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 2418.50, whilst the Scotland wide average is 1398.07. 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 Councils 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 100,000 of funding is available for parts of Caithness over the next three years. The Deprived Area Fund has disbursed a total of 1.248m to deprived areas across the Highlands over the last 3 years.
At yesterdays (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 5.6 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 850k scheme realigned and widened the existing single track road to a modern two-lane standard.
The Highland Council is to host a major conference early next month to launch its Carbon Clever Highlands initiative which aims to achieve a carbon neutral Inverness in a low carbon Highlands by 2025. Keynote speakers at the event on Friday 8 November at Council HQ, Inverness, are Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, Scottish Government Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP, and Willie Printie, of LifeScan Scotland.
On Wednesday 13th November, Women[AT]Work will be running a conference on women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the Pulteney Centre in Wick. The conference will focus on opportunities for women in further education in STEM subjects and employment opportunities utilising these qualifications.
A North social enterprise is celebrating after securing ownership of a local building which is at the heart the community. North Coast Connection, based in Tongue, Sutherland, has taken ownership of the Kyle Centre and a small parcel of land next to the building from Highland Council.
Rock stability works at Smoo Cave near Durness in Sutherland have been completed and the site is now open again for public access. The work, undertaken by Rope Access Scotland Ltd and overseen by geotechnical experts from consultants URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited, included light rock scaling, netting and bolting and was essential for maintenance of the site in a condition suitable for on-going public access.
Highland Councillors will be asked next week to amend the Councils Service structure to align teams into five Services rather than the current seven, delivering year-on-year savings of 350,000 from 2014/15. New Chief Executive Steve Barron has prepared a report for consideration by the Council at its meeting on Thursday 24 October, which recommends changes - to be introduced in two phases - to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and performance of the Councils services.
A call for peoples early suggestions of sites and ideas for the new Caithness and Sutherland Local Development Plan CaSPlan is in to its last fortnight. It is therefore important that people take up The Highland Councils invitation to submit suggestions for inclusion in the new plan for the future of Caithness and Sutherland, before the deadline on 17 October 2013.
The Highland Council has appointed Rope Access Scotland Ltd to undertake rock stability works in the vicinity of Smoo Cave near Durness in Sutherland. The work, which commences on Monday September 30th and is expected to take two weeks to complete, includes light rock scaling, netting and bolting and will be overseen by geotechnical experts from consultants URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited.
Brora Service Point will move to Brora Library on Friday 20 September 2013. To accommodate the flit, the Service Point will close on Thursday 19 September at 4pm and reopen in Brora Library on Monday 23 September at 1:30pm.
Leader of The Highland Council Drew Hendry has spoken of the staggering potential of the largest tidal energy project in Europe which is planned off the shores of Caithness. In welcoming guests at the Scottish Renewables Marine Conference at Eden Court, Inverness, on Monday evening, he focused on an announcement made earlier in the day by Scottish Government Energy Minister Fergus Ewing granting consent to MeyGen Ltd to develop the largest tidal turbine array in Europe and the first commercial project off these shores.
Shellfish and Langoustine supplier, Magnus Houston, was named Highlands top young entrepreneur at the regional finals of the 2013 Princes Trust Youth Business Scotland Young Entrepreneur Awards today (10 September 2013). The 32 year old founder of Coast & Glen Ltd in Inverness was announced as the regional winner at a ceremony at the Town House in Inverness.
The Highland Councils new Chief Executive, Steve Barron, took over at the helm of the organisation on Monday 2nd September 2013. He replaces Alistair Dodds, who has retired after 22 years with the Council, the last six as Chief Executive.
The Highland Council is to write to Highland MPs to seek their support for a change to the spare room subsidy which would see all communities with a population of 3,000 or less excluded from the provisions in recognition of the absence of the appropriate housing stock to accommodate tenants who wish to move to a smaller house. Councillors have been encouraged by concessions being made by the UK Government on Welfare Reform in the wake of strong representations highlighting flaws in the legislation and are seeking the continuing support of Highland MPs to press the case on the spare room subsidy in Westminster with Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform.
Aspiring primarily teachers can now complete their training in the Highlands and Islands. The University of the Highlands and Islands has launched the first ever Professional Graduate Diploma in (primary) Education available in the region.
