Iona Community Council
Draft minutes of the quarterly meeting held in Iona Village Hall on 5th March 2025
PRESENT: Shiona Ruhemann (Chair), Katy Russon (Minutes), Dot Stewart, Rob MacManaway
IN ATTENDANCE: Finlay MacDonald (Ferries & Harbours), SSE (Subsea Cable), Scottish Power (Machair Wind Project)
PUBLIC ATTENDANCE: Chris & Helen, Phil Ruhemann, Robin MacCormack, Neil & Barbara Bruce, Rick Johnston, Caro Penney, Sarah Akehurst, Ailidh Lennon, Robbie McLellan, Rona Muckart-Lilley, Mike Gordon, Jane Kindlen, Christine Dougall, Fiona Menzies, Alison Johnston
APOLOGIES: Jane Martin, Toben Lewis, Rhona Hastings (Health)
Minutes from previous meeting – proposed by Rob & seconded by Finlay
SSE - Subsea Cable Replacement
Delegation included Project Manager, Marine Environment Consents Manager, Onshore Consents & Compliance Manager and representative from the Contractor Briggs Marine.
This work is scheduled to take place this during July/August 2025 – a renewal of an existing asset planned as part of their routine inspection programme to get ahead of potential issues arising with the existing cable.
Project has been underway since 2021 starting with desktop studies followed by survey & engineering works and then designing new cables and routes. Licence applications are now in to allow the work to get underway as planned.
The subsea cable connects onshore towards the North of the island and the plan is to connect into the existing infrastructure to avoid any further development onshore. Indeed, some post runs will be removed. The replacement cable is a more modern construction – it is similar to the existing cable but more heavily armoured which should help improve its resilience. The lifespan of the cable is approximately 25 years – the existing cable has just exceeded that lifespan. The new cable will also have a fibre optic connection which will help them to analyse the cable and fault find remotely.
One challenge is that they are working in very shallow water – 7/8 metres deep - so steps need to be taken to ensure the vessels used aren’t causing any detrimental effects to environment and marine life. Public documentation includes information regarding the vessels being used to protect the marine habitats. Relevant habitats identified include rocky reefs, sand waves and sea grass – they have plotted a very careful route through the sea grass. They are also avoiding/minimising adding any extra elements to the seabed in order to avoid it becoming any shallower. At the shore end, there will be cast iron pipeworks to protect the cable.
Marine Licensing consents are in – 3 different applications including Protected Species consents regarding basking sharks. Applications were submitted on 7th February and public notices are expected to be issued within the next few weeks. (Link to the licence applications is now available - https://marine.gov.scot/node/26090 )
On shore, they have had to consider ecology, birds, archaeology and vegetation and have analysed historical data. The shore to tie cable will use the existing on land infrastructure but has identified some archaeology to work around – specifically boat noosts. There will therefore be an archaeological watching brief over the project, particularly for any digging of new ground to ensure that any finds are identified, recorded and preserved.
Although there is some possibility of breeding birds but there are not many species of concern - the area is actually heavily grazed agricultural land so corncrakes are not relevant for example. They are working closely with National Trust for Scotland.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR – Has the work come about in light of the recent repeated faults on the network on Mull or because of the 25 year lifespan of the cable?
The network carry out a 4 yearly programme of inspections so it was that that flagged the cable was approaching the end of its lifespan which could give rise to potential issues and the replacement planned on that basis. However, they do plan to keep the old cable in service as well – this will give them the ability to switch between the cables if there is issue with one which will hopefully boost resilience.
Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) - Machair Wind Project
Following the meeting, Scottish Power have provided a link to their Scoping Report - https://marine.gov.scot/node/25935
SP Renewables was represented by Mandy & Kiera.
SP Renewables is an “integrated utility” – they are responsible for generating the electricity that SPR produces. SPR does entirely renewable generation. Compare this to their Network & Distribution business (which operates in a different geographical spread from SSE), and their work as an energy supplier. All branches of Scottish Power are owned by a Spanish parent company.
Machair Wind Project acquired “land” from Crown Estates Scotland in 2023 in order to explore the possibilities of offshore wind generation. That has been followed up by geological and feasibility studies after which they slightly narrowed down that area to a smaller field – that smaller area is what has been consulted upon in the linked Scoping Report. Consultation works have included an Environmental Impact Assessment, scoping opinion from the Marine Directorate and feedback from other “stakeholders” including Community Councils.
The project will generate energy for approximately 2 million homes. They will be working at average depts of 53 metres so the turbines will have foundations fixed to the seabed. They are still working on turbine selection but, depending on the type and size they choose, the field will contain 88-147 turbines. A QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR ascertained that the turbines will be between 260 and 340 metres tall (cf, to assess visual impact, a nearby – and visible - lighthouse standing at 44m). The consultation scheduled for the summer will include photo montages of what the wind farm will look like from various perspectives to give an idea of visual impact. They will also have to consider the heights of bird migration routes in relation to the turbines and this will form part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (geese have been flagged both by RSPB and FROM THE FLOOR TONIGHT as requiring particular attention).
The National Grid will determine where the project will connect to the grid but it will likely be in South Ayrshire. Due to that uncertainty, they have decoupled the consents between the wind farm and the cable network to the onshore connection (similar to the decoupling between generation and transmission). In response to a QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR regarding the onshore visual impact, it was established that will be location dependent but there will be an offshore cable run of approximately 180km to shore at the point of connection – ie likely to be South Ayrshire. The connection point will be fairly close to shore so the onshore impact should be minimal, though a substation will be built by the transmission owner (outwith the scope of the SP project). In response to another QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR it was ascertained that there will probably be two large cables in a single trench rather than a network of cables snaking about the seabed.
A second survey will be carried out this year from April – the previous survey was conducted in late summer/autumn and fishermen identified in their feedback that they should resurvey in spring. They have also been analysing Wave Heights and Current patterns using research buoys. There will also be further public events throughout this year before submitting a planning application in Q1 of 2026 – people are encouraged to attend, engage and provide feedback at those public events.
As well as Community Councils, other “stakeholders” include Nature Scot, HWDT as well as partners on Ornithology Studies which will be available to view. They have also been speaking to landowners and ports to identify small bases both for construction & operations. They require to consult further to complete Socio-Economic Impact Assessments.
After the planning application early next year, they hope to have all consents in place during 2027/2028 and to start construction by the end of the 2020s – the schedule for the first export of energy generated by the field is 2033. It will be much further down the line before they will be able to value the Community Benefit from the project but they are keen to provide some support to community initiatives in the meantime – for example, they have provided some sponsorship to Bunessan Show, other agricultural shows, small island based music festivals etc.
Shiona Ruhemann (CHAIR) observed that engaging with communities and community councils via consultation documents, impact assessments etc, is a very weighty and time-consuming task for us due to the volume of information to work through, and in a context where it’s not clear what is the purpose or benefit of our involvement. She highlighted the importance of being very clear, transparent and concise in how they communicate with us to make that “engagement” as accessible as possible, while also asking that they be up front and honest about who benefits from the project be that on an individual or corporate level. She noted that we’re conscious of there having been major concerns from other communities with these projects, which SPR acknowledged. There were other COMMENTS FROM THE FLOOR that the project seems to affect us visually, and possibly ornithologically, but brings commercial benefits elsewhere rather than benefits to us as individuals. The project team was keen to point out this would be a substantial investment that would not be profitable in the immediate term (10 years plus) and that the benefit was collective in that it’s towards the mitigation of climate change. They accepted the point however and asked us to think, ahead of consultation, what benefits we would wish to derive from such a project – ie supporting Fuel Poverty initiatives or Community Energy Systems etc.
Another COMMENT FROM THE FLOOR suggested that Scottish Power could provide favourable energy rates as an electricity provider.
Iona Village Hall Community Trust – report provided by Anja Jardine
Iona Village Hall recently held their AGM. The board of trustees and the office bearers remain the same with Fiona Kyle continuing as Development Manager and Morag Snell continuing as cleaner. In addition to the Board of Trustees, the Hall operates a group of volunteer helpers to assist with events. If you would like to be added to the “Hall’s Angels” Whatsapp group, please speak to Fiona or any of the Hall trustees.
The Hall have been having issues with the underfloor heating in the main hall and small meeting room – an engineer has been out but unable to find a fault, which seems to be intermittent. Apologies to anyone using the space in cool conditions.
IVHCT have just launched their Community Research Project and an online link to a survey has just been distributed via ICC and IVHCT mailing lists – the survey is open until the end of March, though this deadline could be extended. Paper copies of the survey can also be made available. Information gathered via this survey will allow them to identify hidden needs in the community and hopefully take steps to assist in addressing those needs.
The Community Café has once again been a success and thanks are recorded for Jann, her Rookery Café staff and the Waterfall Fund.
The Hall is helping to host the charity golf event, alongside the St Columba Hotel this weekend.
Iona Renewables – reported by Shiona Ruhemann
As reported at the last ICC meeting and Iona Renewables AGM, we met with the Minister for Climate Action and our MSP on 30 Oct at the Scottish Parliament, regarding the handling of the Iona project and an 11 month assessment of it by officials which concluded with no factual reason that the project couldn’t progress. After a vast amount of work, analysis and evidence by IEL – supported by the Ground Source Heat Pump Association who have got really into the detail of the project and couldn’t be more supportive of it – Scottish Govt is now reviewing its assessment and position on the project.
The Minister is providing some oversight to this review. We’ve stated in writing to him that we’re still concerned the outcome of this review will be self-referencing, ‘meta' conclusions, that don’t meaningfully get beyond whether Scottish Government followed its own “appropriate processes” – whilst not learning lessons or adapting processes to the reality of Scotland’s communities, which are not primarily made up of uniform buildings owned by e.g. Local Authorities.
In February, the official leading the review met with us and the CEO of Ground Source Heat Pump Association to discuss some points, and there is ongoing follow up. The review is still to conclude but the official stressed at the outset that she’s seeking “to work collaboratively with IEL to progress the project”.
We’re coming to the end of funding from Firstport and (via Foundation Scotland) Crown Estate Scotland; final payments need to be made this month. Both have been brilliantly supportive funders. Along with Development Trust Association Scotland, amongst many other areas, they’ve enabled us to proceed with major site work – reinstating comprehensive surveys, updated design and costs, which unlock all further progress on the project. The potential lead contractor carried out this work in late November – there’s a vast amount to work through and they advised us pre-Christmas that they aimed to submit in February; this has been a bit delayed, but we’re discussing with them and expecting, hopefully, the material tomorrow.
Funding is very tight in these closing phases, but the data from the potential lead contractor will then be worked into a revised project model as far as achievable by Natural Power. Next steps are mostly in the hands of Scottish Govt.
Broadband Committee – report provided by Gordon MacCormick
Under the R100 project, nearly all properties on Iona now have access to the Fibre Network. There are 7 properties – clustered at Caol Ithe and Clachan Corrach – where there have been issues with quality but these have now been resolved and the system should very soon be updated to allow these properties access to the Fibre Network.
A number of people have had issues with their Broadband upgrade orders either getting stuck in the system or being cancelled and reordered multiple times. The causes of these issues have been identified and addressed, or a workaround found, and many of these orders are now underway with the rest hoping to be rectified in the coming days.
QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR regarding when the cherry picker might be coming to Iona? At least two or three properties on Iona are awaiting the delivery of their orders due to a cherry picker being needed to complete the installation. Question will be fedback to Gordon MacCormick
INFORMATION FROM THE FLOOR – Someone using EE as their broadband provider had enquired about receiving a battery backup. They were initially told they would need to have a disability to be eligible. However, if you cite living on Iona and details of our last three power cuts, you should then meet the criteria to be provided with a battery back up (to ensure telephone lines continue to work in a power cut)
Mull & Iona Ferry Committee/Harbours – reported by Finlay MacDonald
FERRIES
Craignure to Oban route - There are significant capacity issues across the fleet. Although the Glen Sannox has come in to service, there are a number of issues with some of the major vessels. The ships being build in Turkey are currently behind scheduled and that is unlikely to change until later this year.
The Isle of Mull currently has a passenger capacity of only 45 due to issues with its evacuation system – it is currently being used on a quieter run where that number of passengers would be less problematic than the Craignure run. The parts to repair the Isle of Mull are now available – however, for scheduling reasons, it cannot be taken into dry dock to carry out the work until mid-May. We will therefore be starting the summer timetable with the Coruisk and Loch Frisa for “an indeterminate period of time”. The two vessels don’t really give us the capacity, nor the speed we need, particularly with the train timetable returning to normal from 4th May. The Ferry Committee have requested the Coruisk berth in Craignure so that the Frisa can run longer days and maximise capacity. This has been declined due to existing bookings for the south side of the pier – discussions are ongoing.
The change in vessels means that many bookings are having to be altered – the system will currently be closed to new bookings until everything has been shuffled round. If you have an existing booking that gets changed to an unworkable time – not dovetailing with the Iona connections – the advice is to contact Craignure in the first instance as they may be able to find a solution (ie swapping your booking with a Mull resident who wouldn’t be reliant on Iona connections). If the issue persists, then please contact Finlay who can intervene on your behalf and hopefully find a solution.
CMAL procurement – CMAL have now agreed to have their procurement processes assessed, however they will appoint the assessor rather than it being entirely independent. There is no timescale for this assessment as yet.
Bullhole Aid to Navigation (ATON) – It was the failure of the ATON that led to us having daylight only sailings from late November early into the New Year. Largely through Freedom of Information requests, Finlay has discovered that the ATON was reported as showing signs of failure as early as August last year but, unfortunately, no preventative action or forward planning was taken until it completely failed in November. This work was the responsibility of CMAL and is undoubtedly their failure.
CMAL’s response is that it was “only” a category 2 fault and therefore did not require quicker attention. However, all of Calmac’s Health & Safety guidelines are reliant on the ATON being functional so they were unable to sail without it.
Finlay has compiled a timeline and report and passed this to the Community Council with a view to escalating this to some avenue of formal complaint but are in the process of determining the appropriate course of action.
There have been issues with the ferry sometimes leaving Craignure before the bus has arrived. Finlay has raised this with the Craignure office and they seem to be more aware of this now – for example, tracking the bus on the West Coast Motors app. There was a QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR as to why the bus quite often seems to wait a long time on loading before leaving – the timetable is predicated upon it talking 15 minutes to walk from ferry to bus in Fionnphort and 10 minutes in Craignure. Unfortunately, the issue with the last ferry to Iona on a Sunday being unable to wait for the bus arriving in Fionnphort does not look like it will be resolved. There is a possible workaround in the school holidays which may be trialled – making the early Monday sailing term time only, and running a 6.45am instead, so the ferry can stay out on the Sunday evening. Discussions will continue and the problem will disappear once both breakwaters are built as there will no longer be the additional time at the beginning and end of each day berthing in Bull Hole – the aim meantime has to be to ensure that Sunday bus service is retained as it would be very difficult to reinstate it at a later date.
PIERS
Foyle Marine are the contractors appointed to the Iona Breakwater (although ABC haven’t updated their website and survey boats and surveyors on the ground have been around over the past approximately 10 days. We should see “mobilisation” from this Friday.
We know the programme of works will include demolition and replacement of the public toilets, with the provision of portaloos meantime. Details of this service – particularly given the toilets are currently out of order – currently remain unclear. If nothing changes with the imminent start of the project, Iona CC will again liaise with our contact in ABC on this.
ICC reported on the “box” used for deliveries at the Public Toilets. It is in a very poor condition and unlikely to survive being moved. There is also likely to be limited available space round the top of the pier while the work is going on. We intend therefore simply to let the box be demolished along with the toilets and consider a replacement once all the work is completed and we know better how the final space will work. We don’t have a solution for deliveries in the meantime – except that the lack of facilities to drop deliveries in such a location might stop couriers from doing so. Likewise, there should be less need to drop deliveries and return on the same ferry once a more reliable service is secured by the breakwater.
NTS
No report provided
Iona Community – reported by Caro Penney
Benedicte Schofield has now left but Dot has taken on the Operations Manager role. There is a vacancy for a part time shop assistant currently still available.
Services will relocate to the Abbey Church from this Saturday evening.
The weekly pilgrimage will now be limited to being entirely on road (from the Abbey, through the village, via the low road to the Machair and returning via Maol Farm and the High Road. People will be advised of the possibility of walking to St Columba’s Bay, Hermit’s Cell etc but these would be entirely self-guided at own risk. The new-style pilgrimage will still be open to Community guests only.
SWMID - reported by Ailidh Lennon
Cameron Anson has resigned as Chair but staying on as a Director to assist with transition. SWMID is now being led by a 3 person co-chair, including Ailidh.
The organisation is stretched for both directors and staff (though there is no capacity to take on additional staff) – they are setting up a number of Working Groups each with a dedicated staff member and director to lead on each project. Cameron is leading on the Housing Working Group – currently applying to acquire land in Bunessan with a view to building housing.
Upcoming events:
Next Wednesday, a community café is being held in the Columba Centre (supported by Jann and The Rookery Café). It is a good opportunity to see the Columba Centre and meet directors on an Open Day footing – facilities available include hot desking office space and a community gym.
Later in the month, an event at the Community Garden on building honesty boxes – pizza will be provided! Also, a volunteering project at the Community Forest in Ardura. SWMID also run a Community Sawmill and you can e-mail for a pricelist.
The best way to keep up to date with SWMID is to join the mailing list. SWMID would be interested in taking on new directors or you can also volunteer to join a working group on a non-directorial basis.
SWMID has also continued to be involved in the Mull Campus engagement
MICT – reported by Sarah Akehurst
MICT have likewise continued to be involved in the Mull campus project, particularly questioning whether the process has been correct.
There is currently lots of activity on the Social Housing Front:
- Building 12 flats in Tobermory
- Acquiring a house in Dervaig
- Acquiring land in Fishnish for 6/8 housing units
- Ferry House has been rented out
AOB
VISITOR LEVY
This ABC consultation remains open until 10th April. Iona Community Council have already submitted a response which has been shared via our mailing list but we encourage people to respond in their own stead also. There are 3 different consultation responses (and can complete more than one as applicable – as an individual, as a business or also as visitors if you want to share the consultation with trusted regular visitors.
To clarify the position taken by VMI – they responded to the pre-consultation suggesting the proposal should be scrapped and not to continue to consultation at all. VMI are now looking for views from their members – not all of whom are in agreement – as to whether and how to respond to the consultation itself.
MULL CAMPUS
Since the last meeting, Iona was officially removed from the Mull campus consultation process and confirmed that Iona would remain within the catchment area of Oban High School. This was following upon extensive representations from Iona Community Council as well as people corresponding individually, though we believe we may have been supported by a Councillor making a specific motion to deal with this at their December meeting (rather than waiting until February which had been initially suggested by Councillors as the timescale within which our request would be considered). We’re watching closely with real concern for our neighbours on Mull.
Date of next meeting – Wednesday 4th June