Caithness And North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership - Update

15th July 2018

Week commencing 9th July 2018.

Energy & Business Services:

* Yet another milestone was achieved for the Beatrice Offshore Windfarm (BOWL) project this week, as the final turbine foundation (number 86 of 86) was installed by contractor Seaway Heavy Lifting. Travellers on the A9 and A99 on the east coast of Caithness will this week have seen the huge SHL vessel "Oleg Strashnov" working out in the BOWL development area. As I have previously highlighted here, the next steps are for the towers and turbines to be installed, and to support this next phase of work NHV Helicopters has also been contracted to provide support. http://renews.biz/111771/beatrice-takes-flight-path/

* And still on the BOWL construction, following last week's news on further crew transfer vessels arriving in Wick to support the project, this week there is news that the much larger Norwegian vessel "Stril Server" will provide a "walk to work" facility http://renews.biz/111739/beatrice-lines-up-mokster/ This technology is a rapidly-developing sector in offshore support, allowing safe transfer of workers from offshore vessels to either oil & gas or offshore wind assets. The company that provides the motion-compensated gangway on the Stril Server explains how the technology works in this very instructive film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggIDaBMbhUE

* Simec Atlantis Energy (the new company name for Atlantis Resources Ltd) is to remove two of the four tidal turbines for maintenance from its array in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth, after a generator fault was detected by onboard monitoring systems. It is expected that both turbines (built by Andritz Hammerfest Hydro) will be back in operation within two months, and meanwhile the other two turbines (One Andritz and one Atlantis) continue to operate.

Tourism, food & drink:

* Today (Friday) saw the latest cruise ship visit to Scrabster Harbour this season, with the arrival of the Gann. This is a much smaller vessel than the last cruise ship (see my online blog for photo of the ship). This month the Aegean Odyssey (with a capacity for around 420 passengers) is also scheduled to make two visits to the port.

Enabling Activities:

* Delighted to catch up with Skills Development Scotland colleagues this week to look at our evolving interactive CNSRP webpage, which has been designed to encourage young people in particular to look at those sectors we feel will offer employment prospects in the north over the next ten years and beyond. Linking to CNSRP partner Skills Development Scotland's "My World of Work" site allows our projected sectors to be described in terms of actual job roles, and we are now working with SDS to better highlight these, and any current gaps in information. It is clear that job roles are changing as technology continues to offer new opportunities. A fascinating glimpse into future areas of potential is contained in a forthcoming course being developed by Apps for Good on Machine Learning. https://blog.appsforgood.org/2017/10/03/learning-about-machine-learning/

* CNSRP partner Caithness Chamber of Commerce has announced that entries are now open for the Young Entrepreneur and Young Business of the Year Awards 2018. Now in their ninth and fourth years respectively, these awards celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit shown by businesses in the North. The Young Entrepreneur award is open to individuals aged between 18-30 (inclusive) who are based in Caithness or North Sutherland and either have or are about to start a business in the area. The Young Company award is open to companies that are five years old or less and are operating in Caithness or North Sutherland. For more details on the awards and the prizes, contact Fiona Levack at Caithness Chamber (fiona@caithnesschamber.com<mailto:fiona@caithnesschamber.com>)

* CNSRP partner Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is carrying out a survey to understand young people's views on the region in order that they can make the Highlands and Islands a better place to live, work and study. This follows on from a similar survey carried out in 2015. As a thank you there are some fantastic prizes available to lucky participants, including Belladrum and Groove Loch Ness tickets. For more information and to take part (if you are between 15-30 years of age) see http://news.hie.co.uk/all-news/caithness-and-sutherland-young-people-encouraged-to-complete-survey/

Communications:

As part of an ongoing process of helping communicate progress with the delivery of aspects of our economic transition programme CNSRP's partners work together to generate news stories for local, regional and national media. I also speak on a regular basis to individuals and organisations across the area to update on progress. This week:



* Last week the latest in a series of articles I am contributing to the John O' Groat Journal and Caithness Courier appeared in the Caithness Courier. This week the Caithness Courier featured the press release we issued to welcome the new CNSRP Independent Chair Ian Ross. You can read the press release at http://www.cnsrp.org.uk/newsroom/2018/07/partners-welcome-new-cnsrp-independent-chair/

* NHS Highland's Health & Social Care Partnership Committee last week endorsed the outcomes from the recent series of workshops looking at the future of health and social care in Caithness. This will now be discussed at full NHS Highland Board later this month with a view to undertaking a public consultation on the proposed way forward for what could be a £30 million investment programme. More on the detailed proposals is at http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/News/Pages/CaithnessCommitteeunanimouslyendorseshealthandsocialcareproposals.aspx and on a similar subject, it is good to hear of a short-term investment in Caithness General Hospital, where the theatre department will next week be undergoing an upgrade. It is equally encouraging to see that three GPs, two Advanced Nurse Practitioners and one physiotherapy practitioner have been recruited in Caithness recently. We often hear that talent attraction is an issue in rural areas, so it is good to see evidence of this working for the north. http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/News/Pages/CaithnessMedicalpracticessuccessfullyattracthigh-calibreclinicians.aspx

Eann Sinclair

Programme Manager

Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership

Tel: 01847 805211

Mob: 07717 694055

Mail: eann.sinclair@hient.co.uk

Web: www.cnsrp.org.uk<http://www.cnsrp.org.uk/>

Twitter: @eanncnsrp

Instagram: eanncnsrp