At a special meeting today (Tuesday 27 October), The Highland Council's Resources Committee agreed to appoint Fujitsu Services as its preferred bidder for Information Communication and Technology Services over the next five years. The estimated value of the new contract, which will take effect from early in the new year, is more than £66 million.
Scottish Water today (27 Oct 2009) welcomed the report by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, 'Cost and Performance 2008/09', which reports on the continued efficiency of the water utility. Sheila Campbell-Lloyd, Scottish Water's Regional Manager for Highland & The Western Isles, said: "The continued and sustained out-performance of cost targets has enabled us to keep charges to our customers in the Highlands and Western Isles steady as we work to provide one of the best value for money water and waste water services in the UK.
HALLOWEEN Police in Caithness are appealing to the public to remind parents and guardians of children to use discretion this Halloween season. We want people to be safety conscious at all times but particularly at Halloween when more children are out on our local streets.
New survey reveals attitudes and experiences of crime Just a month after official statistics showed that recorded crime in Scotland is at its lowest level in nearly 30 years and with record numbers of police officers in our communities, a new survey has revealed that Scots also now feel safer in their communities than in previous years. The results are contained in this year's Scottish Crime and Justice Survey which details the perceptions and experiences of crime amongst 16,000 adults in Scotland.
Highland Councillors will be asked next week to write to Lloyds Banking Group calling on them to continue their support of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. The Foundation has recently written to all Scottish councils informing them of the suspension of all its grant-making activities for the foreseeable future, with a resulting loss to Scottish charities of as least £6 million a year.
Recent enforcement action in Caithness has seen seven fixed penalty fines issued by The Highland Council in a matter of weeks in a clampdown of dog walkers who do not clean up after their dogs. Dog Warden, Anne Macdonald, who also deals with stray dogs as part of her job, has been working on joint enforcement patrols in Caithness with Area Education and Enforcement Officer James Sanderson.
Spotted at Helmsdale by Bill Fernie were a stunning set of cars - the new BMW's being launched for the media at Ackergill Tower near wck and being run through their paces around Caithness and Sutherland with swaps at Helmsdale. BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo - Gina The all-new BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo is a car which combines an understated coupé-like silhouette to the luxurious interior of a BMW 7 Series, while at the same time giving the functionality of a BMW 5 Series Touring or X5.
DUNNET FOREST UPDATE Autumn Newsletter 2009 At the AGM in May, the two longest serving directors stood down from office by rotation, but being eligible to stand again did so and were returned unopposed. This meant that the Board of Directors remained as it was.
UPDATE ON BEAULY TO DENNY LINK AND NATIONAL GRID AT NSIG EVENT The controversial proposed Beauly to Denny electricity transmission line upgrade and the National Grid's plans for the Highlands and Islands will be discussed at an event to be held by North Scotland Industries Group (NSIG) in Inverness on Thursday, October 29. NSIG's renewable energy update seminar will include presentations from Andy Huthwaite, Scottish and Southern Energy's project manager for the Beauly to Denny upgrade and from Alison Kay, the National Grid's commercial director for transmissions.
AGM is to be held on Thursday 29 October 2009 at 7.30 pm in the Ormlie Centre, Henderson Street, Thurso. This year the children and young people from the Ormlie Community Partners Programme (CPP) will be giving a short presentation on some of the projects that they have been involved in over the year.
Between 1800 hrs on 18/10/09 and 12:45 hrs on 19/10/09, a parked Vauxhall motor car situated in parking area just off Glamis Road, Wick was damaged. Any persons with information about this vandalism or who witnessed this vandalism are asked to contact PC 563 Macleod or the duty officer at Wick Police Station or call Crimestoppers confidentially on 0800 555 111.
The move to our new server is going well but it's not without hiccups. We currently have limited access to upload new pages and updates to the front page.
A new method of getting rid of the highly invasive, non-native species Rhododendron ponticum is being demonstrated at two training days in the Western Highlands. "Lever and Mulch" is a simple, relatively inexpensive way of getting rid of this problem species, and the Skye & Lochalsh Environment Forum and Wester Ross Fisheries Trust have invited the technique's pioneers to demonstrate their remarkable rhoddie bashing skills at Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverewe Gardens.
Peter Peacock, Highlands and Islands regional Labour MSP, has urged SNP Ministers to apologise for misleading voters after the Scottish Government suffered a parliamentary defeat on its record on school building. The Scottish Parliament passed a motion condemning the SNP for falling short of their election manifesto pledge to match the previous Scottish Executive's School Buildings Programme "brick for brick".
2,500 jobs aided by Scottish Government grant scheme. Hundreds of jobs will be created or safeguarded across Scotland through the award of more than £19 million Scottish Government grants which will stimulate investment in the Scottish economy, First Minister Alex Salmond announced today.
A major event to showcase good practice around Highland in relation to Curriculum for Excellence will see over 1,800 people gathering in Dingwall Academy on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 October to discover more about the work achieved in Highland schools. Primary and secondary schools from across all areas of the Highlands have been invited to participate.
Thurso Ward Forum The next meeting of The Highland Council's Thurso Ward Forum will be held on Monday 26 October at 7pm in Caithness Horizons and will feature a presentation by David Goldie, Head of Housing with The Highland Council on Highland Housing Strategy 2010-2015. Also attending will be Mr Gordon Macleod, Manager of Bayview House Resource Centre, Thurso who will give an update on the services the centre provides and Superintendent Julian Innes from Northern Constabulary.
Police in Wick are appealing for information regarding damage caused to a door of a top floor flat on Girnigoe Street, Wick, near its junction with Henrietta Street, between 2000hrs on Friday 16th October 2009 and 1100 hours, Saturday 17th October 2009. Any person with information please contact Wick Police station on 01955603551.
The consultation on The Highland Council's local transport strategy is now underway and members of the public have until Friday 11 December to respond to this important document which sets out how the transport system will be developed in the Highland area over the next three years. Following a pre-consultation last winter with public meetings throughout the Highlands, the draft local transport strategy has been finalised.
Police in Thurso are appealing for any information about a vehicle, silver Vauxhall Corsa, which was stolen from Janet Street, Thurso. The incident is thought to have occurred on the evening of 13/10/09.
