The Highland Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) has recently been successful in securing further funding to support fishing communities in Highland under Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund. Funding of Ł198,642 is available to help communities where fishing requires supporting measures to build skills and knowledge and increase the capacity of local fishing communities and business networks through innovation, collaboration and diversification.
Unemployment rate at lowest in five years. Scotland is the best performing of the four nations of the UK in terms of unemployment and employment rates, according to new labour market figures which show for the period September to November 2013.
Survey to map Scotland’s tenant farming sector. Surveys are being sent to every tenant farmer in Scotland as part of a major piece of research that will influence the future of Scottish farming.
Nominations open for Scottish Education Awards 2014 The search is underway for the Highland’s brightest education stars as nominations open for the Scottish Education Awards 2014. People are being urged to nominate the teaching professionals and local schools that go the extra mile, for recognition at the national awards ceremony which honours the hard work and innovation happening in classrooms across Scotland.
Demand for statutory debt solutions continues to decline. Official statistics released this morning by The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), Scotland’s insolvency service show that personal insolvencies have decreased by 2.2 per cent on the previous quarter and by 13.7 per cent on the same quarter of the previous year.
Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, has today announced plans for a Ł30million expansion of its Clynelish Distillery in Sutherland. In the latest major milestone in Diageo’s Ł1billion programme to increase Scotch whisky production, plans have been submitted to Highland Council for the major expansion of Diageo’s most northerly Scotch whisky distillery.
The next meeting of Sutherland District Partnership will take place at 3pm on Friday 24 January at The Highland Council Offices at Drummuie, Golspie The main items on the agenda include a presentation on the findings from the recent Highland Youth Conference by Scott Simpson, who represents Caithness, Sutherland and Ross on the Scottish Youth Parliament. The challenges of integrated transport are also high on the agenda and, to help inform discussion, T4T (Transport for Tongue) Project have been invited to talk about their work.
Local food and drink producers and retailers in Caithness and Sutherland are being invited to two events in Thurso and Dornoch to explore and discuss future opportunities for closer collaboration. The events, which will both be held on Tuesday 21 January, are part of a series of local meetings taking place across the Highlands organised by the Think Local project which aims to facilitate constructive discussion about forging closer partnerships in the local food and drink sector.
Police in Sutherland look to improve channels of communication via local police surgeries in Brora and Lairg. Commencing from Monday 13 January 2014, Police Scotland Highland and Islands Division will be holding weekly police surgeries in the Sutherland area.
Highlands & Islands (Labour) MSP Rhoda Grant has stepped into a row over the breakdown of the O2 mobile service in the Helmsdale area. Rhoda Grant said “ I was contacted on Monday 30th December 2013, by concerned and annoyed constituents in that area and also local Councillor Deirdre Mackay, who advised me that they had no O2 mobile service for the last week.
The environmental improvement works to Helmsdale’s Bridgend Car Park are now complete and the site has been reopened to the public. These works have been funded through The Highland Council’s Planning and Development Service capital programme and are the second phase in a package of works aimed at providing quality public space and visitor reception facilities for Helmsdale.
Currently firms are contacting businesses asking for support for an educational programme on cyber bullying. The line is that councils have cut back on their funding and they can offer help to classes in your local school if you donate to the programme.
Local people are being invited along to an informal evening reception held by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) at The Bradbury Centre, Bonar Bridge, Sutherland, on Wednesday 4 December from 7-9 pm. SNH is the Scottish Government\'s advisor on the management, enjoyment, understanding and sustainable use of Scotland\'s nature and landscape.
Highlands and Islands (Scottish Labour) MSP Rhoda Grant, has been leading the fight against pay day lenders across the region was “Shocked” to learn that the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Scottish Parliamentary area has the second highest level of Payday Loan debt in Scotland averaging at around Ł2418.50, whilst the Scotland wide average is Ł1398.07. Rhoda Grant MSP last month launched her anti pay day loan campaign “Debtbusters” at the Citizens Advice Bureau in Wick.
This week is the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) and this year The Highland Council’s Waste Aware Team are getting involved. Staff will be on hand at various Recycling Centres across the region, raising the profile of the furniture re-use skips at the sites, and encouraging householders to think before they throw away, and consider whether an item can be reused.
The Highland Council has re-launched its Deprived Area Fund to help create employment opportunities and tackle poverty, with Ł100,000 of funding is available for parts of Caithness over the next three years. The Deprived Area Fund has disbursed a total of Ł1.248m to deprived areas across the Highlands over the last 3 years.
At yesterday’s (Monday 18 November 2014) Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee, members heard about the work been done by the North Highland Initiative to develop tourism in the Area with Tom Campbell, Chief Executive outlining some of the exciting destination development projects planned over the next 12 months. The North Highland Initiative (NHI) was launched in August 2005 to promote and develop the economy and to support the rural communities of the North Highlands bringing together the farming community, local businesses and the tourism industry to try to address some of the challenges facing rural communities in the far north of Scotland by creating a powerful regional identity for the area through marketing.
“The North Highlands are ready for winter” was the message given at the Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee yesterday (18 November 2014) with staff, vehicles and a plentiful supply of salt in place to treat roads and footpaths over the coming winter months. The Highland Council has increased its winter maintenance budget to Ł5.6 million this year and has introducing an improved service with 45,500 tonnes of salt in storage in readiness for winter.
For the first time since its inception, the Gaelic Business of the Year Award has been jointly won, by two companies. The successful companies are Facal, a specialist transcription and translation service company based in Sutherland and Comunn Eachdraidh Nis, a historical society based in Ness, Lewis.
A ceremony was held today (Monday) to mark completion of the 1km section of the A838 Lairg to Tongue road, north of Laxford Bridge. The Ł850k scheme realigned and widened the existing single track road to a modern two-lane standard.
