Highland residents warned to be on guard against free home alarm offers Highland Council Trading Standards are warning all residents to be on their guard when answering 'cold-call' telephone sales calls offering a 'free home fire and security survey', if they agree to a home visit by sales staff. This warning follows on from previous warnings by Trading Standards as a result of firms continuing to target elderly and vulnerable consumers in the Highland area.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (July, 6th) sold 62 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (43) averaged 169.8p (-1.7p) and sold to 184p per kg and £1,226.15 gross.
Afternoon party marks official opening of Lochbroom House Lochbroom House, a care home for 11 older people in Ullapool, was officially reopened yesterday (Tuesday 6th July) following a £1.4 million refurbishment. The centre is the ninth Council care home to be refurbished under its £3.5 million programme of improvements.
In a move to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill The Highland Council will be running a new 6 month trial of new waste collections in Skye and Lochalsh. During the next few weeks all residents will receive a card in the post giving details of the new service which starts on the 6th September.
Residents and Day Attenders from Bayview House in Thurso can now go on-line to keep in touch with families and friends. B.T connections have provided funding for a laptop and internet access for the Care Home residents while the Dounreay Communities Fund donated £250 towards a laptop and broadband connection for Day Attenders of The Highland Council run facility.
Highland Communities encourages to put forward projects for Broadband improvement funding Rural communities across the Highlands are being encouraged to put forward bids for a share of a million Euro fund that could bring enhanced Broadband to their area including improved coverage and faster connections. Following an announcement last week by the Scottish Government that funding was now available, The Highland Leader Programme is encouraging interested communities to make contact with their local LEADER representative to start the application process.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed a new Chief Executive Alex Paterson, currently the economic and community development organisation's Director of Regional Competitiveness, will take up the top post on Monday 2 August. Mr Paterson has been a director with HIE for the past nine years, initially heading up its Developing Skills group.
If you are heading for Inverness on Saturday 17th or Sunday 18th July your jouney may be affected by the Rod Stewart concert. On Saturday 17 July Rod Stewart will be performing at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in Inverness and temporary road restrictions will be in place before, during and after the concert.
A multi-million pound project to deliver an additional length of dual carriageway on the A9 at Crubenmore took a further step forward this week with the issuing of tenders. The project will see construction of almost two miles of dual carriageway (2.7km) providing improved overtaking opportunities on the A9 to the north of Crubenmore, reducing journey times and improving traffic flow on this key route connecting central Scotland to the Highlands.
Eighteen Highland students graduated through the University of Aberdeen this week at a ceremony held in the Town House, Inverness. Celebrating their qualifications as new teachers were sixteen students receiving the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education by Distance Learning (Primary).
Council welcomes Scottish Government funding for new home building in the Highlands. Fifty five new homes are to be built in the Highlands by The Highland Council with the help of £1.65 million from the Scottish Government's 'Incentivising New Council House Building Fund'.
Around 13,600 Highland Council housing tenants will receive a letter and questionnaire this week inviting them to make their opinions known on a review of council house rents and service charges throughout the Highlands. In May 2010, members of the Council's Housing and Social Work Committee approved a major review of the Council's housing rents and service charges and the council is currently consulting tenants individually and local tenants groups.
People in the Highlands are being asked to make their views known on 'Pressured Area Status' concerning socially rented housing provided by The Highland Council and housing associations. Many communities in Highland are already covered by Pressured Area Status designation which over the last 5 years has helped to prevent social rented housing being sold through the Right to Buy.
Highland Youth Voice, the elected youth parliament for the Highlands recently met for their summer conference and was invited to take part in the Highland Council's discussions on the budget. The young people were joined by Council Chief Executive Alistair Dodds, Budget Leader David Alston, Convener Sandy Park and Director of Finance, Alan Geddes to discuss the budget proposals.
The Highland Council today (Thursday 24th June 2010) included funding for a replacement Wick High School in its new five-year building programme. The estimated cost of the new school is £34.3 million - £18.4 million of which will be funded by the Scottish Government.
School projects are given priority in the spending plans agreed by The Highland Council for the next five years and beyond. More than £150 million has been set aside for school improvements or new schools.
The public is being invited to a "drop in " session and a public meeting later this month to consider the options open to the Council for the upgrade/replacement of Wick High School. The "drop in" session is being held on Monday 28 June at the Assembly Rooms, Wick, between 10 am and 5 pm.
Have you ever thought about trying something new, artistic and creative? Take up music lessons from a qualified teacher. Tuition is given in Piano, Voice and 'Cello, and has no age limit.
FREE Business Gateway Workshops For New and Existing Businesses. Thinking of starting your own business in the next few months, or developing your existing business - then contact Jennifer Irvine, Regional Development Officer, Business Gateway, Caithness.
People who work with children and young people in Caithness have recently been trained to identify and understand the signs of solvent abuse. Training was organised and sponsored by The Highland Council's Youth Action Team and Caithness Drug & Alcohol Forum and delivered by the charity Re-Solv that specialises in volatile substance abuse training.
