Highland Council welcomes airport commission report findings
3rd July 2015
The Highland Council has welcomed the clear and unanimous recommendation published in the long-awaited report from the Independent Airports Commission into increasing the UK's airport capacity, that increased runway capacity should be created at Heathrow Airport, London with the construction of a third runway.
The Commissions' report stated that "capacity constraints at Heathrow Airport have seen the number of domestic connections decline at the airport over recent years with no daily service operating between Heathrow and Inverness since 1997." It added that "a new runway at Heathrow will enhance the domestic connectivity of the UK, strongly benefitting the regions outside of London and the South East." .
The Highland Council Leader, Councillor Margaret Davidson (Independent) welcomed the recommendation by the Independent Airports Commission. She said: "I welcome the report's recommendation that slots are made available for services to and from Inverness. Ideally we would like to see these become available well in advance of any new runway. The importance of the link with Heathrow has long been highlighted by The Highland Council since the early work done by previous Council leaders and councillors sitting on the HITRANS board. This is a very positive announcement for regional access to international markets. The Council will continue to work with partners to lobby for transport improvements to ensure sustainable economic growth for the region."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
