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If you care about the future of �۲�ӰԺ, please take just a couple of minutes to help bring millions of pounds of investment to the area by answering this short consultation. �۲�ӰԺ Council, along with public, private and voluntary sector partners, is putting together a bid designed to attract UK and Scottish Government investment, through a rural growth deal.

Progress being made to attract more people to live and work in �۲�ӰԺ has been described as “very encouraging” in a report to Councillors.

A special meeting of �۲�ӰԺ Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond Area Committee has been re-scheduled to allow officers and councillors extra time to examine and consider more than 1300 responses to the Helensburgh Waterfront pre planning public consultation.

Schools across Helensburgh and Lomond are teaming up with the Children’s University Scotland to try and encourage young people to take part in exciting learning activities outside school hours.   The scheme provides children with a ‘passport’ which enables them to collect credits and gain certificates while they learn.  

�۲�ӰԺ Council has been awarded the UK’s highest level of cyber security accreditation after independent assessors carried out thorough tests on computer systems. The Council has been given its Cyber Essentials Plus certificate, which confirms its commitment to protecting data against the most common internet-based threats to cyber security. These include hacking, phishing and password guessing.

Enjoy the sun and the stunning scenery we have to offer in �۲�ӰԺ, but please avoid contact with the water at Loch Awe at the moment due to a current algal bloom. An algal bloom occurs when the algae gathers and forms into green 'mats', usually at the water’s edge, and can be harmful to people and animals.

Events highlighting plans to remove the need to apply for planning consent when building new homes will be held in Mull and Lochgilphead in June. �۲�ӰԺ Council is proposing to introduce Simplified Planning Zones (SPZ) at Salen on Mull and in Lochgilphead. The zones would allow certain homes to be built without the need to apply for traditional planning consent, making the process faster and much easier for people thinking about building their own home.

A young woman from Campbeltown is excelling in her career as an apprentice mechanic with �۲�ӰԺ Council, having just passed her Cat C HGV driving test.   Ashleigh Conner, aged 19, has always had a keen interest in cars and fixing things, and was quick to apply when she saw the Council’s apprentice vacancy advertised on the My Job Scotland website.  

Graduates living in �۲�ӰԺ are being offered financial support to become fully qualified secondary school teachers without the need to move away from the area. �۲�ӰԺ Council has been working in partnership with the Universities of Dundee and the Highlands and Islands, to agree a programme, subject to approval by the General Teaching Council of Scotland, which will see student teachers based in local schools over an 18 month period.

Dunoon’s Queen's Hall is on track to host its first public event on Saturday, July 28, after a £12million project to transform the historic building. A concert by ABBA Mania on July 28 will be the first public event at the venue since it closed for refurbishment in 2015, and it will be swiftly followed by a sold-out performance by The Proclaimers on Friday, August 3.