Plans in place for much better community resilience in Argyll and Bute this winter

After the severe winter weather of 2011/12 and power cuts in the area, Argyll and Bute Council is working hard to improve its own organisational resilience as well as community resilience. A project is well underway and its progress has been noted at the council meeting on Thursday 20 September. There are improvements being made to council buildings, communications and IT including hiring more back-up generators in case of power loss and taking ownership of a satellite phone trailer from the Scottish Government which can be towed to any location. The council will also be taking part in the Scottish Government’s ‘Ready for winter’ campaign which will focus on individual resilience in an emergency situation. There will be two road shows in Argyll and Bute with the locations yet to be decided. Handbooks are being distributed to all community councils in Argyll and Bute to encourage them to prepare an emergency plan. This includes details about people’s roles and responsibilities, public safety information and key risks affecting the area. Each community council is being asked to consider what they can do in the event of an emergency or incident in their community. The handbook has been prepared by the council, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, NHS Highland, HM Coastguard, Argyll Voluntary Action , Red Cross, WRVS , Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power. Council leader Roddy McCuish said “I am encouraging elected members to ask communities to complete their resilience plans and to highlight the importance of doing this. All plans produced will be very beneficial to the community, the emergency services and all the other agencies involved. “It’s vitally important we get our own organisational resilience right and communities do the same. This is crucial in Argyll and Bute where we have a number of remote and rural communities and a high proportion of elderly residents.”