Agenda item

Partners provided information on work currently being undertaken in respect of the Economy Community Plan Actions.

 

Argyll and Bute Council

 

CHORD Programme

 

Robert Pollock advised on progress with each of the following projects:-

 

Rothesay - he advised that good progress was being made with the Rothesay Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) and that £2.6m had been secured for the regeneration of Rothesay.  He also advised that the FBC for the redevelopment and refurbishment of Rothesay Pavilion was now complete. 

 

Helensburgh  - the Council planned to invest £6.5m in Helensburgh for environmental, streetscape and waterfront improvements and that the FBC was going before the Council’s Executive in September 2011 for approval. 

 

Campbeltown – he advised that work had begun on the Old Schoolhouse in Campbeltown with funding from Campbeltown THI and ERDF and he also referred to the reconfiguration of the Kinloch Road and confirmed that the land transfer agreement had been concluded with ACHA allowing the Campbeltown Infrastructure improvements for road and harbour facilities to move forward.

 

Dunoon – Robert referred to a successful workshop which had been held in Dunoon on 30 August 2011 to look at developing the FBC for Dunoon and advised that approximately £9m of investment was planned to refurbish the Queens Hall and landscaping around this, road realignment and that harbour facilities including the old Dunoon Pier would also be looked at.

 

The Lorn Arc Project

 

Robert advised the Group of a Scottish Government and Scottish Futures Trust initiative to deliver economic growth by enabling Local Authorities to fund public infrastructure to encourage regeneration and growth.  The approach is known as Tax Incremental Finance and Robert advised of the Council’s bid for TIF Funding which relates to infrastructure investment that will stimulate the economic development within Oban (the extension of Oban’s North pier and the road infrastructure) which was submitted on 19 August 2011 following approval by the Executive on 11 August 2011. He advised that this package of infrastructure has been named the Lorn Arc and will aim to stimulate economic development in the Oban, Dunstaffnage, Dunbeg, North Connel and Barcaldine area.   He concluded that confirmation on whether or not the Council’s bid would be successful to enable to progress to the development of a business case for the project would be known towards the end of September 2011.

 

Renewables

 

Robert advised that the second meeting of the Argyll and Bute Renewable Alliance (ABRA) had taken place on 22 June 2011 and that this meeting had focussed on issues relating to transmission (capacity and charging), the work undertaken by the HIE Renewables team and port and infrastructure requirements relating to the off-shore wind sector.

 

Business Gateway

 

Ishabel Bremner advised that for the first quarter of 2011/12, business start ups supported was 33 against a target of 35 and that they were broken down as follows:

 

• 6 MAKI versus a target of 7; compared with 4 last year
• 3 OLI versus a target of 7; compared with 11 last year
• 3 B & C versus a target of 7; compared with 15 last year
• 17 H & L versus a target of 14; compared with 19 last year

 

She also advised that the number of existing businesses supported with advice or workshops was 115 (excluding H & L) in the first quarter of 2011/12 and that they were broken down as follows:

 

• 58 MAKI versus an annual target of 84
• 46 OLI versus an annual target of 83
• 11 B&C versus an annual target of 83

 

Ishabel also advised that this quarter saw the launch of pilot Procurement workshops in Oban, Dunoon, Inveraray and Islay.  These were co-ordinated by Business Gateway but delivered by the Council’s Procurement Team.  In total, 36 people attended and feedback was excellent with over 92% of the feedback sheets completed rating the event as good or excellent.

 

Cal Mac

 

David Cannon advised that Cal Mac had been won the Public Transport Operator of the Year Award for the second year running.  He also advised of the new ship which had been delivered to Islay.  He confirmed that CMAL were progressing with works at Kennacraig, Port Ellen and Port Askaig.  In respect of the Dunoon – Gourock passenger ferry, he confirmed that David MacBrayne Subsidiaries had won the contract and that they were faced with running a passenger only service from vehicular services and thanked Argyll and Bute Council for their support with this.  He referred to the positive meeting held on 23 August 2011 with Argyll and Bute Council, Inverclyde Council and other interested parties regarding the ferry service and advised of a steering group that had been set up to look at infrastructure requirements.  He reported that they had successfully transported 7,000 passengers to the Cowal Games on 27 August 2011.  David also confirmed that a letter of support for the Council’s bid for TIF funding was being sent from Cal Mac to the Scottish Minister.

 

Argyll and Bute Scottish Enterprise Network (ABSEN)

 

Bill Stewart advised that he was currently involved with arrangements for the ABSEN AGM and Conference being held in Rothesay on 5, 6 ad 7 October 2011.  He referred to workshops that ABSEN had run for  Children and Families and Recycling Groups.  He advised that ABSEN continued to support new, existing and potential Social Enterprises and that 7 new Members had joined in the last 3 months which exceeded targets.

 

Mid Argyll Chamber of Commerce

 

Jane MacLeod confirmed that they were also in the process of writing a letter supporting the Council’s bid for TIF funding and that this would be forwarded to the Scottish Minister in the next few days.  She advised that it was too early to report figures from Members and that more information would be available at the next meeting.  Jane also referred to the Housing summit held in Inveraray on 26 August 2011 which looked at housing and construction problems across Argyll and Bute.  She advised on a number of issues that had been raised including Procurement and the issue of community benefit clauses.  She confirmed that a list of the issues raised would be drawn up and forwarded to the Scottish Government.

 

HIE

 

Douglas Cowan confirmed that Wind Towers Ltd were now up and running at the wind turbine tower manufacturing and assembly plant  in Machrihanish.  He advised that HIE were currently working with the community on the disposal of the base at Machrihanish and he also referred to the European Marine Science Park.  Douglas  also advised that he expected the new Scottish Government Economic Strategy in a couple of weeks.  In respect of customer facing tourism businesses reports on visitor numbers were mixed.  He advised that margins were getting tighter and profitability was down a bit.  He reported that engineering, energy and business services were doing well across HIE and that businesses involved in exporting have seen particularly high growth.

 

Decision

 

Noted Partner updates.

 

(Reference: Highlight and Exception report by Argyll and Bute Social Enterprise Network dated 18 August 2011, submitted)