Argyllshire and Dunoon News

MSPs voted by 76 votes to 48 last Friday for the Scottish government to abandon plans for public notices carried in newspapers to be displayed online.
At first glance this would seem an easy way for cash-strapped councils to save some money. Argyll and Bute spent £118,000 on statutory notices in the financial year 2008 - 09.
The potential implications of this proposed move are, however, frightening. It is no exaggeration, as one MSP stated last week, to say that the move would be an assault on local democracy.
Public notices serve the important function of informing people about proposals and developments which have a direct impact on their daily lives.
Anything from contentious planning proposals, notifying people that a public consultation has been launched or alerting householders of changes to refuse collection arrangements on public holidays.
The statutory requirement to publish such notices in local newspapers - which still go into a huge number of households in the areas they serve - offers a real service by keeping people informed and, crucially, giving them the opportunity to have their voices heard while they are still able to make a difference.
Imagine your neighbour three doors down fancied building an extension which blocked out light to your house. The immediate neighbours would be informed under statutory regulations, but you would not. The first thing you might know about it would be the arrival of the builders – well after planning permission had been granted, without objection.
Not everybody has internet access, but even those with a super broadband system are unlikely to make a point of checking the planning pages of the council’s website on a weekly basis on the off-chance that there is a planning notice relating to their neighbourhood.
The council (or the National Park authority) would, however, be able to say with impunity that it had fulfilled its obligations, done its bit.
And, yes, as a number of MSPs have pointed out, income generated by these public notices is increasingly significant for the local newspaper industry. As well as helping maintain local jobs, newspapers such as the Standard continue to play an important role in keeping readers informed of what's going on around them and, in turn, offering a platform for public concerns on a host of issues to be raised.
Indeed, like our readers, the first we often hear about proposals that go on to become stories of great public interest is through notices published within these pages.
Let us hope that sense, and democracy, prevail.