A new deadline date of Wednesday 6 October has been set for community groups across the Highlands wishing to bid for Euro funding to help improve their broadband services. Applicants should send their bids to their local Highland LEADER representative for final determination by the Scottish Government.
Scotland's Housing Expo at Inverness running throughout August has been marked with the induction of its newest recruits. Thirty-five students, all hailing from the Highlands, have been appointed as House Ambassadors for the month-long Expo, which kicked off on Sunday, 1 August.
Move to benefit more applicants and help smaller projects Changes are being made to the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) to ensure rural Scotland gets maximum benefit from the Programme. This will increase the number of business development proposals financed through the SRDP and strengthen the role of local decision-making in community development projects.
Highland Councillors are being asked to consider investigating the feasibility of a pioneering new model of providing much-needed affordable homes in the Highlands. It could see a new build programme of 650 houses over a five year period.
Council asked to agree principle of outsourcing its leisure and cultural services. Highland Councillors are being asked to agree the principle of establishing an arms-length organisation to deliver all activity concerning its leisure and cultural services.
A Thurso based engineering company which has been supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has successfully diversified into the offshore wind industry. Calder Engineering Ltd has been supplying cabins to the offshore oil and gas industry for 12 months ago and has recently won a contract to supply them to the renewables industry.
The Highland Council's recruitment panel for director-level appointments has unanimously appointed Bill Alexander as its Director of Social Work. Mr Alexander will take over from Harriet Dempster, who retires at the end of August after 11 years at the helm of the service.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd, (July, 14th) sold 1,122 store cattle at the Anniversary show and sale. The Judge, Mr Ewen Macpherson of Mill Farm, Oban, chose as his Overall Champion in the T.S.H.
The results of statutory consultations carried out by The Highland Council to amalgamate or close rural primary schools which the Council considers are no longer educationally viable will be available for public viewing from Wednesday 14 July for three weeks. Under the terms of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, the Council has recently carried out consultations in Lochaber, Skye and West Ross to: * Amalgamate Fort William Primary School and Upper Achintore Primary School in a new school on a site yet to be identified.
Opportunity for local businesses to apply for extended licences during Royal National Mod The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Divisional Licensing Board have designated the Royal National Mod being held In Caithness between 8th and 16th October 2010 as a special event of local significance for Caithness and have agreed to grant applications for extended hours, until 1.30am, for on-sales premises for the duration of the event. Premises licence holders wishing to take advantage of the additional hours should make an early application for extended hours to the Clerk to the Licensing Board at the Council Offices, Market Square, Wick.
Highland residents warned to be on guard against free home alarm offers Highland Council Trading Standards are warning all residents to be on their guard when answering 'cold-call' telephone sales calls offering a 'free home fire and security survey', if they agree to a home visit by sales staff. This warning follows on from previous warnings by Trading Standards as a result of firms continuing to target elderly and vulnerable consumers in the Highland area.
DINGWALL, Dingwall & Highland Marts Ltd., (July, 6th) sold 62 prime cattle. Prime bullocks (43) averaged 169.8p (-1.7p) and sold to 184p per kg and £1,226.15 gross.
Afternoon party marks official opening of Lochbroom House Lochbroom House, a care home for 11 older people in Ullapool, was officially reopened yesterday (Tuesday 6th July) following a £1.4 million refurbishment. The centre is the ninth Council care home to be refurbished under its £3.5 million programme of improvements.
In a move to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill The Highland Council will be running a new 6 month trial of new waste collections in Skye and Lochalsh. During the next few weeks all residents will receive a card in the post giving details of the new service which starts on the 6th September.
Residents and Day Attenders from Bayview House in Thurso can now go on-line to keep in touch with families and friends. B.T connections have provided funding for a laptop and internet access for the Care Home residents while the Dounreay Communities Fund donated £250 towards a laptop and broadband connection for Day Attenders of The Highland Council run facility.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has appointed a new Chief Executive Alex Paterson, currently the economic and community development organisation's Director of Regional Competitiveness, will take up the top post on Monday 2 August. Mr Paterson has been a director with HIE for the past nine years, initially heading up its Developing Skills group.
Highland Communities encourages to put forward projects for Broadband improvement funding Rural communities across the Highlands are being encouraged to put forward bids for a share of a million Euro fund that could bring enhanced Broadband to their area including improved coverage and faster connections. Following an announcement last week by the Scottish Government that funding was now available, The Highland Leader Programme is encouraging interested communities to make contact with their local LEADER representative to start the application process.
If you are heading for Inverness on Saturday 17th or Sunday 18th July your jouney may be affected by the Rod Stewart concert. On Saturday 17 July Rod Stewart will be performing at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in Inverness and temporary road restrictions will be in place before, during and after the concert.
A multi-million pound project to deliver an additional length of dual carriageway on the A9 at Crubenmore took a further step forward this week with the issuing of tenders. The project will see construction of almost two miles of dual carriageway (2.7km) providing improved overtaking opportunities on the A9 to the north of Crubenmore, reducing journey times and improving traffic flow on this key route connecting central Scotland to the Highlands.
Eighteen Highland students graduated through the University of Aberdeen this week at a ceremony held in the Town House, Inverness. Celebrating their qualifications as new teachers were sixteen students receiving the Professional Graduate Diploma in Education by Distance Learning (Primary).