Campbeltown Community Council
Minutes of Meeting 8 April 2025
Held in Campbeltown Town Hall
Present; V Nimmo (Chair), A Baker, A Gallacher, E Glendinning, D Allen, E Grabowska, C McCulloch {Minutes}
In attendance: C Shaw, A Simpkins, Police Scotland
Councillor J Armour Argyll & Bute Council
Idreece Khan, Campbeltown Pharmacy and 5 members of the public
- Welcome: V Nimmo welcomed everyone to the meeting and gave special mention to G Cosgrove and J McCallum who were in attendance with a view to possibly joining the Community Council as co-opted members.
- Declarations of Interest: None
- Apologies; J Martin and C Dobbie. V Nimmo noted that K Gillies had resigned from the Committee since the last meeting and it was agreed that a letter of thanks would be sent to her.
- Review of Minutes of last meeting held on 11 March 2025:
A Baker apologized for giving an incorrect date for the Royal British Legion event to commemorate VE day – the correct date should be 3rd and not 8th May.
Matters arising:
As J Richardson was again present as a member of the public regarding the Visitor Levy Consultation, V Nimmo advised that in this capacity he could ask questions, however the Chair had the right to overrule requests of the committee. J Armour advised that there was no proposed date yet for the Council decision and deliberations would now take place.
The attending Police Constables were asked for an update on Sgt Cairns’ approach to Sgt
McGuire regarding speed warnings at the various 30 mile limits to the town. They advised not as yet,
however Sgt McGuire had been off work recently.
One person, Donald Mackay, had submitted a quote for Jubilee Path maintenance, and this was agreed
by the sub-committee of Ann Gallacher, David Allen and V Nimmo. A second quote had been received
too late to be considered.
V Nimmo noted that Magdalena Krause, A&B Justice Service had emailed querying if individuals
sentenced to unpaid work requirements could contribute to community projects. V Nimmo replied
suggesting that bench painting and path maintenance might be something to consider. E Grabowska
raised the poor condition of the benches at the old paddling pool on Kilkerran Road. It was agreed that
this was also a good suggestion. V Nimmo suggested the planters in Burnside Square – again agreed.
V Nimmo gave an update on the refurbishment for the Council playparks advising that the contract had
been awarded to Wicksteed Leisure – £186k. – Jock’s Boat, Meadows, Lochend, Hillside and Stewarton.
She gave thanks to C Dobbie for all the hard work in achieving this.
V Nimmo advised that the memorial bench to Cathie Duncan had been delivered but has not yet been
installed.
Minutes proposed by A Baker and seconded by D Allen.
- Public Questions
J Richardson provided a Visitor Levy Impact Forecast, and it was agreed that the CC members would
review it outwith the meeting. J Armour noted that the final draft of the Visitor Levy will not be what
was initially in the consultation – there might be a reduced percentage, there might be exemptions
for A&B residents – once the Council has reviewed the consultation responses. The closing date is 10 April.
V Nimmo welcomed back Idreece Khan from Campbeltown Pharmacy. He stated that they had been given the green light by Building Standards to open the Chemist shop. The Pharmacy is ready, stock is being ordered on 9 April and all services proposed by the business will go ahead. They have invested in a camera to examine the health of patients’ ears, the results of which can be emailed directly to the local Medical Surgery if required. They will also be able to perform ear wax removal on site. They will look to implement other services when possible. Lots of patients have already signed up with them and the surgery is updating patient transfers regularly. The pharmacy has now bought the adjoining shop which will be used for storage purposes.
- Police Report:
V Nimmo welcomed PCs Shaw and Simpkins. The report was circulated to members in advance of the meeting. There are more visitors and travelers in the spring. A lot of Community Projects have been taking place eg Road Smart Hubs and the Police plan to have yearly events to combat accidents as best they can. Locally there were:
108 calls resulting in 36 crimes
4 drug-related seizures (1 class A, 2 class B; 2 cases being reported to the PF)
25 thefts, 10 financial
4 shoplifting
2 motor thefts
37 road traffic offences with 3 DUI of alcohol or drugs
2 dangerous driving, 4 careless driving
14 assaults with 1 police assault
4 missing persons, 33 concerns for the person
9 child protection
5 sexual offences
Various Community Councils have requested to have a more bespoke monthly report and senior management are currently looking at how best this could be done allied to the work this would entail.
PC Shaw is now the Youth Engagement Officer and will be looking to how to achieve and promote this work.
Police resources are stretched with current levels of 25 beat police officers and I Inspector working locally subject to leave and sickness absences.
- Councillor’s Report:
Reaching a decision on the Argyll & Bute Council Budget was very difficult leading to a Council Tax rise of 9.9%. There was Scottish Government funding last year, however, none available this year,
A proposed roads budget of £2m would be a disaster and now £10m will be available, which will keep the roads at the current level. To take all roads to a good standard would mean £120m. The NI increase hits Scotland as we have more government employees. There has been an increase of £1.7m to the Health & Social Care Partnership; £300k funding to Live Argyll (LA) to help keep everything open – more libraries could otherwise have ended up being closed. It was queried if the £300,000 would be ongoing. J Armour advised that this was not the case and that grants could be applied for by LA as standalone concern. The Council would not have access to such.
Gillian Neale had advised J Armour that things are going reasonably well at the hospital and that no patients have had to be transferred out as a result of the reduction in beds. Monthly updates on the situation have been promised. One new staff nurse started on 24 March. The Dialysis Unit is now up and running.
J Armour also commended C Dobbie’s work on the playpark refurbishments. Member of the public, Annette McMillian queried the monetary allocation for Stewarton as £25k had been mentioned previously. J Armour advised that it would be £30k for each of the five locations. The work will take approximately 5 months. A McMillan to liaise with C Dobbie regarding what is involved for Stewarton. Machrihanish and Southend are not council playparks and ACCHA controls Drumlemble.
The new traffic warden is in place, and present at the meeting. It appears to be easier to get in and around the town. However, it was noted that the Esplanade was now becoming a problem to find spaces. It was asked if longer parking on Longrow South could be an option. There were mixed views on this it was perceived that long stay parking might just move there from Main Street. It was agreed that the previous problem areas of corners and dropped kerbs appear to be clear now.
The Supporting Communities for up to £1500 to support community projects across Argyll & Bute is open from 31 March until 26 May. This would include, for example, history, culture, resilient communities building, creating health and wellbeing.
An independent online survey has been launched regarding public travel to see if the best transport is being provided within the budget. They are keen to hear from young people about out of town travel and outwith 9 – 5. For example there are no buses to Tarbert after 6pm. The bus company could be approached, if required, after the survey.
Questions:
It was confirmed that Argyll & Bute Council is not exempt from funding the recent NI increase which equates to 2%.
It was noted that a number of trees were being taken down in the Limecraigs area in addition to those from the Cutting. J Armour had no knowledge of this. It was queried if any replanting could take place?
- Treasurer’s Report:
Main account: £14,977.15 ( including £1,500 for VE afternoon teas )
Quesada account: £1,985.20
CC Windfarm fund: £10,053.42 (including interest)
A new award is due for windfarm with a new grant due mid-May. An advert will be placed in the Courier on 26 April for groups to apply by mid-May.
It was agreed at the March meeting that A Gallacher would get the accounts online once they had been audited.
- Correspondence:
V Nimmo attended an online coastal change adaptation planning meeting on 1 April. It was thought that various interest groups would be in attendance, however there were three officers from A&B, two consultants and only V Nimmo present. A&B Council has been chosen, along with Moray Council, to look at coastal erosion with community adaptations needed 10,20 and 30 years in the future. There are five locations in A&B, including Campbeltown that have been identified by SEPA as at greater risk of coastal erosion. It is planned to review the risks and determine how to proceed. Agreed that members would review post meeting. It was thought that Southend should be included as they already have problems. J Armour advised that other people would be looking at that and reporting back.
- Resilience:
V Nimmo emailed E Spence of SKDT to establish if money had been applied for to send his resilience leaflet to all households. The town needs to be prepared for future storms and power outages. For example, is the Town Hall a warm space, people will need to know where to go. Do we need to have an annual resilience community meeting? J Armour suggested discussing with Southend as they had done a particularly good job in the recent storm. E Glendinning and J McCallum are on the Community Action Network – should resilience be organized through this? Stewarton Hall and the Sound of Kintyre need to be included in Campbeltown plans. J McCallum noted that a warm space was not yet organised. Glenbarr is currently organising one.
J McCallum will raise these points at the next Community Action Network meeting which includes Shopper Aide and InspirAlba inter alia. A Gallacher noted that a funded generator is the most important thing followed by location. Social Media, the Courier and word of mouth will be required to get the resilience message out locally. Everyone needs to know where to go and what should be available. All points to be raised by J McCallum.
- New Councillors:
Gordon Cosgrove and Jason McCallum are attending this meeting with a view to possibly becoming co-opted members of the Community Council. The next elections are in 2026 and Campbeltown can have 16 members, although there have never been more than 12 previously. The AGM will be in May and V Nimmo reminded that she will be retiring at that point. Other members of the public present at the meeting were also asked if they would like to join.
- AOCB:
J Martin had queried the traffic lights at Milknowe and that it was now over a year since the initial problem arose. There will be problems at the MOK run. The whole pavement is now disintegrating. J Armour advised that the holdup was by BEAR, not Transport Scotland. BEAR advise that since they put in a walkway, barriers are required to be in place and thus traffic lights. The gas mains sub-pavement is at a very shallow depth. V Nimmo to contact BEAR and copy in Transport Scotland.
G Rahman advised that the VE celebrations will be on Saturday 3 May. Bunting will be up by the end of April. Musical entertainment is now pretty much in place for the event. He requires two weeks’ notice for the food for the picnic boxes. The event has been advertised on Facebook, Jason McCallum has the free tickets ready to issue at CIC. Posters and adverts in the Courier and Argyll FM are to follow. It is likely that this will be the last time such a celebration takes place. A discussion took place regarding the funding of prizes for a raffle, and it was agreed that the RBL would organise the raffle and the Community Council would fund the picnic boxes and a hamper to be raffled on the day. J McCallum will forward a copy of the poster to be placed on the Community Council Facebook page.
Date of next meeting:
13 May 2025 at 19:30. As this will be the AGM an advert will be placed in the Courier – to be arranged by A Gallacher.
Meeting closed at 21:00 .