Machrihanish Airbase Community Buy-out

[John S]

On a serious note, I do want MACC to undertake a successful community buyout, and to be successful it needs to take the community with it, both in the interests of the community and in the interests of the hard working people who have put in the thousands of hours of voluntary work getting the proposal to its current position. If there is insufficient community consultation then the MACC members run the risk of taking the blame head-on for any consequences that arise from implementation of the full business plan which are unpalatable in the community.

[Nancie]

Very interesting meeting tonight. Vital that everyone takes the opportunity to vote.

[John S]

A good turn out must have been about 200 people, Tom Millar Spoke very well. I was reassured by Tom’s statement that the community would get the opportunity to vote on the final business plan if there were serious concerns about the activities in it. That for me gives the comfort I needed to consider the ballot.

[Mist Rolling In]

Yes, Tom added a lot of credibility to it. But I still have 4 main concerns, some of which were touched on at the meeting, -

1) The not MOD have not guaranteed to clean up the contamination - these discussions are still on-going.
2) As Councillor Colville pointed out - there is no planning permission for the buildings on the site and the valuation states that many of these are buildings are at the end of their viable life-span. I'm worried that this alone is going to prevent many of the potential development plans and I've no idea whether there has been any discssions with the planning department or others
3) There was mention of getting an interest free loan - I presume to cover the £990k of liability that the group would be responsible for. Firstly I can't think where interest free loans come from these days? Secondly - any loan, interest free or otherwise is going to require a form of security. In its current state - the base woudl be a negative on a balance sheet so there is nothing to borrow against?! It just doesn't add up
4) The one way that they could create some income is to sell off parts of the base - be it buildings, grazings or areas with development potential. The group were asked at the meeting whether they might sell elements of it to other community bodies and this got a flat no. To me, this seems like a huge mistake. Selling of small elements - at the discretion of the group to parties who have the interests of the community at heart will enhance the local economy and crucially their own bank balance. Otherwise all eggs are in one basket which is worrying.

On a more humerous note - we know how crucial the ballot is, but my paper arrived today with returns by Wednesday the 24th May. The 24th is a Monday - so what date do we need to respond by?! Worrying that something so critical as the ballot can have such a significant error in it. If a ballot can't be managed .... can a massive project like this?!

[John S]

It is my understanding that the ballot is supposed to be run by a reputable national organisation who specialise in this kind of thing - don't think this will be the fault of the group. Indeed I think there could be legal action if this is the fault of the ballot company - there is more at stake here than £1

[Hels]

If that's the case John lets hope the company immediately issue a follow up note with the correct date to all households and that they give the group some form of refund for their error.

[Ninja Mania]

Personally speaking I am still not convinced that this proposed buy out will actually benefit the community as a whole.
Talking too other tradesmen in the town, the general opinion of most of them would suggest that they would benefit more from outside developers coming in and creating more work and much needed job's. I can understand why they are thinking this way.
What kind of work for locals can a community buy out provide or even guarentee.?
I have read and re read this topic over and over again, and I see nothing in it that would encourage me to give the buy out my vote, convince me differently however, and my views may change.

The committee has put a lot of time and hard work into taking this to where we are now, and I prase them for that, but there is still a lot of people out there that need to be convinced too.

[Nancie]

If we vote yes now, this allows MACC to build up a business case. It is my understanding that we will be able to vote again -for or against - once that has been presented to the community.

They are mostly local people and appear to be sincere. I think they should be given the chance to show what they can come up with. That's when I will be convinced one way or another.

[History]

The committee has put a lot of time and hard work into taking this to where we are now, and I prase them for that, but there is still a lot of people out there that need to be convinced too.

Ninja, like you I am unconvinced either way but I certainly would not be able to find out more unless there are enough votes to allow the committee to investigate further. I may not like what they come up with but I'll never know what is on offer until they have tried so for the moment I have voted yes and hopefully enough people vote to allow the process to go on to the next step when we can decide whether it's what we want or not.

[Ninja Mania]

If we vote yes now, this allows MACC to build up a business case. It is my understanding that we will be able to vote again -for or against - once that has been presented to the community.

Was this statement made public by the committee?, I can not remember reading that.
So on the basis of that, the 1st yes vote we make is like a non binding vote, but a vote of confidence for the committee to continue to explore all other possibilities that may arise with the purchase of the base, and this can only proceed with the backing of the PA28 post code residents. What percentage of numbers is required to proceed too this stage.

[John A]

The vote that is going on now requires at least half(3,000) of the residents (around 6,000) in PA28 6 to vote yes or no for the MACC to go ahead and prepare a business plan to put to the Scottish government to allow them to proceed with the proposed buy out.
It also requires half of those who do vote (yes or no) to say yes so say 3,000 folk vote then at least 1,500 must vote yes.

If the MACC don't get half the voters to return their ballot papers then the possibility of a community buy out is finished and the base will go on the open market.

The MACC have said they will come back to the community before submitting a plan to the Scottish government, to seek the communitys approval.

I thought the meeting on Wednesday was very informative and any initial fears I had were allayed and as there is no financial outlay from anyone in the community so no danger of anyone losing money then I will certainly be voting yes to allow the MACC to go ahead with producing a business plan.

I must say i am impressed that local folk are willing to put themselves forward to front something like this at no gain to themselves, I can also see why folk are a bit worried about the plan but at the moment I feel voting yes is a safe option as the MACC have said if the business plan doesn't add up then they will walk away and also the fact that they will consult with the community before the final bid is submited.

[Nancie]

Not sure what would happen if only 500 people vote. Could it go through on 50% of that?

[Nancie]

Sorry - looks as if a minimum of 3000 have to vote in the first place.

[Davie P]

The committee has put a lot of time and hard work into taking this to where we are now, and I prase them for that, but there is still a lot of people out there that need to be convinced too.

Ninja, like you I am unconvinced either way but I certainly would not be able to find out more unless there are enough votes to allow the committee to investigate further. I may not like what they come up with but I'll never know what is on offer until they have tried so for the moment I have voted yes and hopefully enough people vote to allow the process to go on to the next step when we can decide whether it's what we want or not.

Totally agree with you History. I think we should show our support by saying YES. It gives the group an opportunity to take it to the next step. Alot of people giving up their own time on this and we should certainly support them. At the end of the day the people involved are not stupid and if the business case isn't there they won't proceed.

I only hope I get the opportunity to vote!

[maxmix]

Personally speaking I am still not convinced that this proposed buy out will actually benefit the community as a whole.
Talking too other tradesmen in the town, the general opinion of most of them would suggest that they would benefit more from outside developers coming in and creating more work and much needed job's. I can understand why they are thinking this way.
What kind of work for locals can a community buy out provide or even guarentee.?
I have read and re read this topic over and over again, and I see nothing in it that would encourage me to give the buy out my vote, convince me differently however, and my views may change.

The committee has put a lot of time and hard work into taking this to where we are now, and I prase them for that, but there is still a lot of people out there that need to be convinced too.

I need convincing too, i'm afraid !.... What is the end goal thats going to happen to the base once the community has taken it over as such ?

Sounds to me as if a small fortune is going to be required to do anything with it after the MOD off load it....

Could keep a few people with lawn mowers in a good job for many years to come I suppose....

maxmix