.

NETWORK CENTRE AND TEAROOMWinter hours 11am-4pm Closed Wednesdays &Thursdays

CARRADALE GOLF CLUB2, OLD SCHOOLHOUSE CARRADALE PA28 6QJ

TELEPHONE 01583 431788 Further information is on page 11.

THE SECRETARY IS MARGARET RICHARDSON

THE TWO HUNDREDTH AND THIRTY-FIRST ANTLER

Contact Rob Jones on: 01586 830133 after 6pm

mobile: 07507327410 7am - 6pm e-mail: robamod@hotmail.co.uk

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HOUSE FOR SALE IN WATERFOOT4 bedrooms, 3 garages, ⅓ acre garden.

Owners ‘down-sizing.’Ring 01583 431281 for details.

HYDRO GENEROSITYOFF ELECTRICITY FOR OVER 48 HOURS?

If you were one of Kintyre’s residents off electricity for over 48 hours inthe recent storms,despite the valiant efforts being made by linesmen tomaintain power supplies, you can claim an ex-gratia payment of £75.Stuart Hogarth, Director of Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution,in thanking consumers for their patience and support, invites you towrite to The Claims Department, Inveralmond House, Dunkeld Road,Perth, PH1 3AQ or e-mail the Department at feedback@sse.com withdetails of your claim. Reminder sent in by David Sherrat.

VILLAGE SOSAs many people are aware a group of villagers put in an application tothe Village SOS competition for funds to get above ground fuel storagewith a card reader to re-introduce a petrol station in Carradale. This wassuccessful in getting through to the second round of the competition. Unfortunately when the application forms were received and furtherinvestigations into the costs were conducted it was realised that thisapplication would not come within the rules of the competition. Thecompetition organisers were contacted and we were told we could putanother project forward. The original fuel group and directors of Network Carradale had ameeting to look at each suggestion that had been listed on the Pipe-dreams web-site. There were various reasons suggestions were reject-ed for this competition and finally it was decided that the project thatwould be put forward was the creation of a Carradale Cycle Trail and amountain bike hire shop to be situated at Network Carradale. This application was submitted on 1st February and we have beeninformed by the organisers that we will know if it has been successful inApril. A copy of the application is on the notice board in the village halltogether with a summary of the fuel filling station investigations and thereasons other pipedream suggestions were rejected for this particularcompetition. The fuel group are now looking at alternative funding for theprovision of fuel. See related initiative reports on pages 5, 6, 7 & 9.

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IN THIS MONTH’S ANTLERP.2 Community consultation, Try before you buy, A little extra, GleaningsP.3 Wave-watching, Outnumbered, Combined efforts to save the planet.P.4 Letter from Shelagh Cameron to the Editor, January rainfall, Thanks.P.5 Village pipe dreams, Carradale Harbour Group update.P.6 Jobs in and for Carradale, Update on the petrol station.P.7 Update on the petrol station continued, Saddell and Carradale Guild.P.8 Quizzle 11 results. Quizzle 11 results. Quizzle 11 results. Quizzle 11.P.9 The Kintyre - Arran Ferry, Planning applications.P.10 The Old School Bunkhouse Project in Campbeltown.P.11 School terms, Scottish Country Dancing. Planning, April Geobash.P.12 EKCC notes, EKCC minutes, Community councils - ABC notes.

“Cupboard Love” - A comedy in which love and Profiteroles go hand in hand -It is proof once again that a man’s heart is approached through his stomach!

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COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONOn Saturday 14th January, in the Carradale Hotel, the South KintyreDevelopment Trust Officer, Malcolm McMillan, introduced a consulta-tion workshop for the East Kintyre Community Action Plan. The event ‘was an opportunity to present the results of the surveysand interviews that had been carried out in the area over the last fewmonths and gave attendants the opportunity to comment, contributeand get involved in developing what actions should be taken by thecommunity over the next few years’. 40 residents attended the work-shop and were invited to score three sets of proposals. Although therequirement was to place sticky tabs on the preferred developments,some residents had run out of tabs before tackling all three lists. The results of the workshop, and of others held in Campbeltownand Southend, will be available in the Antler once the preferenceshave been analysed.

A LITTLE EXTRAIS THE ANTLER BEING STAMPED OUT OF EXISTENCE

Each month, the Antler’s efficient voluntary postal officer, SheenaRamsay, flexes her muscles and carefully folds and inserts 79 Antlersinto A5 envelopes. She seals them and places a 2nd class stamp anda label on the front and takes them to the post office. Although a fewyears ago as many as 97 subscribers enjoyed this service, with theAntler available in colour on ‘Scribd’, the Kintyre Community Forum’and ‘Carradale Goat’ web-sites, Internet users have taken the easyoption; others in Scotland or abroad have opted for the equally freetext-only e-mail service. While Antler subscription rates have remained at £10 for the last20 years, admittedly for 11 issues rather than 12, postal rates haverisen dramatically. Now, with 2nd class stamps at 36p about to rise to55p, readers might be surprised to hear that postal subscriptions maynot rise in the immediate future. You may well ask how this can be managed; are there a numberof very generous donors? Well in a way there are - the Antler enjoysregular support from its advertisers and the patronage of a very few‘free’ readers as well as a number of subscribers who often add morethan a little extra to their subscription – problem hopefully solved.

CAMPBELTOWN GRAMMAR SCHOOL‘TRY BEFORE YOU BUY’ AREA UNVEILED

Published Date: 13 Jan 2012 - 16:42‘It was back to school this morning for Argyll and Bute Councillor RoryColville. The former pupil was helping unveil a new ‘Try before you buy’area on the top of the south block of Campbeltown Grammar School.Its part of a national trial project Argyll and Bute Council has beeninvolved in with government funded body Architecture and DesignScotland’. ‘Three classrooms have been joined up to include a flexible openplan space, an amphitheatre for teaching with a white board, coffeeshop style study booths and plenty of tables and chairs for working ingroups, on laptops and more importantly for revision purposes. It alsofeatures a ‘chill-out’ area. The new space is well suited to teaching theCurriculum for Excellence’.’ ‘Spokesperson for third sector and communities, Councillor RoryColville said “It’s wonderful to see the bright, airy and colourful fixturesand fittings which have really transformed this part of CampbeltownGrammar. The room can cater for up to 90 pupils at a time as there areso many different areas and speaking to the children today, they arereally enthusiastic about the new space. If this works it could provideideas for the new school which will be built in a few years time”.’ ‘Pupils and teachers have been involved with the project from thevery beginning and their design ideas have been crucial to developingthe new area in the school. The Design Advisor at Architecture andDesign Scotland, Sam Cassels said “The pupils really have had astrong say in the process and have been listened to. We have workedhand in hand with them to get a design that is right. The children havea strong sense of ownership about the area which is fantastic. We willbe evaluating how well the space works over the next couple of months”.’ ‘One of the first groups to use the ‘Try before you buy’ area were40 second year pupils who are doing a carbon diary project. Headteacher Mike Casey said, “The new area has really given this 1968building a real lift and pupils and staff are equally as enthusiastic aboutusing the new area”.’

Executive Director of Community Services at Argyll and Bute Coun-cil, Cleland Sneddon said, “The learning that is gained from the innova-tive development will directly contribute to the design of the newCampbeltown Grammar School which will be developed over the nextfew years”.

GLEN GLEANINGSJust before Christmas a harvest of wild oats was being carried into thebarn of local gossip. Amongst the more unusual grains was a most unlikely sub specieswhich had been cross-fertilising and produced a breed of half-hardycorn which has left a ‘rye’ smile on the face of those who weresupposed to be involved in planting new seed at the Glen. Suspicionsabout the new crop grew when samples were subjected to microscopicanalysis to see if there was a genetic threat to local wildlife from anon-Scottish source. Earlier in the autumn pipe-smokers had beenkeen to promote the use of the buildings either as a respite centre, aNaomi Mitchison garden centre or a Polish, German, Morris themedsecond bar, but when an anti-tobacco spray was used on the newvariety it quickly disintegrated into a black mass and experts werecalled in to stop it affecting more traditional crops.

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WAVE-WATCHINGMARTIN MEARS AND SOME INTERESTING OBSERVATIONSMartin writes “I don't know if this is of interest to you, or maybeknow already, but although I've spent years walking alongbeaches it has never occurred to me before that the wavesalways come in in-line with the beach, despite the wind orwave direction. I came across the explanation in a book I havebeen reading called ‘The Wave-Watchers Companion’ byGavin Pretor-Pinney.” Martin attached the following para-graphs -

‘Refraction also explains a feature of ocean waves that hasalways puzzled me; why do they always arrive lined up withthe beach, their forward motion perpendicular to the watersedge. If waves come from storms out at sea, you would thinkthat, every once in awhile, they’d roll up the beach towards theshore, but along the length of it, from one end to the other’.

‘That they don’t is down to refraction. The shallower thewater becomes, the slower the waves travel, so any waveheading inland at an angle to the shoaling gradient of thesandy bottom will slow down more at the end nearer thebeach. This will cause a wave to turn and face the landhead-on’.

‘It is interesting to consider how wrong, it would feel ifwaves didn’t generally roll up the beach head-on like this. Itmight be hard to say quite what was wrong, but I feel sure thatyou would know that something was not quite as it should be.Most of us, whether or not we are wave-watchers, have littleappreciation of the phenomenon of refraction. We take theeffect for granted. What does it matter to us that waves canchange direction as they change speed on passing into adiffering medium? That refraction explains why ocean wavesgenerally arrive at the beach head-on may not seem a big dealif you have never noticed that waves do so in the first place.But that is precisely what wave-watching is all about; noticingthe hidden in the everyday’.

‘A wave-watcher can, of course, simply enjoyed gazingunthinkingly at the surf. I think it is, after all, one of the bestforms of meditation there is. But becoming a wave-watcher inthe broader sense is about finding connections, parallels andsimilarities among very different types of waves: some that areeasily seen, like those at the beach; and others that areinvisible to us, like sound. The wave-like nature of our worldmay be subtle enough for many us to live entirely oblivious toit, but is also so fundamental that, once you have started anoticing it, you begin to see it everywhere’.

Incidentally Gavin Pretor-Pinney is President of the Cloud-watchers Society and author of another volume – ‘The Cloud-watchers Companion. Anyone who has a copy and is preparedto comment on our misconceptions about clouds, please con-tact the Antler Editor.

OUTNUMBERED

Dr Malcolm Elder and Rhona Elder after their wedding in Callander on the 28thDecember 2011, with a full supporting entourage of five colour-coordinated

daughters. Photo from the Carradale Goat web-site.

COMBINED EFFORTS TO SAVE THE PLANET‘HYBRID VEHICLES HELP REDUCE COUNCIL CARBON TYRE-PRINT!’

‘Argyll and Bute Council is further improving its green credentials and reducingits carbon footprint by investing in four hybrid vehicles’. ‘The vehicles, three 17 seater minibuses and a transit van, are replacingolder diesel vehicles and were bought as part of the effort to tackle climatechange. This is an important first step in reducing transport emissions and it ispredicted that fuel savings and carbon release will be reduced by between 15 –25 percent. The council invested in hybrid technology because it is an idealsolution for the geography of Argyll and Bute. This is because hybrid vehiclesdon’t have the same range restrictions as all-electric vehicles’. ‘The minibuses are based in Dunoon, and as well as taking children in thearea to and from school during the week will be available for community groupuse at weekends. Council Leader Dick Walsh said, “I am delighted that the council, as part ofthe Community Planning Partnership is taking a leading role in reducing roadtransport carbon emissions. This is a great opportunity for the council tointroduce and evaluate low carbon vehicles in a wide range of working environ-ments. The feedback from the drivers will help us respond to the ScottishGovernment on their use and suitability”.’

RNLI BONUS BALL WINNERS 8th Oct Morag Cameron 15th Oct Sarah Semple 22nd Oct Tom Adams 29th Oct Mgt. Richardson 5th Nov Eliz. McMillan 12th Nov Sylvia Irvine 19th Nov Mgt. Richardson 2 6th Nov J. Semple 3rd Dec C . McKinnon 10th Dec I. Neilson 17th Dec M. Macalister-Hall

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JANUARY RAINFALL Until nearly the middle of the month, January was a continuation of thevery wet conditions that we experienced at the end of last year.Rainfall was recorded on almost every day with particularly heavyrecordings on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th when we had 23mm, 20mm &24mm (nearly three inches in three days). There were, however, in a predominantly wet month, two spells ofrespite - a four day period of no rain between January 13th and 16thand again a second at the end of the month from the 28th onwardswhen just 2mm was recorded. The total rainfall in January was 228mm (about 9 inches).Thisreflects above average rainfall (the January average is 219mm) and itis our fifth highest January total.

A visual comparison is given in the table below:-The year, the January Rainfall total in mm, with the higher totalsrecorded in bold type and the highest underlined. 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 187mm 279 175 455 265 171 249 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 191 197 103 133 228It is interesting to note in the two previous years 2010 & 2011, that theirtotals were the two lowest. So the start of this year bucks the previoustrend of a drier start. Noticeable, too, is the dull windier conditions thathave marked the start of 2012. Hail and sleet yes, but snow no, andthis goes against Sara Coleridge’s poem of ‘The Months,’ so perhapsFebruary will be atypical as well. “January brings the snow, “February brings the rain Makes our feet and fingers glow.” Thaws the frozen lake again”We will just have to wait and see what the next few weeks bring….....we have no power to do otherwise! M.L.

LETTER TO THE EDITORIn last month's Antler there was some speculation as to whether I hadresigned completely from East Kintyre Community Council. The rea-sons for my resignation were not included in the minutes so please findbelow my resignation address.

As some of you may remember, back in 2005, when I was electedas chairperson of EKCC I stated that I hoped we could move forwardsto a consensual and non confrontational style of local politics. I believethat this has been the case and, in the most part, we have had fairlypleasant and constructive meetings.

I do, however feel that I have been a victim of my own policy. I madethe conscious decision not to enter into confrontation with our local press(Antler & Goat) although on numerous occasions I have felt very muchlike retaliating. I have also realised over the last few years that commu-nity councils seem to be in the most part, toothless and powerlesstalking shops and looking at communications from the Association ofArgyll & Bute Community Councils I suspect I am not alone in this opinion.

I feel my time could be more usefully spent on working groupsactually doing something to better our community.

I am aware that many people reading reports in the Antler presumethat they are reading facts and are not reading the assumptions oropinions of the editor. As we know the line between editorial commentand fact can sometimes get a bit blurred.

Over my years as Chairperson/convenor of EKCC, especially sincethe resignation of the secretary (Mr Page) opinions have been pub-lished about meetings. Most recently a decision-taken by the wholeCommunity Council - was attributed solely to the convenor.

Readers of the Antler may not realise that, since Mr Page's resig-nation, I have been covering both roles - secretary and convenor. If theformer secretary had been kind enough to find or even suggest areplacement before his resignation his monthly sniping over pettyadministrative details would have been unnecessary. It is a great pitythat the positives that we have achieved were not reported as ardentlyas the very minor negatives. The editor may have got his underwear ina twist over late minutes but I can assure Antler readers that Argyll &Bute Council have never, in my time, had any reason to complain aboutthe administrative workings of EKCC. Not a single complaint has beenreceived from Argyll and Bute in fact quite the opposite. At the Decem-ber meeting the 3 Argyll & Bute Councillors present were effusive intheir praise. (which went unreported). I would like to wish EKCCcontinued success and hope to be of help in any way with their futureendeavours to try to make our beautiful village better, more vibrant andeconomically sustainable.

Yours sincerely, Shelagh Cameron.

THANKSMatthew, Sheena, Karen and Morag Ramsay would really like to thankeveryone who helped Matthew celebrate his 65th Birthday.  It was agreat night, of eating, drinking, music and dancing bringing back lots ofgood memories. Thank you especially for all the gifts and donations,with a result £150 was donated to the Vine Trust, to help street childrenin Peru & £150 to the Fishermen's Mission; Matthew being involved withboth of these charities. Thanks again from all at Portnastorm.

Articles, comments, reports of meetings and events warmly welcomed.Ring 01583 431281, e-mail gp@geoffreypage.plus.com or write to

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.VILLAGE SOS PIPE DREAMSSUGGESTIONS FOR THE VILLAGE SOS SUBMITTED AS

ALTERNATIVES TO THE FUEL PUMPS AND THE OUTCOME OFDISCUSSIONS HELD AT THE NETWORK CENTRE

ON TUESDAY 6TH DECEMBERThe suggestions for the Village SOS Lottery have to meet the follow-ing requirements: Capital expenditure capped at £25,000 inclusive ofVAT, Be a new business and not supporting an existing business,Generate income.The application forms have to be submitted by 2nd February 20121. Tea down the quay Not within the remit as replaces an existing

business, planning permission for commercial premises required2. Flat games parks Does not generate income.3. Aquarium Thought to be too expensive and need to generate a

projected income.4. Falconry Great idea, however the owl centre at Campbeltown

moved due to lack of support and at times they had to have anindoor flying area.

5. Bike Hire Yes taken further see hire of mountain bikes no. 176. Tennis Possible, need to do a costing and income projections over

a three year period.7. Crazy Golf Possible, but see no. 6.8. Refurbish Visitor Centre No unfortunately as this is an existing

facility.9. Tree Top Walk Great idea that we want/must pursue. For this

SOS grant we have to provide a complete business plan with allcostings and trained supervised helpers so a problem within thetimescale. If we can get no. 17 approved then it is suggested thatthis is the first add on to provide an adventure centre.

10. Telescope Deer Hill But where is the income, unfortunately howmany people climb Deer Hill and would pay to look through atelescope?

11. Bowling Green Good idea to pursue at some time, ruled out at thisstage as not a business generating income.

12. Hot Tub Don't think so.13. Camera Obscura Yes something to pursue but need to provide a

business plan including income generation.14. Rope Bridge Waterfoot No income.15. Rehabilitate Stepping Stones at Waterfoot No income.16. Miniature Railway The history of these projects is one of closure.17. Hire of mountain bikes, golf clubs, provision of internet facilities:

This is one that the group unanimously backed to be entered intothe competition as a lot of the costs/income had been worked on.

18. A Fish Shop and Fish Club Does not seem possible due toregulations and fish quotas. Could be pursued to sell salmon fromthe fish farm however

19. Bunkhouse Where and planning permission plus projected in-come?

20. Ferry to Arran Great support for this, however within the timescaleand a capped budget it had to rejected for this submission. Howev-er this is a project that we really should pursue

21. Polytunnels to support salad production Yes the idea was liked,however market research needed to pursue the mail order side.Could be looked at later as a community project

22. A Wind turbine Yes and would "generate' income. Too big aproject for this submission

23. A covered all weather sports pitch Would be great, however thecost would be way above the limits of this submission

24. A room for darts, pool etc Does not meet the requirements as nota business. The community to pursue via the village hall

25. A community taxi Yes but needs a viability study, what would bethe costs, usage and projected income? Jim Galbraith

CHUGUPDATE FEBRUARY 2012

Network Carradale's Harbour sub-committee has met twice over thelast month and progress is being maintained on several fronts. MOORINGS.An application has been made to Crown Estates for permission to place4 moorings off Shore Road. They will be available for yachts andpowerboats to overnight when visiting Carradale. A fee structure andterms & conditions are being finalised, plus insurance cover is beingobtained. The practicalities of sourcing and placing the moorings havealready been taken care of. WEB-SITE.A web-site domain name has been registered, www.carradaleharbour.co.uk and will be used to publicise the moorings and any futuredevelopment of the harbour area. HARBOUR AREA REDEVELOPMENT.An architect's brief has been produced that is being sent to selectedarchitectural practices that have a proven history of small harbourdevelopment. We expect to appoint a practice within the next 2 monthsto produce a master plan of the area that can be taken forward, giventhe support of the village and suitable finance being found. Discussionsare still ongoing with ABC regarding harbour management. Marcus Adams, courtesy of J.D. from the Carradale Goat web-site.

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JOBS IN AND FOR CARRADALEOn behalf of the East Kintyre Community Council, we are working on aproposal for a pilot project in Carradale and East Kintyre to generatelocal jobs to support local services, particularly -but not exclusively -those aimed at the elderly. Our core idea is that in remote rural areas ‘care in the community’cannot be divorced from care of the community. We believe thatmeeting the needs of elderly people through generating jobs for localpeople will result in both a stronger community and a better and lessexpensive service. Our belief is that well intentioned criteria for good practice in carefor the elderly have evolved without any recognition of the reality of aremote rural context. The system has been designed to work in citiesand towns. Regulations prohibiting an isolated care worker from help-ing someone who has had a fall, changing a light bulb, or administeringmedication are misguided. An ambulance may take over an hour toattend a 999 call/Assessment of acceptable risk and the accompanyingregulations must be reconsidered to take account of reality of oursituation.We envisage a team of full-time and part-time, multi-talented ‘villageassistants’ employed to provide an array of services including:Personal and social care� First-responder (i.e. prior to ambulance)� Citizens-advice and help with form filling� House maintenance� Respite care at home allowing live-in carers a holiday� Shopping� Technical assistance (e.g. TVs, computers, mobility)� Power and water cut preparedness and support� Transport for medical and social purposes� Managing defibrillators� Maintenance of public spaces� Maybe even pot hole filling? Our aim is to have Local Authority departments, and organizationssuch as Housing Associations and commercial care providers, pay our‘village services’ to deliver services on their behalf. The ‘village servic-es’ would be a community trust or company employing a full-timeadministrator.More details at villageweb.org.uk/village services.htm We have talked to our MSP, Michael Russell, who supports theidea and has contacted Nicola Sturgeon. She is encouraging Argylland Bute to support the initiative. The Big Lottery have offered to payfor a consultant to help develop the idea into a fundable proposal and

the University of the Highlands and Islands Centre for Rural Health hasoffered to act as that consultant. On the 23rd February there will be ameeting with Alison Hunter from Argyll and Bute Elder Services, GlennHeritage from Argyll Voluntary Action and David Hanley from SocialServices Quality Assurance. If you are interested in developing the idea of village services,please contact Cathy Forbes (01583 431 787), stop by at Ardcarrachby the pier for a chat or e-mail cathy@mapmaker.com

UPDATE ON THE PETROL STATION2ND FEBRUARY 2012

The ‘fuel group’ is still exploring possibilities for a community ownedpetrol station in Carradale. However, it is now clear that the process isgoing to be longer and more complex than we had hoped. Three issueshave emerged:� The actual costs involved are much higher than the first cost esti-

mates that we received. Under the conditions of the ‘Village SOS’competition it was permissible to top up the funds from othersources but only up to a point. It became apparent that even if wecould find additional funds the costs were going to exceed this limitsignificantly.

� In researching the proposal we talked to people at Applecross, whohave successfully set up a community petrol station. For the unpaidvolunteers who operate the petrol station, it has turned into a bit ofa nightmare. The demands on their time, dealing with technicalfaults and administration are much greater than they expected. Weneed to take this seriously and think how our petrol station couldavoid such problems.

� Since the proposal was floated, many people have said, "great idea,but I don't actually need it. It would be good for the others, but Ihave to drive to Campbeltown so often anyway..." Very probablythis group would buy from a community petrol station in order tosupport the community. But this is different from putting a definitenumber on the people in real need - mainly elderly people who onlydrive around the immediate locality. We really do not know howmany there are who would truly benefit from a local fuel supply. Andif we did, would the number justify the costs and effort of setting upour own petrol station. Are there alternatives? For example, a fleetof a dozen or more electric, road-worthy, weather-proof golf bug-gies could be purchased for the same price.

The outcomes are:� In order not to lose the Community Council's ‘Village SOS’ funding

opportunity, the proposal has been changed into one for the hire ofmountain bikes and off-road disabled buggies based at the Net-

7

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work Centre. This has been developed by Network Carradale and hasnow been submitted. The draft proposal can be seen athttp://villageweb.org.uk/eastkintyre/villagesos.htm. We should learn byApril whether the application has been successful.

� The fuel group believes that a project as ambitious and complicated as apetrol station cannot realistically be carried out using volunteer labouralone. It would need paid staff. Unfortunately, a petrol station, with itsnarrow profit margins, could not, by itself, afford staff, in the Semple’sexperience, selling fuel was a public service that they had to supportthrough other work. The same applies to other potential projects and thereare only so many volunteer-hours available. People are too busy makinga living, looking after their relatives and neighbours, and following theirown pursuits to be able to give the necessary time. Paradoxically, it isbecoming clear that we need to be more - not less - ambitious. If we lookat other communities such as Comrie, Ardrishaig and Westray we see thatan array of projects, taken together, can fund the staff to run them.Volunteers will always be essential but full-time workers are needed tocarry the work forward over a period of years. Consequently, the fuelgroup has decided to become the ‘energy group’ and will look to developa set of proposals under the broad umbrella of energy saving.

ENERGY RELATED PRIORITIESThere are two events that require the immediate consideration of the Commu-nity Council:� Hydro power. On the Torrisdale estate they are now at an advanced

planning stage for building a hydroelectric generator. Niall Macalister Hal!has suggested that the old Carradale reservoir might be a suitable site fora community owned hydro scheme. The consultants who designed theTorrisdale scheme have generously offered to do an initial feasibility studyfree of charge. We should know within a few days whether, in principal,our reservoir is viable. The Forestry Commission, which owns the relevantland, have said that, in principal, they would be happy to consider such aproject under their community renewables scheme. To be eligible we, thecommunity, need to make a formal expression of interest by 30th June2012. We would then need to put together a major funding proposal.

� Ferry. Energy saving encompasses a broad range of activities. One possi-bility would be a ferry service from Carradale to Arran, to save carjourneys. A passenger/cycle ferry has been discussed and has not beenruled out. However, the future of the Cloanaig ferry is now under consid-eration in a major Scottish Government review of all ferry services. Thereview is in its second stage. Do we want to press for a change in theroute to take in Carradale (Cloanaig -> Lochranza -> Carradale). If we dowe must get our proposal in by the 30th March 2012. So we must askourselves now, do we want a CalMac car ferry, and, if so, would we wantit coming to Carradale harbour or Torrisdale or somewhere else? Thingsare already happening with the ferry, as with home care. Do we want totry to influence our future or lie down and wait for it to overtake us? EricDudley and Cathy Forbes.

DEVELOPMENTAL ADDENDUMThe suggestions about the fuel group becoming the energy group and lookinginto putting together a wider package were presented at the CommunityCouncil and endorsed.Regarding the ferry, there are some developments which I've put on the website: http://www.villageweb.org.uk/eastkintyre/Ferry.htm#startRegarding the hydro-electric idea Niall Macalister Hall's consultants have thisafternoon come back with their report which predicts a potential of 8Kw outputwhich is far too low to make it viable. However, there still may be hope inlooking elsewhere in the area. I've put details up at:http://www.villageweb.org.uk/eastkintyre/Energy.htm#start. There is now aFacebook campaign on the Ferry at http://villageweb.org.uk/facebook Eric Dudley.

SADDELL & CARRADALE GUILDAt the first of two meetings in January, Nichola Holt, our localpodiatrist, who has a practice at Hazelburn in Campbeltown,gave a most enlightening talk. She started with a brief history ofthe Society of Chiropodists, now in its centenary year, andoutlined changes which over the years have enabled practition-ers to give more advanced treatments. Nicola explained how thebones in the foot articulate as we walk and that any distortion canaffect other parts of the body. Claire, a third year student inplacement with Nicola, gave an insight into her training opportu-nities, There followed many questions from the audience, the an-swers being of interest to all present. One query was to thedifference between chiropody and podiatry - there is none, bothmean ‘treatment of the foot by the hand’, but podiatry is useduniversally. The session ended with several of the audiencetaking part in a simple experiment to find out if they had thecorrect shoe size. The second meeting took place towards the end of Januaryand the Guild were privileged to have as speaker, Alistair Cous-in, the well-known retired vet. He first came to Campbeltown,after qualifying in Glasgow to join Messrs. Lewis and Sutherlandin 1966, working from the senior partner’s house in Dell Road.Alistair took over the practice in 1982 when Fenn Sutherlandretired and the surgery moved to Longrow. The extra spaceenabled new technology to be installed such as an X-ray unit andscanner. He spoke of how the changes in farming had affectedthe vets workload. The decrease in dairy farming, the emphasison preventive measures and with farmers doing much of theirown injections, all meant less farm visiting. Initially domesticanimals formed a very small part of their work, but this has nowincreased. His talk included many humorous tales about variousincidents and animals he had encountered. Although retired, Alistair still has a very busy schedule actingas locum for practices on the West Coast of Scotland and someof the isles. Both meetings, held in the comfort of the village hallcommittee room, well attended and much enjoyed, concludedwith the usual excellent and welcome refreshments. M.P.

CLASS OF 52/53?SOME FAMILIAR CARRADALE FACES FROM THE PAST

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QUIZZLE 11 RESULTSThank you to all those who supported Carradale Village Hall by takingpart in Quizzle11. The result was delayed as it took some time toresearch alternative answers on the internet. Some were then accept-ed but others had to be rejected though full marks for invention! The winner is Helen Gurr from Bodmin in Cornwall - who was 3short of a perfect score with 77/80.2nd (76/80) Chris Chantler from Bath in Wilts.,3rd (72/80) Donald & Mary Macalister Hall, Torrisdale.4th equal (71/80) Gail McIntosh, Waterfoot. & David Hornsby, London.We are already working on the next one – Quizzle12! Margaret Leighton.Below are the official answers (As ever, some other suitable answerswere allowed if they fitted exactly). The only question to stump every-body was No 34GENERAL QUESTIONS: Eg: 7D in a W = 7 days a week1. 4 S of the Y: 4 seasons of the year 2. 2 W in a F: 2 weeks in a fortnight 3. 57 HV : 57 Heinz varieties 4. 14P in a S: 14 pounds in a stone 5. 3 L on a T : 3 legs on a tripod 6. a 21-GS: a 21 gun salute 7. 5 R on the OF: 5 rings on the Olympic flag 8. 8 L on a S : 8 legs on a spider 9. 1W on a U: 1 wheel on a unicycle 10. 88 K on a P: 88 keys on a piano 11. 4Q in a P o C : 4 Queens in a Pack of Cards 12. O has 67 I: Orkney has 67 islands 13. 29L on the CC: 29 locks on the Caledonian Canal 14. The LE has 32 C : The London Eye has 32 Capsules 15. 32 – the NHN : 32 – the Ninth Happy Number 16. In 1930 SKWA: In 1930 St Kilda was abandoned 17. 3W in M (S): 3 witches in Macbeth (S) 18. 2WN for a W: 2 witnesses needed for a will 19. JIN1C: John Innes Number 1 Compost 20. 15S on the GU: 15 stations on the Glasgow underground 21. 1 WB in S: 1 white ball in snooker 22. 7 H in YH: 7 holes in your head. 23. 10-DF: 10- double figures. 24. a P h 0 T: a pobble has 0 toes.25. 8D of BC in C (2011): 8 denominations of British coins in circula-

tion (2011). 26. 9 P in a BT: 9 players in a baseball team. 27. RBH 13 C: Robert Burns had 13 children.28. 645D is the GP(in D) of the AE : 645 days is the gestation

period(in days) of the Asian elephant 29. 86400 S in a D: 86400 seconds in a day 30. a G w W 4 OP: a groat was worth 4 old pennies 31. 45 I in an EE: 45 inches in an English ell. 32. LJG the 9DQ: Lady Jane Grey the 9 Day Queen33. the A of an ET is 60 D; the angle of an equilateral triangle is 60

degrees 34. 21TC on a CCCBC 21 tooth caps on a current crown cork bottle cap35. BK in D at 2717F the TM-MS: Burj Khalifa in Dubai at 2,717 feet-

the tallest man-made structure. 36. 246 S in the WM: 246 steps in the Wallace monument.37. 300 the MPS in TPB: 300 the maximum possible score in ten pin

bowling 38. SGW 22 GSTT: Steffi Graf won 22 grand Slam Tennis Titles.39. S of N - FC from the STU: 7 of 9 fictional character from the Star

Trek Universe 40. a T h 3E : a tuatara has 3 eyes

41. P the O P the R in the WC 2010: Paul the Octopus Predicted theResults in the World Cup 2010

42. 50911FMDCWGD: 5th Sept 2011 Freddie Mercury Day celebrat-ed with Google Doodle

43. F12 - 2 HE at NR: Feb 12 -2 horses electrocuted at NewburyRacecourse.

44. 111769 w a S :1st Jan 1769 was a Sunday 45. RSN2 in EM : Rachmaninov Symphony Number 2 in E Minor 46. 27072012 S of OG: 27 July 2012 Start of Olympic Games 47. LvBD in 1827: Ludwig van Beethoven Died in 1827 48. EBCCN 5: Ernest Beaux Created Chanel Number 5 49. a HH h 27 B: A Human Hand has 27 Bones 50. 336 D on a RGB: 336 Dimples on a Regulation Golf BallTOWNS & CITIES WITHIN THE UK Eg: Not a warm place to bath.

Coldstream51. Season these winter garments: Saltcoats. 52. Berkshire performance of Tosca: Ascot. 53. Everyone round article for this Scottish town: Alloa. 54. Midland town that goes to your head: Derby. 55. Is this meat past its sell by date?: Oldham. 56. Should this be closed to keep sheep in?: Ramsgate. 57. Boundary surrounding a place of worship: Kirkwall. 58. A parent in good health: Motherwell. 59. A brook or stream for this welsh resort: Rhyl.60. Perhaps a cow’s / beasts favourite car: OxfordNUMBER PUZZLES Straightforward, cryptic, maybe even devious.61. What is the length of the side of a square if its area in square cm is

equal to twice its perimeter in cm?: 8cm62. If ten people at a party all shake hands with one another, how many

handshakes are there altogether?: 4563. Using all the digits 1 to 9 form three three-digit numbers, so that the

third number is three times greater than the first and the secondnumber equals the third minus the first: 273, 546, 819.

64. From which number can you take away half and leave nothing?: 1065. How can you take 1 away from 19 to make 20?: X(I)X==XX66. Find a way of combining the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,and 9(in that

order) into numbers forming a sum that equals 100 using themathematical signs plus or minus only 3 times: 123-45-67+89 =100

67. What is the value of one-half of two-thirds of three-quarters offour-fifths of five-sixths of six-sevenths of seven-eighths of eight-ninths of nine-tenths of 1000?: 100.

68. A child put 30 pence into a machine for a bar of chocolate, using onlytwo coins, one of which was not a 10 pence coin. What were the twocoins used?: One wasn’t a 10p but the other was so 20p &10p!

69. If O+OK=KO substitute one digit for 0 and one for K to decode theaddition sum: VOID (Question contained misprint)

70. Find three numbers such that the first with half of the other two, thesecond with one third of the other two, and the third with a quarterof the other two, shall all be equal to 34?: 10, 22, & 26

WHAT WORDS, PHRASES OR EXPRESSIONS ARE DEPICTED HERE?Eg GSGE answer:- scrambled eggs71. NOONT; afternoon tea72. T M, AU, HS, WT: what goes up must come down73. THOUGHTAN: an afterthought74. GIVE GET, GIVE GET, GIVE GET, GIVE GET: forgive and forget75. BANDALLAID: All in a good cause76. THINGTHING: one thing after another77. OO: au pair78. Xmascara: kiss and make up79. U, S, T, I: it’s up to you80. JUST144ICE: a gross injustice.81. PINNACLES: friends in high places

9

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THE KINTYRE – ARRAN FERRYIn 2010 The Scottish Government initiated a process of consultationabout the future of the ferries serving the Highlands and the Islands.This process resulted in a draft plan which was published just beforeChristmas 2011. We are now well into the 14 week period for consulta-tion on the draft which will come to an end on the 30th March 2012.After the results of this consultation are duly considered, TransportScotland will produce a ten year plan to cover ferry provision up to2022. The draft plan now under public review can be downloaded fromhttp://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/strategyandresearch/publications-and-consultations/draft-ferries-plan-consultation.

The draft plan breaks the Highland and Islands down into parts andconsiders each part separately. For instance, there is a section onArran and another on Kintyre. In the section on Kintyre, though the newWest Coast Motors passenger ferry to Ballycastle is welcomed, wenote that the Claonaig – Lochranza ferry is not even mentioned. Theonly vehicle ferry mentioned is the Tarbert – Portavadie ferry. In full,the draft says:

“Kintyre currently has a service from Tarbert that links the peninsulawith Portavadie. This is an important connection which is not only usedas an alternative to the extended road journey for people travellingfrom Kintyre to the central belt, but is used by people living aroundPortavadie who want to travel to Kintyre and from there to Oban. It isalso popular in the summer with visitors and forms part of a strategicset of routes that facilitate tourism in the summer months. To removethe route could have implications for not just the immediate area butfurther afield.”

One would have thought that if the paragraph read “people living onArran who want to travel to Kintyre” the very same importance wouldattach to the Claonaig ferry and its removal would have similar implica-tions for extended road journeys and tourism.

The document goes on to a suggest a new service from Campbel-town: “a service operating between Kintyre, via Arran to Ardrossan (orTroon). The service would operate one or two days per week”.

In the section on Arran the draft proposal replaces the existingBrodick ferry with two smaller vessels starting earlier in the day andending later in the evening - a major investment which would result ina much improved service. The new service from Campbeltown would,incidentally, be contingent on this service. In this context only is theClaonaig service mentioned. In full, it says:

“Claonaig to Lochranza largely fulfils a specialist function in themovement of dangerous goods. In terms of passenger and vehiclenumbers it is very much a secondary route to the Ardrossan andBrodick service – for every passenger travelling between Claonaig andLochranza, there are around 16 passengers travelling between Ardros-san to Brodick. The figure for cars is around 9 to 1 in favour ofArdrossan to Brodick. It would be our intention to review services between Claonaig andLochranza following the upgrade to Ardrossan to Brodick.”

Combined with the lack of any recognition of the role of the Claon-aig ferry for Kintyre, or in the broader picture of tourism routes, it is hardnot to interpret these words as laying the ground for axing the Claonaigferry.

If their argument is that the Claonaig ferry does not generateenough traffic to justify its existence, then one option would be to lookat how it might be modified. For instance, if a slipway were constructedat Carradale, the ferry could adopt a two-legged route Claonaig –Lochranza – Carradale, and back. This would retain the existingClaonaig connection but open up new possibilities for Carradale andCampbeltown. Unlike Claonaig, Carradale has a regular bus service.Foot passengers could travel from Campbeltown on public transport byway of Arran and on to Ardrossan and points south. Cars could travelfrom Campbeltown to the ferry without having to negotiate the terribleEast Kintyre road north of Carradale, nor face the long trek north up thewest side, and east across the top of the peninsula to Claonaig. A ferrycoming to Carradale would have the potential to transform the slowlydying harbour and open up tourism for central Kintyre. If the Claonaigferry goes walkers on Arran will loose their link to the Kintyre Way andthe National Cycle Network will be broken between Arran and Kintyre.

Such a proposal would involve some investment and a longer, butnot that long, travel time from Carradale to Lochranza. However itwould be both cheaper and quicker to use the existing boat and offera seven day a week summer service from South Kintyre instead of theproposed one day a week service from Campbeltown. It is difficult toimagine the summer visitor who plans a tour around the West Coast tocoincide with a one day a week ferry service from Campbeltown.

There is precious little time left to make your view known. While thedraft plan does not explicitly say that the Claonaig service will be axedthe implication is clear. Once the assumptions and conclusions arebuilt into the ten-year plan they will be hard to change. We have tostress that the Claonaig ferry is not simply Arran’s back door. It is abeautiful way to enter and leave Kintyre. Please send your comments on the document to colin.grieve@trans portscotland.gsi.gov.uk or to: Colin Grieve, Transport Scotland,Ferries Unit, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ Comments shouldreach him by the 30th March 2012. We also suggest that all commentsbe copied to our MSP, Michael Russell, e-mail: Michael.Russell.msp@scottish.Parliament.uk. Eric Dudley.

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THE OLD SCHOOL BUNKHOUSEPROJECT IN CAMPBELTOWN

Sarah MacKinnon (Strathclyde Building Preservation Trust)and Alan Milstead (Kintyre Amenity Trust)

This is about the small old building opposite the old CampbeltownMotors workshop in Big Kiln. The architectural style of the building hasbeen characterised as “a well handled composition combining neoTudor and Gothic styling in keeping with its ecclesiastical connections”.But, after falling into disrepair and into the ownership of Kintyre AmenityTrust it has been restructured into a Backpackers Bunkhouse forwalkers, surfers and budget visitors to Kintyre. See www.campbeltownbunkhouse.co.uk The Old School is the last survivor of a group of 4 buildingsconstructed around 1851 as a direct consequence of the “Disruption”,all about patronage of the jobs in schools and churches, which split theFree Church from the established Church of Scotland. The FreeChurch in Campbel-town constructed acomplex of buildingsincluding a TradeSchool, two tempo-rary church buildings(one for Gaelicspeakers and one forEnglish) and thisbuilding, a GrammarSchool. The first,and only schoolmas-ter was AlexanderRoss a key figure inthe Disruption who,having been dis-missed by the estab-lished Church wastaken on by the FreeChurch and workedin this building untilthe building ceasedto act as a schoolsometime after the1872 Education Act. We don’t knowwho designed theOld School, but hewas certainly influ-enced by the currentbest practice inschool design as ex-emplified by J.C.Loudon’s 2nd edition“Encyclo-paedia ofCottage, Farm andVilla Architecture”.This book was published in 1846 and included design principles forschool buildings, which not withstanding its awkward shaped site, thisbuilding complies with almost exactly. The Old School performed a range of functions from the late 19thcentury onward as a Sunday School, a vaccination centre and it isremembered by some residents as the place they went for their freemilk. It finally fell out of use in the 1980’s and having been given acategory B listing in 1996, was gifted to its current owners the KintyreAmenity Trust (KAT) in 1997. KAT had by then established theCampbeltown Heritage Centre in the adjacent (redundant) “Tartan Kirk”designed by James Boucher and opened in 1867 to replace the twotemporary churches. KAT’s intention was to preserve this importantexample of mid 19th century school architecture and utilise it in supportof their main charitable aims but the financial resources to achieve thisaim did not emerge until Argyll and Bute Council secured one of the firstHistoric Scotland Conservation Area Regeneration Schemes (CARS)for Campbeltown in 2007. A funding partnership between the Council,Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Argyll & the Islands LEADER Pro-gramme and Historic Scotland provided investment for heritage ledregeneration in the centre of the town. The Council’s then Conserva-tion Officer Jenny Carlile had already introduced KAT to StrathclydeBuilding Preservation Trust (SBPT) and a collaboration was begun thatwill finally see this little building brought back into use this year. Theproject has not always run smoothly and it has taken considerable

perseverance and determination from all parties to get this far, thesummary below explains the key stages and highlights some of thelessons learnt. In 2008 with funding from the Campbeltown CARS and an OptionsAppraisal grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund, KAT commis-sioned SBPT to produce an Options Appraisal considering future usesfor the Old School and developing a strategy for delivering the project.The market analysis contained within the appraisal came out stronglyin favour of refurbishing the now near derelict building and convertingit for use as a bunk house for visitors to the town. The modest incomefrom the facility would support KAT’s work. The Options Appraisal wasfollowed by successful applications to the CARS and the Argyll & theIslands LEADER Programme for development funding to push theproject forward and a team led by SBPT and including John GilbertArchitects, the Structural Partnership, CDM Scotland and Morham &Brotchie began work in the summer of 2009. The CARS was boosted by the successful bid by Argyll and Bute

Council to the Herit-age Lottery Fundwhich saw theCampbeltown Town-scape Heritage Initi-ative awarded inJuly 2009. Moresuccess came inlate 2009 as theCouncil securedERDF fundingthrough a Communi-ty Planning Partner-ship for threeprojects in Campbel-town including theSchool project. Thissuccess secured£173,000 for theproject provided itmet the key condi-tions and aims of thescheme which couldbe summarised asthe provision of newbusiness space andthat the end user ormanager of thatbusiness spacecould not be pre-de-termined.By summer 2010 wehad a budget andplanning and listedbuilding consent ap-plications werelodged but access

agreements with the Church of Scotland which owns the area aroundthe building, needed to be organised. A new access to the adjacent carpark was required as a planning condition and the process of agreeingthis with the Church was not straightforward. Ultimately however,agreement was reached. And so at the end of 2010 the contract was tendered. Final grantapplications were made in early 2011 with a contract sum of just under£380,000 and total delivery costs of £435,000. The go ahead wasgiven in early May and the contract which had been awarded to localfirm McKinven & Colville, commenced on 15 May. A vital componentin allowing the project to happen was a cash flow loan provided by theCouncil which is being utilised by KAT while grant funding is drawndown. So where are we now? The bunkhouse will be finished by the endof February. KAT have tendered the opportunity to run the Bunk Houseand the process of determining the final operator is ongoing. Has the project been a success? Only time will tell whether thebusiness will be sustainable but the quality of conservation work under-taken throughout the project has been very high and this important littlelandmark building will be retained as part of the Campbeltown builtheritage record, so our primary objective has been achieved. There willbe an Open Day on Saturday 10th of April from 10am to 2pm, coffeeand tea will be served – be sure to come along and see.

Lounge

Dormitory Dormitory

Disabled toilet &shower room

Drying room

Kitchen/dining

Wetroom

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HERITAGECENTRE

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MAIN ENTRANCE

OPEN DAYThere will be an ‘Open Day’

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from 10.30am until 2pm.Coffee/tea will be served.

11

SCOTTISH COUNTRYDANCING

For adult dancers of all abilitiesWe are starting a group meeting regularly on

Fridays at 7.15pmIn Carradale Village Hall

Commencing 19th February 2012Any soft shoes (e.g. light trainers)

can be worn to start with£2.00 per session.

We look forward to enjoying a fun evening with you all!Jim & Celia Holgate 01583 431113

A COLOUR VERSION OF ‘THE ANTLER’ ISAVAILABLE ON ‘THE CARRADALE GOAT’WEB-SITE & ON ‘THE KINTYRE COMMUNITY

FORUM’ WEB-SITE THROUGH THE AGENCY OF‘SCRIBD’.

EDITORIAL CONTACT: 01583 431281or gp@geoffreypage.plus.com

IFAREVIEWING YOUR FINANCES?

Areas of Financial PlanningProtection - Personal, Mortgage,

Business and Income.Savings / Investments - Annual ISAAllowance / Low interest rates, thereare alternatives offering potentially

greater Capital Growth and or Income.Pension Planning - Plans should be

reviewed on a Annual Basis.Under the current Economic Climatereviewing your Finances should be

seriously considered. We offer, in theprivacy of your own home, a free

Personal Review covering all theabove, meetings can be arranged by

calling:-Contact numbers are 01586-552598 /0779 857 4890 / or 0141 887 6778.

Alasdair McPhee, Financial Consultantwas born in Carradale, lives and works

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SCHOOL TERMSFROM THE GOAT WEB-SITE: COURTESY J.D.

Term 2 09 January 2012 School re-opens 10 February 2012 School closes 16 & 17 Feb 2012 In-service days 20 February 2012 School re-opens 30 March 2012 School closes, Easter Holiday

Term 3 16 April 2012 School re-opens 04 May 2012 School closes 08 May 2012 School re-opens 01 June 2012 School closes 04 June 2012 In-service day 06 June 2012 School re-opens 29 June 2012 School closes *Queen’s Jubilee 5 June 2012

PLANNING APPLICATIONSReference: 11/02368/PP East Kintyre CommunityCouncil, Proposal: Alterations, replacement of conser-vatories with porches and installation of raised deckingand verandah, Location: Riverside Cottage, Torrisdale,Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute, PA28 6QT. Applicants: Mr& Mrs E. Tough Riverside Cottage, Torrisdale, Camp-beltown, Argyll & Bute, PA28 6QT. Agent: GillianWright, Lochside, Low Askomil, Campbeltown, PA286EP, Development Type: 01 - Householder Develop-ment, Grid Ref: 179769 – 635789. Reference: 12/00063/PPP Officer: East KintyreCommunity Council, Proposal: Site for the erection ofone dwelling-house, Location: Land South East ofGreenhill, Torrisdale, Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute,PA28 6QT, Applicant: Mr Niall Macalister Hall, Torris-dale Castle, Carradale, Campbeltown, PA28 6QTAgent: N/A Development Type: 03B - Housing – LocalGrid Ref: 179499 – 634581 Reference: 12/00127/PPP East Kintyre Communi-ty Council, Proposal: Site for the erection of one dwell-ing-house and formation of associated access road.Location: Land North West of ’Bayview’, Carradale,Argyll & Bute, PA28 6RY, Applicant: David AlexanderOman, Shandrani, 18 Kilkerran Park, Campbeltown,PA28 6UG Agent: N/A, Development Type: 03B -Housing – Local, Grid Ref: 181386 – 638448 Reference: 11/02540/PP East Kintyre CommunityCouncil, Proposal: Construction of a 99KW micro-hydroelectricity scheme on the Lephincorrach Burn, includingintake, penstock, turbine house, outflow, access roadand temporary construction compound area. Location:Land at Lephincorrach Farm, Torrisdale, Campbeltown,Argyll & Bute, PA28 6QT, Applicant: Mr Niall MacalisterHall, Torrisdale Castle, Carradale, Campbeltown, Ar-gyll, PA28 6QT Agent: N/A Development Type: 06B -Electricity Generation - Local Grid Ref: 178938 - 635772

GEOBASH IN APRILTREASURE HUNTERS SEEK OUT CARRADALE.

While many will be thinking of a traditional Egg Hunt atEaster, treasure seekers from far and wide are expect-ed to converge on Carradale for something much moreexciting: Kintyre's first ever "Geobash".

The event on April 7 will see hi-tech hunters seekout 25 geocaches in the local countryside. With thevillage's Network Tearoom acting as an informal com-mand centre, participants will be able to park and set offto locate the geocaches in the hills, glens and seashorethat surround Carradale.

Some of the geocaches have been hidden on thebeautiful and meandering Kintyre Way, while othershave been laid to provide two circular routes.

The sport of geocaching is growing in popularitythroughout the world with around six million enthusiastsnow using GPS-enabled devices, such as a smartphone, to navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinateswhere a geocache or container lies hidden.

The Carradale event, which kicks off at a time stillto be specified, is open to all-comers, with handheldGPS units available for hire from the Network tearoom.

Even the novices, or so-called muggies, will beable to try their hand thanks to free geocach tutorials -local ranger guides will be on hand to demonstrate howa GPS unit works. They will also show visitors how touse the units to find their first geocache, before locatingsix caches on a route around the incredibly picturesqueCarradale Bay.

Notes, tales and tall stories can be compared overtea and a scone at the tearoom on the day, while in theevening there will be a licensed ceilidh and barbecue atCarradale village hall. Adding their own inimitablesound to the celebrations and prizegiving will be localmusicians The McAllister Band.All Kintyre Way enquiries to: Alan Milstead T: 01583 431226

THOUGHT FORTHE DAY

HUMBERT WOLFEYou cannot hope to bribe or twist,thank God, the British journalist;But seeing what the man will do

Un-bribed there's no occasion to.Sent in by G.S.

BACK TO SCHOOLDID YOU RECOGNISE ANYONE

ON PAGE 7?Back Row:

Alec McKinnon,Sheena Buchanan,

Una McDougal,Isabel Paterson,

Sheila Galbraith, Jill Ritchie,Ronnie Brownie

2nd Row:Roy McMurchy, Effie Buchanan,Eleanor Campbell, Linda Hoey,Vera Campbell, Lorna Jackson,

Jen Fisher, Mat McMillan3rd Row:

Alen Oman, Rosemary Galbraith,Margaret Buchanan,

Margaret McColl, May Campbell,Shenac Durham, Emily McBride,

James ForsythFront Row:

David Paterson, Alistair McMillan,John McFadyen,

Laurence McBride, Ian Morrison,Duncan McKinnon

The headmaster wasDonald Jackson.

Information from the CarradaleGoat Web-site

12

EKCC MINUTESTHURSDAY 1 DECEMBER 2011

Present: Shelagh Cameron, Andrea Hopkins,Stuart Irvine, Elizabeth McMillan, RonnieBrownie, Councillor John McAlpine, Council-lor Robin Currie, Councillor Rory Colville.Apologies: Lachie Paterson, Tom Adams,Councillor Anne HornConvenor Shelagh Cameron welcomed eve-ryone present.Minutes of Last Meeting: proposed by Eliza-beth McMillan seconded by Ronnie Brownie.Matters Arising From Last Minutes:� Silver Birch Trees - Convenor not heard

back from forestry as to whether thesecan be planted at Port-na-Storm or not.

� Ian Gull and son agreed to maintain BayRoad.

� Julian Green - Roads north and south stillterrible Hope people are still using com-plaint cards One bit of good news dayafter Community Council meeting flood-ing at Peninver was sorted. Lome Camp-bell submitted a detailed account ofnumerous pot holes all were measured,photographed and GPS'd. Nothing hasbeen heard back

� Suggestion put to Argyll and Bute Councilabout fortnightly bin collections (insteadof weekly). Money saved could then beused on upkeep of roads. CouncillorRory Colville suggested that this moneycould be put back into budget and usedon roads.

� Treasurers Report - Community Councilaccount £112 received for rent of Well-park from Elaine Bigart, balance£1959.99.

� East Kintyre Wind-farm Trust: Funds£24,000 for year; 1st rancher - £16,500:2nd tranche - £6,400. 12 applications - 9successful, 3 rejected.

� Planning : Sandra Galbraith resubmittedplanning application; Bobby Fergusonplanning application for new build aboveClifftop (The Hill) willing to make improve-ments to the top of hill 60 and also roadabove Clifftop.

� Fuel Group Progress : Village SOSupdate waiting for quotes from variouscompanies but will come in above budget(£59,000) suggestions and ideas for anincome generating business to be set upso that the £30,000 from village sos willnot be lost (the money from village SOShas to be the principal stakeholder) Ideasbefore Tuesday 6 December or emailinfo@mapmaker.com

� Community Survey - All results of thesurvey have been published in the antlerMalcolm McMillan going ahead with planmeeting in hotel on 14 January 2012.

� Roads no update.� Correspondence:� Mental Health - leaflet.� Argyll and Bute Community Healthy Part-

nership Document.� Any Other Competent Business:� Notice Boards - one ordered, delivery ¾

weeks. If suitable two more will be or-dered.

� Convenor Shelagh Cameron resignedfrom the Community Council

� Convenor Shelagh Cameron thankedeveryone for attending and wished every-one a Merry Christmas and a Happy NewYear. A.H.

EKCC NOTESTHURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2012

Andrea Hopkins, Vice Convenor, opened themeeting and invited Stuart Irvine to chair themeeting as Shelagh Cameron had tenderedher resignation at the last meeting inDecember. The meeting opened with apologies andthe minutes of the last meeting which hadbeen circulated to all attending. Under matters arising Stuart pointed outthe omission in the minutes to any referenceto Shelagh apart from her resignation. Anumber of the Local Councillors present inDecember paid tributes to Shelagh for hercontributions to the running of the Council overthe last 7 years or so. The Treasurer also reported that thecurrent balance in the EKCC bank accountamounted to £1959.99. The meeting moved on to discuss thefuture as Lachie Paterson had intimated hewas intending to resign but confirmed hewould wait until the longer term future wasresolved. However without Lachie the numberof members of EKCC would drop to 5perilously close to the minimum of 4 to bequorate. Stuart confirmed he had an instructivediscussion with Melissa Stewart, Argyll andBute Council on what our options were. Itwould appear that the better alternative wouldbe to keep the present number, i.e. six, goinguntil a fresh election can be held. The earliestis likely to be May 2012 due to the local A&Bcouncil elections. After a general discussion it was agreedthat we should ask A&B to start the process ofdrawing up a timetable and procedures to befollowed. This led to a discussion on whatwould happen if the appropriate number ofnominations for the ballot paper was less than6. It is hoped that there will be sufficientnumbers of nominations to avoid this areabeing without a local community council. Mentioned was also made in regard to thesecurity of the continuance of the WindfarmTrust, a vehicle which is most valuable to thelocal community. It was confirmed that theCouncil would continue to provide money forthe WFT’s use and it could be run eitherdirectly by Argyll and Bute Council althoughthey would prefer at least a local committee. Ifthe local Community Council remained inexistence then the status quo would continue The meeting then moved on to apresentation by Eric Dudley and Cathy Forbeson the Fuel project. They reported that thelikely costs were higher than originally thoughtbut investigations would continue on theviability. They highlighted four further projects,namely a cycle hire business run from theNetwork Centre, potential problems with thecontinuation of the Cloanaig - Lochranza ferry,consideration to develop our own local hydro-electric scheme, and ‘Jobs in and forCarradale’. A paper on the latter item wascirculated. On the Cycle hire proposal a submissionunder the Big Lottery Fund Grant has nowbeen sent and a reply is awaited. In regard tothe Hydro Electric scheme a planningsubmission has been made for a 99Kw microelectric scheme at Lephincorrach, Torrisdale.It was suggested that consideration be given

to the possibility of the village using theCarradale Dam to generate power. On the Ferry issue it was pointed out thatin the consultation document issued byCaledonian MacBrayne that there would be areview of the Cloanaig to Lochranza crossing.There was a suggestion that this service mightbe withdrawn. A discussion was held onwhether we should not campaign for anextension of this ferry to include Carradale. Itwas generally agreed that we should restrictour efforts currently to preserving the retentionof the existing service. In regard to the ‘Jobs inCarradale’ Cathy Forbes asked for anyoneinterested in a further meeting to discuss thisshould contact her.Two other issues of Planning were discussednamely: -� Erection of a house south-east of

Greenhill, and� Erection of a house in the field north-west

of ‘Bayview’No adverse comments were made on either.

Finally a request was made to the editors ofthe Antler and The Goat when publishingminutes that these should be done onlyhighlighting the content of the minutes andrefrain from making adverse criticalcomments. The meeting closed at 8.45pm J.S.I.

COMMUNITY COUNCILS‘The general purpose of community councils isto act as a voice for their local area. This willinvolve them articulating the views and con-cerns of local people in their area on a widerange of issues of public concern and makerepresentations to their local authority, otherpublic sector bodies and private agencies onmatters within their sphere of interest’. ‘Argyll and Bute Council recognises thatcommunity councils have made, and will con-tinue to make, a valuable contribution to thedevelopment of Argyll and Bute through theirengagement in localised community planning,their represent ation of community views andtheir promoting and delivery of local activities’. ‘Community Councils should actively sup-port the development of community actionplans for their area – whether as the leadbody, or as a key stakeholder. Where theseexist they may be used by Community Coun-cils to help prioritise key work/consultationareas and communication of these to publicand partners’.

Quotes from Argyll & Bute Council’sCommunity Council Constitution.

CAMPBELTOWNAQUALIBRIUM

The swimming pool and relaxation suite inCampbeltown's Aqualibrium will close on Mon-day 5 March for two weeks to allow essentialmaintenance to be carried out. The fitness suite, library and café will re-main open during the works and we hope thework will be completed by 19 March in time forthe Easter holidays. Councillor Rory Colville spokesperson forthird sector and communities said - “Aqualibrium plays a big part in the commu-nity and it is vital that on-going maintenanceworks to the pool and relaxation suite arecarried out, ensuring that Aqualibrium stays intip top condition allowing everyone to enjoythe facilities safely."