Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and the Islands
Bank of Scotland branch closures
I am shocked and hugely disappointed to hear the news that the Bank of Scotland are planning to close both the Bowmore and the Tarbert branches in our local ward.
Closing local community branches has a significant impact on rural areas – loss of employment opportunities, and also finance routes for local people and local businesses, many of them SMEs with few alternatives to bank locally.
It could also threaten access to cash through free ATMs which is important for people who have difficulty in accessing digital banking services.
The Bank of Scotland should reconsider the interests of its customers.
Gritting of our roads
While resources are tight due to constant budget cuts from the Scottish Government its essential that our council does all that it can to grit our roads on a regular basis.
I have had some success in lobbying the roads department to Grit the full length of the Garval road in Tarbert.
While this is very welcome there are many other areas that still need to be gritted during these icy winter months.
Back our Food banks
I was delighted to make another wee donation of food to the Tarbert soup kitchen and pantry recently.
Groups like this need all the support they can get particularly in the Winter months.
A big thanks to all of the volunteers and contributors who help this growing venture.
£20 million levelling up fund
£20 million levelling up fund announcement for Argyll and Bute.
Argyll and Bute is one of a small number of council areas in Scotland to receive levelling up funding – £20 million – announced in yesterday’s UK Government Autumn Statement. This 20 million is a huge step in the right direction.
UK Government has been working with Scottish Government to agree an approach to selecting LUPs in Scotland. We can expect an inception meeting in a couple of weeks, with regular engagement after that.
This hugely welcome news and such large-scale investment in our islands is something that I have been lobbying for relentlessly for as councillor for the Kintyre and the Islands ward.
Police in Scotland are being severely underfunded by the SNP
The Chief Constable of Police Scotland says the force needs an extra £128 million in the coming year if she’s to avoid an extended freeze on recruitment of officers.
The SNP have completely neglected our police force in recent years, overseeing numbers fall to their lowest level since the creation of Police Scotland and it is public safety that will suffer as a result.
Policing is no longer a priority for this SNP Government – they should back our plans for 1,000 new officers to join the force to tackle rising crime levels in Scotland.
I would like to with everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.