SNH consultation on proposed marine Special Protection Areas for seabirds

EDIT – 11/10/16

Tiree Community Council made the following submission:

‘Tiree Community Council (TCC) considered the proposed Special Protection Area for Tiree and Coll at its public meeting on 7th September. We acknowledge that we do not possess relevant expertise in maritime ecology; our job is to represent the views and interests of our constituents on the electoral roll of the island. The matter was an agenda item, which was advertised in advance. The pSPA was also flagged prominently on the TCC website and comments were solicited. At the public meeting a member of the public commended the report as balanced. As a member of the pressure group No Tiree Array he had already provided a detailed submission to the consultation process. As Convenor I reported that I had held a meeting with two island fishermen, who were very concerned about the proposed SPA. They pointed out that fishing was one of the three pillars of the Tiree economy, and, significantly, encouraged young families to stay on the island. They pointed out that the bird population figures behind the proposals were at least ten years old and may not accurately describe the present situation. These fishermen had told me that, while the present local static gear fishery was not thought to impact significantly on the two bird species concerned, experience in other marine protected areas was towards tighter regulations as time went on. One of the fishermen made limited use of a set net for bait, and this catch was worth £15,000 a year to him. The other fishermen said he had made plans to buy equipment to start limited dredging and the proposed tightening of this form of fishing would load significant pressure onto his already fragile business. They were strongly against the proposals, and in particular, the inclusion of the south coast of the island. There have been no other comments to TCC about the pSPA.’

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Tiree Community Council are looking for feedback on the following SNH consultation.

http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/proposed-marine-spas/

(Special Protection Areas) SPA are particularly relevant for creel (static gear) fishermen, but also important for overall marine conservation and preservation of marine habitats.

Please leave feedback in the comments section on the website!

Deadline for the consultation is 21 September. If you would prefer to submit a response directly to SNH you can do so at the following link.

http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/proposed-marine-spas/

Public meeting August 3rd is POSTPONED

Due to full Summer diaries we have been forced to cancel the public Community Council meeting on 3 August.

We have rescheduled the meeting for Wed 7 September. It will be a public meeting and all are welcome.

The Agenda will be posted shortly. Thanks for your understanding!

Bin Collections in Tiree – FEEDBACK NEEDED

Following a meeting with Cllr Roddy McCuish and Jim Smith from Argyll and Bute Council, we can confirm that the bin uplifts will be changing around mid August.

From mid August:

  • General refuse uplift will move to 3 weekly
  • Recycling refuse uplift will remain at 2 weekly

Holiday home owners will be offered the option to pay for an addition uplift at commercial rates.

Argyll & Bute Council will be in touch with all residents in due course. At the moment, though we are keen to get feedback and thoughts from residents and holiday home or second home owners – and we will pass these on to Cllr McCuish.

Please comment using the form below, or on Facebook or by speaking to a Community Councillor.

 

Adopt a kiosk?

Tiree Community Council is proposing to try to “adopt” the majority of telephone boxes in Tiree.

Why?

  • Very few calls are made from these boxes. BT has already offered some boxes to the Community Heartbeat Trust, to avoid them being removed entirely. The reality is that these boxes will all disappear within the next few years if someone doesn’t take responsibility for them.
  • The boxes are suffering from wear and tear.
  • We know we can turn them into some brilliant things!
  • We don’t want to lose our iconic red phone boxes.

What do we intend to do with them?

  • We will ensure they are painted, fixed and maintained.
  • BT has already offered some boxes to the Community Heartbeat Trust. We are talking with the Community Heartbeat Trust about installing defibrillators in some boxes, as well as 999 emergency phones.
  • We are talking with Tiree Broadband about the possibility of turning them into wifi hotspots, although this will be entirely dependent on network capacity, which is not currently available.

Other proposals include:

  • A history trail. People can travel round the boxes, see parts of the island that they may not otherwise see, and find out about the history of each village or area where a box is located
  • A scavenger hunt for young visitors. They would need to find answers in all the boxes to get a prize.
  • Art exhibitions
  • Book swaps
  • Offering boxes to community groups or businesses to decorate or advertise in, sell from and take ownership of.

Pros

  • A great tourist attraction
  • Defibrillators within communities
  • 999 phones
  • Wifi for visitors, distributed around the island
  • Fun, quirky and guaranteed smiles
  • We get free paint for them, and BT will leave the power on AND pay the bill.
  • The boxes will cost the Community Council £1 each

Cons

The telephones would be removed by BT. It is likely, however, that these boxes will be decommissioned anyway over time.

Fundraising would be required for defibrillators and SOS phones if we wish to go down that route for some of the boxes.

Next steps

The public meeting thought that this was a good thing to explore further. No decisions have yet been made.

However, we have been in touch with BT and applied to be considered. All 10 phone boxes we are interested in now have a notice advising people of a 42 day consultation period. There are details on the poster of how to object.

Heanish was not included as it is regularly used.

Cornaig was originally included, but after an objection we have withdrawn that application.

The 42 consultation period is part of a wider 90 day Council consultation period. Once that is over Rhoda will report back to the public meeting and we can figure what if any next steps will be taken.

Notes:

http://www.communityheartbeat.org.uk/

http://www.coatings.org.uk/adopt-a-telephone-kiosk.aspx

https://business.bt.com/solutions/small-business/communities/adopt-a-kiosk/

 Tiree phone boxes under consideration

  • 01879 220 444 (Mannel)
  • 01879 220 389 (Baile Mhullinn)
  • 01879 220 350 (Heylipol)
  • 01879 220 313 (Kenovay)
  • 01879 220 320 (Silversands)
  • 01879 220 310 (Caolas)
  • 01879 220 441 (Baile Phuil)
  • 01879 220 328 (Crossapol)
  • 01879 220 331 (Scarinish)
  • 01879 220 477 (Middleton)