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