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Residents of ����ֱ�� and Bute are being encouraged to take a few minutes to fill in a short consultation on a ‘Rural Growth Deal’ for the area. ����ֱ��, along with public, private and voluntary sector partners, is putting together a bid designed to attract UK and Scottish Government investment, through a rural growth deal.

Contractors working on the £12million Dunoon Queen’s Hall project have completed their official ‘handover’ of the building to ����ֱ��. This important step in the process means the fantastic new facility remains on track to host its first public event on Friday, July 27 – a concert by Skipinnish, swiftly followed by ABBA Mania on Saturday, July 28, and a sold-out performance by The Proclaimers on Friday, August 3.

For anyone affected by the tragic events on Bute this week, support is available through ParentLine Scotland, which is run by Children 1st.

People in ����ֱ�� and Bute should keep their Eyes Open for children at risk during the school holidays. In the week that schools sound the end of term bell, Child Protection Committees across Scotland are encouraging the public to be extra observant to help protect potentially vulnerable children when school’s out for summer.

Work will begin on more than £8million worth of roads improvements across ����ֱ�� and Bute in the coming weeks. A Capital Roads Reconstruction Budget of £8,382,000 was agreed by Council earlier this year, in addition to the day-to-day maintenance work like patching and filling potholes. The work is now due to get underway and residents can expect to see reconstruction of certain streets getting started over the summer.

����ֱ�� today agreed a grant of up to £100,000 to deliver a home for the area’s only affiliated boxing club and a new venue for community groups. Dunoon’s long-standing Amateur Boxing Club had secured financial backing from various investors including sportscotland. The council’s grant means that work can now progress to build a training venue for the club in the grounds of Dunoon Stadium. The facility will also be available for wider community use.

Three communities in ����ֱ�� could still have their own community council, with the decision today to hold a third round of by-elections. ����ֱ�� held elections on 26 April 2018. This established 44 community councils out of a total of 56 across the area. Further by-elections were run on 26 June 2018 to encourage more nominations. Another nine community councils were successfully set up. The future of the three remaining – Ardentinny, Lismore and Sandbank – was considered at today’s meeting of ����ֱ��.

  ����ֱ�� has agreed an investment of £100,000 to support the national and international growth of the area’s food sector. At its meeting today (Thursday 28 June), the council agreed in principle to provide Bute Islands Foods Ltd  with financial support to expand its vegan cheese business. The company produces a range of dairy free vegan cheese products under the brand “Sheese”. The products are already stocked by several large UK retailers and exported to the EU and rest of the world.

Pre-5 children across ����ֱ�� and Bute are being given the opportunity to learn to ride a bike thanks to ����ֱ��’s Road Safety Team.   The council currently offers iCycle training to all primary six and seven pupils, but over the last few years officers have noticed a gradual increase in the number of young people who cannot ride a bike by this stage.  

Pupils from Rothesay Academy travelled to Ayrshire last week to take part in an innovative art project aimed at addressing a skills gap in the textile industry. Initiated by HRH The Duke of Rothesay, the Future Textiles at Dumfries House project aims to give young people an insight into the textile industry and provide them with the skills required to work in the field.