Safety group shake-up fears
WORK OF COMMUNITY FORUM WILL NOW BE DELIVERED THROUGH CENTRAL PARTNERSHIPS
COMMUNITY safety will now be managed in Kilmory, rather than at a local level, after a reorganisation of departments within Argyll and Bute council.
Fears that ground-breaking initiatives, such as water safety group LochWatch Loch Awe, will no longer be initiated at a local level were quelled by police, fire and Argyll and Bute council as officers will continue to look at problems together.
But concerns were raised that critical problems in Oban, Lorn and the isles would no longer have an official meeting to drive forward community safety.
Organisations and charities such as the widely respected LochWatch Loch Awe, home fire safety and the driving hot spots education programme were all started from members of the Lorn and isles community safety forum.
One of the biggest successes, the Lorn Event Safety group, was formed by partners who attended the community safety forum allowing events such as Hogmanay in Oban, Tiree Music Festival and the Skerryvore Decade concert to run smoothly. Argyll and Bute council’s plan for community safety will see the local forum brought under the regional community planning group, and safety will be discussed at fewer than four meetings a year, with no particular focus on specific issues in Oban.
Past discussions in the forum included walking routes to school, emergency plans and water safety.
Members of the forum included representatives from the police, fire brigade, environmental health, health and safety, housing associations, social work, mountain rescue and the RNLI, who all shared information.
The loss of the forum to Lorn area safety was lamented by police officer sergeant Alan Moore. He said: ‘ There are concerns that we will be in a bigger partnership and we will no longer be able to focus on the issues that are important to us here in Oban and the isles.’
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Oban station commander Martin Hill added: ‘There still needs to be a meeting at a local level where we discuss specific concerns. This forum has been very successful at identifying the things that make our community unsafe and finding resolutions.’
The council’s community safety officer Robert Cowper said: ‘ The new structure will see the work of the community safety forum delivered through regional partnerships. There is no doubt the forums have been a success and the partnership will have a tough task in its hands to do the same level of work.’
When asked how the information from the Oban area would be used, Mr Cowper said: ‘The new arrangements for the committee will be reviewed regularly to make sure community safety in the local areas is being addressed.’
The forum was told the new structure would mean local area issues not being discussed as often, but regional partnerships would have many of the same people attending the meetings and would therefore have an opportunity to discuss concerns.