This page has copies of formal submissions we have made to consultations. As a statutory level of local government, Community Councils are often invited to participate directly in consultation processes. In such cases we aim to represent the views of the community as closely as possible. Where an issue provokes strong disagreement we generally try to represent multiple points of view, only taking a preference where we can show a good basis for this.
Click here to see submissions between 2018-2019
Submissions 2020 onwards:
Local Government Boundary Commission Review – Argyll and Bute
This consultation was begun as a result of changes made in the Islands Act which now allow the option of 2 member wards (areas for which councillors are elected), and single member wards which entirely include populated islands. Previously, since 2007, council wards were made up of 3 or 4 members in order to allow a more proportional system of representation. The downside is that islands like Tiree and Coll had to be put in with a large ward incorporating Mull, some other islands and a section of Oban and surrounding area and this has resulted in no specific councillor representation for Tiree and Coll (we previously had our own councillor).
The review proposed splitting this ward up, creating an Islands ward of two members for Mull, Iona, Coll and Tiree. We carried out a local consultation and an online survey with members, discussing this issue at several public meetings, and arrived at a strongly supported position in favour of pushing for a return to a single member Tiree/Coll ward – as well as questioning why total councillor numbers are being reduced when there seems to be a need for them to increase so as to improve local representation in an area as geographically diverse as Argyll and Bute.
Here is a copy of our submission: TCC Consultation response to Local Government Boundary Review 2020