Notices

Scottish Visitor Levy - Argyll and Bute Consultation,

Message from Counsillor Jim Lynch, leader of Argyll and Bute Council

People in council areas across Scotland are considering a visitor levy for their area and we would like you to have the same chance to consider one for Argyll and Bute.

Why? Because at a time when funding for public services is shrinking, a visitor levy is an option for raising investment to sustain local services used by visitors, as well as residents, and to keep the area as a top visitor attraction.

Support for individual tourism businesses, or for extending the tourism season are examples of how levy income could be used. Services used by the visitor economy, and so could benefit from levy funding, include for example, waste, roads, transport and leisure services.

We are running a 12-week consultation, from Thursday 16 January until Thursday 10 April 2025, and invite you to take the time to find out more about what a levy could mean for Argyll and Bute, and then give your view.

What services would people want income from a levy to be spent on, if one was introduced? What support would tourism businesses like with managing a levy? For anyone against a visitor levy, how else would they see the visitor economy being funded in future?

These are some of the questions we are inviting views on. You can find more information on our website, and over the next 12 weeks we will be providing updates:

Weekly through our news round up email subscription, which is a briefing on general council and other news
Our new Visitor Levy email update service
Regularly as required on our website and social media channels
We are also organising a series of information events over the next 12 weeks. We will announce further information about these soon.

Latest NHS Argyll & But Health and Social Care Partnership

Newsletter - Winter 2024 Linked Here

Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Energy Agency (ALIenergy): Education and Skills Development Programme – 2024 update.

We have a new edition of the STEM activity workbook currently with our funders ScottishPower Renewables for comments before going to print in February.

On Wednesday 26th February at Machrihanish Airbase we will be delivering MAK STEM Fest 2025.

This is a one-day conference style careers event where we bring together all S2 pupils from Tarbert, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown,
deliver a series of engaging workshops and have a fantastic marketplace of local STEM employers.
The aim of this event and the wider STEM work we do is to show our young people the abundance of STEM opportunities on their doorstep in a bid to build and keep hold of a strong STEM workforce.

National Speed Management Review - Consultation Tuesday 18 February (3pm to 7pm) Victoria Hall, Kinloch Road, Campbeltown, PA28 6EG

To attend please sign up for a free ticket on WSP’s Eventbrite page to help us evaluate attendance. Please visit: https://wspscotland.eventbrite.com

The consultation invites feedback on proposals:

To lower the national speed limit on single carriageway roads from 60 mph to 50 mph
To increase speed limits for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes on single carriageways to from 40 mph to 50 mph, and on dual carriageways from 50 mph to 60 mph.

For more information on the consultation and to respond online please visit our project webpage: https://www.transport.gov.scot/consultation/national-speed-management-review-consultation/ and the virtual exhibition room: pinpointcloud.co.uk/nationalspeedmanagementreview.