Fears that farmers will be unable to farm sloping land are entirely unfounded, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said today. Media coverage surrounding the use of fertiliser in recent days has fuelled concerns that farmers will be unable to use fertiliser on sloping ground, effectively rendering it useless.
Norfrost are offering 10% off freezers for Easter. Order online to get this bargain.
Highland Councillors have unanimously supported a call for the reinstatement of the Emergency Towing Vessel, which until recently was based in the Minches, and for the successful conclusion of an agreement with the Oil and Gas Industry to provide ETV capability for the Northern Isles, fearing an environmental catastrophe if vital cover is not provided in the rural and exposed coastal waters. Council Leader Michael Foxley highlighted the importance of the tugs at the last full Highland Council meeting before the May elections, showing slides that highlighted the extent of a potential oil spill should previous groundings have led to a spillage.
Scottish companies are being reminded that they can spread the cost of the inflationary increase in business rates through the Scottish Government's rate deferral scheme for 2012-13. The scheme gives companies the flexibility to defer the uplift in their 2012-13 business rates bills over three years.
As of Tuesday 10 April 2012, The Highland Council's out of hours calls for emergencies relating to council housing repairs, property and homelessness, as well as roads, street lighting and environmental services will now be managed by Northern Constabulary working in partnership with The Highland Council. Calls will be dealt with by specialist staff from Northern Constabulary at the Force's Operations Centre, Old Perth Road in Inverness.
A compulsory scheme to safeguard millions of pounds in deposits paid by tenants renting properties in Scotland has been approved by Housing Minister Keith Brown. Annually, tenancy deposits amount to over £74 million in the majority of the 273,000 households that make up the private rented sector in Scotland.
Highland businesses will have an opportunity to find out about the possibilities of developing products and ideas with NHS Highland and Inverness College UHI at a free event this month. The Innovation Open Day, which is the first event of its kind, is being held at the Centre for Health Science, near Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, on Wednesday April 18 between 10am and 4pm.
Dutch renewables company 2-B Energy has joined forces with Scottish Enterprise to deliver cutting-edge offshore wind technology with the potential to reduce costs by up to 45 per cent. The organisations will work together to support commercialisation of 2-B's unique two-bladed offshore turbine concept through development of offshore test and demonstration facilities in Scotland - potentially by the end of 2014.
Dounreay today completed the destruction of one of the most hazardous legacies of Britain's earliest atomic research. A purpose-built chemical plant processed the last of 57,000 litres of liquid metal lifted from the primary cooling circuit of the experimental fast breeder reactor.
A new register to demonstrate the skills and experience of workers interested in the financial and business services industry across the Highlands and Islands has been launched by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). Due to a number of ongoing discussions with companies interested in investing and creating jobs in the area, the agency is now looking to demonstrate the range and diversity of skills and experience which are available across the Highlands and Islands.
Due to a previous incident at the above locus whereby the traffic light controlling traffic flowing South and traffic turning right into Tesco was damaged, it has come to the attention of police that drivers are failing to observe the red "repeater" light at the far side of this junction and travelling straight through. There is a high probability of an accident occurring as a result of this.
Today Northern Constabulary joins Scotland's other Police forces for three days of action, coordinated by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, to target those who drive without suitable insurance. The campaign runs from Tuesday April 3 and concludes on Friday April 6, 2012.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (April, 3rd) sold 67 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (37) averaged 204.3p (+0.3p) and sold to 218p per kg and £1,496.50 gross.
Scotland's Crofting Commission is now open for business - and Environment Minister Stewart Stevenson met the new commissioners for the first time today. The Crofting Commission - which was established on April 1 and supersedes the Crofters Commission - aims to meet the needs of crofting and crofters in the 21st century.
The Scottish Government has published details of the referendum consultation responses as at first thing this morning, which show that only 414 responses out of a total of 11,986 were anonymous - just 3.5 per cent of the total. The figures demonstrate there is no evidence that the process is being skewed by anonymous contributions, Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business Bruce Crawford said.
Energy Minister Fergus Ewing today welcomed the launch of the Department for Energy and Climate Change's (DECC) Carbon Capture and Storage Competition. Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:"I welcome the launch of DECC's Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Competition despite two previous false starts, and am keen to work with DECC as part of the competition process to ensure that it results in the development of CCS.
Social housing in Scotland entered a new era today, as Housing and Transport Minister, Keith Brown MSP, launched Scotland's first Social Housing Charter. Affecting over 600,000 households, the Social Housing Charter sets 16 standards and outcomes that all social landlords should be achieving for the tenants and other customers.
Warning - phone scam Northern Constabulary has received information from members of the public that a bogus finance company is calling and stating that they have a substantial refund to pay and are requesting the last numbers of a visa/debit card along with other personal details. Police advise members of the public that they should not provide any personal information over the phone to unknown individuals.
Businesses in the Highlands and Islands are encouraged to take advantage of business opportunities in Ireland at a free event in Inverness this month. Ireland is the UK's fifth largest export market and the UK's largest export market in sectors such as food and drink, fashion and footwear.
Construction work is underway on a new railhead to support the closure of the redundant nuclear site at Dounreay. The facility at Georgemas Junction on the far north rail line will enable fuel belonging to the UK to be returned to national stocks where it can be used to generate electricity.