Comment posted Council lose Court of Session case raised by Helensburgh Landlord by newsroom.
The incoming administration – entitled, as elected members, to see the legal advice received on this matter, might make it public in the interests of transparency.
Recent comments by newsroom
- Minutes of today’s meeting of ‘Concerned Councillors’ Group
The information is not unconfirmed. It is utterly authentic.
The venue was in Lochgilphead and yes, we admit to being more concerned with the content that the venue.
This does not mean that you are wrong – and there is indeed an additional interest in the session being held outside Kilmory. - Minutes of today’s meeting of ‘Concerned Councillors’ Group
Duplicate salaries would not be possible within the rules.
This would be a matter of sharing the leader’s salary three ways for the duration of the triumvirate. - NOW – 21.00: BBC 2′s ‘Town’ with Nicholas Crane visits Oban
Wasn’t it fantastic – history – and with Catherine Gillies at Dunollie as mercifuly crisp as a brandy snap; the entrepreneurial spirit; the landscape; the seascapes; the island connections; the uniquely beautiful waterfront location that actually addresses its waterfront; the thrilling, mad and testosterone-packed outdoor activities born from the natural resources of a place like this; the masculine industry at Glensanda; the great food; the great music….
Now it all has to be made to be true all of the time.
There was that honest and fundamentally worrying glance at the shops for sale and to let, the shabby properties… and we all know there could have been more of this.
But this programme reminded us all of the core value to Argyll of the unique asset of Oban.
The warmth of the programme should not make us complacent that all is well with Oban – but absolutely determined to get it up to speed and keep it developing. - Minutes of today’s meeting of ‘Concerned Councillors’ Group
The SNP group are clearly unable to progress what they had already agreed at the earlier meeting on 16th May. All of them seem to be totally unable to agree to anything. “Impotent’ gets nowhere near the reality.
The paralysis bears witness to the situation we have already published – that the SNP party now requires its councillors to submit their intentions in advance for signing off [or not] by either the local MSP or an NEC member – and the SNP Constituency Association Convener.
The minutes also bear witness to what we said this morning – that they were squabbling amongst themselves and getting nowhere.
What no one could have imagined – nor would we have dared to publish it – was that we would be getting a New Way hydra as leader.
A triple headed short term leadership with three very different heads – Duncan MacIntyre, Michael Breslin and Vivien Dance.
Did someone say something the other day about popcorn and a seat in the front row?
The difference between the clued up and the clueless revealed in these minutes could not be sharper – and the frustration of the clued up is manifest.
It’s dreadfully funny – but you have to feel real sympathy for Councillor Walsh. Follow him through the minutes and you get the picture. - Serenissima waits for higher tide – and she has had earlier identities
We are, of course aware of that.
Watching at the time, what we saw her do was make marked changes of course over a short distance, some times at 90 degrees and at one point turning through 180 degrees three times in a row.
While some of this could have swinging to tide and current, the repetitions did seem to suggest controlled activity.
And it was only when she settled that her AIS recorded ‘At Anchor.’
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‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite a lot, if the council took it to the High Court. If ‘the calibre of the legal advice that the council and its officers are receiving internally and externally’ is toxic, perhaps the council could limit their loss by terminating (or at the very least transferring out of harm’s way) the internal adviser responsible for this debacle, and deducting the council’s costs from their pension package. External advisers could be difficult to sue, but it would be reassuring to have it confirmed that no more advice would be sought from that source.
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What a wonderful idea and just to balance things up when the Council wins a dispute the advisor could be given a huge bonus. Do you honestly expect a local authority to win every case it contests? It must be good to be utterly perfect like yourself. I’m surprised you didnt make a bigger mark on the world.
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Sorry if I hit a nerve, JayC – perfection’s got nothing to do with it – why are you defending the advisers who’ve dropped the council in it, when the council’s struggling for want of finance? Or do you think the council’s a glorified job creation scheme for the senior staff, and anything goes? A case of the ‘untouchables’?
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No nerves here bt if you want to penalise poor performance lets rewards good performance! The suggestion that an employees pension should be altered as a result of “interpretation of law” is ridiculous. Based on both your and Coracles thinking then I assume you’ll be shouting for Alex Salmond /Keith Brown to go if the contractor challenging the Serco Ferries tender award is successful? After all we all want consistency and transparency! As DC would say LOL.
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Shouldn’t your ‘interpretation of law’ read ‘misinterpretation of law’? You’re mixing threads, but no, I wouldn’t be calling for a fatwa on politicians; whoever ‘managed’ the Kilcreggan ferry fiasco in SPT should be given the bum’s rush, and if someone in Transport Scotland bungled the Northern Isles contract they should be held accountable. It’s surely reasonable to expect people to be adequately qualified to adequately execute their job, and you could be picking a bad time to suggest giving rewards for not screwing up – witness recent shareholder’s meetings, and the furore over London bus drivers threatening strike action unless they get extra money for doing their jobs during the Olympics. p.s. in some places LOL is translated as ‘Lordy oh Lordy’ – take your pick.
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It might be illuminating to see the Council’s record in such cases over, say, the past ten years. There has been , I suspect, a policy of attempting to “face down” possible litigants with the threat of expensive High Court action. Of course we do not then hear of the consequences when the bluff is called and the people of Argyll & Bute pick up the tab.
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As a Council taxpayer in Argyll & Bute and I suspect you are also, I do not expect this Council to continue wasting our money in court cases that they quite obviously cannot win. This case bares all the hallmarks of one I have just won against them(another waste of money). The time has come for the Council Officer/s who are responsible for filling Brodies bank account with our Council tax money to be exposed and forced to explain there actions. This blatant misuse of money in a private business would be treated as commercial suicide. However it seems that these officers are left to make there own decisions and waste Council tax money in a cavalier fashion without any of our Councillors being fully informed of what is going on and the likelihood of success. Lets hope our new administration put an end to this and the money wasted is utilised on far more important cash strapped services.
This may even lead to the children in Lochgilphead getting a decent school dinner..
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incompetence but also sleazey as the council tries to evade a few pounds on a technicality but loses thousands in the resulting court case. bin louden must go.
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With you on that one coracle. They obviously don’t assess Best Value on their own performances.
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It might be worth pointing out that this incompetence was yet another example of why the administration had to change.
We now have a new one.
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Can someone please say what this premises is used for and what is the justification for renting this property? How much property does the Council rent in total?
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Hotbird, this is the Graham Williamson Building which is the Council’s main IT centre.
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Hi George,
Is the IT centre going to be relocated into the new Clyde Centre building or are those plans not firmed out yet?
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Integrity, the details have still to be finalised.
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Thanks, Councillor Freeman.
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The incoming administration – entitled, as elected members, to see the legal advice received on this matter, might make it public in the interests of transparency.
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LOL. Me has preference for Dave Cameron’s reported use as LOTS OF LOVE. What we all need, particularly directed toward our new administration entrusted by us, the electorate, to bring forth better local government.
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