The Highland Council is pleased to announce that the work to design the 20mph speed limit programme for Highland has progressed to a stage were the plans for the locations included in the programme can be viewed by the public. This extensive piece of work currently incorporates 116 villages and towns within Highland and is fully funded by Transport Scotland.
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time. It is not intended to imply that any individual route is entirely snow and ice free and drivers must be aware that conditions can change rapidly and make their own assessment of conditions for travelling.
The Highland Council is encouraging individuals, businesses, and community groups to have their say about the Scottish Governments plan for new protections for the marine environment in the form of Highly Protected Marine Areas. Scottish Ministers have committed to designate at least 10% of Scotland's seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), by 2026.
A joint Motion on the A9 was agreed by Members at The Highland Council meeting of 9 March. The amended joint motion (proposed by Cllr Lobban and seconded by Cllr Aitken) is as follows: The horrendous spate of accidents and resultant fatalities on the single carriageway sections of the A9 has brought misery to families from across the country and beyond our Council area.
Highland Council members welcomed an update on the successful Green Freeport bid by the Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) consortium of which The Highland Council is a partner. The Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, jointly announced by the Scottish Government and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January, will make a significant contribution towards meeting the local and national transition to net zero, create high quality, long-lasting employment in a green economy, regenerate and strengthen communities across the region and reverse demographic challenges.
Following the special budget meeting of The Highland Council - which took place last week, Thursday, 2 March – the Council has now written to a number of third-sector and charitable Early Years groups and organisations affected by the savings proposals agreed by members. The six groups and organisations impacted by the removal of grants have been provided with a six-month notice period (from 1 April 2023), meaning that funding will come to an end in September 2023.
ighland Council members welcomed an update on the successful Green Freeport bid by the Opportunity Cromarty Firth (OCF) consortium of which The Highland Council is a partner. The Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport, jointly announced by the Scottish Government and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in January, will make a significant contribution towards meeting the local and national transition to net zero, create high quality, long-lasting employment in a green economy, regenerate and strengthen communities across the region and reverse demographic challenges.
Maps of the Council's gritting routes by priority and policy are available online at www.highland.gov.uk/gritting. The information provided is a summary of reports from operational staff and is intended to give a general indication of typical conditions in each area at a point in time.
Highland Opportunity (Investments) Limited HO(I)L, The Highland Council's business loan company has launched its first social media campaign to make Highland businesses and community organisations aware of its loan funds. HO(I)L has financially supported more than 1,200 local start-up businesses, community organisations and growth projects within the Highland Business community since it was established in 1986.
Members have given their backing to an investment of more than £2.3m towards supporting vulnerable young people and families in the Highlands. The investment was agreed as part of the annual budget process, which took place last week on Thursday, 2 March.
The Storr visitor attraction on Skye has launched its dedicated and branded website, providing information that aims to enhance the visitor experience. The Old Man of Storr project is "for the community, in the community, by the community" working closely with communities and with continual local Member involvement, to celebrate Gaelic and to demonstrate engagement and partnership working.
Funding to improve Highland roads is being increased by over £14m following a decision made at yesterday's Highland Council budget setting meeting (Thursday 2 March) An additional investment of £12.8M to increase the current capital programme will bring the total budget for the coming year up to £20M. On top of this, new investment of £1.26m in revenue funding has been allocated to create a Rapid Repair Road team to tackle potholes across the Highlands.
A balanced council budget for 2023/24 was set at the meeting of The Highland Council on 2 March 2023. As part of a package of investment and savings to address a £49.2M budget gap, a 4% increase in Council Tax has been agreed from 1 April 2023.
Plans to refurbish and reconfigure Caithness General Hospital, in Wick, are expected to take a major step forward next month, with the appointment of a Principal Supply Chain Partner (PSCP) to carry out the design and construction work. The multi-million pound project is just one element of a much wider programme of transformational change to redesign, modernise and improve health and social care services in Caithness.
A site in the Noss area of Wick has been confirmed by NHS Highland the preferred location for a new Community Hub and Care Village. The proposed development, along with a similar facility at the Dunbar Hospital in Thurso, is one of the key parts of wider proposals to redesign, modernise and improve health and social care services in Caithness.
The Highland Council has today (Monday 20 February 2023) launched the Highland Multiply Challenge Fund. Multiply is a new programme to help transform the lives of adults across the UK, by improving their functional numeracy and is part of the UK Government Shared Prosperity Fund.
Read ow Highland owns are doing and see several graphs covering a range of topics. It is very clear that on a range of measures Wick has suffered more than most other towns in all categories between 2018 and 2022.
Join us on the 11th of March 2023 for Caithness' biggest and best jobs, careers, training and recruitment event. This event is free to attend and all are welcome! Meet real employers and hear about their industries and any vacancies they currently have.