Councillors have been criticised by a member of the public after only one of them was physically in the room for a meeting.
Oban South and the Isles SNP Councillor Jim Lynch was the only one of eight to personally attend a meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee on Wednesday December 13.
Another four attended the meeting virtually, with the other three submitting apologies in advance, but that did not stop resident Neil McIntyre, a former Oban councillor, from criticising the attendance during public question time.
Mr McIntyre said: “To all the councillors who are here, what would you like to see done in the town to improve things? As an area committee, what have you discussed that is local democracy?
“All you seem to get from meetings is that you note this and note that. We all go to meetings but if you are not challenging anything it is needless being here. We are at the last meeting of the year and we are only looking at one councillor.
“These are councillors paid to represent us and they are sitting in the house. We have made time to come here; why not them?”
Oban North and Lorn Independent Councillor Kieron Green – chairing the meeting in the absence of Oban South and the Isles Independent Councillor Andrew Kain – responded: “On the strategic development framework, I said I would look at the proposals for that, and I hope that when we get to the end of January, I will have something I can share more widely.”
Mr McIntyre said: “Give us a blast now before Santa comes.”
Councillor Green said: “I am going to look at not just the issues affecting Oban town area, but also the wider areas of Lorn, and the interventions required to meet the challenges which are arising.”
Councillor Lynch then said: “I have mentioned before that more power has to be given back to area committees. I think it is an important factor of our responsibility for the decisions we make.
“Economic development is something we should be discussing and we need to take account of what businesses are telling us. I think we need to get something on the table for the short and long term.”
Mr McIntyre then added: “You are looking at the budgets and tackling all the problems together, but the carry-on around the harbour; how long has that been going on?
“It takes 10 years to get flooding plans in, but businesses cannot wait 10 years. They will go somewhere else.
“If officers cannot do their job, they still get their salaries, but businesses will go elsewhere, and councillors are not even turning up.”
Councillor Green replied: “You are acting in an unfair way to us. Members have got reasons why they are not necessarily there in person.
“We live in an era where we can participate remotely and that is advantageous in a number of ways. If that was not possible there may have been more apologies at this meeting.”
Oban North and Lorn Green Councillor Luna Martin then said: “I should be there in person, but I have a new baby and other members have other reasons for not being present in the room.
“I am always more than happy to take these ideas and comments at my surgeries and take them forward. I have had several recently that nobody has attended to give me comments. If you want to discuss putting a motion to the harbour board then I will take it on.
“The council officers do a great job and we would not be able to do half the things we do without them. Being a councillor is a part-time role and the comments being made are not acceptable.
“Personally I would like to see more cycle lanes. The congestion in the town is ridiculous and nobody can get anywhere.
“It is one of my passions and main priorities. Parking is also a huge issue – my daughter attends a local school where there is nowhere to park.”
Councillor Green added: “We need to look at new housing in the centre of Oban. There are a number of gap sites which have been unable to be developed.
“On Councillor Martin’s point about cycle lanes, if people were living in the centre of town and able to access services, we would not need to have an increase in traffic.”