Gigha issues addressed

Sir, It was great to be back on Isle of Gigha for yet another successful surgery. I heard directly from the hard-working Gigha ferry crew about the challenges facing the island. I also spoke to business owners as well as many other locals during my visit. Once again the lack of any proper bus/ferry transport link-up has been brought to my attention. This is something I strongly agree with if we are to encourage tourism and overall business growth on the island then joined-up transport links are a must. Other issues mentioned included high roadside verges leading to roads being flooded, BT cabling not being properly buried and being left exposed at the side of roads, slow internet speed, poor mobile phone signal and many other issues. There has been some good progress with road repairs as many of the potholes that I had reported to our council’s roads department are now fixed, though there is still more that needs to be done. Also some of the much needed and long overdue association housing repairs have taken place but only after much pressure from tenants and myself and even then the wait was unacceptably long. The sight of more and more of our Union flags on display each time I visit Gigha is fantastic. As I said after my previous Isle of Gigha surgery I will work tirelessly to make sure Gigha and the rest of the Kintyre and Islands ward is not sidelined as it has been in the past. Councillor Alastair Redman, Islay.