Local Authority News
24/6/2022
Short Term Lets In Highland to Require A Licence To Operate At A Cost Of Between £300 to £600
Business operating in the short term letting market may think this is the worst time to add more cost to running what for many is a small business. The Highland Council has set in motion the plans required by the Scottish government to control who can an cannot operate in the region.
24/6/2022
Public's Views Sought On Council's Short Term Let Draft Policy Statement & Additional Conditions
The Highland Council wants to hear the views of residents, visitors, interested groups and organisations on the Council's short term let draft policy statement and proposed additional conditions for a licence. Earlier this year the Scottish Parliament approved legislation to introduce a new licensing scheme for short-term let properties, which is due to come into effect on 1 October this year.21/6/2022
Council Tax Collection Statistics, 2021-22
Scotland's Chief Statistician today released the latest Council Tax Collection Statistics which provides figures for Scottish local authorities up to and including the financial year 2021-22. In 2021-22 for Scotland as a whole, the total amount of Council Tax billed (after Council Tax Reduction) was £2.723 billion.20/6/2022
Highland Taxi Operators Want 15 to 20% increase in fares but delayed by council requirements to hold consultations
Highland Council Licensing Committee agreed today 20 June 2022 to an early review of taxi tariffs that could see a 15 and 20 per cent fare increase. Taxi operators want increases to offset the inflation and increased fuel costs recently.17/6/2022
Highlands And Islands Enterprise Joins Forces With Spirit Of The Highlands And Islands
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is joining forces with the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project to provide funding support. Spirit of the Highlands and Islands aims to encourage visitors to see all parts of the Highlands and Islands in a sustainable way.
17/6/2022
Looking Back At The Highland Council And NHS Highland's Community Testing Programme
On April 22nd 2021, a custom-fitted articulated lorry was parked outside The Highland Council's Headquarters. The vehicle had been nick-named "Jabbernaut" and staff inside were assisting people in testing themselves for COVID-19.
16/6/2022
Hydro Ness Announced As A Finalist In The Scottish Highlands Renewable Energy Awards
The Hydro Ness project team is hugely proud to be announced as a finalist in the Highlands & Islands Renewable Energy Awards 2022. The project is nominated under the category of ‘Best On-Shore Renewable Energy Project Award'.
10/6/2022
Candidacy Rights For Foreign Nationals
Bill passes allowing nationals from certain countries to stand as local councillors. An electoral reform bill allowing nationals from countries where a relevant treaty has been agreed, including Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain, to become local councillors has been passed by Parliament.10/6/2022
Governance Arrangements Approved By Highland Council
Governance arrangements for the new Council, including senior councillor structure and associated remuneration have been agreed at The Highland Council meeting on 9 June 2022. The following Office Bearers were appointed to Strategic Committees by agreement of Council.9/6/2022
Pressures And Stresses Tighten Across Scotland's 32 Councils
Scotland's councils have had a pivotal role in supporting and working with communities as they responded to the impacts of Covid-19. Now councils must lead recovery work with and alongside their local communities, focusing on getting the services people need in place as pressures and stresses escalate and impact the day to day lives of individuals and communities.
3/6/2022
Hydro Ness Now Fully Operational
The Hydro Ness, a hydroelectric generator on the banks of the River Ness, is now fully operational. Hydro Ness is a 92kW Archimedes screw hydroelectric scheme and interactive visitor experience which will generate over 500,000 kWh of renewable energy each year.
26/5/2022
New Council Leader welcomes game-changing opportunity for Highland
The new Leader of Highland Council, Raymond Bremner has indicated that the economy will be a key focus for the Council as he welcomed the announcement that thousands of jobs would be created by an Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport. He responded to the initial research published today by Opportunity Cromarty Firth and Biggar Economics which said winning the Freeport bid would stimulate manufacturing, creating thousands of jobs, and revolutionise the Highland economy.
15/5/2022
Wick Community Council Treasurer Post
See poster..
6/5/2022
Highland Council 2022 Election Results
All the results for the 2022 Highland Council election have been declared. They are as follows: Independent - 21 Scottish Conservative and Unionist - 10 Scottish Green Party - 4 Scottish Labour Party - 2 Scottish Liberal Democrats - 15 Scottish National Party (SNP) - 22 Total elected 74 The first meeting of the new Council will be held on Thursday 26 May.29/4/2022
Progress Update On Reinstatement Works At Wick Community Campus
The Highland Council and their development partners Hub North Scotland (Wick) ltd have agreed that reinstatement works for a section of wall cladding for the games hall at Wick Community Campus will be carried out during the coming summer holiday period. This is to minimise disruption to the building users, in particular pupils at Wick High School, who are currently undergoing national exams until June.29/4/2022
Open Day To Highlight Draft Conservation Area Appraisal And Management Plan For Thurso
The Highland Council is inviting individuals, community groups and local businesses in Thurso to have their say on determining how the historic centre of the town is managed in the future. Following the success of an event held at the end of March, the Council will be hosting another public drop-in session at the start of May to highlight the draft Thurso Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan and encourage input and feedback from the local community.
29/4/2022
New Highland Youth Convener Sought
The search is on for a new Youth Convener to champion the cause of young people in the Highlands. The Highland Youth Convener is a sounding board for youth issues in the Highlands and has a direct line into policy makers and decision takers.29/4/2022
Still Over 20,000 Postal Votes To Be Returned In Highland
Postal votes are being opened every day but will not be counted until Friday 6th May along with the votes cast at polling stations. So far Thurso and West Caithness have returned 1947 out of 3049 issued amounting to 63.86% Meanwhile Wick and East Caithness have returned 1791 out of 3111 - 57.57%.14/4/2022
Highland Council Trading Standards Warns Of Scam ‘TestNTrace' Text Messages
Highland Council Trading Standards are warning unsuspecting members of the public to be on their guard and not fall victim to a COVID-19 contact tracing text scam that is currently in circulation. The scam involves an unsolicited text message from ‘TestNTrace' advising the recipient that they have been a close contact of someone who has contracted the Omicron variant.
7/4/2022
