Council asks Highland businesses and voluntary sector if they are prepared? 17,000 businesses and voluntary sector organisations are being urged this week to ensure that they have plans in place should their activities face a major crisis. Along with the annual billing of non-domestic rates, the Council is including a short information leaflet that asks people if they are prepared.
Highland householders are reminded by The HighlandCouncil of new and extended ways of paying their Council Tax, rent and other Council bills, which took effect from Friday 1 April - the start of the new financial year. The public will be able to pay by cash at any Post Office and more than 300 PayPoints and Payzones throughout the Highlands.
Town and Country Planning (Development management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 Planning Application Pre-Application Consultation The Highland Council's Housing and Property Service are conducting pre-application consultation on the following development proposal; Redevelopment of the existing Council office buildings at High Street/Market Place, Wick, KW1 4AB Further information can be obtained from The Highland Council's Housing and Property Service, Town House, Inverness, between 9:00am and 5:00pm Mondays to Fridays. Public consultation briefings will be held at the Assembly Rooms, Sinclair Terrace, Wick , on Friday 1st April 2011 between 1:00pm and 5:00pm and on Saturday 2nd April 2011 between 9:00am and 1:00pm.
Through working closely with the trade unions and following effective vacancy monitoring and redeployment policies, The Highland Council has been able to avoid making any grounds maintenance staff redundant following the outsourcing of routine grass cutting work to a private contractor. When the Council decided to invite the private sector to compete for grass cutting contracts last year, it was estimated that 22 staff would transfer to the successful bidder under the TUPE Regulations, and that a further 33 posts would be at risk of redundancy.
A total of 15 candidates across the three Highland constituencies are seeking election to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 5 May. In Caithness Sutherland and Ross, four candidates are seeking election.
New refuse and recycling service begins in Caithness and Lochaber next Monday The new refuse and recycling collections in Caithness and Lochaber begin next Monday, 4th April. From this date householders will receive a fortnightly refuse collection, alternating with a fortnightly recycling collection from blue or blue-lidded recycling bins.
The Highland Youth Voice Apprentice Day is running for the 6th time on Wednesday, 30th March with 14 young people aged 15-17 from Lochaber, Nairn, Wick, Fortrose, Dingwall, Kingussie and the Inverness area taking part. Highland Youth Voice, the elected Youth Parliament for the Highlands, holds an annual 'Apprentice Day' on which members of the Highland Youth Voice shadow Senior Managers.
•Public Notice - Revised Taxi Fares The public is being asked for its views on proposals by The Highland Council to revise the scale of maximum taxi fares in the Highlands. The public have until Friday 22 April to respond.
Climate Challenge projects share £8m Caithness projects were among the successful applicants for funds from the Climate Change challenge funding programme. Latheron Lybster and Clyth Community Development Company - £44,345 Dunnet Forestry Trust - £26,613 130 projects have been announced as the latest community initiatives to receive awards totalling over £8 million from the Climate Challenge Fund (CCF).
A programme of over 350 guided walks and events has been published by The Highland Council's Countryside Rangers in conjunction with New Century Publications Group. Councillor Ian Ross, Chairman of The Highland Council's Planning, Environment and Development Committee said: "The 2011 programme runs from April through to the end of the summer with events taking place throughout the Highlands.
The Highland Council is inviting tenders for the provision of public bus services and home to school transport services across the whole of the Council area, with a potential value of up to £80 million over the 5 year life of the contracts. The Council are looking to encourage as many suppliers as possible to take advantage of this opportunity which gives local suppliers the chance to bid for services in their community.
Two Awards in One Day - National Recognition of Highland Council's Pre-Application Advice Service The Pre-Application Advice Service for Major Developments, a cross Highland Council and other public agency project led by the Planning and Development Service, received a commendation in the Development Management category at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning and a Silver Award in the Service Innovation and Improvement category at the COSLA Awards on March 11th 2011. The Service helps to make the planning process more efficient by encouraging early and effective discussion with developers to better inform their subsequent planning applications.
Seven candidates will contest the forthcoming by-election to elect one councillor to serve The Highland Council's Ward 3 - Wick. The candidates are: Laurel Bush, Animaland, 16 Kennedy Terrace, Wick.
This year a new search function will be launched on the Council's website which allows householders with access to the internet to find their 2011 e-recycling collection calendar. The Highland Council's Waste Management Unit will not be delivering kerbside recycling collection calendars in 2011, unless they are making changes to a service.
The Highland Council's Housing and Social Work Committee has agreed in principle to build a new five-bed children's residential home in Wick at an estimated cost of £1.2 million. Investigations are under way to identify a suitable site for the home, close to school and amenites, and secure the necessary permissions, subject to further decisions by the Council over funding.
The Highland Council has learned lessons from the Caithness Heat and Power Project in Wick, and introduced measures to ensure the corporate failings are not repeated in any future project. A total of 39 actions have been put in place in a response to an internal audit of the Wick-based enterprise and these actions have been acknowledged by external audit and the Accounts Commission.
Highland Council to create arms length organisation for Community Learning and Leisure Members of The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport (ECS) Committee have agreed to a major transfer of the management and delivery of Community Learning and Leisure Services to an arms length organisation (ALO). The transfer which will take place in the financial year 2011/12 will save the Council £1 million per year through an ALO.
Business as usual for voluntary sector with The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service Service delivery contracts between the voluntary sector and the Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Service will remain under the management of the Council when its Community Learning and Leisure (CLL) Service transfer to an arms length organisation (ALO). Members of the Council's ECS Committee have agreed to transfer its CLL Services to an ALO in the financial year 2011/12.
The Highland Council has agreed changes to the way communities will benefit from renewable energy developments. For onshore developments, the Council is adopting a three-tier approach to community benefit.
A new scheme governing the running of Community Councils in the Highlands takes effect from 1 April 2011. It brings together eight separate schemes into one Highland-wide scheme.