Strachur and District Community Council meeting
Held on Wednesday 13th August 2025@ 7.30pm Strathlachlan Community Centre
Present: Archie Reid Convener, lain Lowe Vice Convener, Kirstie Reid Secretary, Isabel McGladdery, Lizzie McDonald, Catherine MacDiarmid, William McGladdery, Councillor William Sinclair, Dr Robert Coull and 10 members of the public.
Apologies and Declarations of Interest: none
Minutes of previous meeting held on 11th June 2025 Proposed by Isabel Seconded by Lizzie
Maters Arising: flooding on the A815 at Loch Eck, lorries going in the ditches at Loch Eck as there is little or no room to pass other large vehicles due to them getting bigger Councilor Sinclair to talk with the Roads Department.
Councillor Update:
Money has been spent on the roads ripping them up and restarting them and the ABC Roads Department took this opportunity to repair the iron works in these sections. The Ballimore Bridge at Glen Lean is 100 year old and work is still ongoing here and once completed the Bailie Bridge will be returned as it is only leased to the council.
Tourist levy will be voted on soon by Argyll and Bute Councillors, Kirstie asked exemptions will be made by those having to stay in hotels ect for the purpose of NHS appointments or visiting relative in hospital she gave the examples of mother from Islay having to leave the island for two week prior to giving birth if a single baby and month before giving birth to twins also the babies father staying near the hospital during and after the birth.
There was a shortage of the Ferry cards those over 60 years of age can apply for at the Post Office Councillor Sinclair told those present that 1500 had been printed and would be at the Post Office in queen St Dunoon (inside the CO-OP)
Police Report:
Between 10/06/25 and 12/09/25 there where 22 incidents and crime reports as follows 11 raised for road Traffic maters and planned shoots, 4 detected speeding, 1 undetected assault ( no further lines of inquires, 1 Theft by House Breaking undetected ( enquires ongoing) 3 threatening and abusive behaviour 2 detected 1 undetected ( enquires ongoing), 1 vandalism undetected ( enquires ongoing), 1 livestock Worrying ( enquires ongoing)
Health Report:
In May 2025, the Integration Joint Board (IJB) agreed that the HSCP should explore the introduction of a threshold for care at home services, equivalent to the cost of a residential care placement-proposed at 25 hours of social care per week.
The purpose of consultation is to consider a proposed policy change to introduce a threshold ( or "ceiling of care") for care at home services in Argyll & Bute, and to outline the rationale, scope, and consultation process will go live on 31 July 2025. This proposal is looking to explore an option that better helps us manage and deliver fair access to care within the financial and staff resources available. We are using the Engagement Hub as a focus point alongside community conversations.
Care at home is the primary method of supporting adults in our communities. However, the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) faces increasing challenges in delivering this service due to:
• Rising demand from an ageing population with complex needs
• Workforce shortages, particularly in areas of full employment
• Escalating costs of care delivery
• Budgetary pressures and overspending
Proposal
The HSCP is consulting on a policy change that would:
• Introduce a threshold of 25 hours per week for commissioned care at home
• Ensure prioritisation of need and fairer access to care across localities
• Align care delivery with availablefinancial and staffing resources
Where assessed needs exceed 25 hours, alternative planning and approval processes would be implemented, including consideration of residential care where appropriate.
Current Impact
• Approximately 6% of the 1,100 individuals receiving care at home in Argyll & Bute currently receive more than 25 hours per week.
• This consultation does not apply to individuals with lifelong conditions, whose needs are assessed through a different process.
Consultation Objectives
• Assess the potential impacts of the proposed threshold
• Gather feedback from service users, carers, staff, and providers
• Identify necessary exemptions, such as for end-of-life care or public protection
• Inform the final policy decision by the IJB
Engagement Approach
• Public consultation via the Engagement Hub Link: Fair Access and a Threshold of Care Policy Consultation I NHS Highland Engagement Hub
• In-person events and media outreach
• Staff engagement to gather professional insights
• Online questionnaire and direct Q&A opportunities
• Final report to be submitted to the IJB for decision-making
Next Steps
• Continue consultation and engagement activities
• Monitor feedback and assess potential impacts
• Develop policy recommendations, including exemption criteria
Contact
For more information or to participate in the consultation, visit the Engagement Hub from 31 July 2025
Transport Report: Archie gave the following transport report,
Trains-it has been agreed that there will only be one fare on the trains instead of off peak and peak fares this includes season tickets for those that use the trains at different times of the day, the next scheduled timetable change will be Sunday 14th December 2025.
Cal-Mac there will be a single vessel service until the end of September. The AliCat will be going for its service between 27th October and 11 November, Argyll Flyer will be going for its service between the 11 th March and the 2nd April 2026, during these times a single vessel will operate. The ferry journeys cut from the timetable by the Scottish Government will no longer have a bus replacement service these are departing Gourock 10.1 Sam and 11.15am and departing Dunoon 10.45am and the 11.45am.
Bus to IRH Councillor Daniel Hampsey chair of the Cowal Transport Forum will be meeting with McGills Buses and will raise with them about returning a bus service between Gourock Train Station and the IRH.
West Coast Motors (WCM) if approval is granted by he Transport Commissioner WCM 486 bus on a Saturday morning will become a 478 and leave the top of the clachan at 8.05am this will come from Portavadie and come over the Leanach along the Bay, in the evening on a Mon-Sat the bus will be a 478 and leave Dunoon at 5.40pm 5 minutes earlier than I'd does just now. This change would come into effect on Monday 20th October 2025
Treasurers Report: we have a balance of £2702.22
Secretaries Report: letters have been received from the following
1. James McGregor and Liz Campbell re telephone box Kirstie explained that she had put the case to the council (how have written to BT) about retaining both Strathlachlan and Glenbranter Phone boxes and SDCC would adopt the phone box in Strachur when we have conformation of this we will seek the views of the community as to what would be the best use of it.
2. Scottish Forestry re-plans to take out some trees in Glenbranter (Ian will look to putting this online)
3. Rev Dorothy Wallace re this year's Remembrance service
4. Andy McPherson (ABC) re emergency plan Kirstie had spoken to Dunoon CC and we will be working closely together on this, Kirstie will also be meeting a local gentleman who has offered to assist in getting this updated.
5. Dr coull re surgery changes attach to the last minutes as appendix 1
6. Dunoon CC rally survey results (William will expand in Argyll Rally report
7. Dunoon CC re letter received from a Strachur CC resident re the Rally it was explained to the person that as they were a resident in the SDCC area they had to forward the letter on to myself
8. Transport Scotland (TS) a letter was receive from TS on behalf of structural soils indicating the next planned closure of the Rest and be Thankful road and moving to the OMR is on Tuesday and Wednesday 26th & 27th August 2 day before the Cowal Highland Gathering I explained to them the number of extra HGV that would be on the road as all catering merchandise funfare lorries have to be in the park by Wednesday for Thursday morning start they said no extra vehicle come over the rest for Cowal Games, William Sinclair to take this up with ABC
Kirstie also spoke with Kilmun CC re the amount of camping and campervans in the Lock Eck area as it covers both CC areas it was not to stop the camping but to come together to get the LLTNP to see what they have created by having bylaws in the Loch Lomond area preventing wild camping. NOT all campers and caravan owners are irresponsible but the amount of rubbish and human waste as well as the trees being cut down for fires is not right. Councillor Sinclair is meeting with ardentinny CC and will hopefully relay our concerns to the powers that be at the LLTNP.
Argyll Rally:
William gave a breakdown on the rally Survey carried out on all the CCs affected by the rally's behalf a total of 14 residents from the SDCC area filled in the survey 9 would attend the rally again 2 would not and 2 were unsure the full survey results can be shared with those who wish them. William will attend a post rally meeting on Monday night and will report back at the next meeting.
AOCB :
- update on the Community fibre broadband
The Community Broadband campaign is ending, because we have not been able to get any useful response from Openreach. They initially spoke about a potential cost to the community of nearly a million pounds - clearly a ridiculous number. When pressed for more details, they then indicated that they could not even pursue this option, as it was all now dependent on procurement from the UK Government's "Project Gigabit" - however, whereas certain parts of Scotland are being given priority (mostly the Aberdeen and Borders areas), the entire Rest of Scotland, including Argyll and Bute has been put in a single large bucket called "Lot 7" which is not expected to even begin procurement till 2028 at the earliest. The "broadband community partnership" scheme was presented as a way for the community to help ourselves - it is now sadly clear that this was never a real option, and merely a way to make it look like something was being done. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and assisted with the campaign.
2. Shrubbery needs dealing with along the A886 from the Post Office toward Strathlachlan
3. Telephone mast above Feroline Farm Kirstie will look into this and contact the resident that raised the issue
4. A resident raised his experience at the Strachur Medical Practice . The Convener allowed Dr Coull the right to reply to those present. As this had also been raised and replied to on social media administration from the page explained why/what the page was for and decided it was in the best interest of all to close it down.
Date of next meeting will be Wednesday the 15th October 2025 @7.30pm in Strachur Memorial Hall