ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEETING

www.ardentinnycc.co.uk

ARDENTINNY COMMUNITY COUNCIL ORDINARY MEETING

www.ardentinnycc.co.uk

Minutes of the ordinary meeting held on Tuesday 2nd December 2025 at the Ardentinny Village Hall at 7.30pm

Present:

Ardentinny Community Council members: John Brint (Convener), Keith Wood (Treasurer), Bill Tierney, Danielle Markey

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority: Shonny Paterson

Public: Dougie Menzies, David McDowell, Helen Rowthorn, Elsbeth Brint, Ken Walker

AGENDA

Welcome and introductions

JB thanked everyone for coming.

Apologies

Brian Hillesdon (Secretary ACC), Steve Gillen (FLS), Gill Walker (FLS), James Dalgleish (MOD), Yvonne McNeilly (Ward Councillor), Anne Wood, Jim & Jeannie Urquhart, Neil Robinson

Declaration of Interest

None

Matters arising not covered on the agenda

None

Minutes of last meeting (2nd Sept 2025)

Meeting minutes were updated for a clarification on the point 15ii at the request of Stuart Gray.

ii) Ardentinny Hall Management Team

2 de-stratification fans have been installed fixed to the ceiling – these are being trialled to see if they improve the warm air circulation in the hall.

This was replaced by

Mock-ups of destratification fans were fitted to assess impact on the badminton group. The Hall Management Team are currently giving consideration to the purchase of working fans

The change was accepted at the meeting and the updated minutes were then formally adopted; 2

Proposed: Keith Wood

Seconded: Bill Tierney

Treasurers Report

The following breakdown of financial activity was presented by the treasurer, KW:

Financial Activity From 1st April 25 to 2nd December 25

Opening balance £2737.95
Money Credited to account.

2 Payments from Toilet donations contribution box. £230.00

1 Payment from SSEN Storm payment £500.00

1 Payment from ART Toilet contribution £1242.00

2 Payments from A&B Council contributions £731.00

Totalling £2703.00

Money Debited from the account

8 payments to Out of Your Hands toilet cleaning £1260.00

1 Payment to McCuaig Hygiene Services, Sanitary Disposal £150.00

5 Payments to Stuart Gray for Emergency Team Costs £130.16

8 Payments to Lloyds Bank services charges £36.13

1 Payment Defib Pads £172.80

2 Payments to Hostworld web costs £106.08

2 Payment to Village Hall hire costs £70.00

1 Payment to Keith Wood for Emergency Team Costs £69.90

1 Payment to Keith Wood for Squirrel Signs £32.67

1 Payment to Amazon for Emergency Team Freezer £299.00

1 Payment to John Brint for Remembrance Wreath £24.49

1 Payment to John Brint for Local Place Plan payment £3.60

Totalling £2354.83

Closing balance on 2nd December 25 £3086.12

Police Report

None Received. It was noted that we are disappointed that no report was provided. JB to follow up with Police Scotland

Councillor’s Report

None Received

Forestry & Land Scotland Report (FLS)

The Area Visitor Services Manager provided a written report to the meeting in reply to Community Council queries on previous discussions that pertain to issues at the beach 3

and picnic site. This includes anti-social behaviour and how it is reported, the FLS plans for the site with respect to managing visitor numbers, parking issues and installing mains water at the toilet block. These were summarised at the meeting by JB, and the detailed reply from FLS is included in these minutes as an appendix at the end of this document.

10 National Park Report

Shonny Paterson (SP) attended the meeting and provided the following report to the meeting –

The NP Authority is currently working on a new Local Development Plan.

Now is the key time to have our say. The Park is gathering evidence, and you can tell them the community priorities, things like housing needs, traffic issues, paths, flooding,

tourism pressure, public transportation and areas we want protected.

Where are you guys with your local development plan? Community engagement more consultation coming in 2026.

ACC replied that we are preparing updates for the National Park Local Development Plan through our Local Place Plan. This input is based on the feedback from residents who attended the drop-in sessions that collated the input to the Local Place Plan. We hope to issue the Local Place Plan this month or in January.

UNAUTHORISED PLANNING

If your area has seen small land-plot sales or adverts for rural holiday plots/plots for caravans, it’s worth alerting neighbours and checking whether these have planning

permission.

The Authority has recently taken action to remove a static caravan placed without permission part of a wider crackdown on unauthorised small-plot development

The problem, as highlighted by the Authority some sellers have been marketing small plots (often subdivided from larger holdings) as if they were suitable for development.

Plots have been advertised at relatively low prices (e.g. circa £7,000), drawing buyers from across the UK who may not appreciate the planning constraints in a protected

National Park.

The Authority states that many of these plots are very unlikely to receive planning permission, particularly given protected-land status, access/road safety concerns,

environmental designations, and lack of infrastructure. They have pledged a “zero-tolerance” approach to unauthorised development; structures without approval

(caravans, access works, etc.) will be removed, even if previous requests to comply are ignored.

Local issues

I have written to Kenny Auld our national park head of visitor services. Asking for updates on the Ardentinny beach site and their engagement with FLS regarding working

together in tackling this problem. He is on Annual leave till the 3rd of December. I also have a national park meeting on Monday 8th December I will make a point of raising the issue with him then if I do not hear back from him before then. 4

ACC thanked SP for his attention to our concerns regarding the management of the beach by FLS. For his information, we will provide evidence of the issues that occur at the beach. These were previously given to Councillor Sinclair and Police Scotland.

SP informed us that Councillor Sinclair is no longer on the board of the National Park, this is now Mark Irvine and Maurice Corry.

A general discussion was held about the possibility of introducing Camping Bye-Laws by the National Park for the Ardentinny site. This would be in an attempt to reduce the anti-social behaviour experienced by residents. This generated interest from the Community Council and those present, though we would need to see what the consequences are of implementing this. It was agreed that the Community Council we would explore this further with the National Park Authority.

11 Ardentinny Community Emergency Team Update

The Emergency Team would like to thank Ardentinny Renewables Trust and Ardentinny Community Council, which along with funds provided by SSEN allowed us to buy a freezer that will be used during future power cuts. It will be at the hall and powered by our lpg generator. Residents will be able to put one shopping bag of frozen goods into the freezer until power is restored.

12 Review of Ardentinny Residents Survey

I. Local Place Plan, Roads, Church Car Park Toilets

The Local Place Plan is almost completed; the document will be circulated to the Steering Committee, adjoining Community Councils and Ward Councillors for comments in December/January, and thereafter shared to all on our website.

Roads – We attended the Cowal Transport Forum 24/11/2025 and raised the following points - The single-track road continues to deteriorate due primarily to the weather, we initially engaged with Argyll and Bute Council Roads Department requesting a review of the roads and we have put in a request for complete resurfacing of key stretches. At the Forum we requested that this be minuted and sent to the Roads Dept, plus we also requested ditch clearing and the finalisation of the safety signs with the two red panels with SLOW on them at Rock Cottage, these are outstanding since May 2025. Some ditch clearing has commenced in the last few days.

The Car Park toilets were recently unreachable due to the high-water level in the car park that occurs after heavy rain, we have contacted the Roads teams at A&BC to come up with a solution. We await a response.

Beach Appearance/Benches/Waste Bins

Nothing to report 5

Charge Point/Climate Change

As part of efforts to address climate issues, DM reported that 200 native deciduous trees supplied the Woodland Trust were planted in the grounds of the Ardentinny Outdoor Centre by children from Largs Primary, St. Phillans Primary and Sandbank Primary.

Community Council Web Site/Facebook/Instagram

Helen Rowthorn continues to look after the social media sites on behalf of ACC. She will take time to show other CC members how to make updates in the coming months.

Gourock Ferry and Bus Timetable Updates

We attended the Cowal Transport Forum 24/11/2025 and raised our concerns about the loss of further bus services to Ardentinny. West Coast Motors purely look at passenger numbers, which are very low, but we requested that they consider reinstating the mid-day Sunday service and a late-night service to allow people to attend events in Dunoon and also folks to come via public transport to Ardentinny and support the Bistro as well as visit friends/relatives. Kilmun CC were also present to express their concerns on the loss of bus services, we are clearly aligned with them.

However West Coast Motors did not want to change the timetable, but the Meeting Chair (Councillor Hampsey) will push for them to provide early versions of the next timetable to ensure we can comment on any planned changes. Currently the only time we see it is when it is issued, so we are on the backfoot.

The recent timetable changes by West Coast Motors were driven to meet the Calmac ferry timetable, and as Ardentinny has low numbers our routes were removed first accommodate these changes.

Ardentinny CC hopes to have a meeting with Kilmun CC to agree a joint response and way forward to try and get the return of some bus services.

MOD/Coulport and SEPA Update

HM Naval Base Clyde Local Liaison Committee Meeting Notes – 23rd September 2025 (attended by Brian Hillesdon (Secretary ACC))

Topic: Discussion on the 2019 Tritium Leak into Loch Long

Questions Posed by Brian:

Brian raised a three-part question based on information reported in the press regarding the 2019 incident:

Why was the 2019 leak not disclosed earlier?
What was the nature of the radioactivity?
Was there any threat to public health?

MoD Official Responses:

The questions were answered by the MoD Coulport Operations Lead, supported by the MoD Radiological Specialist. 6

Reporting Status: The incident was reported to SEPA in 2019 and was jointly analysed at the time.
Disclosure Policy: A recent, broader request for information on this matter was declined due to national security concerns.
Severity of Incident: The leak was not significant enough to trigger mandatory public reporting because: It involved no significant radiological release.
It remained well below regulatory discharge limits.
It posed no health or safety risk.

Further Detail on Security and Non-Reporting (Post-Meeting Discussion):

In a separate conversation after the meeting, the MoD Health & Safety Manager elaborated on the MoD’s strict policy regarding information release:

When a request for further information is made, the MoD must consider how that detail, when combined with other minor information releases over time, could be pieced together by adversaries to gain a better overall understanding of sensitive aspects of the UK nuclear program.
The MoD is careful because seemingly insignificant details about the room, the leak, or the pipework, if accumulated with many other snippets released over years, could start to give a much more detailed understanding of the UK program to foreign powers.
Since the severity of this particular incident was not a reportable incident, the MOD saw little reason to provide further information to the public.

Technical Details of the Leak:

The technical details of the leak and its source have been well covered in the press so we have not repeated here (by The Ferret and others – another article in the Ardentinny Residents ’Forum on 23/11/25)

SEPA Update to questions sent by ACC

Q. Radioactivity levels in Loch Long around Ardentinny and in seaweed at the beaches:

We reported concerns to SEPA about the radioactivity levels in the water and seaweed (which is gathered by locals) around Ardentinny, and requested if information was readily available, or could SEPA undertake sampling and analysis on our behalf.

We explained that we are interested in undertaking regular checks ourselves on the beaches and water, could you recommend an appropriate inexpensive tool that can be purchased?

Reply:

SEPA's environmental radioactivity monitoring programme is reported annually in the Radioactivity in Food and the Environment report (RIFE) with results for samples taken closest to Ardentinny being reported under MoD Faslane and additionally at the Holy Loch. Additionally, sampling at various locations in the wider Clyde estuary is reported under the Hunterston and the Non Nuclear chapters. Radioactivity doses calculated are consistently extremely low in this area, representing the low concentrations discharged in to the Gare Loch and via 7

dispersion in to Loch Long/Holy Loch and the wider Clyde. (So no intent to add samples on this side of Loch Long.)

Monitoring for tritium cannot be undertaken with a tool or device. Instead, it requires analysis in a laboratory and in any case the quantities expected to be in the Loch would be so small that laboratory analysis would be required to reach the lowest level of analysis possible to confirm presence of tritium. Habits survey reports for HMNB Clyde and the Radioactivity in Food and the Environment report (new issue released yesterday) are available at Reports | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

ACC Comment - Based on this feedback it appears there is no tool that we could purchase to conduct our own measurements.

Q. on Water Quality:

We have a wild swimming club in the village and there are concerns regarding the water quality due to discharges from septic tanks. Does SEPA have readily available information on the water quality specifically around Ardentinny that could be shared. If not could SEPA undertake a sampling campaign.

Reply:

SEPA is adding a few samples to their Clyde programme and are currently looking at new locations to take seawater and seaweed in Loch Long. They also have a small programme in the Holy Loch, so they could add a seaweed sample from the Ardentinny side. They asked if we could advise of locations where groups swim as they would ask their contractors to check where it is possible to take samples for analysis. ACC provided a map of recommended sampling sites to SEPA. SEPA has passed the map onto their contractor who undertakes the sampling. They will make visits to several locations to see where is best suited for sampling, taking due consideration of sample volume as well as health & safety issues for accessing the site. SEPA will be adding samples of seawater and seaweed from Loch Long into the programme from 2026, which will be reported in the RIFE report of that monitoring year - this will be published around October 2027.

ACC comment - Although this will only start in 2026 it is a positive response, a copy of the map supplied to SEPA is attached at the end of these minutes. In addition to asking for sampling at Rock Cottage foreshore, we also added two further sites at the slipway and the main beach to our request.

13 Updates. Ardentinny Renewables Trust (ART)

Dougie Menzies advised that the ART has ~£40,000 available for projects in the village. Most recently the Village Hall received funds for redevelopment of the kitchen and snug, improvements to the heating, insulation in front of the stage, the steps on to the stage and easier access to the matts for the 8

carpet bowlers. The Bowling club received funds for improvements to the green.

Ardentinny Hall Management Team

The ART have assisted with funds to develop the kitchen and the snug. There is a new cooker which will be connected in the New Year. Also, the under stage insulation has been done, access to the carpet bowls equipment improved and the Badminton group can easily move the stage steps out of the way. Improvements to the heating system should allow us to manage the temperature in the hall more easily. A HIVE system was installed by Stuart Gray to allow timers to be set for some of the heater pairs.

A new electricity meter (Owl meter) is being provided by Rob Brakes (Cuil Burn Hydropower Ltd) that will help us to monitor our usage should it be necessary to adjust the set temperatures. Keeping in mind the overall cost of heating the hall especially at this time of year it will allow us to monitor the split in energy costs as we receive cheaper electricity from the hydro schemes when they are running versus the national grid which is more expensive. Currently the split between energy use from the grid and the hydro schemes is done by Rob Brakes, who only provides a yearly bill to the hall. It is hoped the new meter will us to monitor the split of energy more efficiently between the two different costs and help us keep costs low.

The Hall is still looking for new Trustees, in particular a new Treasurer is need as Helen will be leaving the village in the future.

The Hall team would also appreciate more volunteers to help clean the hall on a weekly basis.

Ardentinny Community Trust

The Community Trust elected new Trustees at the meeting on September 16 2025; since then, the following positions on the board of Trustees were agreed – Brian Hillesdon (Chair), Anne Wood (Secretary), Jeannie Urquhart remains as Treasurer. Bill Tierney and John Brint are ordinary Trustees.

Ardentinny Conservation and Heritage Group

No report received.

14 AOB

Risk of closure to Public Toilets in Argyll & Bute – A question was asked if there is any risk that the Council may want to close the Church Car Park Toilets. This is based on a newspaper article in the Dunoon Observer which said that the Council is keeping this option on the table as part of a review of cuts. ACC responded that indeed it could be an issue but will have to wait and see what the Council decides. It was suggested that we could get in touch with other Community Councils or Trusts who took over and now run public toilets to get an understanding of what this would entail for Ardentinny. ACC agreed to follow up on this. 9

15 Date of Next Meeting (Tuesday 3rd March 2026)

Appendix 1 – Reference to Agenda Point 9

Reply from Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) regarding the Picnic Site and Parking at the beach provided by Area Visitor Services Manager Gill Walker and Andrew Clark (FLS Visitor Services)

CC = Community Council (Ardentinny)

Ardentinny Community Council (ACC) Comments are in red

FLS comments in black and blue italics CC Site issues
FLS Response
An improved landscape plan for the motorhomes.

The installation of a barrier at the entry point, height restriction barriers
Due to the size of spaces required for motorhomes this would impact capacity for day visitors arriving in cars/vans/campers. These options will require further consideration as they would affect capacity of the site and may cause displacement issues as well as come at a significant cost. This is something we can have a discussion with our landscape architects about as they have done some previous work on site design at Ardentinny.

ACC Comment: The sheer number of motorhomes usually restricts day visitors anyway; hence day visitors park on the grass and other verges. Why can’t FLS look at providing a visitor experience that is controlled with less parking places and hence pleasant for everyone rather than allowing the beach area to be overcrowded, and with insufficient facilities for the number of visitors.

Designing to reduce visitor car park capacity may cause displacement of day visitor/car parking. This needs to be considered as part of overall plan/strategy for the site/area
To protect the grassy areas, we recommended the installation of low chain
We are looking into options here for next season. There is concern around any fencing of this kind being removed/vandalised during high visitor pressure days but something we will cost and consider to trial.

Attachment 1: map showing the location of the forest track currently being worked on by FLS to prepare for tree harvesting