Comhairle nan Eilean Siar intends to venture outside Stornoway to hold committee meetings in South Uist and Vatersay.
The council agreed to arrange the forums following a motion from SNP councillors Gordon Murray and Rae Mackenzie.
The meetings will be open to the public to observe. People can pop in and out as they please.
Three committees will met on Tuesday in Cnoc Soilleir, Daliburgh. The Sustainable Development Committee is due to start at 9.30am followed by the Education, Sport and Children’s Services Committee at 1.30pm. Then at 3pm it’s the turn of the council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee.
The following day, councillors head to Vatersay for two meetings in the community
hall. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee commences late morning while
the Policy and Resources Committee - which deals with the authority’s budgets and
finances - is scheduled to start at 2pm.
The comhairle says it encourages attendance at the venues - a wish which also apparently
includes councillors from outwith Uist and Barra.
The committees are the first to be held in Uist and Barra since April 2014 - some
ten years ago - when the Policy and Resources Committee and the full comhairle met
in Lionacleit.
Paul Steele, Leader of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said: “An important element of
our local democracy is that the public have access to observe the decision-making
process of elected members in the chamber.
“I am delighted that these meetings are taking place in Daliburgh and Vatersay, allowing those outside of Lewis and Harris to attend in person.”
First formal comhairle meetings in Uist for ten years
18 April 2024
