Blairgowrie & Rattray Hub Magazine Winter 2023

and Kinross Conservatives have launched a
‘Save Our Loos’ campaign, which we hope will
persuade the council to have a rethink on this
plan.
Funds for the attended public toilets in
Blairgowrie, Auchterarder, Crieff and the South
Inch Car Park in Perth were cut from next
year’s budget by the SNP-run council and, as a
result, will be closed at the end of this financial
year to be replaced by comfort scheme
alternatives. Only the staffed public toilets at
Pitlochry and Dunkeld, which were said to have
the highest footfalls, will remain.
I wholeheartedly agree with local Councillor
Caroline Shiers who has pointed out that
the option to close these facilities has been
discussed for the 16 years she has been a
councillor but has been resisted, given the
Local politicians’ articles
importance of the toilets for residents and
visitors.
I agree with her suggestion that these toilets
could be operated in an unmanned way like
they are in Ullapool, where you pay on entry
to an unmanned facility. I feel that to go ahead
with the closure of the attended toilets will
let down the communities of Blairgowrie,
Auchterarder, Crieff and Perth.
Murdo Fraser always welcomes feedback from
constituents. He can be contacted at The Control
Tower, Perth Airport, Scone, PH2 6PL, by email
on murdo.fraser.msp@parliament.scot or by
telephone on 01738 553676.
John Swinney MSP
Scottish National Party
Perthshire North
Recently, I held my first Scottish Parliament
Member’s debate in almost 17 years.
During my tenure as a government minister
I was unable to lead such debates, which
allow backbench MSPs of all parties to bring
forward important topics - oftentimes related
to local issues impacting their community - for
discussion in the Chamber.
The topic I chose for my first debate was to
highlight the positive impact of Climate Cafes,
and to celebrate the important work they have
done both in Perthshire and beyond.
It is a source of enormous pride that the
world’s first Climate Cafe was launched in
Dunkeld and Birnam in 2015. Since then,
a number of cafes have been launched
across Scotland. Excitingly, we have seen the
expansion of Climate Cafes overseas, with
cafes being launched in nations such as Finland
and Japan.
The Climate Cafe model is simple: local people
come along to an informal gathering with
tea and cakes to learn more about climate
change and discuss what action can be
taken in the local community to address the
climate emergency. The meetings are friendly,
accessible and built upon the belief that people
must work together collaboratively.
Already, there are countless examples of
Climate Cafes taking and co-ordinating action
for the benefit of their local communities.
The Blairgowrie and Rattray Climate Cafe,
for example, helped create The HEAT Project,
which has delivered energy saving advice to
over 700 households, thereby helping local
residents to achieve significant savings on their
energy bills.
In Dunkeld and Birnam, the local Climate Cafe
worked with the local community to reduce
water waste and, as a result, saved over 1
million litres of water over the course of a year.
This led to Dunkeld and Birnam being awarded
the title of Scotland’s first water efficient
village.
From recently attending Climate Cafes
across the constituency, I was struck by the
knowledge, passion and dedication of those in
attendance. It was also particularly pleasing to
see a number of young people in attendance,
and to witness the leadership they are
providing within these forums.
Whilst it is hugely important that governments
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