The Caithness & North Sutherland Fund has awarded over £65K at its latest grant assessment round. The funding has been granted to five community/voluntary groups towards projects that will benefit people living in the Caithness & North Sutherland area.
Chief Constable Sir Stephen House has approved the recommendation of the Armed Policing Monitoring Group that the national standing firearms authority should continue. In addition, having listened to concerns expressed by politicians and some members of the public and having assessed the current operational challenges faced by Police Scotland, the Chief Constable has directed that firearms officers attached to Armed Response Vehicles will now only be deployed to firearms incidents or where there is a threat to life.
Pre-qualification to find a contractor to build a new national nuclear archive in Wick has commenced, it has been announced. The total cost of the new archive is in the region of £17 million.
Week Commencing 22 September 2014 Energy & Business services: Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd (MORL) has announced the installation of a met mast at its large offshore wind site in the Moray Firth, marking another step in its project to develop the site which lies around 22km off the Caithness coast. As previously reported here, MORL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wick Harbour Authority regarding potential future use of Wick harbour.
Two day multi-agency operation to combat doorstep crime carried out in Inverness and Fort William. As part of ongoing efforts to help keep people safe from doorstep crime and its associated criminal activity, on Wednesday 24 September and Thursday 25 September 2014, officers from Police Scotland, VOSA, SEPA and Highland Council Trading Standards, carried out a high visibility operation in both Inverness and Fort William.
Period 25 August - 15 September 2014 Energy & Business services: Tidal energy plans for the Pentland Firth have received a massive boost with news that financial closure (UK leads marine energy revolution as world's largest tidal stream project agrees investment to begin construction in Scotland | MeyGen) was reached for Phase 1 of the build out of Atlantis resources' Meygen site in the Inner Sound of the Firth. Support for this has come from CNSRP partners HIE and Scottish Government (via the Renewable Energy Investment Fund) as well as The Crown Estate and the Department of Energy & Climate Change.
Almost 800 delegates have already signed up to attend the NDA estate's 2014 event for suppliers in November - but there is still room for several hundred more visitors. The exhibition hall meanwhile is approaching full capacity, providing delegates with the opportunity to meet with 260 companies from across the supply chain.
Weekly update from CNSRP - week commencing 18th August. Energy & Business services: It is encouraging to see this week that Denchi Power, who purchased the lithium-ion battery facility at Thurso Business Park from ABSL Power Solutions, is recruiting staff as it continues to make good progress.
Are you looking to downsize? Are you looking for somewhere with affordable fuel bills? Would you like the option of having the company of others? If you answered yes to any of the above, Cairn Housing Association can help by offering you an excellent range of one-bedroom and studio apartments in Wick that are available to move into right now. Caberfeidh Court is situated in a quiet residential area in Wellington Avenue and offers quality accommodation exclusively to people over the age of 50.
Two of the bodies responsible for oversight of policing in Scotland are today announcing a complementary programme of review and inquiry into the decision of Police Scotland to give a small number of firearms officers a standing authority to carry firearms. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) is today publishing the full terms of reference for its planned assurance review to independently assess the current practices for the issue and carriage of firearms by armed response vehicle (ARV) crews under the standing authority.
Police Scotland welcomes the life sentence of John MacIntosh (46) from Dingwall at the High Court in Aberdeen on Wednesday 6th August 2014, for serious sexual assaults and rapes against women and a child in the Highlands from 1996 to 2004. One of these related to the assault and attempted rape of a 9 year old child.
Police Scotland in the Highland and Islands will be running information sessions to assist people thinking of becoming a police officer or special constable with their applications. The candidate briefing sessions are open to anyone who is interested in applying to become a police officer or special constable.
The NDA estate's showcase event for suppliers is returning for a fourth year and is looking forward to welcoming even more visitors and exhibitors. More than 1,000 delegates from across the country attended the 2013 event, including existing supply chain members and decommissioning newcomers.
Week commencing 4 August 2014. Energy & Business services: As financial closure for the Meygen tidal project approaches, RE News last week reported that parent company Atlantis Resources had agreed a contract with Andritz Hydro Hammerfest to supply three 1.5MW turbines for its initial deployment in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth.
Week Commencing 28 July 2014 Energy & Business services: It has been another good week for Wick Harbour. Following the recent news that Wick Harbour Authority had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Moray Offshore Renewables Ltd, thus maintaining their position as a potential base for MORL's offshore wind operations, this week has seen Beatrice Offshore Windfarm Ltd (BOWL) announce that Wick Harbour is the preferred location for its operations and maintenance base in support of its development off the Caithness coast.
The Environmental Closure & Demolition department at Dounreay have found elevated levels of radioactivity in a manhole in a redundant offsite drainage system. Samples of sludge were taken from the manhole which indicated elevated levels of alpha activity.
Energy & Business services: Pelamis Wave Power has issued a project update on its Farr Point project off the coast of north Sutherland. The company reports on the results consultation work and survey work in support of its likely application later this year to Marine Scotland for a 10MW array of Pelamis wave devices.
Week Commencing 14th July 2014 Energy & Business services: We welcomed a new business to the area this week, with Aberdeen-based Process Safety Solutions (PSS) opening a new base at the HIE-owned Wick Business Park. The opening was carried out by John Swinney MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth whilst the Scottish Cabinet was in Wick this week.
Weekly update from CNSRP - week commencing 7th July 2014 Energy & Business services: News today (Friday) that Ofgem has approved the need to construct a subsea electricity cable from Caithness to Moray. This £1.2bn project will enable the transmission of electricity from renewables projects in the north.
