynch on this matter
• The new ferry terminal and marshalling area: plans will be shared soon

5. Correspondence:

• The Scottish Islands Team are coming to Tiree on 19 June and will meet with various groups as they develop the next Islands Plan
• The Radio Tele-switch Service is meant to be ending on 30 June. This system controls Total Heat Total Control electric heating systems. Around 300,000 people in the UK have not yet been switched over, and the cut-off date has been postponed several times. The problem is that the electrical supply companies do have enough capacity to meet demand. However, customers should not be cut off if they contact their supply company
• Gaelic media interviews: we are still seeking a Gaelic-speaking councillor/spokesperson who can take on this role
• Risk assessment for the pier: we were interested in ship-to-shore radios
• Mull school campus: we have had some correspondence from campaigners on Mull

6. Councillor report: AH reported that the Head of Legal Services in ABC had reassured her that there was no plan to close the Tiree library. She is still waiting for Kirsty Flanagan, the Head of Finance, to come back to her on ABC spend on Tiree. She has had a number of enquiries about the lack of housing on Tiree. She encourages everyone who needs housing to put themselves on the Housing Register, as it looks at the moment as though there is little demand. There are a number of grants for local businesses; she is happy to help islanders apply. AH will investigate getting more large bins around the island.
7. Transport Report (JMC): there had been a meeting of the Deck Space Pilot group on 23 May under Paul Cook. The Coll Transport Group are looking for a residents’-based card system for this scheme. The situation on Tiree is slightly different, with family members wanting to come back for island funerals, and contractors needing to travel at short notice. We did not currently favour a residents-based system, but we have an open mind on the matter. KMF said that each island could decide who would be eligible. The ‘pilot’ had been going on for two years. She wanted a system that was controlled by the islands themselves. Coll, Tiree, Mull and Iona had done surveys, but the results seem to have been ignored by CalMac. Phyl Meyer will be stepping down from the Deck Space Pilot Group to be replaced by JMC. We thanked Phyl for his sterling service. The CalMac customer satisfaction survey indicates that travellers are quite happy with the ferry service. The company has been reminded that this might not be the whole story. The Clansman will be replaced by the Hebrides for a couple of months next winter, rather than using LOTI. There is a new CalMac Area Manager, who will be visiting Tiree on 24-5 June. The Barra leg is now operational again as of 4 June.
8. Library: there has been a lack of communication from LiveArgyll (LA). GMG has put in a number of FOI requests, and the results of the first tranche are now on our website. He had also put in a complaint to ABC about the lack of an Island Community Impact Assessment. We have been in contact with Tarbert and Cardross CCs. We were initially promised a twelve-week consultation, but we have not heard anything. Nor have we been involved in plans to re-locate the library inside the school. We do not support making the Tiree library a volunteer-only service. We want the Library Assistant paid post to continue. We also want ABC to take back library services from LA. Jim Lynch has notified us that he has received our letter to this effect, but we have heard nothing more from him. We noted that Tarbert have had a three-month extension for their library closure.
9. R100 update (GMG): OpenReach are about to do another 20 properties in the Hynish area, and another 50 premises on the island generally by the end of June. That will make around 400 properties altogether, roughly what was planned for. He noticed that someone on the island had a phone number prefix that was not 220, implying that there are now more than 999 phone lines. The OpenReach teams are now at work surveying the best way to access individual properties, and this work will continue into September. Project Gigabit will extend the coverage to the rest of the island by the end of the year. Everyone who wants fibre should go onto the OpenReach website to express an interest, otherwise you will miss the next deadline. We would like to thank the OpenReach team who have done a great job. GMG had also looked at the coverage of mobile phones on the island. There is now a project to open up the phone masts to all companies. This will extend coverage. He will look into this.
10. Planning: there has been just one application, which did not concern us.
11. AOCB: we will not hold a July public meeting. The next meeting will therefore be on 13 August online. There was no other business.

Dr John Holliday 12 June 2025

MINUTES OF AGM OF TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL (TCC)

7 pm 11 June 2025

Tiree Trust Conference Room

In person, on Zoom and on live Facebook stream

1. Present: Gerard McGoogan (chair), Dr John Holliday, Frances Khetrat, Tim Arkless (all in person) and John MacCaskill (remotely). Cllr. Amanda Hampsey was present in person. Kirsty MacFarlane, convenor of Coll Community Council, was present remotely. One member of the public was on the Zoom call, and there had been 636 views on Facebook within two days.
2. Apologies: there were none.
3. Minutes of the 2024 AGM: these had been posted. There were no comments. Proposed JMC, seconded GMG.
4. Chair’s report:

• TCC had held 11 public meetings, a mixture of in-person and online. We currently have five members. Aran Khetrat resigned during the year to pursue his studies on the mainland. There are no co-opted members
• Transport: there is an active Tiree Transport Forum. This has lobbied for improved ferry schedules, and has achieved an extra sailing for the Tiree Wave Classic. We have been liaising with Coll CC, Mull CC and CalMac about the Deck Space Pilot. There have been issues with ferries sailing with unfilled car spaces, despite the booking system reporting that the ferry was full. JMC has managed the banked flights system. We attended a meeting discussing the air service to Oban. We lobbied for patients with travel warrants on the plane to be allowed to stay more than 48 hours in Glasgow. We were unsuccessful in this
• Library: we have fought against plans to close this
• All-weather pitch: we have been trying to get improved access to this after school. This is work in progress
• Visitor Levy consultation: we have surveyed the island and provided Argyll and Bute (ABC) Council with a response
• Ambulance Service: we campaigned successfully for an additional ambulance staff member and extra training
• TCC has put the island’s defibrillators on a Google map online
• Police: we have campaigned to maintain a full-time police presence on the island
• OpenReach: we have provided community liaison for the roll-out of the R100 programme
• Replacement cable between Coll and Tiree: we have again acted as liaison with the SSEN team
• Legacy projects: we are trying to wind up the community garden (being passed to Tiree Community Business), unused telephone boxes (hoping to de-commission this year), bicycle pumps (passed to Tiree Trust)
• Planning: we reviewed around 30 applications, and made only one representation: supporting a house in Mannal
• Coastal erosion: we supported ABC to apply to Dynamic Earth for funding to produce a shore management plan for Hynish Bay, Gott Bay and Balephetrish Bay. This was successful. The work will start in July
• Local Place Plan: we decided not to contribute to this
• Road Traffic Signage: we liaised with Mull CC for signage to help visitors use single-track roads better. There was no progress on this

5. Presentation of accounts (GMG): There had been five transactions. The balance was £1627. The accounts were agreed by the meeting.
6. Election of officers: elections are expected next autumn:

• Gerard McGoogan was elected unanimously as Convenor: proposed JH, seconded TA
• John Holiday was elected unanimously as Secretary: proposed GM, seconded FK
• Frances Khetrat was elected unanimously as Treasurer: proposed JM, seconded TA

7. AOCB: there was none

The meeting closed at 7.30pm

Dr John Holliday 12 June 2025

MINUTES

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

MAY MEETING

7pm 14 May 2025

On Zoom and streamed on Facebook

1. Present: Gerard McGoogan (chair), Dr John Holliday, John MacCaskill, Tim Arkless and Frances Khetrat. Argyll and Bute (ABC) Councillors Amanda Hampsey and Andrew Kain. There was one member of the public on the Zoom call. There had been 518 views of the meeting by the date the minutes were written.
2. Apologies: none received.
3. Minutes of last meeting: the date of the May meeting was wrong, but otherwise the minutes were accepted. Proposed JMC and seconded GMG.
4. Matters arising: the only matter was the use of the all-weather pitch. There had been no progress on this.
5. Correspondence:
6. Review of the proposed new Scheme of Establishment of Community Councils: there are six pages of changes. This document had been put up on our website and Facebook pages for public comment. The length of time recordings of meeting can be kept and where copies are stored will be specified. Minutes of meetings now have to be written within 21 days. There is nothing we need to comment on
7. Roads capital programme for resurfacing to the roads at Milton; Moss; and Croft View, Balephuil. Total cost £150,000
8. CalMac Community Board were recruiting new members. This has now closed. TCC thanks Donnie MacInnes for his sterling service on this for several years
9. Local Action Group recruitment: this makes decisions on local grant applications
10. Argyll and Bute Council have funding for ‘Re-use Containers’ for Tiree for suitcases, furniture tool etc. They are looking for local groups to manage this facility and raise money from its operation. AK will find out about this. JH will reply to the Council to find out how much money might be raised and will post details on FB
11. Resilience Fund: the Scottish Government has granted £4.4 million for island communities affected by the poor ferry service. We have written to our MSP and the Council leader to ask for more details of this funding stream. AK will pursue this. Tiree has little precise information over money lost by businesses, unlike Uist.
12. Meetings: GMG had been to the SSEN drop-in at the hall. The old cable is staying in place because removing it causes too much disruption to the seabed. The Tiree power station is staying open for the foreseeable future. The cable is no longer the limiting factor. TA had contacted SSEN about recreational diving in the Gunna Sound, and these bodies will now liaise with each other. GMG also went to a meeting about a medical link worker between general practices and community groups. GMG has given the information to the medical practice, and there will probably be meeting on the island in September.
13. Transport (JMC): Tiree’s representation requesting an additional Friday sailing about next winter’s timetable has now been formally submitted to improve ‘island connectivity’. CalMac has turned this request down as it was not ‘cost neutral’. We made the point that there was no point ‘consulting’ us if there was no increase in funding from Transport Scotland. We also want the Colonsay timetable to be agreed in advance, with any subsequent changes being agreed with Tiree. There is a leak in the bow visor of the Clansman. There will be a restricted timetable for a few days while this is fixed. Our Sunday sailings will also be later for a few weeks due to provide cover for the Uist service. The Barra link will be restored on 4 June, 2.5 months late. This is worse than last year. We want the Barra day to be changed next summer. This would cause, however, a problem with crew changeover, and the unions will have to be consulted. He has a meeting with the Coll Transport sub-committee. We have reported concerns about the forum with Coll and Mull overseeing the deck space pilot scheme. This has not met for a year. The new Area Manager will be in post in the next few weeks, and will come out to Tiree. GMG said that Hebrides is currently proposed as the replacement for Clansman. We had met with the team designing the new pier office and car park. Option 1 has been chosen: this includes a new, larger office, and the extension of the marshalling area by removing the grass triangle. The final design will be shared with the Tiree community at the end of May. We want them to include a defibrillator location so that the nearby current one can be repositioned..
14. Councillors’ reports: AH has been trying to obtain figures on ABC spend on Tiree from the Head of Finance, but has been unsuccessful to date. AK reported that there is going to be a new Islands Plan. The islands need talk with one voice. Otherwise, the jobs will continue to be seasonal and low paid and the population will continue to fall. There is a lot of work in setting up this sort of conversation, and AK will look for capacity within ABC to help this process.
15. Tiree Library: LiveArgyll have told us they will be consulting with the Tiree community over the next 12 weeks. ABC is currently using the library ‘for other purposes’, but we have not been told what this is. There has been no consultation. GMG has put in a number of Freedom of Information requests to LiveArgyll. LiveArgyll is a charity, but there does not seem to have been much in the way of independent fundraising to raise money for libraries. It is very hard to communicate with them. We have been in touch with the communities in Tarbert and Cardross. TCC believe that libraries should become a hub for a range of community activities. AH has been told by Kevin Anderson that the library was closed due to resourcing issues (a lack of money for staffing). The current thinking is to move the library into a smaller space inside the school, run by volunteers, to continue the book swapping service, inter-library loans, the borrow box, electronic readers, Press Reader, a warm space and Book Bug and to turn the current library into teacher accommodation. LiveArgyll has told her that an Island Community Impact Assessment is not required as there is not a closure. The community councillors queried this assertion. Access to the school is likely to be an issue.

TCC agreed this motion unanimously:

‘Tiree Community Council has lost faith in LiveArgyll to manage the Tiree Library, and requests that Argyll and Bute Council looks into taking the whole library service back under council control.’

JH will look into the details of the Islands Act. AK and AH agreed to ask ABC to find £18,000 to keep the Tiree library open in its current form.

10. Visitor Levy: the results have now been submitted. ABC has employed a consultancy to analyse the results. These will be presented to ABC in May (preliminary) and full (August). Councillors will then vote on it. AK said that ABC should go back to the Scottish Government to ask for changes in the legislation.
11. TCC accounts: we will pay Phyl Meyer for expenses for hosting our website. JH and GMG will organise this. Our full accounts will be presented at the next meeting.
12. R100: GMG has spoken to some senior managers. Currently, 271 premises are available for full fibre with another 100 by the middle of June. This is about what was originally planned, but is behind schedule. Ferry capacity and terrain have been issues. The team will then leave the island. The connections team will then be on the island from the end of June until the end of August. The successor to R100 is called Gigabit, taking national coverage from 85% to 99%. OpenReach is hoping to push Tiree to the start of the Gigabit programme.
13. Planning: one application for a barn in Caolas. This does not concern TCC.
14. AOCB: we want to thank the Coop for keeping the service going despite the recent cyberattack. Tiree, as an ‘extremely remote location’, is given priority during episodes like this. Logistics and the staff have been superb.
15. Date of next meeting: this will be in-person on 11 June and will include our AGM. JH will book the room.

The meeting closed at 9.05 pm.