·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp

Children and young people across ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp are continuing to benefit from a variety of health and wellbeing initiatives as part of the Council’s £600,000 Covid-19 education recovery programme. At a meeting of the Council’s Community Services Committee, members received an update on the initiatives supported by the funding:

Tom McLaughlin is a great example of someone who has worked their way up the ranks since starting an apprenticeship with ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp Council’s Digital Learning Team in 2017, aged 21. Having previously worked in a junior role in IT, Tom wanted to continue his technology career, and a Modern Apprenticeship allowed him to do this while pursuing qualifications and applying his technology skills in new ways, such as supporting pupils and staff in educational environments.

·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp Council would like to apologise to anyone affected by delays to bin collections in Helensburgh and Lomond over the last few weeks. These delays have been caused by a variety of issues, and our teams are working hard to catch up on missed collections. The backlog is expected to be cleared by Friday 11 March and for normal service to resume on Monday 14 March.

The council is carrying out a full investigating into how items including Gaelic books were in a skip. We apologise for any distress or upset caused and are taking the matter very seriously. Making the best possible use of the resources we have is always a priority.

Louise Morrison was a pupil at Dunoon Grammar School, when an opportunity arose for her to do a foundation apprenticeship at Clyde Cottage Nursery. Fast forward two years and she is now doing a Modern Apprenticeship, working with the nursery full time.

Works to create a new public square in the heart of Ardrishaig is due to start later this year. The square is a long held community aspiration and part of a wider transformation project that will see improved seating, access and redesigned car parking and gardens. ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp Council is investing £700,000 to help transform the area into a vibrant village centre with improved community and visitor facilities.  The work includes:

A former Oban High School pupil’s career is off to a flying start after taking up the position of a modern apprentice at Oban Airport. Cameron Allen, aged 20, first visited the airport for work experience eight years ago while he was still attending school and loved it. Unfortunately, for Cameron, there were no job vacancies at the time so he went on to study computer science at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

The £1.5 million transformation of Lochgilphead’s Front Green is progressing well and nearing the planned completion date. ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp Council is delivering the long held community aspiration of a new public square to hold events in. The works also include a new play park, additional seating, drainage and landscaping to help ease the impact of flooding and new walking and cycling facilities.

·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp’s future scientists, engineers and IT gurus are a step closer to making their career ambitions a reality with the announcement of plans to create a special STEM Hub in Dunoon.   The Council has appointed architects Anderson, Bell and Christie to lead the transformation of the former Hill Street office in Dunoon.  

Work is progressing well to set up a Harbour Authority that would manage key parts of Oban Bay. ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵapp Council has received backing overall from stakeholders CMAL (Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited) and Oban Bay Management Group for taking on the role of Statutory Harbour Authority (SHA), and is progressing action to meet legal requirements to do this. Setting up a SHA follows findings of an independent report into options for putting formal management arrangements in place for the unmanaged section of Oban Bay.