Very best wishes
My thoughts this week are, rather obviously, the last I will share with you this year, which gives pause for thought over the 12 months coming to an end and what may lie ahead.
It has been a difficult year for many people, especially those caught up in the awful wars in Ukraine and Gaza. I hope fervently that an end can be brought to these and other conflicts.
Here at home, we will almost certainly have a general election in 2024 so there could be significant change for all of us if the polls are accurate. The shape of our next UK government is unknown but I relish the campaign to come.
Personally, I will make no new year resolutions or predictions for the very simple reason that I will fail in the former and have no crystal ball for the latter. Indeed, I resolved a year ago to try to learn Gaelic but my utter lack of progress has been lamentable.
Suffice to say, the cost of living crisis continues to blight numerous lives and there are many among us who will find next year difficult, so let us please try to help others where we can.
I would also like to thank you all for your continued attention and feedback, and I wish you all a very happy new year.
Floods of years
I read with dismay last week the words of Andy Spence about the huge cost to local firms caused by October’s floods.
Andy is the estimable boss of BID4Oban, the town’s business body, and he was addressing councillors at a recent meeting.
There was a dreadful familiarity about the whole thing because I recall vividly the appalling flooding that swamped the town in October 2018. The very fact that it happened again this year is, for me, a sign that someone in the council has failed miserably in their duties.
Argyll and Bute Council must ensure proper flood defences are in place with urgency.
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