Paper and can banks are to be phased out of The Highland Council's network of Recycling Points during February and March. The decision was taken at a meeting of The Highland Council on the 18th December, at which the budget for 2015/16 and the indicative budget for the following 3 years was agreed, a package of savings totaling £42.8 million.
On 22 January 2015 twelve S1 pupils from Golspie High School will be the first in Sutherland to become Junior Wardens as part of a joint project between the school, The Highland Council and High Life Highland. The Junior Warden Scheme aims to provide an alternative and creative way to engage with young people and community groups, promote positive behaviour and encourage active involvement in the local community.
The planning event to be held in Brora - which was postponed on 12 January due to the impact of poor weather conditions - has been re-arranged. It will now take place on Monday 26 January 2015 in the Community Centre, Johnstone Place, Brora.
The Highland Council wishes to clarify that if anyone is seeking information on their Winter Maintenance Policy and gritting maps then this information can be found on the Highland Council website. The Highland Council Winter Maintenance Policy states: "The treatment of roads will be carried out based on a hierarchical system dependant on route priority".
The importance placed by the Council of the North West Highlands Geopark, both in terms of protecting the unique geography and heritage, as well as promoting the area as a top geo-tourism destination, was apparent last week when it was the first item on the agenda for the Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee. The North West Highlands Geopark covers 2000 square kilometres of North West Sutherland and Coigach where about 2000 people live.
‘Out with the old, in with the new' is an expression frequently heard over the Festive Season and this year The Highland Council's Waste Awareness Team are urging us all to make sure we don't just throw away the old but remember to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. Remember to use your blue bin for all paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, food tins and drink cans (no glass or plastic bags - everything should be loose, dry and clean).
The Highland Council has been taking action to reduce radon in nine properties which include five schools. Testing earlier in the year showed all properties had radon above the statutory Action Level of 400 Bq/m³.
With the approach of the festive season, multi-agency partners have once again joined forces to support Operation Respect with the aim of making the streets of Inverness safer for shoppers and party goers, both day and night, during the festive season. Supported by Inverness Community Safety Partnership and the Operation Respect multi-agency group, the city will see increased high visibility police patrols, as well as the use of Inverness Business Improvement District (BID) Security Task Team members and Taxi Marshals, the British Red Cross and Inverness Street Pastors.
SSE'S networks business, SHE Transmission, has awarded its largest ever Living Wage contract - worth £460million - to engineering firm ABB Limited. The contract is part of the Caithness to Moray Transmission Project, the vital new subsea link which will allow more renewable energy to join up to the network in the north of Scotland.
As the first step in producing a new Local Development Plan for Caithness and Sutherland, The Highland Council has published a Main Issues Report which outlines options for the future of the area over the next 20 years. At this crucial early stage, community groups, businesses, public agencies and members of the public are being encouraged to have their say.
The Highland Council is supporting the Scottish Government's Ready Scotland Campaign and urges people in the Highlands to take some time to get ready for winter and all kinds of severe weather. See - 7 http://www.readyscotland.org/are-you-ready/winter-weather/ Councillor Graham Mackenzie, Highland Council's Chair of Community Services Committee, said: "We have had a very mild start to this winter and we want people to think ahead and be prepared for a change in the temperature and all types of severe weather.
The next phase of The Highland Council's on-going programme to check its properties for levels of naturally occurring radon gas is to take place in 34 schools throughout the region commencing in December 2014. The programme is risk based, with previous testing focused on housing and schools considered to be in higher risk areas.
Highland Council has saved a total of over £476k and cut carbon emissions through reduced business mileage over the past 4 years. Councillors' total expenses have reduced by 10.1% and the cost of reimbursing employees for mileage has reduced by 15.9%.
THE Highland Council Resources Committee has approved the use of £163,920 from the Council's Welfare Fund to provide tailored welfare advice clinics across the Highlands, through the CAB network, starting in the New Year, from January 2015 until March 2016. This includes £3,000 to provide specialist training for CAB workers to provide advice to people with mental ill health.
Public consultation events are continuing, where people living and working in Caithness and Sutherland are being encouraged to help influence a new Local Development Plan for the area, known as CaSPlan. Development Plans set out how places should change and what they could be like in the future.
People in Sutherland who want to find out more about the range of Community Services provided in their local area by The Highland Council are invited to an open evening event on Tuesday 2 December, 2014 at Brora Primary School from 6.30pm - 8.30pm. Community Services is a new directorate of The Highland Council that delivers many of the Council's everyday services, with staff in regular contact with the people of the Highlands.
The next meeting of the Sutherland District Health and Social Care Partnership takes place at Drummuie, Golspie on Friday 28 November. The agenda features a presentation "Learning from Nuka" delivered by Gill McVicar, Director of Operations, NHS Highland.
People living and working in Caithness and Sutherland are being encouraged to help influence a new Local Development Plan for the area known as CaSPlan. Upcoming events include: · Halkirk on 25 November at the Ross Institute, Bridge Street; · Wick on 26 November at the Town Hall, Bridge Street; and · Tongue on 27 November at the Village Hall, Kirkiboll.
Police Scotland are appealing for information following a reported theft of three rolls of used roofing lead from a farm near Dornoch. The incident is belived to have occurred between 15:00 hours on Wednesday 12 November and 15:00 on Thursday 13 November 2014.
As part of ongoing enquiries, Police Scotland is appealing for information regarding a reported theft of heavy plant equipment in the Sutherland area. Between 14:00 on 31 October 2014 and 09:00 hours 03 November 2014 two excavator buckets were removed from a trailer which was parked adjacent to the A839 at Bridge of Horn near Rogart, Sutherland.
