Yellow Book

[Jeanette]

The councillors are not daft, they know that the more potholes, the more mileage, They have to go round the potholes so their mileage is increased from ridiculous to scandalous

[John S]

Don’t think road surfaces will feature much in the debate on Thursday. The last time there was a Masterplan for the area was when the base closed. The problem with that one was; there were plenty of good ideas but difficulty in funding them. This time there is even less opportunities to fund major projects, particularly given the level of public funding already being spent in the town. For what its worth I think we need to be more commercially minded - get some private investment behind the ideas, the golf course is a good example but golf is not the only asset we have. There are opportunities but we need to think of opportunities which will be of global importance if we are going to develop a diverse economy they will also have to be complimentary to the new ones under development. What has been our biggest problem over the years is over dependence on larger employers working in narrow markets. Vestas is no different to Jaeger, the shipyard or KV Wooster in this respect, on a political note I would even put the council on the list if the Tories get in at Westminster. In N Ireland they have the causeway coast and glens Masterplan to support local communities develop sustainable tourism. What ever we come up with it will need to generate profit or real commercial opportunities to sustain its-self and the jobs it creates otherwise well be just shovelling tarry metal into a puddle of mud and running the back wheels over the top a couple of times.

[bubbly jock]

John, If the tories get in will that mean that there will be no huge complex of council offices where Park Square now stands. Will all the workers have to commute to Kilmory.

[John S]

No, I would think that a lot of existing council services would be privatised.

[Admin3]

The councillors are not daft, they know that the more potholes, the more mileage, They have to go round the potholes so their mileage is increased from ridiculous to scandalous

Doing my impartial stuff here

I think you will find it is the Council not the Councillors who have to go around checking the Pot Holes.

[John S]

I don't think Jaenette is suggesting that. If there is a pot hole (on the road to Kilmory, for example) you would go round it rather than through it -so you travel further.

[Admin3]

Doh!!!

Sorry Jeanette!

[kbm]

what is their private mileage rate then if it's ridiculous?

[John S]

Why not go along to the Vic tomorrow night and ask them? I'm sure it's not that much - anyway Alistair McKinley doesn't drive any more. Perhaps anyone else who is going will help fill the rest of in on proceedings.

[Kintyre Lad]

I am slightly perplexed at the event tomorrow evening - why isn't this a public event? The likes of the Community Council are going but whose view do they represent? As far as I am aware the CC are not elected in Campbeltown (not a dig btw - a thankless task btw)

WILL the public get a chance? PLEASE furnish us minions with lots of information after the big event!

Mind and save a sannie for us!

[Jeanette]

apology accepted admin 3 .John it's good to know that with Allistair not driving they can all pile into one car to save on expense claims if they all have to be at the same meeting. KL you are quite right about the ccc not being elected as such and I personally think all meetings should be open. I asked Rory why the meeting wasn't open to the general public and he was quite adament that there is no hidden agenda.
Perhaps you could phone Audrey Martin and ask. She is the one who sent out the invites.
I am sure there will be an excellent report from the courier but seeing as you will have to wait 'till next friday perhaps one of the high heid yins who will be there gorging on McGeachy's sannies should maybe be asked by the admin boys to do a report for this site.

[Ship called Dignity]

Were the sannies that good no-one came home or did they ply you with Wine so their ideas seemed good!

[Jeanette]

Sannies, cakes, and shortbread. All very nice and real coffee Alex put on a very nice spread. No wine I'm afraid. The evening began with a short powerpoint presentation, followed by two question sheets on various topics and mark them 1 - 10. 1 being the poorest. A workshop followed with the audience being split into 4 groups to debate their topic and write their thoughts on a flip chart. A spokesperson from the group then went through positive and negative aspects of their allotted topic to the audience as a whole. Then more tea and sannies The results of the question sheets were put on to a spider graph. All the results were collated and the majority of the results averaged only 4. eg things to do, places to go, employment etc The rest of the topics were 5 or 6. The only one to average 7 was it is a safe place to bring up children. This was all based on our perception of the area. I don't think it was a very representitive audience. More younger locals could have been there. Maybe next time.

I asked when I went in if anybody turned up without an invitation would they be allowed in and was told that they would not be turned away.

One comment from the man giving the presentation that surprised me was the perception of Campbeltown from the outside is of a very rough town.

I have never thought of Campbeltown like that. Maybe Paddy's film did more damage than first thought

Anyway Davie that is just a rough outline I think John S will be giving a much more articulated version.

Rory turned up after his visit to Carradale and he said the meeting went okay with a good turnout.

[John S]

Thanks Jeanette, but articulated I'm not - I have though been thinking about putting some of the questions asked up on a forum poll for all to contribute, but it will have to wait untill the weekend. I did, well before the meeting, tell the people from Yellow Book about this forum and they confirmed that they have been visiting - perhaps they will post some additinoal information here.

[Ship called Dignity]

Thanks for the update and John please post the questions etc - as these would be good to get as Polls etc - I could change them to Announcements too.

I heard it was pretty good tonight and Yellow Book had certainly done their homework. It would, however, be interesting to know more about what was said. The good points and the bad points!

One comment from the man giving the presentation that surprised me was the perception of Campbeltown from the outside is of a very rough town.

I have never thought of Campbeltown like that. Maybe Paddy's film did more damage than first thought.

Strangely enough, I am not surprised by this comment. There is a perception of Campbeltown like this but one that I could never understand as it certainly isn't rough. It is the old story mind you of people hearing this and that and have never ever visited! Look forward to hearing more...