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Councillor Robertson had requested Councillor Gillies’ assistance in seeking a solution to the petrol supply crisis. Cllr. Gillies had written to and telephoned the MCA’s Senior Marine Superintendent at Glasgow, Captain S. Grewal. He had received a written response from Ian MacRae, of the MCA’s Southampton office, which explained the background to the service of the Prohibition Order, declined to agree to a two month period of latitude on the use of MV Lismore whilst other arrangements were put in hand, and indicated that it was unlikely that the MV Lismore would be able to comply with the requirements for the issue of a Document of Compliance for the carriage of dangerous goods.
Cllr Gillies referred to a similar crisis experienced on the Isle of Coll, when the Army had taken petrol to the island. It was suggested that it might be worth approaching the Army to ask whether it could assist Lismore. Secretary was also asked to renew his attempts to discuss with Scottish Sea Farms (South Shian) whether they might be able to assist with an interim solution.
In answer to a question about the possibility of Lismore developing a project to install a community-owned bulk petrol tank and pump, Cllrs. Robertson and Gillies confirmed that A&BC and officials would provide support for fast-tracking the necessary formal applications for local authority approval. Dr. McNicol added that he thought that Appin Community Enterprise would probably offer to assist such a scheme, financially and with other support.