Caithness Map :: Links to Site Map Great value Unlimited Broadband from an award winning provider  

 

Local Authority News


1/11/2013
£300 million affordable housing boost
Fund to help deliver 6000 affordable homes.   Hundreds of millions of pounds are to be spent across Scotland on increasing the supply of affordable housing, creating jobs and boosting the economy, it was confirmed today.  
31/10/2013
Council pushes for creation of co-located multi-agency control room at Inverness
The Leader of The Highland Council Councillor Drew Hendry has revealed an exciting new proposal which could see The Highland Council co-locating with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Highland, Police Scotland, and possibly other partners such as the Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Water in a new control centre hub in Inverness.   The suggestion is that the agencies share new premises in the city, each having their own control centre within the hub.  
31/10/2013
Defective and Dangerous Buildings (Recovery of Expenses) (Scotland) Bill was lodged today.
Highlands and Islands (Labour) MSP David Stewart lodged his Defective and Dangerous Buildings (Recovery of Expenses) (Scotland) Bill today.  This is the first opposition Member Bill this session to reach this stage and aims to encourage Local Authorities to deal with the increasingly large amount of defective buildings before they become dangerous and unsightly.  
29/10/2013
Carbon Clever Highlands initiative building momentum
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.  
28/10/2013
Five candidates to contest Landward Caithness By-Election
Five candidates will contest the forthcoming by-election to elect one councillor to serve The Highland Council’s Ward 4 – Landward Caithness.   The candidates are: · Ed Boyter, Scottish National Party (SNP) · Kerensa Carr, Scottish Conservative and Unionist · Tina Irving, Independent · Matthew Reiss, Independent · Winifred Sutherland, Independent The by-election will be held on Thursday 28 November and voting will take place at 14 polling stations between 7.00 am – 10.00 pm.  
23/10/2013
Highland Council Leader's bedroom tax plea
The Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor Drew Hendry, has written yet again to the UK Government urging a re-think over its under-occupancy policy, which he says is impacting heavily on the Highlands and in particular remote and rural communities.   In a letter to Lord Freud, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Welfare Reform, the Leader urges the Government to back a recommendation from one of its own committees – the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee – to exempt settlements of fewer than 3,000 people.  
23/10/2013
Council agrees new Council Service structure
Highland Councillors have unanimously accepted changes to the Council’s Service structure to align teams into five Services rather than the current seven, delivering year-on-year savings of £350,000 from 2014/15.   The current seven Services are: Education, Culture and Sport Health and Social Care Finance Chief Executives Service Housing and Property Planning and Development TECS The proposed new Services are:- Children, Education and Adult Services Finance Corporate Development Capital and Development Community Services The changes will be implemented in two phases.  
20/10/2013
Launch of Ready for Winter Campaign
The Highland Council is fully supporting the Scottish Government’s Ready for Winter Campaign which was launched today (Monday 21st October 2013).   The national campaign focuses on being prepared in the community; at home; on the move and in the workplace and encourages people to use the “extra hour”, when the clocks go back at the weekend to “Take an Hour” to make themselves better prepared.  
17/10/2013
Proposed amendments to Council Service structure
Highland Councillors will be asked next week to amend the Council’s 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 Council’s services.  
15/10/2013
Apprentice bonus from Council energy contractThumbnail for article : Apprentice bonus from Council energy contract
The Highland Council’s commitment to biomass as a heat source has enabled a Lochaber-based green energy company to employ two new apprentices to help service a four-year £1.2 million per year contract with the Council.   Biomass heat specialists, HWEnergy, who are based at Torlundy, Fort William, now have an in-house team of more than 50 who install, maintain and service biomass boilers as well as supply wood chips and pellets.  
13/10/2013
Council welcomes breakthrough in blacklisting campaign
The Highland Council has welcomed a breakthrough in the national campaign to outlaw the compilation of construction industry blacklists, which detail covertly gathered information on construction trade unionism and the employment history of employees.   Eight large construction firms have announced that they intend to compensate workers who were unlawfully blacklisted and denied work for long periods as the result of being blacklisted.  
13/10/2013
First Highland Community Challenge Fund scheme gets off the groundThumbnail for article : First Highland Community Challenge Fund scheme gets off the ground
The first scheme arranged through The Highland Council’s Community Challenge Fund has started today Monday (14 October 2013).   The Fort Augustus and Glenmoriston Community Company have taken over the street cleaning and grounds maintenance in their villages, including the grass cutting in the cemeteries of Auchterawe, Kilchuimen and Strathoich.  
10/10/2013
Landward Caithness by-election timetable confirmed
Link to nomination forms The timetable for the election for the return of a councillor for Ward 4 (Landward Caithness) of The Highland Council has been confirmed today (Friday 11 October 2013).   Candidates have until 4pm on Monday 28 October 2013 to confirm they are standing.  
7/10/2013
Council supports national strategy on littering and fly-tipping
The Highland Council has fully endorsed the need for a national strategy and a long term campaign aimed at tackling littering and fly-tipping.   In a submission to the Scottish Government’s consultation on “Towards a litter-free Scotland”, the Council backs stronger penalties for littering and fly-tipping and increased emphasis on education and awareness.  
6/10/2013
Council keen to receive more suggestions for future planning of Caithness and SutherlandThumbnail for article : Council keen to receive more suggestions for future planning of Caithness and Sutherland
A call for people’s 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 Council’s invitation to submit suggestions for inclusion in the new plan for the future of Caithness and Sutherland, before the deadline on 17 October 2013.  
3/10/2013
Caithness Landward Homes To Be Offered Free Energy Savings MeasuresThumbnail for article : Caithness Landward Homes To Be Offered Free Energy Savings Measures
Council and E.ON work together to improve Highland homes.   Home owners in four Highland Council Wards are the first to be offered free energy saving measures in a £6.4 million project with energy company E.ON.  
3/10/2013
Leader seeks European support for Highlands and Islands air travellers
Getting a better deal on air travel for rural regions, such as the Highlands and Islands, was top of the agenda for The Highland Council Leader Drew Hendry when he addressed delegates at the General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions in St Malo, Brittany, France.   Councillor Hendry won the support of delegates for further research to be carried out by CPMR for present to the European Commission.  
1/10/2013
Lethal Power Tools Sales Generate Warnings
Trading Standards officers from The Highland Council and Police Scotland are asking Highland residents to think again before they consider buying potentially lethal power tools that are being offered for sale door to door and from the back of vans.   Following reports of generators, chainsaws and power washers being offered for sale by itinerant traders in the Nairn, Skye and the Badenoch & Strathspey areas, officers acted last week and 25 items were seized.  
29/9/2013
Top Euro post for Highland Leader
Leader of The Highland Council, Councillor Drew Hendry has been elected Vice-President of the Conference of Maritime Peripheral Regions (CPMR).  He is the first Scots to hold the post.  
25/9/2013
Application for £14 million primary school north of the river in Wick submitted Thumbnail for article : Application for £14 million primary school north of the river in Wick submitted
A planning application for the construction of new £14 million primary school and community facility amalgamating Hillhead Primary School and North Primary School upon the site of the existing Wick North Primary School has been submitted this to The Highland Council this week.  The proposed development site is located on Girnigoe Street, Wick, Caithness.