A new £4.5m life sciences building was officially opened at Inverness Campus by the Deputy First Minister Mr John Swinney, on Monday 20 May 2019. Called ‘Solasta House', it offers flexible space for new and expanding technology and life sciences companies and is already home to eight companies and could be 75 percent full by the summer.
There will be minimal impact on PSA posts due to extensive work done to protect staff through the holding back over 50 vacant posts and identifying other opportunities within the council. We have committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies.
The gender employment gap, which measures the difference between the employment rates for men and women, has decreased from 10.5 percentage points in 2008 to 7.6 percentage points in 2018. Scotland's Chief Statistician today published statistics on Regional Employment Patterns in Scotland from the Annual Population Survey (APS).
Almost £70 million has been invested in housing projects through the Building Scotland Fund (BSF) since its launch last year. This money has supported the development of 5,500 new homes and around 600 full time jobs The BSF, which is a precursor to the Scottish National Investment Bank, provides loans to support the delivery of homes both for sale and for rent.
Electricity flowing from Bad á Cheò Wind Farm powers up to 22,000 homes per year. · All 13 turbines now exporting electricity · £133,250 annual community fund administrator announced.
The Highland Council, in partnership with Under One Roof Scotland, are inviting all private landlords to a special seminar specifically to look at issues surrounding common repairs and building maintenance in flats and how to deal with any problems that may arise. Under One Roof Scotland www.underoneroof.scot is an impartial online information site for flat owners and their advisers.
Around 50% of traffic has shifted from Aberdeen city onto the new Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route since it fully opened in February - easing congestion and improving air quality in the north east. Initial monitoring by Transport Scotland also found key journey times have been reduced by half, even during rush hour, through the 36-mile AWPR route between Stonehaven and south of Ellon.
SpaceHub Sutherland: The team continued with a programme of drop-in events on the ground around the area this week, running drop-in events at the Village Hall in Skerray and the Kinlochbervie Hotel. For details on the project and the programme of events see http://www.hie.co.uk/regional-information/area-information/caithness-and-sutherland/uk-space-port/community-engagement.html Energy & Business Services: As previously highlighted, a meeting was held in Thurso to highlight the newly-established DeepWind Offshore Supply Chain Cluster.
This May, Dunnet Bay Distillers, will launch a new permanent addition to its portfolio - Holy Grass Vodka - Cold Brew Coffee Edition. This delicious coffee flavoured vodka has been created in partnership with Glasgow based, the Ovenbird Coffee Roasters.
A greatly improved financial position is to be reported to the council's Corporate Resources Committee meeting next week for the financial year 2018/19. The position reflects the overspend reducing by £3M due to management actions in recent months.
Already leading the way when it comes to providing nutritional school meals, The Highland Council has reaffirmed its commitment to put more local fresh seasonal food on school dinner plates. Catherine Pendreigh, Food for Life Partnerships Manager at the Soil Association gave a presentation at today's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee on the accreditation already awarded to Highland Council's school meals and how this could be further developed in the future.
Members of The Highland Council's Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee have welcomed new funding to stimulate economic investments in Highland town centres to help them diversify and flourish. In partnership with COSLA The Scottish Government have provided £50m capital to set up the Town Centre Fund 2019-2020.
The last of 84 offshore wind turbines was commissioned on 15th May 2019 which has been completed on time and under budget after three years of construction. The final 7MW Siemens Gamesa turbine was installed in the Outer Moray Firth, around 13km off the coast of Caithness, bringing the site's total installed capacity to 588MW - enough to provide clean, low carbon energy to over 450,000 homes.
Two Highland communities have had their requests for buildings to be transferred over to them approved by The Highland Council At todays (Thursday 16 May 2019) Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee members agreed to transfer the Bettyhill Visitor Centre to the Strathnaver Museum, creating an opportunity for an enhanced cultural heritage and community "hub" in the far north. Until recently the Visitor Centre with a cafe, situated next to the Strathnaver Museum, was run by Visit Scotland.
At today's 16 May 2019 meeting of the Environment, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillors gave the go ahead for the Chair to write to the Transport Secretary on behalf of the Council, HITRANS and HIE seeking financial and technical support to enable the establishment of trial air services between Skye and Glasgow. In March the Skye and Raasay Committee met to discuss the Skye aerodrome, specifically operational matters, revised fees and the scope to reintroduce trial air services between the island and Glasgow utilising and upgrading the existing airstrip at Ashaig Today the EDI Committee also approved the recommendation of the Skye and Raasay Committee that an additional £170K of funding be provided to undertake further engagement with statutory bodies and for preparation work, including obtaining necessary licenses and upgraded airport facilities.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (May, 15th) sold 421 store cattle. Bullocks (258) averaged 235.0p and sold to 275.5p per kg for a pen of 363kg Aberdeen Angus crosses from Altyre Estate, Forres and £1,190 gross for a 631kg Simmental cross from Wester Moy, Urray.
The Highland Council is warning anyone considering buying a puppy to ensure they buy from reputable sources. Concerns have been raised that people are illegally importing dogs from Europe to sell without the correct health checks or paperwork.
Parking Enforcement is coming to a street near you. With the Decriminalisation of Parking Enforcement, and establishment of the Highland Council Parking Services in 2016, the local authority has committed to the roll-out of enforcement activities across all population centres in Highland.
Progress in the transformation of Inverness Castle to become a new visitor attraction for the city was marked today with the announcement of contracts awarded to the architect and the creative director for the project. The Inverness Castle project forms part of the Inverness and Highland City-Region deal.
Legislation to ensure more child witnesses are able to pre-record evidence ahead of jury trials has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Bill will minimise distress and improve the quality of evidence given as it will be recorded at an earlier stage in proceedings for the most serious offences.
