Campbeltown Courier - Letters to the Editor 29.3.24

Overnight road closures are inconvenient

I am always pleased to see work being carried out to improve our roads as they very badly need it.

However, BEAR Scotland’s policy to close the road overnight is inconvenient and I wonder if it is really necessary.

Before the road was trunked, when the council was responsible for its upkeep, the road stayed open, with traffic lights in place, when work was done.

Why can BEAR not operate in a similar way?

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was closed through the night but closing at 7.30pm is very early and lots of people are still out and about, some even still commuting to and from work.

Name and address supplied.

Scottish Government caves to council

The Scottish Government has finally seen sense and caved to pressure from myself and others to give us the funding we need.

Due to relentless lobbying from the Argyll and Bute Council administration members, an additional £6.26 million funding has been secured for our council. 

This means we will be able to look at a council tax freeze whilst avoiding all of the huge raids on health and social care spending and other grinding austerity measures proposed in the opposition budget. 

This is a great victory for the local democracy. By forcing the Scottish Government to negotiate with us when they wouldn’t negotiate with COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities), we managed to lever substantial addition funding from the Scottish Government for our local council.

It just shows that the Scottish Government can find extra money when it suits their priorities. 

I will continue to fight hard for more investment in our local ward and the wider Argyll and Bute area. 

Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and the Islands ward.