Thank you to all groups and members of the public who took part in the three consultation events for Helensburgh’s £18 million waterfront regeneration project.

Helensburgh Community Council are also to be commended for their support with their useful survey.

All the feedback and suggestions will be fed back to the design team to review and consider. Initial indications are that the public are supportive of the exterior design, its location, and the general internal layout.

The area committee have agreed a special meeting on June 8 to finally approve the design and submission for planning consent.

As well as the pierhead project, I have responsibility for the council’s finance brief. In this role I have had regular meetings with our head of strategic finance in terms of the overall revenue and capital position of the council.

As you may recall, the council unanimously agreed the administration’s budget proposals in February and officers will implement the budget decisions and policy saving along with the management/operational savings previously agreed.

Focus for the next few months will be further development of the capital prioritisation process within the one council model agreed by council.

Although it is a small finance team, Argyll and Bute is very fortunate to have some very able accountants, auditor and managers.

I’m not sure whether in this pc-world of ours, that you can use the phrase that “lunatics have taken over the asylum”, but it is the only thing that springs to mind now that the SNP wish to give all prisoners the right to vote.

Most reasonable Scots would probably accept that minor offenders serving less than a year could maybe be considered to have this privilege. But according to the SNP, murderers, rapists and paedophiles should “no longer be alienated and excluded”.

Tell that hogwash to the victims’ families.