South West Inverness Flood Relief Channel - Fourth and Final Phase Highland Councillors have given the go ahead for the fourth and final phase of a £16 million scheme to protect 600 houses, which are at risk of flooding on the south side of Inverness. The final phase of the South-West Inverness flood relief channel lies between Old town of Leys and the Alt na Skiah Burn to the south of Fairways Golf course.
Entrepreneurs from across Ross and Cromarty will be able to tap into the knowledge of an Internet wizard and a business expert when Business Gateway takes a stall at this year's Black Isle Gathering and A Grand Day Out which is being part financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community Highland LEADER 2007-2013 Programme with support from The Highland Council. It is the first time that the local office of Scotland's national business advisory service will be present at the gathering which takes place on Saturday September 24th at Fortrose Academy.
Councillor Thomas Prag, Inverness South, has been elected as a Director of the Board of High Life Highland, the new arms length company which will deliver community learning and leisure services on behalf of the Council from 1 October. Councillor Prag replaces Councillor David Fallows, Badenoch and Strathspey, who resigned his membership due to a conflict of interest with his role as Chairman of the Council's Audit and Standards Committee.
The Highland Council is to constructively engage with the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency to ensure that a single police service and a single fire service in Scotland reflects the distinctive needs of the Highlands. Councillors are eager to protect staffing levels in local communities.
First Minister Alex Salmond has announced that the Scottish Government will bring forward legislation to establish a single service for police and a single service for fire and rescue. In response, Councillor Ian Ross, Vice-Convener of the Northern Joint Police Board, said: "The Northern Joint Police Board presented a well argued case for a regional Police solution as part of the consultation process, but we must now respect the Scottish Government's right to take forward a single force structure in Scotland.
The Highland Council has appointed a new Depute Chief Executive. He is Steve Barron, the Council's Director of Housing and Property.
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.
Ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors? Every September, the national Doors Open Days offers free access to landmark buildings, private homes and usually private work spaces that the public never normally get a chance to see. The Highland programme is co-ordinated by The Highland Council and Inverness City Heritage Trust.
North American signal crayfish, a small lobster-like species that can have a devastating effect on native wildlife has been found in a pond in Ballachulish Quarry according to The Highland Council. Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has confirmed the find.
The Highland Council has appointed a new Head of Planning and Building Standards. He is Malcolm MacLeod, the Council's Development Plans Manager.
Business Gateway hits the road to inspire Highland entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs across the Highlands will be able to access free expert advice and connect with other local business owners this autumn when the Business Gateway and Enterprise Europe Scotland's Connect, Inspire and Grow roadshow comes to town. The roadshows will offer new and existing business owners the opportunity to share ideas, tips and concerns with other local entrepreneurs.
Trading Standards Officers from The Highland Council are warning residents that a Council Tax scam may be operating in the region. The scam involves unsuspecting consumers receiving a phone call from an individual pretending to be from the Council or from the UK Treasury and offering a refund on their Council Tax.
The Highland Council, working in partnership with NHS Highland, can announce that Carr Gomm Scotland has been contracted to provide home based respite services across most of the Highland Council area, with effect from October 2011. Carr Gomm Scotland is a charity and not for profit organisation, with a track record of delivering a person centred approach.
Eighty probationer teachers who will be working in Highland schools in the new session were welcomed to the Highlands at their induction in Inverness by Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Committee, and Hugh Fraser, Highland Council's Director of Education, Culture and Sport. The new teachers will be starting work in schools across the Highlands on Tuesday 16th August 2011 when pupils return to school following their summer break.
Communities and developers are being invited to have their say in shaping a revised policy aimed at managing the provision of houses in multiple occupation in the Highlands. For nearly three years The Highland Council has had in place a policy to manage the concentration of houses in multiple occupation, which has been implemented through partnership working between council services across Highland.
A new £50,000 fund offering grants of between £500 and £10,000 has been launched by Zero Waste Scotland to help local communities tackle flytipping by providing them with cash to remove dumped waste and take steps to prevent future problems. Open to community groups, landowners and land managers who are experiencing persistent problems of flytipping, applications to the fund can be made at www.dumbdumpers.org/flytipping.
Council extends timescale of pressured area status on social rented housing Around 12,830 homes in the Highlands will be able to remain within social rented housing stock until at least 2020 due to a 5-year extension of the Highland's pressured area designation status. Tenants with a modernised right to buy entitlement living in communities covered by the pressured area designation will have their right to buy suspended for the maximum period of the 10 year designation.
Council responds to UK Government consultation on rural fuel duty The Highland Council is committed to campaign for fair and equitable fuel prices across the Highlands and Islands and yesterday (Thursday 11 August 2001) members of the TEC Services Committee approved a response to the UK Government's consultation on the Rural Fuel Duty Rebate Pilot Scheme. Chairman of the TEC Services Committee, Councillor John Laing said: "We strongly support the introduction of the scheme, however in our response we stress that it must be set up in such a way as to actively encourage local fuel retailers to participate.
The Highland Council has achieved a top national award for customer service. The Cabinet Office has awarded the Council the Customer Service Excellence standard in recognition the service it provides via face to face contact with the public at its network of 35 Service Points, via telephone its Service Centre in Alness and via the Registration Service.
Members of The Highland Council have this week welcomed the second Antisocial Behaviour Strategy for the Highlands covering the period 2011 to 2016. A report considered by the Council's Housing and Social Work Committee, following public consultation, outlined a joint Antisocial Behaviour Strategy prepared by The Highland Council and Northern Constabulary.