Council candidates in the hustings hot seat
A SELECT audience, of just 18, heckled six people standing for Kintyre and the Islands ward at the Argyll and Bute council elections next week.
Monday evening’s meeting at Tarbert village hall was held in check by a stern Reverend Doctor Roderick Campbell from Inveraray.
Rev Campbell was precision personified, ensuring candidates did not exceed allotted time spots with just one minute given per answer and to sum up at the finish.
Questions were wide ranging with topics covering making the council more efficient, councillors’ pay, eduction and fishing.
There was a wide variety of speaking amongst the candidates ranging from great clarity to speedy muffled replies.
Here are some of the questions and a selection of the answers:
How would you make the council work better and be more efficient?
Alastair Redman: ‘We are the ones elected, the officers are in jobs for life. Putting pressure on the bureaucracy of the council, that is the key.’
Ed Tyler: ‘I would like to see the culture of the council change. It is not a transparent culture, it is very hard to find out what is going on in the council.
‘They have not got the best website in the world. They could do a lot more to let us know what they are proposing. Rather than be responsive I want it to be proactive.’ Robin Currie: ‘We keep getting told more and more by officers you can’t get involved in that because it is operational. For example, in roads the councillors set the budget, where the money is spent we can’t get involved that is up to officers.’ John McAlpine:
‘Senior officers have budgets to spend and it is up to us as councillors to scrutinise and make sure that they are spending that money wisely. Maybe it is questionable at times whether or not we are getting best value for our pound.’
What is the panel’s view on the fishing industry in Tarbert and the danger it is facing in the future? As the fishing industry is the life and blood of Tarbert. Anne Horn: ‘Our fishing grounds are not up for negotiation, not at any cost. I have protested with the fishermen, I have demonstrated with them. The schools and the businesses all depend on the fishing. The Marine Protection Areas (MPA) are just not necessary.’ Michael Kelly:
‘Without fishing Tarbert would die. We need to reach out and make sure the various parties come down on our side of this argument.’ Alastair Redman:
‘My brother is a fisherman from the island of Islay and if I didn’t support the fishermen 100 per cent I would have him chasing after me.’
Ed Tyler: ‘I am a firm believer in the fisherman being the ultimate policemen of their territory. However, there is a very contested area in terms of conflict between creelers and trawlers, this has to be resolved, people have to sit round the table.’
If councillors were not being paid which of you would be prepared to do the job?
All the candidates agreed that they would do the job. Two pointed out that not paying councillors could lead back to the days when only people with independent means were able to stand.
As a former teacher one audience member said they was distressed to see the report about (the schools) not getting the support of the council. Would you like to tell us what you would do to try to support schools? Michael Kelly: ‘The councillors are failing in their duties.’
Anne Horn: ‘Our children deserve much better than that. It is absolutely imperative that we get it right for every child.’ Robin Currie: ‘It was a damning report. We now have to put all the actions under review by the council into action after the election. Let’s learn from it and try to improve education.’ John McAlpine: ‘It is something that we cannot just sit back and accept. It is not necessarily the schools themselves which are performing badly. We have to take the hard criticism that has been dished out.’