DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (October, 25th) sold 5,736 breeding & feeding sheep. Gimmers (751) averaged £89.14 and sold to £140 gross (4 times) for Texel crosses from Smerral Farm, Bower and Balmaglaster Farm, South Laggan, Crosses from 12 Annat, Torridon and Cheviot Mules from 134 West Langwell, Rogart.
The Highland Council has agreed to commence a public budget engagement process beginning on 1 November 2018. The Council is planning for a potential budget gap of £66.7 million over the next three years.
Each year we survey our Citizens' Panel on their views on performance and attitudes and the results are used to help inform Council decisions and drive continuous improvement activity across the organisation. The survey shows that what is important to people is maintaining good quality services, providing value for money, listening to local people and being efficient.
At his final meeting of The Highland Council (Thursday 25 October 2018), Chief Executive Steve Barron received tributes from Councillors across the chamber. Mr Barron retires after 10 years' service with the local authority, the last 5 of which were as Chief Executive.
Six Rural Infrastructure Fund projects have been successful in attracting £1.1m of funding from the £3m available in the first round of the Scottish Government's Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund. These funds are in addition to significant Council and LEADER funding for new facilities to help meet the needs of growing visitor numbers.
Immediate action is needed to shift the NHS towards long-term, fundamental change. In her annual review of the NHS, the Auditor General for Scotland finds that performance continued to decline in 2017/18 and the NHS is not financially sustainable in its current form.
Equiniti Group plc ("Equiniti"), one of the UK's largest pension administrators, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded pension administration contracts for the UK Atomic Energy Authority and for the Combined Nuclear Pension Plan (“CNPP”). The schemes, which have 60,000 members, support virtually all employees and former employees engaged in the UK nuclear industry, will be serviced from EQPaymaster’s office in Caithness, Scotland.
Eann Sinclair is the new area manager for HIE in Caithness and Sutherland. Eann is from Thurso and graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in Scottish and English Literature before gaining an MSc in Tourism.
Contrary to some newspaper reporting, only 9 of the 94 public toilets which the Highland Council currently manages, are earmarked for closure and these are where there are alternative facilities close by. Amongst the 29 toilets originally considered for rationalisation, several have been recommended for retention as council run facilities.
Thurso Community Development Trust (TCDT) have been successful in their bid to secure EU Highland LEADER funding to add to their already announced securement of Caithness & North Sutherland Funding (C&NSF)to enable them to deliver the "Destination Thurso" project. Funding awarded of £33.5k by EU Highland LEADER and £5k by C&NSF will see the employment of a Tourism Development Officer until November 2019 to deliver a programme which includes a one-stop shop "Destination Thurso website and social media, localisation workshops and through consulting the community a tourism development plan for Thurso.
After a few weeks of preparations the new B & M Store has opened today 19th October 2018. The store took over the premises vacated by Homebase that recently closed several stores around the UK.
Tributes have been paid to The Highland Council's Director of Care and Learning, Bill Alexander who retires on 19 October after eighteen years leading the council's Care and Learning Services. At the Council's Care and Learning meeting held on Thursday 18 October 2018, Chair of the Committee, Cllr Andrew Baxter; and Leader of the Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson praised Mr Alexander for his long service to the Council.
Responding to the amended motion lodged by Gail Ross MSP in the Scottish Parliament which related to her (Rhoda Grant MSP) original Parliamentary Motion highlighting the possible closure of public toilets in the Highlands, Regional MSP Rhoda Grant has said " Gail is perfectly entitled to lodge an amendment to my original motion, but in doing so she has shown that she is actually more concerned about protecting the reputation of the Scottish Government than her own constituents. I was keen to point out in my motion that Local Authorities are having to look at closing public toilets in order to make ends meet.
The Highland Council has paid tribute to Mr Des Devine, former Surveyor at the Council who died earlier this week. Steve Barron, Chief Executive said: "It is with great sadness that we heard that Des Devine passed away this week after a long and brave battle with cancer.
Dave Macleod, the recently appointed head of property and infrastructure at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, reflects on the crucial role that property plays in regional development. When the BASF Group, the largest diversified chemical company in the world, was looking to expand its operations, a factory built and owned by HIE on Lewis was instrumental in attracting them.
Scotland's Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board has published its Strategic Plan. The Plan has a 20-year horizon and will be updated annually.
The companies responsible for decommissioning Dounreay on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority have set out proposals to ensure long-term employment for their workforce after the site closes. Around 1,100 Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) staff taking apart the former research site have been told about a series of future commitments including the offer of a job with one of the companies behind the site's parent body organisation Cavendish Dounreay Partnership.
The prospects of those qualifying through Highlands and Islands colleges are continuing to increase according to the Scottish Funding Council's annual College Leaver Destinations report. The publication, released last week, reports on the destinations of those who left college in the 2016 to 2017 academic year.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (October, 16th) sold 24 prime cattle. Prime Bullocks (2) averaged 211.0p (-17.0p) and sold to 214.0p per kg and £1,391.00 gross.
The big offshore construction vessel Seabed Stingray (8,878 tonnes) arrived in the Pentland Firth's Inner Sound from the Cromarty Firth's Nigg Energy Park around 07:00 on Monday (15.10.18) morning with a very special cargo on board. The 121 metre-long vessel was in the narrow strait between Gills Bay and Stroma Island to replace two of the four 'pioneering' tidal turbines that had been lifted out from SIMEC Atlantis Energy's MeyGen site last Summer for inspection and modification at Nigg.
