Other Public Services News
10/12/2011
Roads Report 10 December 2011 - 0600
Below is a list of the roads currently closed in the Highlands and Islands: Mainland A890 Strome Ferry between A87 Junction and Strathcarron B9007 Carrbridge - Ferness C38 Cairngorm Ski road A82 at Corran Ferry Beallach Na Ba (Applecross to Tornacross) Other routes are affected by snow, ice or surface water and drivers are urged to take extra care. The Traffic Scotland website is an excellent resource for up to date information about trunk roads www.trafficscotland.org or phone 0800 028 1414..9/12/2011
Advice To The Public From Police Re Roads etc
NORTHERN Constabulary are asking members of the public to continue to exercise caution on the roads during today. Whilst conditions have improved across the Western Isles and the Highlands many roads are still affected by fallen trees and surface water.5/12/2011
Tough Christmas Drink Driving Campaign
Police announce tough new measures to combat drink and drug driving - ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign. Police will carrying out static daily road checks morning, noon and night across the Highlands as part of this years ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign to crack down on drink and drug drivers.29/11/2011
Repairs At Dounreay After 80mph winds
Clean-up teams are repairing minor damage to property at the site after storm-force winds swept Dounreay at the weekend. Some decommisisoning work was put on hold until the weather abated on Sunday.29/11/2011
NDA to begin returning fuel to UK stocks
Almost half the stock of nuclear fuel left over at Dounreay from its research role in the last century is to begin leaving the site next summer. Forty-four tonnes of breeder material from the Dounreay Fast Reactor will be moved by rail from Caithness to Cumbria over a 4-5 year period.21/11/2011
Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration P'Ship - Update
Week commencing 21st November 2011 Energy: Along with a number of other stakeholders, I attended two events this week related to the development of renewable energy. The first was the public consultation on the proposed Orkney-Caithness subsea cable link.20/11/2011
Robots Will Take Dounreay's Dome Apart
Like something out of the Tom Cruise movie War of the Worlds, the Kuka robot has a very important job to do. The standard industrial robot, built exactly the same as a typical car assembly line robot, will play an integral part in the demolition process of Dounreay's iconic fast reactor.20/11/2011
Chamber Spreads The Word On Transport Advice
Please see the following information about low carbon transport loans which you may find useful: "Don't miss out on transport loans of up to £50,000 that are being offered by the Energy Saving Trust for a limited time only. Funded by Transport Scotland, all organisations in Scotland interested in making their travel arrangements more sustainable can apply, including government, private sector businesses, community organisations and the public and voluntary sectors.[Training]
19/11/2011HIE Board Checks Out Wick's New Community Centre
As the final stages of work take place on the £3.8 million community centre for Wick, Highlands and Islands Enterprise's most senior staff have enjoyed a sneak preview. As part of a two day programme of meetings with ambitious Caithness and Sutherland businesses and social enterprises, the HIE Board visited the Pulteney Centre due to open in the new year and paid tribute to the achievements of the Pulteneytown People's Project (PPP).4/11/2011
Christmas Warning From North Police
FOLLOWING a report of an alleged dishonesty in Shetland, Northern Constabulary are reminding householder's about some simple steps that can be taken to prevent opportunity crime in the run up to Christmas. Chief Inspector Angus MacInnes said, "In the run up to Christmas people will have high value items in their house and may well have additional cash in their possession as they prepare to buy presents.3/11/2011
Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration P'Ship - Update
Week commencing 24th October: Energy: Following last week's announcement of a consultation on revised ROC bandings for renewable energy sources, further positive news for the wave and tidal industry in the form of a Scottish Government announcement that £18M is to be made available to "improve capability and infrastructure, as well as helping fund technology solutions and the roll out of marine arrays". The Scottish Government is to consult with the industry about the nature of projects to be supported by the fund.27/10/2011
Get Ready For Winter Campaign kicks off
Northern Constabulary is this weekend taking part in the national, ACPOS-led Get Ready For Winter Campaign. The awareness raising weekend begins concludes on Halloween (31 October 2011).25/10/2011
Partnership Approach To Reduce Unauthorised Bonfires
The Highland Council, Northern Constabulary and Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service are joining forces to reduce the number of unauthorised bonfires throughout the Highlands in the lead up to Bonfire Night and the inappropriate use of fireworks. Group Manager Robert Scott from Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said that this was a good example of the Inverness Community Partnership working with partners and sharing information.2/10/2011
Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration - Update
Week commencing 26th September: Enabling Activities: I met this week with Susan Johnston of JobCentre Plus, to discuss their important role in supporting the area's economy. I also introduced her to colleagues form Highland Council's Employability service in the area.26/9/2011
Caithness and NS Regeneration P'Ship - Update
Week commencing 19th September: Energy: Together with Simon Coles in his role as Inward Investment manager on secondment to HIE I met with two representatives from a major UK company seeking to develop its involvement in the renewables industry. We were able to show them several key local facilities, and introduce them to several local companies.14/9/2011
Radioactive Waste - What Will Stay?
Dounreay sets out what will stay and what will go Dounreay's decommissioning contractor today sets out what will happen to an estimated 300,000 tonnes of radioactive material from the clean-out and closure of the former nuclear research site. More than 99 per cent is expected to remain indefinitely at Dounreay.2/9/2011
Keiss Primary Get Prizes From New Community Benefit Fund
A new company has been established to distribute £4m funding from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) for community projects in the Dounreay travel to work area. The Community Benefit Fund has been provided in association with the construction of a low level waste facility soon to be built at Dounreay.30/8/2011
Caithness and NS Regeneration Partnership Latest Update
Week commencing 22nd August: Energy: Graeme Rankin of the NDA Competition team and Anna MacConnell, the NDA's Stakeholder Relations and Socio-Economic Manager, updated several local stakeholders on current position with the Dounreay PBO competition. It was good to have the timetable for the remainder of the competition process laid out clearly, with the preferred bidder announcement due in late November and share transfer from current to new PBO scheduled for the beginning of April 2012.15/8/2011
Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership
From Eann Sinclair Programme Manager Week commencing 8th August: Energy: I met this week with Ian Couper, Chief Executive of Energy North (formerly North of Scotland Industries Group). We are making arrangements for a joint meeting of Highland Council and Orkney Islands Council representatives in the next few weeks, to discuss collaborative opportunities in marine energy.19/7/2011