New Council attempt to sell Castle Toward: a defining moment
published this on 12:45 am, Friday, 18th December, 2009Clans & Connections| Cowal| History| News| Schools| Sporting Activities | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
A few years ago Argyll & Bute Council, against opposition from schools and other special interest groups across Argyll, was poised to sell its Outdoor Education Centre at Castle Toward in Cowal to a developer.
The argument was that the fabric of the building was beyond economic retrieval for the Council and that a sale was the best was forward.
The plan did not materialise and the Castle and grounds were contracted out to a third party, Actual Reality Learning and Leadership Ltd, to run it in its familiar capacity as an Outdoor Education Centre.
Argyll & Bute Council had taken over the ownership of the property from Strathclyde Regional Council following local government reorganisation in 1996.
The current situation
The centre, with its former Clan Lamont castellated mansion, other buildings and around 150 acres of grounds, has now been given a poor bill of health on fire safety grounds by a Strathclyde Fire & Rescue report earlier this year.
Following this report, which was discussed with Actual Reality and the Council , the local authority sent in its own Health and Safety section last month (November 2009) to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment.
During this visit, other building deficiencies with implications for health and safety were identified.
Concerns were such that the Council’s chief Health and Safety officer recommended on the spot that Actual Reality should stop residentially-based service provision immediately and issued an instruction to that effect the same day.
Council officers have met representatives of Actual Reality to discuss the position. In the meantime, any limited use of the building and grounds by Actual Reality will be on a basis agreed by the relevant authorities.
The Council’s solution – cut and run
A report drawn up for the Council costed at around £595,000 the works required to bring Castle Toward up to a safe standard to permit the resumption of residential facilities to the public.
The Council says that the total cost of works to bring the property up to an acceptable standard is estimated at about £977,000.
The Council’s Executive met today (17th December) and has agreed to continue to look into the sale of all or parts of the property on the open market. Actual Reality Learning and Leadership Ltd is one of the prospective purchasers with which there will be discussions on possible sale terms, should that company wish to pursue its interest in the property.
That’s the sop to convention. If the Council goes ahead with this plan, it will be worth paying very particular scrutiny to the outcome of any sale procedure.
A defining moment for the Council
In its own unexpected way, this issue will be a defining moment for the Council.
There is no doubt that the experience available to young people in an outdoor centre with Castle Toward’s space, character and reverberations of other times is formative and irreplaceable. These reverberations are also utterly specific to Argyll itself, knitting the structural fabric of the social and political tensions between some of its major clans.
And there is the fact that the Castle and its grounds has bveen the location for the very popular television show, Raven, transmitted by CBBC, the BBC’s childrens’ channel.
A facility like the Castle Toward estate will not be cheap to bring back to the life it retains at heart; and it will never be cheap to maintain. But we’re talking about an irreplaceable capital asset that is not beyond repair. And we’re talking about the developmental growth of Argyll’s children.
Once assets like this are lost – out of understandable but wrongheaded weakness and tiredness – they are beyond recall. Some things are worth the candle.
The parallel for this moment is the UK’s lack of stomach to invest in the retention of crucial core assets like the railways and the public utilities. It was easier to slough off responsibility, avoid the hard decisions these major investments would have brought with them, hand over to the private sector and wash the parliamentary hands of the consequences.
Now look where we are. It would have been worth the pain to have taken a different route than abdication.
The trouble is that such decisions are irreversible and so will be the sale of Castle Toward unless the Council think better of it and gird up for a very different and longsighted mindset.
An island like Coll, with a population of 220, can contemplate raising over £1.5 million towards a total project cost of £2.5 million to replace its ageing and damp-sited village hall with a new community and visitor centre.
Why, therefore, cannot Argyll & Bute Council stiffen its resolve to hold tight to a unique historical asset like Castle Toward and its grounds?
It is far from impossible to find a strategy to ensure that this property remains in public or community ownership in perpetuity; and that funds to support that can be found from appropriate sources.
The photograph of Castle Toward above is by copyright holder, Wiliam Craig and is reproduced here under the Creative Commons licence.
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December 18th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I’d like to point your readers in the direction a facebook group which was established on Tuesday the 15th of November called “Save Castle Toward“. It already has nearly 2000 members from across the globe (Hong Kong, Italy, Romania, USA to name but a few outside the UK) who all share their disgust at the decision to close the castle. I would implore any of your readers who understand the importance of such a centre, not just for Argyll and Bute but for the whole of Scotland to join this group and let the powers that be know that the castle must be retained as an educational facility.
Many thanks for your future support,
Quintin Doyle (Toward regular for 17 years from 1992)
(Forargyll added the Facebook link, Ed.)
December 18th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Hmm, Mid Argyll Swimming Pool and Castle Toward. Different facilities with similar purpose and the same problem? Wonder what capital asset with a leisure purpose will be next and on what pretext? Evidently they can’t use management or health and safety for the next one as we might start to notice a pattern.
December 18th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Surely as owners of the property the council has not maintained or acted as responsible “landlords” as stated under landlord legislation that is a point that appears to have been glossed over!!!! Are they joining partners with the people who know the cost of everything but ignore its value to society and particular to its young people!!! The historical background to the bequest to Glasgow Corporation for use for young people to experience rural/coastal life and its use as both an art and music facility appears to also have been sidestepped. Its educational value cannot and should not be underestimated and to conveniently “sell off the family silver” to developers is not the way to gain credence in the lead up to elections!!!!
December 19th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Further to the above comment I would urge all people who have an interest in Castle Toward and its proposed sale to be aware that a new community council is now in place and to use it as the mouthpiece of the community! Community Planning is being devolved down to COMMUNITIES therefore it is important not to be apathetic but proactive and to look at the wider implications of this sale. The January meeting of the community council is on the 13th at Innellan Village Hall and I would urge anyone who has an interest to come along and air their concerns.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Save Castle Toward!
Dont let it get knocked down!
So many memories, so many good times!
The building should remain as long as the memories themselves!!
December 20th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
This sort of behaviour is familiar to us on the eastern fringes: Helensburgh, that is. Templeton Library stood empty for a long period before being redeveloped into private housing, and the Clyde Street Centre has had nothing but pigeons in it for several years now.
December 20th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
As a regular visitor from the US, I have been fortunate to twce been inside this building. Scotland does such a great job of protecting its ancient historical sites, why not keep this facility functional? Also what would happen to the Lamont castle ruins on the back side of the property?
December 21st, 2009 at 11:48 am
In 2004 The Friends of Castle Toward highlighted the threat posed to the continuation of Castle Toward in Cowal as a residential outdoor education centre and as a summer venue for youth orchestras and art groups by the announcement by the custodian, Argyll and Bute Council, that it intended to sell the Castle Toward Estate on the open market. Despite its inability to attract any buyers and the unlikelihood of finding any in the current economic climate, the Council have continued to ignore all pleas to work with the operating company, Actual Reality to guarantee the future of this fine B-listed building and its highly regarded designed landscape environment.
Argyll and Bute Council had originally been granted custodianship under the direction of the Castle Trust Joint Management Committee by Glasgow City Council and East Renfrewshire Council subject to the condition that the not for profit operating company, Actual Reality, would be granted a long term lease of the Castle Toward Estate and its sister centre at Ardentinny for the continuation of its operations. These councils were the inheritors of the Estate from the former Strathclyde Region which, in turn had inherited it from Glasgow Corporation, its original purchasers.
Both centres have helped thousands of children to develop self-confidence and experience the outdoors and to develop their musical and artistic abilities in a beautiful and extremely safe residential environment. Actual Reality contributes approximately one million pounds per annum to the economy of Argyll and any surpluses raised have always been used to maintain and upgrade the two centres.
The public record shows the Council initially having accepted the terms of its custodianship. The minutes of the meeting of the Council’s Policy and Resources Committee held on the 13th of December, 2000 record the decision to instruct directors of the Council to grant leases to Actual Reality. However, the public record goes on to show that this decision was overturned by the Strategic Policy Committee on the 30th of October, 2003, following a report dated the 2nd of October, 2003 prepared by the Director of Corporate Services. The contents of this report are, regrettably, not available to the public. However, on the basis of its contents the Council voted to renege on its original undertaking and attempt to capitalise on what it now regarded as a saleable asset. The Council have also failed so far to explain how the issue of change of use of the Estate would be addressed.
It is overwhelmingly clear to me and to many others that Argyll and Bute Council have never had a plan for the preservation of Castle Toward. I emphasise this point. As its own press release admits, the Council’s failure to maintain the Castle itself during its period of custodianship has led to the failure of the property to pass the Council’s own safety assessment. Or would it suit the Council’s purposes for Castle Toward to be reduced to a derelict shell? The Council’s own documents attach a fantastical figure of £4.3M to the Castle Toward Estate, a figure which seems to derive from a marketing exercise which, if realised, would mean the destruction of mature woodland and parkland within an early 19th century designed landscape in order to create something in the region of 16-17 building plots to be sold at a quarter of a million pounds each. The Council persists with this fantasy despite the fact that no serious interest has ever been shown in pursuing it. And what future do they envisage for the Castle in all of this? Emphatically none, for they have never planned for its survival.
In the meantime it is the managers of Actual Reality, supported by the Friends of Castle Toward and the trustees of the Castle Toward Trust, who have striven to maintain the fabric of both Castle Toward and the Ardentinny Centre and preserve this invaluable part of the heritage of Argyll and the west of Scotland. It is a testament to the hard work of the staff of Actual Reality and the many volunteers and charitable donors over these years of inaction on the part of Argyll and Bute Council that both centres have until now remained open and viable.
This matter requires urgent detailed investigation. I have requested access under Freedom of Information legislation to the relevant council reports and am awaiting a response. I suspect, however, that full disclosure will require some force majeur on the part of the Scottish Government.
December 21st, 2009 at 12:01 pm
For John Jamieson: Thank you for this detailed account of the background to this serious matter. Are you saying you have had no response at all to your request for information under Freedom of Information legislation? When did you submit your request? Are you aware that FoI includes all related written and printed material – including notes and emails?
December 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
email to Mr Stephen Doogan, FOI Officer, A&BC, Friday, 18th December, 2009.
Subject: FOI Request for Documentation Pertaining to Castle Toward and Ardentinny Centres
Dear Mr Doogan,
I wish to submit a request under the Freedom of Information legislation for copies of:-
All documents and reports submitted to committees of the Argyll and Bute Council and the full Council relating to Castle Toward and the Ardentinny Centre marked as unavailable for publication in the minutes of the meetings of those committees. These should include copies of the recent Safety Reports used to justify the closure of castle Toward for residential use.
In the event of disclosure being refused I should be grateful if you would respond to this effect at the earliest opportunity in order that I may expedite an appeal to the Council and, if necessary, a further appeal to the Information Commissioner for Scotland.
(No acknowledgement received to date)
December 22nd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
22nd December, 2009.
Still no acknowledgement from Mr Doogan.
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I asked: what would it take for this information to become available under the Freedom of Information Act?
The information commisioners office’s reply is below!
Dear Mr Fergusson,
I write with reference to your enquiry to the Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner of yesterday. I have been asked to respond to you.
I understand from reading your enquiry and the information that you provided a link to that you submitted an information request to Argyll and Bute Council on 18 December 2009. I also understand that you wish to know what it would take for the information that you requested to be made available under the Freedom of Information Act.
In the first instance I would advise that where you have submitted an information request to the Council then they have 20 working days under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 in which to respond to your request. This timescale is calculated from the day after the Council received your request for information and the calculation does not include public holidays or weekends.
If, after the 20 working days has elapsed you either receive no response from the Council, or you receive a response that you are dissatisfied with then you have the right to submit a request for a review to the Council. Such a request would have to be made in writing and within 40 working days of either the expiry of the 20 working days for the Council to respond to you or from the date of their response.
Within your request for a review you would need to outline your name and address, the detail of the information request that you made and explain why you are dissatisfied with either the Council’s lack of response, or their response.
Once you have submitted your request for a review, the Council has a further 20 working days in which to respond to you.
If after these 20 working days have elapsed you have either received no response, or you are dissatisfied with the response then you can make an application to the Commissioner within 6 months of the 20 working days elapsing and ask that he investigate the way in which the Council has handled your request. Any application to the Commissioner has to be in writing and should include a copy of the following documents;
1. A copy of the request for information that you submitted to the Council
2. A copy of any response that you received from the Council
3. A copy of any request for a review that you submitted to the Council
4. A copy of any response from the Council to your request for a review
You should also provide a letter in your application setting out what you want the Commissioner to investigate.
If you do seek an investigation from the Commissioner, I would explain that an investigation can take 6 months or more to complete.
I have sent a booklet out to your home address which outlines your rights under FOISA, I hope that this will be of help to you.
I trust that this information is of help to you. Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely
Jill Walker
Freedom of Information Officer
December 23rd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
23rd December, 2009:
I have just received a response from Mr Stephen Doogan, FOI Officer, which is essentially a copy of a response sent to another enquirer and provides no explanation as to why the Council reneged on its original undertaking to provide a lease to Actual Reality as agreed by the Castle Trust Joint Management Committee. I have responded with a new request in which I invite Mr Doogan to review the entirety of the Council record from its inception and to include emails, notes and memoranda as suggested by newsroom (for which much thanks).
I have also submitted similar FOI requests to the two other principal organisations represented in the Castle Trust Joint Management Committee, namely Glasgow City Council and East Renfrewshire Council: both requests were acknowledged immediately and are now being processed.
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:02 pm
As one of the vast worldwide Castle Toward diaspora I am on baord for any campaign that will stop Argyll and Bute proceeding with any intention to destroy this marvelous institutution and asset. They already tried to get rid of Castle Toward but that attempt was seen off.
They tried to do down the Burgh Hall in Dunoon on similar premises. The community was told it was unsafe, it was going to ruin etc etc etc. All absolute rubbish.
We saved it and it goes into 2010 with an ambitious future ahead of it
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:18 am
Community Planning Partnership group is being formed and representation by community councils is essential. Use South Cowal Community Council as the voice for representation of Toward, Innellan and Loch Striven’s community views particularly in the light of recent developments in relation to the possible sale of Castle Toward and its grounds. The building is listed and the land is listed in the inventory of design and landscape heritage. Note the date and venue please!!!! Innellan Village Hall 7.30pm 13th January,2010. If we do not hear from you personally then it would be difficult to call for a public meeting – send out a clear message please that we do care about our community and its heritage by turning up!!!!
January 6th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
My sincere gratitude to Dave McEwan and all who left the last council meeting with the view that they were doing so in support of Saving Castle Toward!
My message to him is get yer sel on tae facebook and generate some interest as only you can!
That goes fur the rest O’ yous too!
Save Castle Toward!
January 6th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Elizabeth
Many thanks for your posting, I appreciate it, I will however be unable to attend due to other commitments and was wondering if the huge support that Castle Toward has on Facebook and a variety of other places including forargyll.com will be taken account of at this meeting?
Regards
Chris Fergusson
January 7th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Community Council meetings have to be influenced by the raft of public opinion in relation to both issues of the Loch Striven ships and Castle Toward, but only if contact is made by at least 20 members of the public can a public meeting be called. It is up to all of you who have petitioned on Ipetition and on Facebook to contact me with your details so as I can take them forward on your behalf at 01369 870 360. The way your community moves forward is up to you, and , by the way we still have 5 places to fill on S Cowal Community Council!!!!!! If you feel up for the job, discuss this also with me as this is an exciting time for community engagement. Boundaries for our area are just beyond Ardenlee Care Home on the Dunoon side and Inverchaolin on the Loch Striven side. Looking forward to hearing from some of you!!!!
January 8th, 2010 at 9:30 am
[...] we reported on 18th December, Argyll and Bute Council is currently making yet another attempt to divest itself of its responsibili…. We do not know whether the developer is still in the frame whom the Council had in mind as a [...]
January 8th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Hi Elizabeth;
I am currently floating your messages on Facebook which now has over 4000 members, I hope that, we can meet your requirements and thankyou for keeping us in mind!
Kind Regards
Chris
January 8th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
I am against the councils proposed plans to remove the services which Actual Reality are now providing for the local community, Inverclyde and Glasgow by shutting Castle Toward.
Please do whatever is in your power, to stop this mindless eradication of this historic service!
Unfortunately I will be unable to attend you meeting as I have other commitments, My sincere apologies!
Kind Regards
Chris Fergusson
7 Gordon Terrace
Westgate
Driffield
East Yorkshire
YO25 6TQ
January 11th, 2010 at 12:34 am
Thanks, Chris, your name will be taken forward on Wednesday to the meeting, I am hoping to get more than 20 names locally in order to be able to call a special meeting to highlight this sale and the loss of this asset to all youngsters both local and from all areas . People from all walks of life are contacting me and I am keeping a note of them all. I will keep you posted!!
January 11th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Please accept my thanks for all your hard work Elizabeth, the centre due to it’s nature has attracted a lot of support via facebook, from right around the Globe, I believe this to be indicative as to what has happened each time the council have attempted to sell it. So i thank-you for taking this into account.
I am sure once again that the Observer will be reporting on those who got turned away!
Best wishes to you and all of Committee, I hope the meeting goes well and that you do indeed manage to get to discuss the whole agenda!
Regards
Chris
January 13th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Good luck tonight Elizabeth, sadly due to working in Glasgow I won’t be able to make it along this evening. I hope you have had enough interest from the locals to call a special meeting and that we can keep the castle for future generations.
Many thanks for your efforts,
Q
January 20th, 2010 at 12:29 am
This website details the dishonesty and underhandedness of Argyll & Bute council over the past decade with regards to Castle Toward and it’s future.
See http://www.castletoward.com for the real story.
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:50 pm
If you support this cause do not vote SNP on May the 6th 2010, they will not support your views