Community Council Meeting

West Ardnamurchan Community Council met yesterday, on a day which had seen some heavy cumulonimbus drift in on a gentle westerly, to be caught by the late afternoon sun.

Not only did these clouds drop quantities of large hailstones, they also brought us lightning. And then, with the dark, the sky cleared, the wind dropped completely, and we had a sharp frost.

The Council meeting was in two parts. The first, an AGM, looked back on a year which brought some significant successes. There is no doubt that the unity and firmness of the local Community Councils caused Highland Council to rethink its decision to close Corran while repairs were carried out on the Nether Lochaber side - with the result that a good service was maintained. Talks with the Scottish Ambulance Service brought helicopter night-landing facilities to the village and a promise that there would be no more single-manned ambulances. Success also came with the establishment of the Community Garden and the huge progress that's been made with Kilchoan PlayPark - an almost unbelievable total of £37,000 has been raised, only £7,000 short of the amount needed to obtain the necessary LEADER grant.

The only criticism The Diary has of proceedings in the first part of the meeting is that too little credit was given to our Chairman, Rosie Curtis, for her cheerful leadership of Council through what has been a challenging year.

Dawn this morning

The Ordinary Meeting which followed spent some time on the Nurses dispute. Effectively, we now have to wait for the meetings we have been promised by Michael Foxley and NHS Highland Chairman Garry Coutts but, in the meanwhile, our two nurses will continue to provide the excellent service to which we've become accustomed. Rosie and Jac Crosbie did meet with officers from the Scottish Ambulance Service, which was helpful in that it gave our Councillors an opportunity to brief the new SAS senior officer who travelled down to meet them.

A considerable time was spent discussing our roads. It was very helpful to have our road-man, John MacFadyen, explain the reasons for the apparent inconsistencies in gritting. That the roads are also deteriorating alarmingly causes him as much concern as anyone else, but if he has no tarmac he cannot effect repairs.

The Diary never ceases to be amazed at how constructive and good-humoured our Council meetings are, and it was good to see almost as many members of the public attending as Councillors. What happened last night was democracy at its very best.