MINUTES

AUGUST PUBLIC MEETING OF TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL (TCC)

7pm 14 AUGUST 2024

by Zoom and Facebook stream

1. Present: Gerard McGoogan (chair), Dr John Holliday, Tim Arkless, Frances Khetrat and Aran Khetrat. There were 9 people watching on Zoom. By the next morning, there had been 275 ‘views’ on FB.
2. Apologies: Willie Hume, Amanda Hampsey and John MacCaskill
3. Declarations of interest: there were none
4. Minutes of last meeting: these were accepted as true record. Proposed GM, seconded FK.
5. Matters arising:

• Recruitment to the police post on Tiree and Coll: JH has been in contact with Area Inspector Karen MacLennan. Recruitment is ongoing and cover is being provided in the meantime
• Scarinish town centre fence replacement: we have now received a quotation from one contractor for the complete removal of the fence (the cheapest option); the replacement of the seaward side; and the replacement of the whole (the most expensive). This is a major piece of work. Since the item was not on the agenda, we were not able to make a decision, and it will be considered formally at the September meeting
• Crossapol beach: the exposed dump material has been tested by HIAL for poisons and radioactivity. All results were clear. The problem now is sharp injuries and the stability of the dune face. The airport fire team has been down to cover the worst parts, and HIAL have a retained contractor to bury large areas of exposed material. The area has been fenced, although the fence soon becomes a hazard in its own right. However, covering the material with sand is only a temporary solution, the sand has to come from elsewhere on the beach. There is no easy answer, but HIAL are doing their best to mitigate the problem
• R100: the scheme to provide fast broadband services to everyone in the island. GM has a contact in OpenReach. The whole island, barring twenty-six properties, should be connected by March 2026. A big problem has been identifying the landowners, and the cabling has to be done in winter for environmental reasons. Some work could start on Tiree as early as the end of this year. GM will be able to give more news at the next meeting

6. Meeting reports: The future of Heylipol Church. JH had attended a meeting in Heylipol Church last week, led by Rev Alex MacCallum. He was representing non-church-going islanders, who used the church for big occasions. Around 15 people were present. The church is currently scheduled to close its doors in 2026, unless a viable plan is presented to headquarters. The feeling was that Heylipol Church was very expensive to heat in winter, it needed serious amounts of renovation, and it rarely provided the sorts of spaces that were needed by users. We should not try to keep it open. But building a new church was an option, as was working more closely with the Baptists. He would welcome some feedback on this.
7. Correspondence:

• Scottish Water is installing water meters around the Tiree network over the next 10 weeks. This will cause some short-term disruption to individual properties. It will allow SW to monitor flows island-wide, and detect leaks earlier.
• Police Report: there were 13 calls and 5 crimes in July on Tiree and Coll
• Community Climate Change proposal from the Trust: we have been invited to join this group. GM felt that this group was under-powered to tackle this ‘serious’ problem. He felt that TCC should not be involved. Other councillors thought it was better to do something rather than nothing, possibly putting resources into youth work. We agreed to take part as a community council
• TCC have written to LiveArgyll about unrestricted access to the Cornaigmore all-weather pitch
• Scottish Islands Federation: we agreed to take out membership for £25
• World Suicide Prevention Day is coming up on 10th September. We have been asked to publicise a project to light up buildings that day
• Water Vulnerabilities Study by Hannah Grist. This highlighted the importance to outside agencies of a stable community council
• Taxes on flying: Air Passenger Duty of £7 has an exemption for the Highlands and Islands. There is another charge of £26.02 (Tiree to Glasgow) and £17.62 (Glasgow to Tiree). JH will continue to investigate the source of this
• Baugh public phone is still non-functional. GM will progress this
• We had been invited to a Sectoral Marine Plan for offshore wind energy workshop on 22 July. No one from TCC had attended
• State of bicycle repair stations at Scarinish and Crossapol: these have rusted. There is still £940 in the bicycle account

8. A&BC Councillor reports: none present
9. Presentation of Tiree Community Council’s accounts for the years 2022/3 and 2023/4: GM presented the accounts. These were accepted by councillors as a true record. Proposed by JH, seconded FK.
10. Tiree ambulance service: this service is down to one member currently, due to sick leave. The remaining member has plans to go away this month, potentially leaving the island with no cover. He has been on duty for 14 months without a break. JH has investigated other similarly-sized islands: Westray and Unst. Both have a team of five retained ambulance drivers. JH will contact Julie Ann Wallace, the Area Manager for SAS, and speak to the MSP.
11. Disposal of phone boxes, including sale of Heylipol phone box: we need to progress this. There had been an application to purchase the Heylipol box, leaving it in situ. We were unsure about this. We do not have the original contract. It was suggested it might be on common grazing, and JH will contact the estate to confirm this and enquire whether selling it would cause issues.
12. Community Garden project report and discussion of its future direction: this four-year project has a Keder house and planning permission to create a community garden. We have received funding from the Coop Community Fund and Argyll and Bute Council (ABC). Despite numerous attempts to recruit volunteers, a critical mass had not been reached. We decided to withdraw from the project. JH will approach the funders to ask what to do with the Keder house. JH will write to Tiree Community Business to inform them that we have been unable to progress this.
13. Ferries: last week GM and JH met Kevin Hobbs, CEO CMAL and Duncan Mackison, interim CEO of CalMac, with Donnie MacInnes and Sapphire Arkless. It had been a very constructive meeting. CMAL are trying to build a fleet of boats with just three classes. Tiree and Coll harbours are too shallow for this new boat design. Dredging is not possible without undermining the pier pylons. The pier may therefore need to be modifieded. They hope that the ferry situation will start improving soon with the introduction of new boats. One will be kept in reserve to cover for problems. The Clansman needs to be replaced soon, and design work for the replacement will possibly start as soon as next year. CalMac are increasing the number of port managers to help communication with communities. CalMac are looking into setting out weather limits for captains coming out to Tiree and Coll. This is likely to be quite difficult. We raised the subject the new e-booking system, in particular boats showing as “full” during booking but sailing with space. The Crofting Camping Scheme pop-up no longer appears on the booking screen. This issue has been raised before, and it appears to be difficult to fix. Transport Scotland is looking at flexible ferry fares, so that tickets at quiet times are cheaper. The marshalling area and ticket office are being renovated next winter. There will be a consultation soon. There is one covered walkway elsewhere in the network. If this survives the winter, they will look at building one on Tiree. We support the extension of  the U22-travel scheme for all foot travel for all islands. We will raise this with Jenni Minto, MSP. We asked about the position of the waiting room at the end of the pier, but it was going to be difficult to move this.
14. Air services: the 18 bank flights have all now been allocated.
15. Additional road signage for drivers and cyclists unfamiliar with the island’s roads: Tiree, Mull and Coll CCs hope to work together on ways to educate drivers new to single-track roads. It was suggested to put a QR code linked to driving advice on islands on the stairs down to the ferry car deck.
16. Tiree Local Place Plan: TCC had unsuccessfully applied for funding. Coll and Oban CCs were doing one. We decided to do some research. JH will report back to the next meeting.
17. Planning applications:

• Mannal planning application 24/01153/PP. We agreed to support this because of growing the island’s population. JH will write to Planning
• House in Heanish 24/01330/PP: 2 objections
• House in Kenovay east of Coalree 24/01226/PP
• House in Balinoe 24/01185/PPP

18. AOCB: there was none
19. Date and location of next public meeting: 11 September 2024 in the Trust office.

Dr John Holliday 15 August 2024 doc.holliday@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk