This week's Councillor Column is written by George Freeman, independent councillor for Lomond North.

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Is Argyll and Bute Council failing the public on basic services?

I have always argued that the council needs to get the basic services right as that is what the public invariably judge the council on.

There are probably about a handful of services that are high profile and very visible to the public including grass cutting, refuse collection, litter removal and weed control.

Get these wrong, and the public believe the council is doing a bad job. Get them right and the public are generally content with the performance of the council.

Unfortunately, not all councillors think the same.

Councillors in the administration appear to forget about the basics when they continue to cut funding from the budget for these important local services.

Cuts in funding for grass cutting were included in the administration’s budget.

Very little thought was put in to this cut as, due to significant number of public complaints, a recommendation to reverse this decision is now due to be put to the next council meeting.

The council has now moved from the two weekly refuse collection to a three weekly cycle.

This has created many problems for the public and continues to generate a significant number of complaints. This was a short sighted decision to save money which I could not support. Most of the complaints I am currently dealing with relate to the cuts in this service.

We now see more litter across the area with no resources to deal with it.

In my own ward, you only have to look alongside the A814 where the grass has had its one cut for the year to see the verges strewn with uncollected litter. I have continued to complain about the lack of weed control throughout my ward.

To try and demonstrate the problem, I even took a number of photographs of the weeds to the area committee meeting although officers continued to argue that weed spraying had been carried out.

Unfortunately, given the weeds growing along the side of roads and along pavements in my ward, my constituents find that hard to believe.

It is all very well the council setting £6.5 million aside for various new funds and initiatives and for twinning trips to and from Europe, but this funding cannot be justified when the council continues to cut the level of the basic services to the public. It is now time for a rethink.