At yesterday's (Thursday 27 April 2023) Housing and Property Committee meeting, Members approved the draft Housing and Investment Plan 2023-2028 for submission to the Scottish Government. Members also agreed to the indicative five year investment programme to 2028.
Members at next week's meeting of the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee will be allocating the distribution of £7.7M of the £20.5M capital roads budget specifically for carriageway structural maintenance. Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Many of our roads are suffering from lack of attention due to limited resources over a number of years.
A short film explains what knowledge assets are, why they're so powerful, and how we can help you make the most of them. The Government Office for Technology Transfer (GOTT) is on a mission to help colleagues in the Civil Service, arm's length bodies and public sector research establishments create value for the UK taxpayer by unlocking the full potential of knowledge assets.
At a recent meeting (Thursday 30 March 2023) of The Highland Council's Redesign Board members noted the progress being made on the Road Improvement project. The Roads Improvement project aims to redesign the service where necessary and deliver improvements for the effective, efficient, and sustainable delivery of all engineering and roads operations and improve road condition across the Highlands.
The Highland Council is updating its Local Transport Strategy, which sets out how it will manage and modernise the transport network across the region. The Case for Change is the first stage in this process; the Council would like to hear your views and the document is now out for consultation.
Highland Council's Trading Standards and the Climate Change & Energy Team are joining forces to warn unsuspecting householders to be on their guard if they are approached by traders offering funding for the installation of home energy products. This follows recent reports that there may be traders operating in the area, offering free insulation, and heating and funding for solar panels or air source heat pumps, under Government funded schemes, saying they are working on behalf of Highland Council when this is not the case.
The Highland Council has awarded a significant contract to Norbloc construction Ltd, Halkirk to carry out a full refurbishment of the public convenience at Whitechapel Road, Wick. The £395K works involve bringing the former public convenience back into use by undertaking ground stabilisation works.
The Highland Council will hold a drop-in session at the end of the month to share the design for the pedestrian zone in the High Street and the Bridge Street/High Street junction, part of the wider regeneration of Wick town centre. The purpose of the session is to share more detail so the Council can finalise the design, secure a funding stream and move on to preparing tender documents and the construction phase.
Three Highland Council teams will be taking part in a Sustrans-funded E-Cargo bike pilot scheme aimed at reducing fleet emissions supporting the local authority's wider Net Zero ambition. The pilot will involve a trial of three E-Cargo bikes which will be used for business by Inverness Amenities team, Inverness roads team and the Fort William Child Health team.
Members at the meeting of Highland Council's Climate Change Committee on 16 March 2023 agreed to extend a benchmarking exercise which has been assessing the local authority’s energy performance across its estate. Benchmarking energy performance is a process that compares the energy use of a building with other similar structures.
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.