Dinah McDonald               Chair

Pearl Brown                     Treasurer

David McKenzie                 Secretary

Ron Cruickshank

David Eaglesham             

Billy King

Victor Sandall

 

 

Jeanette Sloss

Councillor Bruce Marshall            Argyll & Bute Council

John Forth                                 Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park

 

 

 

The minutes of the last AGM held on 12 September 2009 were proposed by Ron Cruickshank, seconded by David Eaglesham and adopted.

 

 

Dinah McDonald reported on the activities of the Trust since last AGM.

 

Argyll Mausoleum

 

Ø      Argyll Mausoleum Limited is now established as a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. The Trust is a Corporate Director of the company, as are the Church of Scotland and Argyll Estates. Argyll & Bute Council and Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park are Board advisors.

 

Ø      Successful application for funds for conserving the artefacts, restoring the building and providing a visitor facility have been made to Historic Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, LEADER and Argyll & Bute Council.

 

Ø      The lease for the Mausoleum between Argyll & Bute Council and the Argyll Mausoleum Ltd has been completed and will be signed once formal awards of the necessary funds have been made.

 

Ø      A conservator has been appointed to remove and store the portable artefacts - this work will take place in the next few weeks.

 

Ø      The Request for Tender (RFT) document inviting bids for the overall project architects will be distributed to qualified companies in the next month.

 

Ø      All future decisions on the Mausoleum and associated matters will be taken by the Board of Argyll Mausoleum Ltd.

 

Paths & Access

 

Ø     Blairmore / Gairletter path – grants totalling £10,000 have been received from Leader+, SNH and the National Park and the path has now been completed.

 

Ø     The Trust will be looking at new paths / access proposals in the next year.

 

Graham’s Point

 

Ø     A report has been received from Jeanette Valentine detailing the work that has continued throughout the year, principally by Jeanette, Andy McLintock and Evelyn Boyd.

 

Ø     The BBQ has been completed and is available for use. It was agreed that a facility for removing disposable BBQ grills should be provided.

 

Ø     Volunteers to work on Graham’s Point are sought.

 

Ø     After a question from the floor, a discussion on dog fouling took place – it was agreed to refer this to the Kilmun Community Council.

 

Villages in Bloom

 

Ø     All planters in the area are now being maintained and grants have been made by the Trust towards re-planting.

 

Ø     The planters along the shore are maintained by Cllr Bruce Marshall, those in Clachaig by Jeanette Sloss and in Uig by Dinah McDonald.

 

Community Shop

 

Ø     The Trust, assisted by John Forth from the National Park, had applied for and been awarded a grant from the Big Lottery to carry out a feasibility study for a Community Shop and Post Office.

 

Ø     A working group, under the leadership of Jean Maskell, had been set up and a consultant appointed to carry out the feasibility study. The conclusion was that a Village Shop and Post Office was a viable option; however, the study also concluded that there would be no case for an additional shop as long as the current shop / Post Office continued.

 

Ø     The Trust has been advised that the current local postmaster will continue with the operation of the shop / post office; therefore, the Trust will not be pursuing this project any further.

 

Marine Environment / District Heating

 

Ø     During the year, the Trust had been awarded a grant by Community Energy Scotland (CES) to carry out a feasibility study for a community owned waste water treatment plant using anaerobic digestion technology. The study concluded that this was not a viable option without access to food waste as well as sewage. As the food waste collection in the area had been contracted by the council to a private company on a long term contract, this would not be an option for the community.

 

Ø     However, the consultant had raised another option that the Trust might pursue. This would be to explore a community owned district heating system, using wood biomass fuel, which could potentially be funded by a financial arrangement based on the planned UK Government Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). As an adjunct to installing the heating system, it might also be possible to install a conventional waste water treatment system. The Trust started to explore this option, but it has been put on hold until the new UK Government clarifies whether and how the RHI will be introduced. The decision on this is expected late October and the Trust will then consider how to proceed.     

 

 

Pearl Brown presented the report of the Trust finances through end of December 2009.

 

Ron Cruickshank proposed the adoption of the Treasurer’s report; this was seconded by David Eaglesham and adopted.

 

 

The Constitution of the Trust requires that five directors retire annually, although they can stand for re-election.

 

The following Directors retired as per the Trust Memorandum & Articles of Association:

 

Dinah McDonald

Pearl Brown

David McKenzie

Ron Cruickshank

Billy King

 

David Eaglesham took the Chair for the balance of the meeting.

 

All of the retiring Directors indicated that they would be prepared to stand for re-election. David Eaglesham proposed that the following members be elected as Directors:

 

Dinah McDonald

Pearl Brown

David McKenzie

Ron Cruickshank

Billy King

 

The motion was seconded by Teresa Lenton and approved unanimously.

 

 

The next AGM will be held on Saturday 3 September 2011.