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¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ teamed up with live¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute TSI to host two successful welcome events for Ukrainian refugee families who have arrived in the area. The welcome fairs took place in Dunoon and Oban, and a large number of partner organisations and community groups attended to showcase the wide range of services and support available.  The event attracted a large number of families, all of whom received helpful information on everything from housing to benefits.

Following a £1.5 million investment, Lochgilphead’s Front Green will open to the public this weekend. The transformation includes a new public square, play park, additional seating, new walking and cycling facilities and drainage and landscaping to help ease the impact of flooding. ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ secured additional Scottish Government Town Centre funding to upgrade the footpath and railings along the front of the Green using local Achnaba stone. Councillor Robin Currie, Policy Lead for the Economy and Rural Growth:

Cashless parking will be available across ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute from Monday 15 August 2022 making it more convenient for residents and visitors to park and help support town centres and local businesses.   The new PayByPhone app is user-friendly and available across 35 on-and-off street locations. It offers an alternative means of payment to the existing pay and display machines enabling payment via your mobile phone.  

¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ has cut its carbon emissions by a third since 2015/16.   Emissions have now dropped for the fourth year in a row thanks to a range of measures aimed at reducing the carbon footprint created by the council’s business activities.   Measures have included making buildings more energy and heat efficient, replacing traditional lightbulbs with LED, moving to electric or hybrid vehicles and recycling municipal waste.  

Cost of living support, business growth and climate-friendly communities – these are among the initiatives on track to benefit from a £4.5 million investment plan agreed by the council, for submission to the UK Government. The funding is ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute’s allocation of UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Activities included in the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute UKSPF Investment Plan are all aligned to three key investment priorities - communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.

Senior secondary pupils across ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute have cause for celebration today after achieving impressive results in their SQA exams.  This spring, for the first time in three years, S4-S6 pupils in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute were presented for examinations.  As a result of the pandemic, the last time our young people sat exams was in 2019.  Therefore, pupils have had no previous experience of sitting SQA exams, and some had their studies interrupted by the requirements of self-isolation for both pupils and staff.

¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ has set up a dedicated web page to keep residents informed about the Campbeltown Flood Protection Scheme (FPS), as the project moves forward. Campbeltown has suffered significant flooding at various times in recent decades due to a variety of factors, but now the council is carrying out a Â£15.215 million scheme that will see a range of improvement works to minimise this risk.

Free period products will now be available to everyone in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ and Bute through the council’s new My Tribe initiative. Although free period products have been available in schools and community settings since 2018/19, the Scottish Government’s Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 becomes law this month, which means that everyone in Scotland who menstruates can have reasonably convenient access to period products, free of charge, as and when they are required.

Helensburgh’s new £22 million state-of-the art leisure centre is now complete. The main contractors for the project, Heron Bros Ltd, officially handed the building over this week, on time, despite the global construction challenges faced during Covid.

¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ is giving residents the opportunity to make their homes warmer and more energy efficient FREE OF CHARGE. The council has received £2,011,323 from the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficient Scotland: Area Based Scheme to help residents make a range of energy efficiency improvements to their properties, including external/internal wall insulation, underfloor insulation, cavity wall insulation and loft insulation.