Cal Mac Summer timetable 2023 opens 31 January

Good Afternoon,

CalMac has today announced that bookings for Summer 2023 (31 March – 15 October) will open on Friday 20 January. 

All routes can be viewed on our website from Thursday 19 January and will be available to book on Friday 20 January, with the exception of: 

·         Mallaig-Small Isles 

·         Mallaig-Armadale 

·         Mallaig-Lochboisdale 

These routes require additional time due to the number of tidal amendments required and the complexity of operating three services from one berth in Mallaig. Due to this, sailings in and out of Mallaig will open for bookings by Tuesday 31 January. 

Online bookings will open at 7am on Friday 20 January, with telephone reservations available from 9am. A queueing system will be in operation on our website to manage the quality of the customer experience when booking online. 

We’re working to finalise timetables for the last week of the Summer Timetable (the period between 16 and 22 October inclusive) as we work to finalise vessel deployment during the start of the annual overhaul period. 

The fares freeze will apply for the whole of the Summer Timetable, up to and including Sunday 22 October. 

For more information, please see our website here  

Kind regards,

Don McKillop

Area Operations Manager – Clyde

CalMac Ferries Ltd

On behalf of Donna Lockhart

Inaugural meeting of the new 2022 session of the TCC

Following the election of Community Councillors in 2022, unfortunately TCC did not quite have enough members to re-constitute. We therefore had to suspend operations while a by-election was held to try to top-up our numbers. Fortunately this was successful and we now have the minimum required number to re-form.

The inaugural meeting of the new session has to be facilitated by an official from Argyll and Bute Council – this took place on 19th December 2022. Office bearers were elected, and an updated form of the TCC Consitution (incorporating changes to the scheme of establishment made by A+BC last year to make holding virtual meetings permissable permanently) was approved, as well as the Standing Orders.

The new office bearers are:

Chair: Phyl Meyer

Secretary: John Holliday

Treasurer: Jacqui Bennett

The note of the meeting and all papers, including the passed documents, are linked below:

Tiree Inaugural Minute 19.12.22

Tiree Community Council Signed Constitution 2022

TIREE COMMUNITY COUNCIL STANDING ORDERS FOR MEETINGS 2022

Co-option Form

Declarations of Interest Protocol

Model complaints procedure for Community Councils

By-election to ensure continued operation of TCC

STAND UP FOR TIREE

As we’ve notified previously via An Tirisdeach and social media, unfortunately only three candidates put themselves forward for the normal scheduled election of Tiree Community Council – one less than the minimum required to convene. A second chance to keep this vital layer of democracy and representation going is underway, with a byelection having been called. This is the last call for anyone willing to stand for Tiree Community Council.

Without a council, we would not have been able to lobby for reserved spaces for islanders on next summer’s ferries. Or badger Argyll and Bute Council to get the school’s security lights switched off at night. Or make the case for a new water treatment plant for Tiree to ensure new homes can continue to be connected.

There are five places up for grabs, and an election is highly unlikely. Nominations close on Thursday 3 November. You can get forms from Rona at the Crossapol office or from us:

Dr John Holliday | 220385 | doc.holliday@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk
Phyl Meyer | phyl@tireecommunitycouncil.co.uk

CalMac – Advanced Standby Consultation

CalMac are running a consultation on proposed changes to the current ‘waitlist’ process; to be replaced with an ‘advanced standby’.

This consultation will be open from the 5th of September 2022 and will close on the 5th of October 2022.

You can find details of this proposal and how to submit a response to the consultation in the document below:

Advanced Standby Consultation – Information

Islander Priority on Ferries – Pilot Scheme

Many times over the years, Tiree Community Council has discussed the difficulties islanders face getting a ferry slot during busy periods.

Mull have been working to convince the Scottish Government and CalMac to find a way to give islanders fair access to ferry space, when so much of it is booked months in advance by visitors.

The ‘Samso System’ is modelled on arrangements used on the Danish island of Samso that ensure island residents get equal access to ferry space. The Samso ferry company reserves car deck space on every sailing that can only be pre-sold to island residents (or other essential regular users from the mainland like GPs and delivery drivers). They adjust the amount of space reserved for islanders on each sailing, using past carrying data as a guide. This increases the likelihood that islanders will be able to buy a vehicle ticket on the sailing of their choice, and helps to make ticket availability more equal, regardless of whether you have booked your ticket months in advance for a holiday, or days in advance for a shopping trip.

More than 700 respondents from Mull and Iona completed an online survey about this, with an overwhelming 95% in support. Coll have also canvassed islanders on the proposal and found a similar level of support.

Mull and Iona Ferry Committee have now met Jenny Gilruth, the Minister of Transport in the Scottish Government. She and Transport Scotland have committed to implementing some kind of prioritisation system on a trial basis next summer. The trial will be on at least one route – Craignure-Oban – but they are open to running on others. Tiree and Coll need to decide whether to apply to be part of this pilot.

We will discuss this at our September public meeting. Let us know what you think.

 

 

 

 

Coming Up – Elect Her Events

We have received some correspondence with details of a range of online events, encouraging women to participate in politics at all levels. You can find details of these events below:

In September, Elect Her – a non-partisan CIC supporting women on their political journey – are hosting a month-long series of webinars, entitled Her Life in Politics, exploring every role in Scottish politics. Each Tuesday at 7:30-9pm, elected representatives from across the political spectrum will share their journey into politics and experiences since.

On Tuesday 20th 7:30-9pm, the webinar will focus on Community Councillors, hearing from Karen Harcus, Alison Lowe and Elizabeth Brown and with facilitation from former community councillor and chair Lauren Bennie. This webinar is a great opportunity for any woman motivated to create positive change in her community to learn how becoming a community councillor can help put ideas into action, learning from other women’s lived experience and meeting like-minded women along the way.

If you know a fantastic woman who you would like to encourage to become a community councillor, please invite them to this free online event so they can start their political journey today. Full details on the event, including how to book, are available here: https://www.elect-her.org.uk/events-workshops/her-life-as-a-community-councillor

The full webinar programme is as follows:

All webinars are open to women from across Britain, either new or existing members of the Elect Her community, and will be BSL interpreted and include closed captioning.

Should you have any further queries, please contact:

Rosie Trevill: rosie@elect-her.org.uk

Community & Communications Coordinator

(She/her)

Correspondence – Reply Regarding Lighting at the School

We have received the following reply from Argyll and Bute Council regarding the issue of lighting around the school.

Dear Dr Holliday,

Thank you for your letter to Douglas Hendry on behalf of Tiree Community Council regarding exterior lighting at Tiree High School.

I can confirm that all but 2 of the exterior lights at the school are timed to switch off at 7pm which allows cleaning staff to leave the building and get to their cars safely as there are no street lights and these provide the only lighting in the area.

In relation to the 2 other lights, one stays on until 10pm and is located at the gym door to support school lets, the other is at the staff door so that staff can also come and go to support the lets or attend meetings in the school which go on later than 7pm.

The safety of all users of the school will always be the Education Service’s top priority and we would not look to change the current arrangements that we have in place, at this time.  It may be possible in future to look at changing the type of lighting currently in place as part of a programme of improvements/upgrades at Tiree.

Kind regards

Susan

Susan Tyre, School Services Support Manager