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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. ¹ú²úÊÓƵ is investing £700,000 to help transform the area into a vibrant village centre with improved community and visitor facilities.  The work includes:

Argyll and Bute’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.  

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. ¹ú²úÊÓƵ 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.

Work is progressing well to set up a Harbour Authority that would manage key parts of Oban Bay. ¹ú²úÊÓƵ 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.  

Young people in Argyll and Bute schools are having their say on ¹ú²úÊÓƵ’s proposals for a new ‘collective’ model for school leadership in the authority. These proposals aim to empower the leadership of our schools to work more effectively together and share resources to enhance the education of all pupils. They have been developed with ongoing input from Argyll and Bute’s Head Teachers and education experts.

¹ú²úÊÓƵ’s Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee has endorsed an £8m roads improvement programme for the area. This sum includes an additional £2.6 million, approved at last month’s budget meeting. Allocations for the 2022-23 roads reconstruction programme are as follows: Area Spend for 2022-23

A £15.5 million programme of investment is planned in 2022/23 for ¹ú²úÊÓƵ’s ports and harbours.A report to today’s meeting of the Harbour Board outlined various marine services projects being progressed by the council now:

¹ú²úÊÓƵ is on track to achieve a national good practice standard for its ports and harbours that few others in the UK have secured. The Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC) sets out a national safety standard covering different aspects of running ports and harbours. The current list of 230+ ports, published by The Department for Transport as complying with the Code, represents around 14% of UK ports and 30% of Statutory Harbour Authorities.

Projects designed to transform Argyll and Bute and boost the appeal of its towns and villages to investors and visitors are continuing to make good progress. At a meeting of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure committee, councillors were given an update on 18 projects that have attracted funding of £37 million to support the transformation of communities across the area.