I was visiting my constituents in Bruchladdich, Bowmore and Port-Ellen today. It's always great to speak directly to so many of my fellow locals about numerous council and national issues.

The lack of parking spaces at Burnside has been brought to my attention by almost everyone I spoke to at Burnside. While funds are limited I will inform both our roads department and ACHA about the growing demand for local parking spaces.

In Bowmore I was happy to see that some potholes have been fixed, but I was disappointed to see that many still need to be filled in. This includes the damaged and missing tarmac around the many drains and manhole covers in Bowmore.

Port-Ellen residents are delighted that Mansefield has been finally repaired. As ever there are still so many ares that are yet to be done but progress is at least being made.

For a long term solution to Islay and Jura's infrastructure needs there will have to be substantial investment from central government.

As I have said many times before, the wider Scottish and UK economies benefit greatly from the vast tax revenue generated on our Islands so it's high time we were given some recompense in return.

Cllr Alastair Redman