The Highland Council and their development partners Hub North Scotland (Wick) ltd have agreed that reinstatement works for a section of wall cladding for the games hall at Wick Community Campus will be carried out during the coming summer holiday period. This is to minimise disruption to the building users, in particular pupils at Wick High School, who are currently undergoing national exams until June.
The Highland Council is inviting individuals, community groups and local businesses in Thurso to have their say on determining how the historic centre of the town is managed in the future. Following the success of an event held at the end of March, the Council will be hosting another public drop-in session at the start of May to highlight the draft Thurso Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan and encourage input and feedback from the local community.
The search is on for a new Youth Convener to champion the cause of young people in the Highlands. The Highland Youth Convener is a sounding board for youth issues in the Highlands and has a direct line into policy makers and decision takers.
Postal votes are being opened every day but will not be counted until Friday 6th May along with the votes cast at polling stations. So far Thurso and West Caithness have returned 1947 out of 3049 issued amounting to 63.86% Meanwhile Wick and East Caithness have returned 1791 out of 3111 - 57.57%.
Highland Council Trading Standards are warning unsuspecting members of the public to be on their guard and not fall victim to a COVID-19 contact tracing text scam that is currently in circulation. The scam involves an unsolicited text message from ‘TestNTrace' advising the recipient that they have been a close contact of someone who has contracted the Omicron variant.
New funding has been secured for the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project to create innovative and interactive digital content showcasing people's stories of the region. The grant comes from the Natural and Cultural Heritage Fund (NCHF), led by NatureScot and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Highland Council is embracing the climate change agenda by increasing the amount of set aside and wildlife corridors across the area. In 2019, Highland Council declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency and have committed to being a low carbon Highlands by 2025.
With less than two weeks until the voter registration deadline for local elections in May, the Electoral Registration Officer for Highland & Western Isles urges residents to make sure they are registered in time. Anyone living in Scotland who will be 16 or over on 5 May, can register to vote in these elections.
Sponsorship and support for the awards ceremony was provided by TUSKER and the Inverness Common Good Fund. The Council extends its thanks to both for making last week's celebration possible.
Allan Gunn has been appointed by The Highland Council as Executive Chief Officer - Communities and Place. Mr Gunn was recently Interim Executive Chief Officer – Communities and Place with the Council since January 2022 prior to which he was Executive Chief Officer - Transformation (from 2020) and Chief Officer Resources (Care and Learning) from 2019-2020.
In The Highland Council's response to the Scottish Government draft new National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), concerns have been raised that the proposed NPF4 falls short on delivering key regional priorities for Highland and also in achieving Scotland’s transition to net zero. NPF4 will be a long-term plan that will guide spatial development, set out national planning policies, designate national developments and highlight regional spatial priorities.
UNISON, Scotland's largest union, will consult local government members on taking industrial action over pay. The decision was made today (Friday) at UNISON's national local government conference after members rejected an initial pay offer from COSLA.
Elections will be held in both Caithness wards with 6 candidates standing in each one. Four councillors are to be elected for each ward.
There are so many places to look for funding but have you got time to find it all and read the rules for each on. Just googling alone can take hours.
The Electoral Registration Officer for Highland is reminding anyone who wants to take part in the May local government elections to make sure they are registered to vote by the deadline of midnight on Monday 18 April 2022. The Scottish Local Government Elections for The Highland Council are taking place on Thursday 5 May 2022 to elect 74 Local Councillors in 21 wards.
Scotland's headteachers will receive more than half a billion pounds of secured funding over the next four years to help close the attainment gap. Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) totalling £520 million will be distributed to schools in every council area to help headteachers put in place more support for children and young people.
The A9 will be closed in both directions during the night this weekend (19/20 March) between the exit for Inverness Campus and Inshes, and the Raigmore interchange. This is to allow access for a scheduled maintenance inspection of the ‘Golden Bridge'.
Highland Council has agreed to a proposal for personal safety audits for members after the May local elections. Councillor Lobban said that councillors could be more at risk then MP's or MSP's as they were often more available in the community Two councillors Councillors Pippa Hadley and Bill Lobban tabled a motion.
Following discussion in private (due to commercial confidentiality requirements) The Council has agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with H2 Green Ltd. The agreement explores opportunities to develop a regional green hydrogen network across the Highlands.
The Annual Report of Statutory Performance Indicators (SPIs) and Best Value for financial year 2020-21 set against the context of COVID, was considered by members of The Highland Council when they met on 10 March 2022. The report tells the story of how COVID has impacted significantly across the Council's SPIs and this context, combined with a change in the way the Scottish Government has measured some performance indicators, means that an overall assessment of Council performance cannot be made.