Bill seeks to reform centuries-old property law Plans to reform centuries old property law by converting long lease properties into ownership got underway today as Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing introduced a Bill into the Scottish Parliament. The proposed changes, introduced through the Long Leases (Scotland) Bill, could affect 9,000 long leases in certain parts of Scotland.
Highland Wide Local Development Plan to be discussed at joint Caithness Wards Forum The Highland Council's, Highland Wide Local Development Plan is the main topic to be discussed at a joint Caithness Wards Forum being held on Monday 15 November at 7.30 pm in the Mackays Hotel, Wick. The Highland Wide Local Development Plan, represents the Council's land use vision, strategy and principal, general policies for the whole Highland Council area except that part within the Cairngorms National Park Authority boundary.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise has been in contact with Rok's administrators, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). We are seeking an early meeting with PwC to discuss both the future of the business as a whole and how we progress specific HIE projects currently being delivered by Rok.
Following a night of severely windy weather The Highland Council is encouraging landowners to check trees and vegetation near to public roads which have been damaged by the gales. Landowners are being asked to check for damage to their trees and to remove debris from roads or footways without undue delay.
Four experts from the Autorité de Sureté Nucleaire, the French nuclear safety inspectorate, spent a day at Dounreay discussing the decommissioning of alkali metal cooled fast reactors. The visit was hosted by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate as part of international collaboration over nuclear health and safety matters.
The November issue of the site newspaper, Dounreay News, has now been published and is also available online. www.dounreay.com/news/2010-11-03/dounreay-site-newspaper-for-november-online .
Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd recently welcomed an announcement about how much public money will be available to continue nuclear clean-up in the UK. DSRL manages the closure of the site on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which today confirmed that its total expenditure, including income generated, would be maintained at current levels of around £3bn a year.
NORTHERN Constabulary Police have reported a highly successful road safety operation across the Highland mainland. The initiative, code-named Operation Sable, was timed to run immediately prior to the ACPOS "Get ready for winter" weekend initiative, which was run throughout Scotland.
The final report of the Pack Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland was published today. The Inquiry was commissioned by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead in June 2009 to examine agricultural subsidy and consider how best future support should be tailored to deliver a sustainable sector.
First Minister Alex Salmond will be joined by the three leaders of Scotland's other main political parties in a march and the rally calling for the RAF base at Lossiemouth to be retained in the UK government's ongoing strategic defence review. Sunday's event will begin at Muirton Road - only yards from the main entrance to the RAF base - and end with a rally at Grant Park, the home of Lossiemouth FC.
New council house and housing association tenants will no longer have the Right to Buy (RTB) their homes, it was confirmed in proposals unveiled to MSPs today. RTB for new-build social housing in Scotland will also be scrapped.
Proposals to tackle wildlife crime by making employers responsible for their employees' illegal poisonings have been outlined. Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham announced the Scottish Government's intention to bring forward a Stage 2 amendment to the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill, when giving evidence to the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee earlier today (November 3).
The introduction of a new scheme to improve the protection of vulnerable groups has been postponed until February to ensure the system which supports it is as robust as it can be before it goes live. Children's Minister, Adam Ingram, announced the postponement today following advice from the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme programme board.
A £400,000 software package to help farmers go greener and save money has been launched. Available free of charge at www.planet4farmers.co.uk, the PLANET Scotland software will enable farmers to input information about their fields and soils to generate information on recommended fertiliser levels.
The Scottish Retail Sector continued to grow into the third quarter of 2010 - and outperformed the GB sector over the year - according to provisional estimates released today by Scotland's Chief Statistician. Third quarter figures published today show: The volume of retail sales in Scotland grew 0.6 per cent during quarter three compared with the previous quarter, and by 2.9 per cent over the year.
House Building Figures show importance of affordable housing investment in the Highlands A briefing note issued by The Highland Council indicates that 415 new houses were completed in The Highland Council area between June and September 2010. This is an improvement over the first quarter of the financial year (402) and more than the same period in 2008/9 (383) and 2009/10 (302).
Brides-to-be heading along to Mackays Celebration Fair will receive a special treat if they book the hotel for their wedding on the day of the Celebration Fair…a free luxury wedding car for their special day*. In the one-of-a-kind Celebration Fair, on Sunday 7 November from 12 - 4pm, the hotel will ask guests what they are celebrating and will cater for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Brides-to-be heading along to Mackays Celebration Fair will receive a special treat if they book the hotel for their special day…a free luxury wedding car.
Casualty star Ronnie McCann is helping workers at Dounreay stay out of real-life accident and emergency units. The actor, who appeared 43 times in the BBC series as nurse Barney Woolfe, has been treading the boards as part of European Safety Week at the site of Britain's biggest nuclear decommissioning project.
Highland Opportunity Ltd, The Highland Council's Enterprise Trust, has completed another positive year in which £900,000 of loans were approved for 50 Highland businesses. Speaking at the company's 24th annual meeting, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Councillor Helen Carmichael praised the performance of staff, particularly in more than doubling their target of supporting 426 jobs.
The Highland Council has introduced a new roads and street lighting helpline as it gears up for coping with winter. The number is 01349 886601.