Local Authority News
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Improvements to the winter maintenance service provided by The Highland Council were confirmed by the Transport Environmental and Community Service Committee at its meeting today (Thursday). A review of priority routes has resulted in a 76-mile increase in the length of Priority One routes to 1,319 miles (31% of the network).
The creation of a new Local Development Plan for the Inner Moray Firth area has taken a step closer following a decision by The Highland Council�s Planning, Environment and Development Committee to approve the proposed plan which shows how and where the Council thinks the area should be developed over the next 20 years. The go ahead means the Council will now launch a 6 week consultation to allow the public, developers and local businesses to feed back their comments on the future plan.
The Highland Council�s Planning and Development Service is pleased to announce that members of the public now have the ability to report alleged breaches of planning control online as well as over the telephone. Customers from across the Highlands can use the on-line form to report any potential enforcement cases they may come across.
The Leader of The Highland Council and Chairman of the Council�s Planning, Environment and Development Committee have written to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to welcome the proposed extension of the rural fuel duty to the Highland mainland. They have also highlighted the need to extend the deadline for submissions from operators to ensure none of the eligible filling stations miss out on the rebate.
Assessor & ERO�s Office at 3A Bridge Street, Wick remains open for business as usual during the renovations at the Town Hall. The works will take around 8 months to complete but the Assessor�s Office will be open as usual during office hours; 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Monday to Friday.
Leader of The Highland Council Drew Hendry has spoken of the staggering potential of the largest tidal energy project in Europe which is planned off the shores of Caithness. In welcoming guests at the Scottish Renewables Marine Conference at Eden Court, Inverness, on Monday evening, he focused on an announcement made earlier in the day by Scottish Government Energy Minister Fergus Ewing granting consent to MeyGen Ltd to develop the largest tidal turbine array in Europe and the first commercial project off these shores.
The Highland Licensing Board has included a third option to the current on-line consultation currently underway on the options for proposals for the Licensing Board's Overprovision Policy Statement 2013-16. Launched at the start of this month, the consultation invites members of the public to have their say on whether there is an overprovision of licensed premises in any locality within the area of Highland Licensing Board.
Highland Council�s Trading Standards has today launched a new information website service specifically designed for Highland business and trade users. Gordon Robb, Highland Trading Standards Manager explains: �We receive a considerable amount of calls to our free �Business Advice Line� service which covers the whole of the Highland area.
The Inverness public is being advised that work will start in earnest from Monday 16 September on the construction of flood walls along the River Ness between the Ness Bridge and Friars Bridge. Every attempt is being made to minimise disruption by maintaining at all times pedestrian access to shops and businesses, which will continue to trade as normal.
Over 100 business representatives will be attending an ICT suppliers �Industry Day� hosted by The Highland Council in the Thistle Hotel, Inverness on Monday 16 September. The council has arranged the event to provide information about how it will ensure the supply of ICT Services is continued when an existing contract comes to its end in March 2015.
The Highland Council has started publishing planning notices on a national website to complement the current system of placing adverts in the local press. Along with other Scottish Councils, The Highland Council is using the Tell Me Scotland (Public Information Notification Scotland � PINS) website to publish planning notices.
The Highland Council�s new Chief Executive, Steve Barron, took over at the helm of the organisation on Monday 2nd September 2013. He replaces Alistair Dodds, who has retired after 22 years with the Council, the last six as Chief Executive.
The Highland Council is to write to Highland MPs to seek their support for a change to the spare room subsidy which would see all communities with a population of 3,000 or less excluded from the provisions in recognition of the absence of the appropriate housing stock to accommodate tenants who wish to move to a smaller house. Councillors have been encouraged by concessions being made by the UK Government on Welfare Reform in the wake of strong representations highlighting flaws in the legislation and are seeking the continuing support of Highland MPs to press the case on the spare room subsidy in Westminster with Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform.
Road users are being advised by The Highland Council that from Monday 2nd September until Saturday 21st September 2013 essential maintenance works will be carried out to Feshie Bridge which will require a temporary road closure on a short length of the B970 Kingussie � Speybridge Road over Feshie Bridge. The length of road affected will be from the U2094 Achlean Road junction with the B970 road.
The Highland Council has written to rural petrol filling station operators throughout the Highlands who do not currently receive rural fuel rebate, to remind them that they have until 4 September 2013 to respond to the HM Treasury Call for information on the �Proposed extension of the rural fuel rebate scheme�. Councillor Drew Millar, Highland Council�s Campaign Lead on Fuel Prices said: �The Highland Council�s programme is committed to working with partners to secure fair fuel prices across the area.