It was great to once again hear from my constituents at my recent surgery in Carradale.

The condition of Brackley cemetery is deteriorating to an unacceptable state with numerous head stones knocked over and many of the footpaths completely overgrown.

In the past new foot paths have been promised by our roads department yet they have still not been delivered.

I have contacted our roads department and urged them to rectify this problem with all haste.

Many local residents have welcomed the potholes being filled in on Shore road in the village of Carradale that said these repairs will only likely last six months at the most. For a more long term solution resurfacing will need to be done.

In the village of Tarbert I still continue to be contacted by justifiably angry ACHA tenants where in some cases couples with three children are forced to stay in two bedroom flats.

While I understand that there are budget restraints for the housing associations and that recently they have been increasing our social housing stock clearly more needs to be done. Housing associations must build properties in the small towns and villages of Argyll not just the large towns.

From every corner of my council ward and across Argyll I have been contacted by education staff who are feeling increasingly over worked. Since 2007, the number of teachers in Scotland has fallen by more than 3,500 under the SNP whilst school budgets have been slashed by £400 million, heaping pressure on the teaching profession. This is a situation that must not be allowed to continue.

I will continue to do all that I can as your local Councillor to see that these important local and national issues are addressed.

Cllr Alastair Redman