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Plan to bring Oban beach back to former glory

Councillor Julie MacKenzie at Ganavan with her sons Daniel 9 and Sean 12.
Councillor Julie MacKenzie at Ganavan with her sons Daniel 9 and Sean 12.

With its stunning sandy beach, Ganavan at Oban was once seen as the jewel in the crown of the popular seaside town.

But in recent times the area has fallen into a state of disrepair, with Argyll and Bute Council forced to remove the children’s swings from their structure as they became too dangerous to play on.

Other issues brought to the attention of local councillors include dog fouling, parking issues and weeds on the beach.

Despite this the area was packed with locals and visitors during a recent spell of good weather and now a meeting is to be called to bring the area back up to standard.

Julie McKenzie raised the issue with her fellow councillors for Oban Lorn and the Isles.

She said: “For me Ganavan should be the jewel in the crown of the local area. It is by far one of the best beaches in the whole of Argyll and Bute and it is very sad if we are going to let one of the most scenic locations in our whole area fall into disrepair under the hands of this council.

“I have had complaints from constituents regarding weeds on the beach and around the area, loose dogs on the beach, dog fouling, issues with parking meters and charges, and camper vans aren’t allowed to park over night.

“The swings have been removed, parents are concerned about that. They would like to see more facilities out there for kids rather than less.

“We need to come together as an area committee and make Ganavan an area we can be proud of.

“I think we need to involve the local business community, community groups and the community council should be involved.”

Lead Councillor for Oban Lorn and the Isles Elaine Robertson said she shares Ms McKenzie’s concerns about all of the issues at Ganavan. She said they would fix a meeting to tackle the problems.

Councillor Kieron Green said: “Let’s get people together for a business day, involve the community council and stakeholders and have a wide ranging discussion.

“Car parking revenue for the Oban area is above target, I would put forward the suggestion that money is used for improving Ganavan.”

Marri Malloy, chairwoman of Oban Community Council, said: “Ganavan is the jewel in the crown and I feel it really has gone to the dogs quite recently. The community council would definitely like to be involved.”