No scrub-up for Tarbert memorial
Work has been carried out to restore Tarbert war memorial in time for a re-dedication ceremony next month – but it won’t be given a necessary scrub before the ceremony, according to a councillor
The ceremony, marking the centenary of the village war memorial, is to be held on Saturday August 7.
But with barely a month to go no work had been carried out, despite repeated requests from Councillor Anne Horn, pictured, to Argyll and Bute Council officials asking for it to be done.
On July 5 Councillor Horn told the Argyllshire Advertiser: ‘I am disappointed that despite of months of emails requesting that Tarbert war memorial be cleaned and restored in time for the centennial commemoration in August, no work has started.
‘A great deal of thought, research and effort has gone into ensuring that a fitting tribute is paid commemorating those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and it would be appreciated if council officers could reflect the efforts of volunteers and have the monument refurbished without further delay.’
The Advertiser contacted Argyll and Bute Council, and on July 7 a spokesperson replied: ‘We have appointed a specialist contractor to carry out the refurbishment work at the war memorial.’
After being asked for more detail on the timescale of the work, the council said on Tuesday July 13: ‘The signwriter worked on refurbishing the lettering over the weekend and will complete the work this week, weather permitting.’
This has not satisfied Councillor Horn, who responded: ‘I’m delighted that the signwriter is on site and doing fantastic work; unfortunately he has not been authorised by council officers to clean the monument and this will leave the work incomplete for the centennial commemoration.
‘It is disappointing when so much voluntary work has gone in to this project but, again, not so much support from Argyll and Bute Council.
‘My utmost thanks go to the volunteers who have researched the history and made such an effort to allow the community to pay their respects.’