COUNCIL tax has been frozen as Argyll and Bute Council set its budget for the next three years.
Additional investment of £26 million will be allocated for roads and £17 million to the school estate in a unique budget which saw the entire council support the plans.
A further £1 million has been put towards care for the elderly and £1 million for street lighting with £10 million going to support town centre and waterfront projects in the five main towns in Argyll.
Each of these sums is over a number of years.
Council Leader Dick Walsh summed up by saying: ‘Our budget continues the investment in the people of Argyll and Bute, for the young – in terms of education, for the elderly and disadvantaged – in terms of services such as social work, for providing a range of leisure and recreational activities and for providing appropriate infrastructure and support to enable our economy to grow.’
Councillor Gary Mulvaney, leader of the Argyll and Bute Conservative group, said: ‘This budget has a real focus on service delivery and on the bread and butter issues that matter to people.’
Councillor Ellen Morton, leader of the Argyll and Bute Liberal Democrat group, supported the budget but also acknowledged the work ahead: ‘We still face testing times ahead of us. The budget relies on the delivery of efficiency savings and that’s not always an easy task.’
Opportunity Kintyre and Here We Are in Cairndow are also to see their funding removed. Council leader Dick Walsh said he would be looking for alternative funding sources to support these initiatives.
Although there will be additional funding for modernising schools, it is clear that there may be some risk of closures in the years ahead. Meetings will be held to discuss possible options in the next few months with an outcome expected in the summer.
The funding of an all weather pitch for Campbeltown will come out of the school’s estates budget and Councillor John Semple said: ‘It’s a very competitive budget and we might have difficulty in justifying more sports facilities in Campbeltown.’
Most of the council funding will come through a mix of capital funds and efficiency savings. The Council plans to dip into their reserves in the first year and pay the money back over the following two years.
The plans to develop Campbeltown’s waterfront are still in with a fighting chance though it is up against other schemes throughout the council areas.
Convener Billy Petrie summed up proceedings: ‘It’s unique that a budget has gone through united. Argyll united.’
