A New Community Council

It was good to attend last night's first meeting of our new Community Council and to feel that we once again have a democratic voice.

Highland Councillor Andrew Baxter was there to induct the eight new councillors and to oversee the election of officers: Geoffrey Campbell as Chairman, May McNicol as Vice Chairman, Gayle Cameron as Secretary, and Pat MacPhail as Treasurer. Other members are Jonathan Ball, Gill Calver, Jessie Colquhoun, and Nicky Docherty.

Full minutes will be available, but the topics covered in the first formal meeting that followed included

• NHS provision, including community nurses and the lack of use of the video-conferencing facility in the Learning Centre;
• The state of the roads: the Ardslignish slip repair and some resurfacing is scheduled for April;
• The need to join with other communities in pressurising BT Openreach to improve its service and to provide new exchanges for Kilchoan and Glenborrodale;
• A report on the provision of a new surgery in the Community Centre, though it is unclear whether this is being paid for by the community or by the NHS;
• Dog fouling on the roads where people walk.

Meetings willl continue to take place on the first Monday of each month, but at 7.00pm not 8.00pm.

Picture: first pied wagtail of the year.