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1 day ago | 
news.stv.tv | Andrew Galloway |Victoria Pease
Helensburgh Leisure Centre’s roof has been described as “fragile”, while “a number of options for consideration” will be put before councillors. The £22m waterfront leisure centre and swimming pool, which only opened in 2022, sustained “extensive wind and rainwater damage” during the strong winds, with debris left strewn across the streets. A report by Argyll and Bute Council’s policy lead for finance and commercial services has detailed the effects of Storm Eowyn across the area.
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4 weeks ago | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
STORM EOWYN may have handed Argyll and Bute Council a repair bill of over £7M for its roads and infrastructure, areport has revealed. Locations in all four administrative areas of the region were affected by the weather conditions, which were subject to a red warning, on Friday, January 24. Three locations, at Arrochar, Dunoon and Ormsary, were identified as needing more extensive work to be carried out immediately on the weekend after the storm.
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1 month ago | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
THE Gourock to Dunoon ferry route is set to lose three return sailings per day after a Scottish Government minister approved the change. In a letter to the chair of the Cowal Transport Forum, agriculture and connectivity minister Jim Fairlie MSP confirmed that he had agreed to a recommendation from Transport Scotland. It is not yet clear which sailings will be removed, with a consultation set to take place before a decision is made later in the year.
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1 month ago | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
A COUNCILLOR has said she will not accept the pay increase given to councillors in Argyll and Bute – and branded the rise of up to 22 per cent “shameful”. Councillor Jennifer Kean (Independent, South Kintyre) made the comments about the increase which was due to be set by the Government after recent consultation by local authority bodies.
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1 month ago | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
COUNCIL taxpayers in Argyll and Bute face a 9.9 per cent increase to their bills in the 2025/26 financial year after a decision by the authority. A budget proposal by the council’s ruling group of SNP, Liberal Democrat, Labour, Green and some independent councillors was passed at the annual budget-setting meeting this morning.
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2 months ago | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
OFFICIALS WILL review the work of Argyll and Bute Council during Storm Eowyn to fine tune responses to future weather events. Councillors have also told a meeting that there is a “massive” role for communities to play in resilience against stormy weather in the Bute and Cowal area. Councillors William Sinclair (Cowal, Liberal Democrat) and Gordon Blair (Cowal, SNP) spoke after a presentation by Andy MacPherson, climate change project manager for Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
PLANS FOR a redundant Strachur church hall to be converted into a two-bedroom accommodation unit have been given the go-ahead by council officers. Garry Tickell’s plan for the High Hall, on Stronechrevich Lane, was awarded planning permission after no representations were made by the public. Argyll and Bute Council officials said that the plan was policy-compliant, but noted that the village’s Memorial Hall, which has a maximum capacity of 150, was nearby.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
PLANS have been submitted for 12 wind turbines with a maximum tip height of 200 metres to be situated outside Oban. Argyll and Bute Council has received a section 36 planning application from the Scottish Government for the facility on land 2km northeast of Kilmore, and 5km east of Oban town centre. The proposal, for Corr Chnoc Wind Farm, also includes a battery energy storage system (BESS), with the planned site extending to 728 hectares.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
COUNCILLORS are set to resume discussions on a partly-retrospective proposal for planning permission for a car park and storage yard in Garelochhead. But council officers continue to recommend that Lorne Thomson’s application be refused – despite a representation being made by a councillor. The bid for permission at the site west of the village’s BT telephone exchange had initially been recommended for refusal by Argyll and Bute Council officials in November.
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Jan 17, 2025 | 
argyllbute24.co.uk | Chris Martin |Andrew Galloway
PLANS for a house to be constructed in Rothesay have won planning permission in principle from council officers. Graham and Patricia McArthur’s proposal for land northwest of 18 Ardmory Road attracted no representations to Argyll and Bute Council from the public. The site had previously been the subject of a successful application for planning permission in principle for a house in February 2015.
