The Highland Council is to write to Dr Liam Fox the Secretary of State for Defence and Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, expressing its opposition to any moves by the UK Government to close the army barracks at Fort George. Meeting in Inverness on Thursday23 June2011, the Council discussed an emergency report from Stuart Black, Director of Planning which highlighted the importance to the Highland economy of the Ministry of Defence base near Inverness.
Planning for Integration - the development of a lead agency model in Highland for care and health services Highland Councillors and Directors from NHS Highland have agreed to proceed with plans to integrate health, education and social care services in the Highlands. Meeting jointly for the third time in Inverness on Thursday 23 June 2011, the Council and NHS Highland confirmed their commitment to producing a model for care and support services for adults and children, that they believe can also influence developments across Scotland.
An award winning mural designed by North Primary School promoting recycling has been used to create eye-catching banners which will be on display at the Council's Recycling Centres at Wick and Seater. The Recycling Mural competition, run by the Council's Waste Aware Team, proved to be very popular with 55 primary schools submitting a total of 119 entries, with a wide array of styles and ideas.
The new head teacher of Wick North Primary School is Ms Wendy Scollay who is currently head teacher at Kilchuimen Primary in Fort Augustus. Originally from Wick and a former pupil at Wick North Primary, Ms Scollay starts as head teacher at the school in August for the new term.
Bernadette Monaghan, the National Convener of Children's Hearings, Scotland, met with members of The Highland Children' Panel Advisory Committee on thursday 16 June 2011 as part of her consultation with local authorities on the future structure and function of the Children's Panel Area Support Teams. Her post, and the reform of the Children's Hearings system that is underway, are all the result of the Children's Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011, which was passed in January 2011.
Planning for Integration - development of a lead agency model in Highland for care and health services Highland Councillors and the NHS Highland Board will be asked next week to press ahead with plans for the integration of health and social care services. The Scottish Government is looking to the Highlands to produce a model for care and support services for adults and children, that can influence developments across Scotland.
Actions set out to support marine renewable energy in North Highland The Highland Council has published a 10-point Action Plan which it is developing with key partners, to help plan for the growth of the marine renewable energy industry in North Highland. This follows on from Onshore Visioning workshops held at the Castle of Mey in August 2010 and February 2011 to which a wide range of people and organisations were invited.
Tain and Easter Ross by-election result •Detailed election results The five-cornered by-election for Tain and Easter Ross (Ward 8) on The Highland Council has resulted in a victory for Mrs Fiona Robertson, Independent. The by-election followed the death of SNP councillor Alan Torrance, 68, in March after a long illness.
The Highland Council is reminding members of the public not to feed seagulls as it re-launches its campaign to raise awareness of the problem of seagulls nesting in Highland urban areas. A guidance leaflet on seagull control is available on the Highland Council website at: www.highland.gov.uk/seagullcontrol and from Council Service Points, Libraries and Transport Environmental and Community Services offices.
At peak times significant traffic delays are anticipated Major repairs are required to the north expansion joint on both carriageways of the Kessock Bridge and remedial works to the bridge deck surfacing. The works will start on Sunday 19th June 2011, for 8 days using a 24 hour contra flow working with a 30mph speed restriction.
Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership (CNSRP) Business and community leaders heard an upbeat assessment of future prospects for the north as senior partners in Caithness & North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership (CNSRP) met last week in Wick with members of the Partnership's Advisory Board to discuss current issues. Following the meeting, CNSRP Chairman Sir Anthony Cleaver said "This was a particularly good time for our joint meeting as we were able to reflect on the three-year plan we set out in 2007 and to look forward to our current plan for the period 2011-2014.
The Highland Council has welcomed the high level of interest from members of the public applying for positions of directors 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. When the deadline closed on Friday 3 June, the Council had received 35 applications.
HIGHLAND Council's Independent Group held discussions aimed at removing the threat to classroom assistants. The main independent grouping are in coalition with the Lib Dems and Labour.
Council to consider impact of proposed moratorium on rural primary school closures The Highland Council is seeking a meeting with Scottish Cabinet Secretary, Mike Russell, to discuss his request that Scottish councils place a one-year moratorium on rural school closures. The Highland Council is currently reviewing its entire school estate with a view to maximising the educational benefit of all Highland pupils.
The Highland Council is seeking to fill three panel vacancies on the Social Work Complaints Review Committee, which gives impartial consideration to complaints raised by clients of the Social Work Service, their carers or representatives. Complaints may relate to assessments, to their outcomes or to the delivery of Social Work Services.
Pioneering agreements between Highland Council and Historic Scotland paves the way for improved service delivery Following a successful pilot project, the Highland Council is to apply to Historic Scotland for the Removal of Duty to Notify for certain types of category B listed building consent applications. Previously applications for listed building consent for category A and B listed buildings had been formally notified to Historic Scotland who then had an opportunity to review and call in for determination if they disagreed with the council's decision.
The Highland Council's Transport Environmental and Community Services Committee has confirmed a new scale of maximum taxi fares in the Highlands. If there are no appeals against the decision, the increases will take effect from Monday 27 June.
Members of the Halkirk Primary Eco-school committee together with P5 and P6 children, staff, the Highland Council Countryside rangers and local volunteers undertook a litter pick around the school grounds and Halkirk Village on Tuesday 17 May. Several plastic bags of litter were filled by everyone as part of the Keep Scotland Tidy Group's 'National Spring Clean' event.
Students at schools throughout the Highlands will have the chance to meet JLS or Olly Murs on Saturday 2 July by entering the "Your Choice to Healthy Living" competition. The X-Factor runners up will be playing at the Ross County Football Club, Victoria Stadium, in Dingwall this summer, with tickets still available.
Councillors praise Highland residents for success of new refuse and recycling collections The Highland Council says that the transition to the new refuse and recycling collection service introduced to Caithness, Lochaber and Skye at the beginning of April has run very smoothly, thanks in large part to the positive attitude of householders. The changes have seen the introduction to all residents of Skye and Lochalsh, Caithness and Lochaber of a fortnightly recycling collection for paper, cardboard, food tins, drink cans and plastic bottles, alternating with a fortnightly refuse collection.