AGM 2025
ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING
www.ardentinnycc.co.uk
Minutes of the AGM held on 3rd June 2025 at Ardentinny Village Hall at 7.00p.m.
Present: John Brint (Convener) Mark Rowthorn (Secretary), Keith Wood (Treasurer), Bill Tierney, Helen West, Danielle Markey and Brian Hillesdon.
Public: Elsbeth Brint, David McDowall, Neil Bennett and Sophie Jaquet Bennett
Welcome and introductions
JB thanked everyone for attending the meeting.
Apologies
Received from Gill Walker (FLS), Michael Cunningham (Police), Colin and Renee Birks, Dougie Menzies, Ken Walker, Jim and Jeanie Urquhart and Anne Wood
Note: No Apologies received from A&BC, National Parks Authority and Ardentinny Outdoor Centre
Declaration of Interest
No declarations of interest declared.
Minutes of last AGM
The minutes of the last meeting had been made available on the various notice boards, the Ardentinny Community Council (ACC) website and all those on the Community Council email list had received a copy. A few hard copies were made available in the hall for information.
JB asked whether anyone had any comments, issues or matters arising regarding the minutes: None were made.
JB asked for a proposer and seconder that the minutes be accepted.
Proposed: Keith Wood Seconded: Helen Rowthorn
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising from the previous minutes
Convener’s Report
JB stated that the Community Council (CC) continues to be active on several fronts over the last 12 months. The Community Council (CC) continued to be active on several fronts in the last year. This includes follow up on the points identified in our 2023 Residents Survey. We have had some success on some items but unfortunately many are still lagging due to lack of response from the agency departments we are trying to engage with.
We appreciate the support of all three of our local ward councillors who assisted us in many activities.
Road Safety in the village
This year finally saw progress on the Road Safety improvements we requested to the Roads Department, thanks to the help of our Ward Councillors and Ms. K Flanagan (A&BC Executive Director). A package of works was agreed, most of this has been completed, and we now have red panels and rumble strips at the entrance to the village (north and south) plus new signs. We are awaiting further red panels and road markings at the Rock Cottage corner. The A&BC Roads Department has that noted in their work schedule for completion in the near future.
Ardentinny Community Emergency Plan
We made our annual revisions to the community emergency plan in May 2025. This was distributed to residents via our website and made available as a hard copy in the Ardentinny Village Hall. Copies were also provided to the Civil Contingencies Unit at Argyll & Bute Council, Forestry and Land Scotland, Ardentinny Outdoor Centre and the Village Hall Management Team. Storm Eowyn (6 days with no power for some residents) had a major impact on the village and its residents. The Emergency Team has identified improvement areas within the team regarding internal communications and finding out which residents did need some assistance. This instigated the purchase of equipment, kindly funded by the Ardentinny Renewables Trust, that would be available to residents in the hope of improving our resilience to such events. This includes a gas-powered generator, a large power bank, several small chargers, portable gas hobs and kettles. This will be available from the Ardentinny Village Hall or another appropriate location as required.
Storm Eowyn
The storm had a serious impact on the village, knocking out power and bringing down telephone poles. Many trees took out the main power line and some houses had narrow escapes from falling trees. We have engaged with Forestry and Land Scotland and have asked them to take down the trees that have the
potential to hot the power lines. We will have a F2F meeting with them later this month.
Luckily the telephone line survived for the majority of the village but we are now in a situation where these lines have not been put back on poles throughout the village. Approaches to Openreach have been unsuccessful in moving this forward, so we are looking into using our Ward Councillors for assistance. One line along the beach has not been put back up for almost two years.
Local Place Plan
We are progressing our Local Place Plan for Ardentinny, which involves the local community, Trusts, businesses and clubs. Based on the feedback form those who came to the drop in sessions, the Steering Group has developed a set of action items per the 6 aims we identified. Work continues on map making and developing the document with the support of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park team.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) – Picnic Site at the Beach
We have continued to engage with FLS regarding the Beach area and Car Park. There are still concerns about the lack of Rangers to monitor the location, as we still suffer from anti-social behaviour (loud music, fires lit on the grass under the trees which risk a forest fire, alcohol and loose dogs). There is little enthusiasm for the residents to venture near the beach in summer.
We have also requested that the road to the beach be tidied up and the passing places scraped back, however no progress.
Public Toilets
The car park toilets are clearly a well-used facility. We have requested that the pipes in the loft space are insulated to prevent another flood, the A&BC Amenities Team are looking into this request. It is disappointing to report that the toilets have been subjected to vandalism on several occasions (spray painting, damage to equipment, removal of toilet rolls), which the Amenities Team has duly repaired or replaced.
Fish Farms in Loch Long
The CC continues to liaise with AFF The Clyde to express our opposition to the Beinn Reithe fish farm in the National Park. If Beinn Reithe goes ahead there, it leaves Ardentinny open to a renewed request by MOWI to try for an installation at the south end of our village.
Litter Bins
We requested three additional waste bins that were to be located at appropriate locations in the village, in an attempt to encourage dog owners to pick up and deposit the poo. However, this has been rebuffed by A&BC, which is disappointing.
Beach Clean
We have held two very successful beach cleans in the last year.
Defibrillator
Two new defibrillators were installed at the Beach toilet block (thanks to FLS for agreeing to cover the electricity costs), and the Village Hall, this brings a total of three defibrillators to the village. The Community Council has issued cards to all residents indicating the three locations and the codes to open the cabinets.
Dunoon Gourock Ferry
We are participating along with several of the local CC’s to assess the enthusiasm for a renewed ferry service from Dunoon town centre to Gourock. This includes an ongoing survey. Ardentinny CC has joined in this initiative based on the views of the residents in Ardentinny which was positive to the idea.
Treasurers Report
A detailed breakdown of the financial activity (01-04-24 to 31-03-25) was presented by the treasurer, Keith Wood (KW)
Financial Activity From 1st April 24 to 31st March 25
• Opening balance £3677.65
• Money Credited to account.
ART toilet contribution £1242.00
ART Walkie Talkie contribution £137.67
A & B Council Contributions £731.00
Payment into account from K Wood £12.49
Loch Lomond NPA Donation £600.00
Totalling £2723.16
• Money Debited from the account
12 payments to Out Of Your Hands toilet cleaning £1872.00
4 payments to village hall hire £290
2 payments to Hostworld/Spanglefish web costs £102.00
1 payment McCuaig Hygiene Services sanitary disposal £150.00
1 payment South Cowal Community Council (DEFAG) donation £50.00
2 payments Walkie Talkies £137.67
1 Payment Toilet donation boxes £75.98
1 Payment squirrel signs £34.46
1 payment Remembrance wreath £24.49
1 payment Ardentinny Christmas party donation £40.00
5 payments for Local Place Plan items £757.27
Rectify wrong payment £12.49
Payments Stuart Grey Emergency Team Costs £22.25
1 Payment Parish Online Mapping £60.00
1 Payment Lloyds Bank Service Charges £4.25
1 Payment Defib Leaflets £30.00
Totalling £3662.86
• Closing balance on 31st March 25 = £2737.95
Proposed: John Brint Seconded: Brian Hillesdon
9 Election of Committee
All of the committee stood down. John Brint (Convener), Mark Rowthorn (Secretary) and Keith Wood (Treasurer) stood down from their roles in office.
John Brint agreed to continue as Conveyer.
Proposed: Helen Rowthorn Seconded: Danielle Markey
Mark Rowthorn agreed to continue as Secretary.
Proposed: Danielle Markey Seconded: John Brint
Keith Wood agreed to continue as Treasurer.
Proposed: Bill Tierney Seconded: Brian Hillesdon
Bill Tierney, Helen West, Danielle Markey and Brian Hillesdon agreed to continue as Councillors.
10 Future Meetings
JB confirmed the date for the next AGM as:
2 June 2026 – 7.00pm AGM followed by Ordinary meeting.
AGM minutes 2025
AGM minutes 2024
/file/community-council-minutes/minutes-2024/Minutes-AGM-11-June-2024.pdf
AGM minutes2023
documents/community-council-minutes/minutes-acc-agm-6-june-2023.pdf
AGM 2022 minutes
documents/community-council-minutes/minutes-of-acc-agm-tuesday-12th-april-2022.pdf
AGM 2021 minutes