Forres gets Wind Farm
The Berry Burn windfarm at Forres has been approved, with coverage at the BBC and Press and Journal. Previous coverage at the Forres Gazette shows local resitance, and that this is the first of seven on-going wind farm projects around Dava Moor. My initial reaction is that anyone who objects about wind farms being developed [...]
Highland Council push on £60 million budget cuts
Ouch – despite the apparent pain of the recent £13 million cutbacks by the Highland Council, apparently it’s now projecting that it will have to make another £60 million in cuts – with school closures a possibility: Council faces making cuts of £60m Here’s a thought – a number of major corporations have been making [...]
Bank Holiday?
Today is apparently a Bank Holiday – the Scottish Government’s website clearly lists 25th May 2009 as a statutory Bank Holiday. So how come Scotland is going to work as normal today?
Boundary Commission carves up the Highlands
Quite incredible proposals by the boundary commission to slice the Highlands into just 3 pieces – with one poor sod of an SMP expected to cover something in the range of “everything north of the Black Isle” in Scotland (see image above). The article covers the general outrage from the local politicians: Boundary plans ‘utter [...]
BNP targets Nairn
A surprise on the doorstep this morning – a promotional leaflet from the BNP trying to gain voter attention. I couldn’t help notice a few things, though: “British Jobs for British Workers” That’s great – now will the BNP let us know how they are going to motivate dole-cheque Britain to taking those boring not-very-interesting [...]
Swine Flu reaches Highlands
The BBC reports that a man from Inverness is currently under quarantine after developing Swine Flu: A man from Inverness has spoken of being tested for swine flu after falling unwell on a flight home from his honeymoon in the US. Journalist Houston Brown, 49, had been in Las Vegas to get married. He is [...]
Bring back Nairnshire?
One of the key challenges facing Nairn appears to be the slow but progressive erosion of identity as a standalone and independent town, and a tourist destination in its own right. Instead, it seems to be being treated as nothing more than a suburb of Inverness, as dictated by a “centralised” local authority which is [...]
Corruption in the HIE?
A surprising item came up at the BBC – apparently the head of the HIE also runs his own consultancy company, and has been awarding contracts to his own business: Enterprise chief cash row probed Contracts awarded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to a company run by the chairman of the agency are to [...]
Swine Flu: it’s Scottish!
Don’t panic! But Bird Flu has touched down in the UK, with a couple from Lanarkshire bringing back the virus from Mexico: Scots swine flu cases confirmed Two people admitted to a Scottish hospital after returning from Mexico have been confirmed as the first British cases of swine flu. Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said [...]
Caithness slams Gaelic
Very interesting debate happening further north – it seems that councillors in Caithness think the Highland Council has its priorities confused, by earmarking £2.7 million for bilongual roadsigns across the Highlands, while schools are forced to drop teachers in cut-backs. ‘Gaelic’s being rammed down our throats’ THE ONLY way to stop the imposition of bilingual [...]