ARGYLL and Bute Council has had a busy 2025, with many big decisions taken on finance, planning and other matters.
Here is a rundown on some of the biggest stories that have emerged from the local authority over the past 12 months.
- In January, shocking scenes in Helensburgh saw parts of the roof blown off at the town’s leisure centre which only opened in September 2022.
Staff of Live Argyll moved to ensure that the gym facilities from the leisure centre were moved into the town’s library building. In turn, the library moved to Hermitage Park Pavilion.
A freedom of information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service also found that the council had spent £300,000 on agency staff between the summers of 2023 and 2024.
Three different agencies were paid over £65,000 each for supplying staff during the period in question.
- February was the month when the council set its budget, the first under the new strategic administration.
A 9.9 per cent rise in council tax bills was decided, meaning a property in band D would be subject to a bill of £1,625 in 2025/26. The amount of money allocated to the area’s roads was also increased to £10million.
The council’s largest opposition group proposed a five per cent council tax increase. A roll call vote saw the administration budget proposal win by 22 votes to 10.
Plans were also lodged with the council for a residential development of 300 residential units at Dunbeg, near Oban.
- A special meeting of the full council in March saw a decision that Tobermory South was the preferred site for the new Mull Campus.
Officers’ recommendation of Tobermory South was deemed the only competent motion and became the decision of the council. Seven councillors asked that their dissent be recorded in minutes of the meeting.
Meanwhile, planning permission in principle was granted for a mixed use retail and hot food development in Dunoon town centre, at 99-109 Argyll Street.
The Gourock to Dunoon ferry service was also set to lose three return sailings a day after agriculture and connectivity minister Jim Fairlie approved the change.
- At the start of April, concern was voiced for four libraries in Argyll and Bute which were left out of Live Argyll’s business plan for the next two years.
Cardross, Rosneath, Tarbert and Tiree Libraries all did not feature in the document by the leisure trust, which runs libraries on behalf of the council. However, it was announced later in the year that no libraries would be closing.
Meanwhile, opposition councillors narrowly failed with a bid to ban political posters in Argyll and Bute.
The motion by Councillor Daniel Hampsey (Conservative, Dunoon) was defeated by 17 votes to 14 despite all four Liberal Democrat councillors, who are part of the council’s administration, voting in its favour.
- Warnings were sounded in May about difficult decisions which lay in store for health and social care chiefs in Argyll and Bute.
Councillor Gary Mulvaney (Conservative, Helensburgh Central) told a meeting of the area’s health and social care partnership integration joint board (IJB): “I am not being critical of the IJB, but the seriousness of the position is such that we need to prepare our communities, and the IJB, for some really difficult decisions.
“Transformation has been talked about for a number of years and we need to start taking these decisions now, otherwise the organisation will not be financially sustainable.”
Meanwhile, agriculture and connectivity minister Jim Fairlie participated in a special meeting of the Cowal Transport Forum on proposed changes to the Dunoon to Gourock ferry service.
On the plan to cut three return sailings a day between the two towns, David Clough of Dunoon Community Council said: “One thing people cannot understand is where the financial benefit is to Calmac by cancelling those three sailings, because the boat will be sitting at Gourock with people being paid.”
Mr Fairlie responded: “We have gone with what the report has told us. There is a slight overprovision in off-peak periods and ultimately what I am trying to do is ensure the community has a service which is working for them.”
- In June, an appeal by housing developers against a council decision to refuse planning permission for a Cardross development succeeded.
Cala Homes appealed to Scottish ministers after the decision by the council to refuse to let it build at Kirkton Farm in August 2024.
Meanwhile, concerns were voiced about behaviour in schools in Argyll and Bute, with Councillor Maurice Corry (Conservative, Lomond North) saying: “I am somewhat deeply concerned about behaviour in some of our schools. I know from body language and talking to people there are some issues we need to look at.
“The vast majority of our students are fine, but one or two really do cause a problem. Is it part of the plan to take that forward?”
Councillor Audrey Forrest (SNP, Dunoon), then the council’s policy lead for education, responded: “I assure you that the team are on it. I have not had a chance to look at the bill yet, but I will get back to you as we have an action plan based on that.”
- The annual July recess saw no meetings held at Argyll and Bute Council, but other business continued to take place.
The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers warned the authority it “must understand the potential consequences” of any possible visitor levy as the discussion went on.
The authority’s consultation on the subject earlier in the year saw more than 3000 responses submitted from the public and businesses.
Information published by the council also showed that the amount claimed in expenses by councillors decreased by nearly a third in the 2024/25 financial year.
Eleven councillors claimed no expenses at all, excluding telephone and ICT expenses which were met by the authority.
- In August, a freedom of information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed a council spend of £11,500 on pest control services between July 2024 and July 2025.
It was also revealed that as of mid-July, the council had spent almost £75,000 on legal costs in its Court of Session battle with Helensburgh Community Council, which it later won.
School pupils in the area had plenty to celebrate as exam results were released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
The council’s 10 secondary schools collectively beat the Scottish average A-C pass rate at Advanced Higher level and equalled the National 5 rate.
- A report revealed in September that the cost of Craignure’s new ferry terminal had almost doubled in five years.
The report to the Argyll and Bute harbour board showed that the estimated cost was now £96million, compared to £50million in 2020.
Councillors were also united in agreement that a Helensburgh school’s former annexe site should be used for a bigger outdoor play area.
Concerned parents questioned the Helensburgh and Lomond area committee on proposals to place housing on the site.
The proposed visitor levy for Argyll and Bute was paused after a full council meeting to allow for further research. It will return to the agenda at a special meeting in January.
- In October, Councillor Peter Wallace (Conservative, Isle of Bute) was named as the new leader of Argyll and Bute Council’s Conservative group, replacing Helensburgh Central Councillor Gary Mulvaney.
Work started to install a temporary roof on Helensburgh Leisure Centre as scaffolding began to be erected as part of repairs.
Council officials maintained the original prediction that the leisure centre could reopen by the end of March 2026 at the latest.
A police report also revealed that 100 assaults were recorded across Bute and Cowal in three months. The number was later attributed to a change in how incidents and crimes were recorded.
- A council meeting in November heard of plans to stage a parade in Helensburgh to mark the centenary of John Logie Baird’s invention of television, subject to funding being secured.
Fiona Baker, of JLBTV100, also told the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond community planning group of other events planned, including a cinema screening, sandwich board parade and book festival.
A bid by a councillor to have a health and social care emergency declared in Argyll and Bute failed.
Councillor Peter Wallace (Conservative, Isle of Bute) moved the motion at the council’s last full meeting of 2025, but it was defeated by 20 votes to 11.
The same meeting heard of a shake-up of council roles, with three of the four area committees changing chair.
- In December, all four area committees heard of council plans for electric vehicle chargers after £1million of funding was secured.
It was agreed that the Love Local Gift Card, introduced during the Covid lockdown, should end in Argyll and Bute at the end of its contract in 2027.
Fears were expressed over undertaking motorists on a stretch of road near Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, while councillors had mixed views on whether a potential £1m of funding should be used for the town’s skating pond.
