Mull and Iona Chamber of Commerce. Management Committee

 

Memorandum of Telephone Meeting  Monday 6^th August 2007

 

Present: Sandy Brunton, Derek crook. Michael Ackerley, Georgia O’Neil

Apologies: Brendan Walsh.

 

This meeting, originally planned as one of the regular monthly meetings of the Management Committee, was, for that purpose, inquorate. It was decided to proceed with an inquorate meeting and to present the proceedings for acceptance at the next monthly meeting.

 

§        The memorandum of the minutes of the last meeting (July 6^th 07) which was also inquorate was amended to read that no minutes were kept of the previous meeting (June 4^th 07) since it was wholly devoted to administrative matters concerning membership.

§        Resolved that the memoranda of this telephone meeting and the

     previous meeting be presented to the meeting of the Board of  

Management scheduled for September 3^rd 2007 for approval

 

Matters arising from the proceedings of the inquorate meetings of and July.

     More renewals of membership were reported bring membership to over 60.

     It was resolved that the next meeting in September 07 be mainly devoted to planning a meeting for present members, new members and potential members to take place in October 07 at lunchtime at a time and place to be decided.  It would be designed to introduce members to each other on a Business to Business basis with the aim of increasing the amount of intra-islands trade, a networking event to bring together islands’ producers, retailers and service providers of service for mutual benefit.

Sandy reported that the Post Office, in response to new regulations from Europe regarding drivers’ hours and vehicle speeds, was planning to delay the postal deliveries to the islands by two hours.  This would affect not only normal mail services but have an adverse effect on such services as Special Deliveries leaving the islands. Since the PO was also the carrier of newspapers to Mull and Iona this development would also affect deliveries of newspapers and magazines unless a different carrier were to take over the service. It was reported that some mail might not even be delivered before 7pm.  Sandy was asked to monitor developments.

Campaign to make Mull and Iona plastic carrier bag free islands.  The organisers had accepted the advice of the Chamber that the letter they were proposing to send to retailers needed revising with a greater emphasis on facts and figures about the problems associated with plastic

carrier bags and that the situation regarding Spar suppliers be clarified. It was reported that THE Co-op were broadly supportive.  Georgia was already working on a website for the promoters of the scheme and this would include a list of supporters. It was noted that in this matter Mull and Iona was in a race against Arran to be the first Hebridean Island to achieve the status of being plastic bag free.  It was agreed to maintain contact with Helen Mortley, the prime mover and Mairi Mackinnon at MICTS’s  MESS programme.

Administrative Assistant’s Post: in response to the advertisement there had been just one abortive enquiry.  Sandy was asked to approach Sian Scott to see if she were interested..

Road Up-grade at Salen. It was resolved that the attitude of the Chamber to the current dispute between some Salen residents and Argyll and Bute Council was that while the Chamber recognised the necessity of the upgrading of the Craignure to Tobermory road, the decision on the exact route, design and associated traffic management schemes was a matter of negotiation between the affected residents and Argyll and Bute Council.

The Treasurer reported a credit balance of £3421.57