Highland Council is urging community groups to ‘apply now’ for its Winter Resilience Programme if they want grit bins in their local communities.
The Council’s winter service started this week and the Council says it is ready to treat the 6,787km of roads for which it has responsibility according to its policy.
Chair of the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee said that winter gritting services will be provided when required, and when weather conditions allow, Monday to Sunday, starting at 6am until 9pm, on a priority basis. There is no overnight service. On days classed as public holidays a restricted service is provided which starts at 7am. He urged communities to come forward and apply now for winter resilience assistance from the Council which will provide them with salt in grit bins or heaps and other equipment to take action in their local areas that are important to them. More information is available on the Council website.
Lochinver lifeboat was called out at quarter to three on Tuesday morning in response to a Mayday alert from a vessel which had run aground at the entrance to Loch Inver.
The crew which were all well prepared and wearing life jackets were seen on nearby rocks and were transferred to the safety of the lifeboat and taken to Lochinver. However, it was apparent that nothing could be done to save the stricken vessel.
Following a series of wildfires this summer in the Highlands including a series described as the biggest in Scotland’s history, various agencies met this week in Grantown at a summit event hosted by the Scottish Government.
Among those attending were representatives of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NatureScot and other land management and environmental groups.
A representative of Scottish Land and Estates said that the wildfires at Dava and Carrbridge earlier this year were devastating, covering an enormous area of more than 11,000 hectares and producing huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Other experts believe that thousands of animals and other wildlife were killed and there were reports of smoke drifting for more than 40 miles.
The summit considered whether misguided muirburn is a contributory factor and also dealt with training and the equipment needed by firefighters including protective clothinhg.
