Council Ward Budget Reaches £200,000 Milestone

29th September 2010

The Highland Council's East Sutherland and Edderton Ward Forum heard on Tuesday evening how over £200,000 from the Ward Discretionary Budget has been distributed to projects throughout the Ward.

One hundred and fifty five projects, with a total value of over £1.1 million have benefited from the funding since it was created in 2007.

The Ward Forum was addressed by four projects which have benefited from the funding. PC Angie Grant-omotosho gave a presentation on the Safe Highlander event which gives safety advice to P7 students from all primary schools in Sutherland. The event, which is organised by the Police and includes a range of agencies and emergency services including the Fire Brigade, Coastguard, The Highland Council and Scottish and Southern Energy has been held in Lairg for the last two years reaching a total of 260 P7 students. The event received £350 from East Sutherland and Edderton Ward budget, matched by the contribution from North West and Central Sutherland Ward Budget.

Barbara Jappy spoke about the seven year fundraising effort towards refurbishment of Portgower Hall. This well used hall will benefit from a new roof, outer wall, toilets, kitchen and disabled access whilst retaining the much admired wood lined interior of the utilising. The project benefited from £7,500 from the Ward Discretionary Budget.

William Sutherland spoke about the Sutherland Partnership Community Project Development scheme which offers up to £2,000 to community groups to pay for professional advice not available within the organisation. This project received £5,000 from East Sutherland and Edderton Ward budget in addition to the same amount from North West and Central Sutherland budget and £9,000 from LEADER. Interested groups should contract William Sutherland on 01549 402646, or williamsutherland[AT]sutherlandpartnership.fsnet.co.uk for further information.

The final presentation was from Willie MacKay and Tony Gill of Royal Dornoch and Brora Golf Clubs. They spoke of the success of the Dornoch Firth Golf Pass, launched this year, which for £30 offers visitors a 30% discount on the green fees of Tain, Dornoch (Championship and Struie) Golspie and Brora courses. The project, which is managed by a partnership of the four golf clubs, was supported with £1,500 from the Ward Budget in addition to £500 from the Tain and Easter Ross Ward Budget. The scheme has proved very popular with visitors to the area and there is growing evidence that it is persuading golfers to choose to come to the north for golfing holidays.

Highland Councillor Ian Ross who chaired the Forum thanked the contributors to the Forum and said: "The range of projects we have heard about this evening demonstrates the impact of the Wad Budget on local projects. The figure of £200,000 invested in local projects speaks for itself and the fact that over a million pounds' worth of projects have been supported and enabled by the Ward Budget is a testament to its success. There is still some funding available for the current financial year and I would encourage anyone interested to contact the Ward Manager, Phil Tomalin on 01408 635335 or phil.tomalin[AT]highland.gov.uk"