Councillor Dougie McFadzen, Kintyre and the Islands
Thank you once again Argyllshire Advertiser for giving me the opportunity to reach out to your readers in my latest Councillor’s Column.
I’d firstly like to warmly congratulate Councillor Jennifer Kelly from Campbeltown for her amazing election result and I’m looking forward to working with her to make the Kintyre and the Islands are the best it possibly can be.
Well done Jennifer! I had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer at the full council meeting on Thursday 23rd November for the first time.
It has been another busy old four weeks for me where I attended the Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Islands Community Planning Group meeting where I heard about the brilliant work being undertaken by some of our partner agencies, including Police Scotland.
Police Scotland have been working very hard in trying to inform residents about the scourge of scams, both online and by telephone.
PC Laura Evans, whom I used to work with in Motherwell, has been visiting all corners of my constituency delivering talks on scam prevention. I had the pleasure of attending one of her inputs recently, which was very informative.
Laura last week won a national award recognising her for her work in this area, so well done Laura! If any groups would like to benefit from this talk, please get in touch with Laura at Police Scotland (Campbeltown).
I’m on the board of Islay and Jura Community Enterprises, commonly known as “The Pool” on Islay.
We have been working away on maintaining the current services provided by the charity during these tough financial times.
We have been able to offer free swimming sessions on Sundays due to some grant funding, which even includes free transport to and from the pool, as there are no buses on Islay on a Sunday, something which I believe needs to change urgently.
We are always looking for new volunteers and pool side staff, so if you are interested please get in touch. The free swimming has went down amazingly well and it’s great to see the pool so busy on Sundays.
On Thursday November 23 it was the meeting of the full council at Kilmory in Lochgilphead, which I once again attended in person on your behalf.
I warmly welcomed the additional £20 million allocated to Argyll and Bute Council from the UK Government’s Levelling Up funding and I look forward to working with fellow councillors and council staff in maximising the positive benefits this could potentially provide to our area.
I was, however very disappointed that our Opposition Group Motion calling on Argyll and Bute Council to support a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel/Hamas war was voted down by the administration councillors by 17 to 15 in support of their amendment which did not call for a ceasefire.
My thoughts are with all who are suffering in this terrible war and those who have lost loved ones. Let us hope the war ends very soon, as is my belief for the war in Ukraine and all other conflicts.
On a more positive note, I was honoured to attend the AGM of the Tarbert and Skipness Community Trust, followed by the Tarbert Castle Trust, where a hardy group of volunteers have done so much for Tarbert and Skipness.
Their dedication to getting the best for the area is admirable and the work they put into attracting funding and organising events is outstanding.
The castle trust has some exciting plans for the future, all of which aim to preserve and promote the very important Tarbert Castle.
I visited the castle after the meeting and some of the famous (or infamous!!) sheep that keep the grounds and grass in tip top shape. One little cheeky one-horned sheep came up to me to say hello when I visited.
Photograph: Dougie McFadzean.
I hope you are all looking forward to the festive season and if I don’t manage to see you I wish you a great Christmas and happy, prosperous new year.
All the best, Dougie.