News

Just a wee reminder that the OutDores Event will be held at The Dores Inn this Saturday 3rd September from 12pm-10pm. Adam & Tanya have asked me to let you all know that if any resident (permanently living in the Village or immediate vicinity) wishes to attend – free wristbands can be collected from The Dores Inn on the day.  Please ask to see Adam. Please note that this is an Over 18’s event only

Community Resilience Briefing – 29 August 2022

 Dear Community Resilience Group/Community Council/Colleagues,

Welcome to The Highland Council’s fortnightly briefing for groups with an interest in local community resilience. 

Covid related information  

• Scottish Government Covid-19 Guidance   
• NHS Inform Covid data   
• NHS Inform Covid information and guidance   
• NHS Highland local vaccination information  

Funding  

SCVO is a key source of funding information for the third sector https://scvo.scot/funding. Funds that may be of interest include: 

• Crown Estate Scotland – Community Capacity Grants Programme
  Provides early stage financial support for projects contributing to local regeneration and sustainable development. The fund is open to all communities within 5 miles from coastal and estuarine foreshore, or those within 5 miles from Scottish Crown Estate’s four rural estates.  Next deadline: 19 Sept 2022.
• CalMac Ferries Limited – CalMac Community Fund
  This fund is open to all non-profits based in a main port town or island Calmac serves. It supports services addressing social isolation, encouraging community re-engagement, and services supporting mental health and well-being.  Next deadline: 6 January 2023
• Highlands and Islands Environment Foundation Grants
  Supports projects throughout the highlands and islands focusing on sustainability, capacity building, and community participation involving montane, fresh water, marine & costal, and forest & woodland. Next deadline is September 2022.
• Highland Council invites new applications for the Nature Restoration Fund 
  The Highland Council is inviting communities to apply for a share of the 2022/23 allocation of the Nature Restoration Fund. This is a two-stage application process, expressions of interest should be submitted by Wednesday 31 August 2022.
•  Community Learning and Development Device Fund
  A new fund has opened from SCVO called the Community Learning and Development Device Fund, which offers funding of up to £15,000 for organisations to purchase digital devices to support learners. Here is a link to information about the fund – you will have to create an account and log in to the online portal to view the guidance and application materials.

Welfare, poverty reduction and resilience

• HMRC can help with childcare costs
  Information issued by HMRC as children go back to school. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding families in Scotland to not miss out on up to £2,000 a year towards their child’s wraparound care.
  

Mental Health and Wellbeing  

• NHS Highland Mental Wellbeing – a collection of resources and signposts to help people of all ages to look after their own mental wellbeing.
• Attached is a flyer for an introductory course in mental health and wellbeing training. The training is intended for anyone working in a health, social, or community care setting and requires no previous experience. The training is online via Teams and takes place on Thursday 29^th 1.30-4.30pm and Thursday 6^th October 1.30-4.30pm.
• Mental Health & Wellbeing Platform for Employers A new platform has been launched by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland for employers of all sizes, which streamlines access to free and reputable health and wellbeing resources. Details are attached.
• Coping with stress following a major incident – Guidance Issued by NHS Highland containing information about psychological wellbeing practitioners who can offer advice and recommendations to local support services. 

Emergency Planning 

• Met Office Weather Warnings  https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-warnings#?date=2022-08-11
• Met Office Weather Ready https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/weatherready 
• Floodline Scotland https://floodlinescotland.org.uk/ 
• Ready Scotland – preparing for emergencies https://ready.scot/

Consultations

• Highland Council has launched a new public local housing strategy survey to seek local community feedback to help inform the new Local Housing Strategy (LHS) 2023-2028.
• “Have your Say Highland” – consultation period extended to seek views on the delivery of area-based funds 
  Earlier this month, The Highland Council launched a community engagement exercise to ask people’s views on how they would like to see funding being prioritised in their local area. To allow more people to have an opportunity to have their say, the consultation period has been extended to the 9th September.”

Other

• Counter Terrorism First Aid Awareness –  Protect UK has released a video raising awareness on administering first aid during a terrorist attack.
• Flood Re – Build Back Better – Attached is information for homeowners regarding Build Back Better, which is designed to reduce the costs and impact of future flood damage by including resilience measures as part of flood repairs. 

Kind regards

Rosemary Mackinnon 
Principal Policy Office – Equality | The Highland Council
Community Support and Engagement Team | Communities and Place
Glenurquhart Road, inverness, IV2 5NX

Tel 01463 702094 | email [email protected]

BSL users can contact us using Contact Scotland BSL, Scotland’s on-line BSL interpreting service

Link to notice on Highland Council website https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/14744/planned_part-day_road_closures_-_b862_at_scaniport

1. The planned Part-time Road Closures at the B862 at Scaniport.  This is planned for Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th September between 0900 and 1700.  Diversion routes will be in use taking HGV traffic via the main B-route network ie B862, B851 and B861 and a Light vehicles route via the Essich Road.  The Torbreck Road and the Darris/Kinchyle/Scaniport Road will be signed as Local Access Only as they are not suitable for HGV’s or high volumes of diverted traffic.
   
    The Service Buses and School Transport will be managed through the Closures along with Local Access Only traffic for local residents.  This will be done to coincide with the scheduled Bus Timetable and school times.  We will not be able to open the road at other times unless for emergency vehicle access, which will be maintained.  Pedestrians and cyclists will get through via the shared-use path under the supervision of the contractor when it is safe to do so.

Some of you may have seen it in the news but it has been announced due to industrial action there will be a disruption to the bins being collected.

Precise details on the Highland Council here https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/1054/rubbish_and_recycling/1015/industrial_action_-_distruption_to_waste_services

Information for householders and business waste customers

The Highland Council has received union notification of industrial action involving waste and recycling staff from:

• Wednesday 24 August until Wednesday 31 August
• Wednesday 7 September until Saturday 10 September

This is part of national action being carried out at local authorities across Scotland.

We are aware of the inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding during this period.

While the full impact of this is unknown, the following services are likely to be affected:

• Refuse (green bins) collection services (both household and business)
• Recycling (blue bins) collection services (both household and business)
• Food waste collections (Inverness only)
• Garden waste collections
• Household Waste Recycling Centres
• Bulky Waste Collections
• Waste Transfer Stations
• Street Cleansing including litter bins
• Fly tipping collections
• Bin deliveries

The uncertainty around staff availability means that we cannot say on any given day which bins will or will not be emptied. For this reason, our advice to residents and to our business waste customers is to put your bin out by 7am on your normal collection day but take it back in if it is not emptied by the end of the day.

If your bin has not been emptied, do not put it out again until your next scheduled collection day as we will not have the resource to catch up in between. 

Check our website and social media regularly for updates on disrupted services.