This week's Councillor Column is written by Helensburgh and Lomond South's David Kinniburgh, Argyll and Bute Council's policy lead for planning matters and chair of the area's licensing board.

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At the April meeting of the planning, protective services and licensing (PPSL) committee members approved a draft Technical Working Note (TWN) for dealing with replacement windows in conservation areas and/or on listed buildings within Argyll and Bute.

The Argyll and Bute Windows TWN follows on from an existing TWN for Rothesay windows, approved by the PPSL committee in December 2015. I adopted it will be a material consideration in planning matters and will bring a consistent approach when assessing and determining applications relating to replacement windows in conservation areas and on listed buildings across all of the Argyll and Bute planning authority area.

At the moment the draft TWN is out to consultation, with officers consulting on the key messages of the document. The consultation period ends on July 20, with feedback from the consultation due to be reported to the PPSL committee in August or September, at which time the adoption of the TWN will be considered.

Details of how to take part in the consultation, as well as the terms of the draft TWN, can be found at argyll-bute.gov.uk/consultations/replacing-windows-listed-buildings-and-conservation-areas.

* As well as being policy lead for planning and regulatory services I also chair the Argyll and Bute licensing board, which deals with the regulation of the sale and supply of alcoholic liquor on licensed premises.

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 sets out five licensing objectives on which the licensing system is based: preventing crime and disorder, securing public safety, preventing public nuisance, protecting and improving public health, and protecting children and young persons from harm.

The Act also provides for occasional licences authorising the sale of alcohol at venues which are not licensed premises, such as music festivals.

I recently attended one example of this – the largest music festival held in Argyll and Bute, Oban Live, where I witnessed first-hand the measures put in place by the licence holder to comply with the five objectives of the legislation.

Part of the wider policy statement for such an event states that no-one will be permitted entry to the event with alcohol. So when I was sent a link to a recent article in a national magazine entitled ‘12 ways to sneak alcohol into a festival this summer’, I was shocked that a publication could print such an article which so blatantly goes against the five objectives.