Councillors discuss range of issues at March meeting
Various issues ranging from the project to replace the Corran Ferry service’s ageing vessels and postal delays to problems with litter and work on the local war memorial were all on the agenda for the March meeting of Ardgour Community Council.
Vice-chairman Michael Foxley kicked things off by highlighting that £180,000 had been budgeted for A861 works but significantly more was required and ‘pressure needs to be kept up’.
On the question of postal delays, council secretary Claire Bennett-Levy has continued to raise complaints and has advised members of public to do the same.
Community councillor Kendra Turnbull advised issues appeared to be due to senior staff shortages and a lack of postal workers who knew the peninsular routes and said there had been a ‘crisis meeting’ to address the situation.
The secretary also advised that she had contacted the local school which was keen to be involved.
Community councillor Tricia Kennedy reported that Mowi would provide a skip until tomorrow (Friday April 1) inside Sallachan gate. Mowi has also arranged with the local estate to access the beach and remove larger items.
On the issue of the war memorial, Councillor Turnbull had now inspected the memorial and planned to contact specialised stone masons in Glasgow since there were none more local to the area.
Fiona Maclean has provided a full history of the memorial and it would appear the site is already public property. Councillor Foxley confirmed there were memorial plaques in Ardgour Church and Treslaig Hall.
He also shared plans for a rededication of the Treslaig plaque when circumstances allowed and noted that the plaques included the names of all those who served from the area, not just the casualties.
Councillor Foxley suggested adding names to memorial. Councillor Turnbull requested that the war memorial society was advised of the location of the Treslaig plaque.
On the Corran Ferry project, Councillor Foxley updated members on the two most recent meetings and welcomed the high positive progress being made.
Councillor Turnbull also provided an update telling the meeting new fares were going ahead but government funding was available towards projected losses which might help reduce future fare rises. See full story on page 5 this week.
She added that a new ticketing system was planned and there was a planned purchase of a launch to assist the coastguard and take ferry crew to the other side.
Although both vessels will not be in place until 2026 there is potential to start operation of one new vessel in 2024 to relieve the pressure on the current setup.
On May’s looming elections for Scottish local authorities, Councillor Foxley expressed frustration at the ‘lack of engagement’ by some of the current ward councillors. He suggested identifying two or three items that new councillors could take forward.
All members are to circulate key issues for candidates’ support. The secretary is to email others asking for suggestions.
Corrigan Contractors offered to cover the cost of engraving the war memorial and this offer was accepted with thanks.
There was agreement to grant £250 to Ardnamurchan Mod towards its running costs.
The date of next meeting is Thursday April 14, at 7.30pm, in Treslaig Hall. There was agreement for hall meetings to be in person and not broadcast at the same time but with the aim of holding occasional meetings online if there was a demand.
1.1 million Gaelic learners worldwide. The announcement that the centre has taken over the development of the Scottish Gaelic Duolingo course comes during World Gaelic Week (Seachdain na Gàidhlig).
The same group of volunteers which has been working on the course since it launched in 2019 will now develop the course as part of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig’s team.
Today, there are 431,000 active learners worldwide: 37 per cent in the USA, 25 per cent in the UK and six per cent in Canada, with the remainder spread across the globe.
The primary motivation to learn is ‘culture’, with 40 per cent of learners choosing this, followed by ‘brain training’ 18 per cent, and ‘family’ and ‘school’, both 12 per cent.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig principal Dr Gillian Munro said the new partnership was a great opportunity to align Duolingo’s Scottish Gaelic language content with the centre’s own Gaelic language courses.
‘The success of Scottish Gaelic on Duolingo
demonstrates the growing demand to learn Gaelic both in Scotland and internationally, and we would like to pay tribute to the dedicated volunteers for developing such a great course – ceud mìle taing dhuibh,’ she said.
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig’s adult learning manager Màrtainn Mac a’ Bhàillidh also worked as a volunteer on the Duolingo Scottish Gaelic course.
He added: ‘The Duolingo app is a brilliant learning resource to attract new learners, and to help existing learners and lapsed Gaelic speakers on their learning journey.
‘I look forward to developing the Duolingo course, while promoting further learning
opportunities to the growing Scottish Gaelic Duolingo community.’
Colin Watkins, UK country manager for Duolingo, said as its own Scottish Gaelic course grew in popularity, it was important for the company to find the right partner to continue its development.
‘The fit with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture, is perfect,’ he continued. ‘We’re confident the course will continue to go from strength to strength under the direction of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, which is taking the original development team on board to work on the course.’