Eleven people have spoiled their own festive season after being caught drink driving during Christmas week. Those who were caught on Christmas Eve, which included an 18-year-old from the Strathspey area, had to spend Christmas Day in the cells prior to the next available court date, which was Wednesday.
The Caithness Chamber of Commerce has put out information that might be of interest to creative entreprenuers. The 2012 Starter for 6 Main Programme is now open for applications.
Pulteneytown People's Project in Wick will be opening the doors to its new community Centre, Pulteney Centre, at the end of January and promises to bring a huge variety of new classes to the town. Pulteney Centre will be the first of its kind in Wick, offering a comprehensive collection of groups and educational classes all housed under the one roof.
Week commencing 12th December: Energy: I met this week with Trudy Morris (Caithness Chamber), Ian Couper (Energy North), Jacquie Black (ERI) and Keith Muir (HIE) to discuss a possible follow-up event to the supply chain event these two membership organisations held in North Highland College last spring. As previously reported UHI is staging an international conference in Orkney next May, and following discussion with the event organiser for that Conference it was agreed that an event could be run on the final day of the Conference offering local/ regional companies the chance to talk directly to a broadly academic audience which is involved in key research and development activities in the marine renewables sector.
Police thank the public for their support after week one of the festive drink drive campaign Public concern over those who drink and drive has again been highlighted after week one of the national ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign. Seven people were caught drink driving by Northern Constabulary during the first week of the campaign, four of whom were detected as a direct result of information supplied by the public.
5th December 2011 Energy: Meygen, the leaseholders of the "Inner Sound" tidal site in the Pentland Firth, held two public information days this week to update on key issues such as project timescale, environmental surveys, the potential locations and scale of expected onshore works and the technical solution for exporting power to the grid. Nearly 100 people attended over the two days, and heard that Meygen will be submitting its Environmental Statement to consenting authorities in the New Year for a Phase 1 of up to 86 turbines, each of which will be separately connected to the grid.
Below is a list of the roads currently closed in the Highlands and Islands: Mainland A890 Strome Ferry between A87 Junction and Strathcarron B9007 Carrbridge - Ferness C38 Cairngorm Ski road A82 at Corran Ferry Beallach Na Ba (Applecross to Tornacross) Other routes are affected by snow, ice or surface water and drivers are urged to take extra care. The Traffic Scotland website is an excellent resource for up to date information about trunk roads www.trafficscotland.org or phone 0800 028 1414..
NORTHERN Constabulary are asking members of the public to continue to exercise caution on the roads during today. Whilst conditions have improved across the Western Isles and the Highlands many roads are still affected by fallen trees and surface water.
Police announce tough new measures to combat drink and drug driving - ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign. Police will carrying out static daily road checks morning, noon and night across the Highlands as part of this years ACPOS Festive Safety Campaign to crack down on drink and drug drivers.
Clean-up teams are repairing minor damage to property at the site after storm-force winds swept Dounreay at the weekend. Some decommisisoning work was put on hold until the weather abated on Sunday.
Almost half the stock of nuclear fuel left over at Dounreay from its research role in the last century is to begin leaving the site next summer. Forty-four tonnes of breeder material from the Dounreay Fast Reactor will be moved by rail from Caithness to Cumbria over a 4-5 year period.
Week commencing 21st November 2011 Energy: Along with a number of other stakeholders, I attended two events this week related to the development of renewable energy. The first was the public consultation on the proposed Orkney-Caithness subsea cable link.
Like something out of the Tom Cruise movie War of the Worlds, the Kuka robot has a very important job to do. The standard industrial robot, built exactly the same as a typical car assembly line robot, will play an integral part in the demolition process of Dounreay's iconic fast reactor.
Please see the following information about low carbon transport loans which you may find useful: "Don't miss out on transport loans of up to £50,000 that are being offered by the Energy Saving Trust for a limited time only. Funded by Transport Scotland, all organisations in Scotland interested in making their travel arrangements more sustainable can apply, including government, private sector businesses, community organisations and the public and voluntary sectors.
As the final stages of work take place on the £3.8 million community centre for Wick, Highlands and Islands Enterprise's most senior staff have enjoyed a sneak preview. As part of a two day programme of meetings with ambitious Caithness and Sutherland businesses and social enterprises, the HIE Board visited the Pulteney Centre due to open in the new year and paid tribute to the achievements of the Pulteneytown People's Project (PPP).
FOLLOWING a report of an alleged dishonesty in Shetland, Northern Constabulary are reminding householder's about some simple steps that can be taken to prevent opportunity crime in the run up to Christmas. Chief Inspector Angus MacInnes said, "In the run up to Christmas people will have high value items in their house and may well have additional cash in their possession as they prepare to buy presents.
Week commencing 24th October: Energy: Following last week's announcement of a consultation on revised ROC bandings for renewable energy sources, further positive news for the wave and tidal industry in the form of a Scottish Government announcement that £18M is to be made available to "improve capability and infrastructure, as well as helping fund technology solutions and the roll out of marine arrays". The Scottish Government is to consult with the industry about the nature of projects to be supported by the fund.
Northern Constabulary is this weekend taking part in the national, ACPOS-led Get Ready For Winter Campaign. The awareness raising weekend begins concludes on Halloween (31 October 2011).
The Highland Council, Northern Constabulary and Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service are joining forces to reduce the number of unauthorised bonfires throughout the Highlands in the lead up to Bonfire Night and the inappropriate use of fireworks. Group Manager Robert Scott from Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said that this was a good example of the Inverness Community Partnership working with partners and sharing information.
Week commencing 26th September: Enabling Activities: I met this week with Susan Johnston of JobCentre Plus, to discuss their important role in supporting the area's economy. I also introduced her to colleagues form Highland Council's Employability service in the area.