Stromness waste water plant plans are passed

Planning permission for a waste water treatment plant at the Bu, Cairston, Stromness, has been approved by councillors.

The application by the North of Scotland Water Authority had originally been deferred to consider other sites, but councillors at the planning committee agreed that the Bu Point was the best option.

The plant will comprise six tanks and concern has been expressed about their appearance. In agreeing the application, councillors said NoSWA should be asked whether the height of the tanks could be lowered at the site.

The formal opening of Turriff-based agricultural supply co-operative, North Eastern Farmers' new store at Hatston, was performed by managing director, Mr Brian Hutchison, on Friday morning.

The development follows NEFs acquisition of Sunnybrae Feeds in August and the movement of their marketing, storage and retail facilities from the centre of Kirkwall to Hatston.

The new store will be called "NEF Country Store" and will have four times the retail floor area of the previous premises and will carry merchandise for both farming and non-farming customers.

Local science festival in Europe-wide link-up

Orkney is one of three Scottish regions to the fore in a new Europe-wide organisation that has been formed to link up science festivals across the continent.

The new European Science Event Association (EUSCEA) has been formed to build on the success of the science festival concept which has now spread across much of Europe. Representatives from 23 European countries met in Vienna last week to found the new organisation and plan its activities.

Orkney and Moray Science Festivals were represented by Orkney man Mr Howie Firth, director of Moray College’s Centre for the Communication of Science, while attending on behalf of TechFest in Aberdeen were festival manager Christine Falconer and schools co-ordinator Jean Young.

Orkney College’s new post-graduate course in archaeology – highlighted as one of the establishment’s flagship initiatives – has been postponed at short notice because of administrative delays within the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute.

The postgraduate MA in Archaeological Practice was due to start at the beginning of February, but it has been delayed by an year because it has still not been validated by external assessors from the UHIMI. This should have been done by the end of November.

The need for archaeology courses was cited as one of the main reasons for a £1.3 million extension at the college – currently being built – which will house an Institute of Archaeology.

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Disgust at the freight charges announced by NorthLink has been expressed by North Eastern Farmers, who supply Orkney’s farmers with animal feed and farm supplies

NEF commercial manager, Mr John Smillie, said freight charges were a crucially important component in the pricing of goods to Orkney and the rates were totally unacceptable and they would be looking at all options, including taking their business elsewhere.

“We are the main farm input supplier to Orkney and we would be failing in our duty to the farming community if we were simply to accept NorthLink’s charges,” he said.

It is only a matter of time before teenage drinking in Orkney will claim another victim, according to two local GPs.

The warning – from Hoy practitioners Dr Tony Trickett and Dr Paul Kettle – came after a teenager collapsed, dangerously ill, in toilets at a Longhope dance on Saturday.

However, teenagers have not been singled out for blame. Parents – and Orkney society as a whole – must also shoulder much of the blame, and must pull together to tackle the issue of uncontrolled underage drinking, the GPs have stated in a letter to The Orcadian.

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(Picture: Orkney Photographic)

The new pier at Hatston is beginning to take shape as work progresses on the site, on the outskirts of Kirkwall.

The pier needs to be ready by October next year when the new NorthLink ferries come into operation.

The Aberdeen/Orkney/Shetland ferry is due to berth at the pier, where a ferry terminal is also to be built. The total cost of building the pier and terminal is estimated at £15.5 million.

Tied vote makes farce of tourist board election

Orkney Tourist Board’s attempt to appoint two directors at their annual meeting turned into a fiasco on Tuesday night because they have nothing in their constitution to cope with a tied vote.

Four people had put their names forward for the posts of other business sector directors – former tourist board chief executive Mr Gareth Crichton, Mrs Sandy McEwan, Mr Mark Ridgway and Mr John Hinckley.

But when the first three candidates tied with 30 votes each, business ground to a confusing halt – all in front of the chief executive of VisitScotland, Mr Philip Riddle, who was in Orkney for a flying visit.

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West Mainland Vodafone customers back in business

Vodafone customers in and around Stromness were without a phone service up until yesterday afternoon, following a transmitter fault which occurred almost two weeks ago.

The fault with the transmitter in Stromness was being investigated by Vodafone technicians, who arrived in Orkney on Monday and who managed to get the transmitter back on line at around 2.45 pm yesterday.

Mobile phone users served by the Maraquoy transmitter lost their service on Friday, November 30. According to one customer, Vodafone originally denied there was a fault, but a few hours later confirmed that one was being investigated.

An attempt to increase the level of Christmas grant which will be paid out to pensioners, widows and disabled people in Orkney from £30 to £50 this year has been defeated by eight votes to five.

Eight councillors declared a financial interest in the outcome of the vote and left Tuesday’s full OIC meeting at which it was being discussed.

The councillor who recommended the increase, Captain Bob Sclater, questioned why members who were eligible for the grant could not take part in the debate or the vote.

Assistant chief executive, Mr Malcolm Burr, advised the meeting that any member or their spouse who was eligible for the Christmas grant should declare an interest and not take part.

The new Scottish Fisheries Minister, Mr Allan Wilson, is to be invited to visit Orkney as soon as possible.

The suggestion was made by the chairman of the OIC’s planning committee, councillor Ann Sutherland, who attended a fish farming conference in Edinburgh last week at which Mr Wilson had given the keynote speech.

Mrs Sutherland told Tuesday’s full council meeting that in light of the proposed changes to the way fish farm applications would be dealt with in future, it would be appropriate for the newly-appointed Minister to see at first hand how the current system worked in places like Orkney.

Questions were asked at Tuesday’s full council meeting about the conditions attached to council grants for individual projects.

The matter was raised by Kirkwall councillor, Captain Bob Sclater, who highlighted the fact that the OIC had built the new creamery at Hatston, and yet when the premises opened, the operating company, Orkney Cheese, had announced that a number of staff were to be made redundant.

Councillor Sclater wanted to know if a full business plan had been presented to the council at the time of the cheese company’s application for assistance.

Stromness is to get a new vehicle marshalling area associated with the harbour developments in the next financial year from April 2002.

Councillors agreed at a full council meeting on Tuesday to switch money originally set aside for a new ice plant in the town and reduce the amount spent on major road improvements to allow the upgrading of the marshalling area which will lead onto the proposed marina facility.

Supporting the move to assign some of the OIC’s own reserves to the project, rather than waiting for central government grant in a later financial year, convener Hugh Halcro-Johnston said: “We gave a commitment that this work would form part of the harbour improvements for the new NorthLink service. By not agreeing to find the money now would be letting down the people of Stromness.”

Orkney Ferries have announced an increase in tariffs, effective from January 1, 2002.

Ferry services manager, Mr Alastair Learmonth, explained that it is company policy to apply a small annual increase, in order to keep pace with inflation, rather than to freeze tariffs for a few years and then apply a large increase.

The effect of the increase means that the adult single fare for the outer North Isles will increase by 15p and the inner isles by 5p. Charges for commercial vehicles and for conventional cargo is set to increase by approximately three per cent.

Councillors have agreed to lift the moratorium on giving financial help to inshore fishermen to buy or upgrade their boats.

The move was made at yesterday’s full OIC meeting in connection with a report on progress towards the introduction of a Shellfish Regulating Order for inshore waters around Orkney.

On paper Orkney Islands Council look set to get an extra £5 million from the Scottish Executive over the next two years to spend on local services – but the reality is different according to OIC finance director, David Robertson.

The Executive announced an extra £350 million for local authorities at the end of last week, claiming the investment was unprecedented.

The money comes on top of the three year settlements agreed last year. The council will get £2.718 million next year on top of the £43 million grant from the Executive, followed by £2.314 million extra in 2003/04.

But Mr Robertson explained the money comes with strings attached and will have to pay for services which the council no longer gets money for.

The £310,000 refurbishment of Firth Church in Finstown is now complete.

The building, which celebrates its centenary next year, has been modernised with spacious entrances, bright lighting, computer technology and underfloor heating among the improvements.

The church will be re-opened and rededicated at 3 pm on Sunday, with the official opening being held next year

New steps have been taken to boost community confidence and empowerment in Scotland’s Initiative at the Edge areas, which include Westray and Papa Westray, by offering local groups the funding and decision-making ability to take forward their own projects.

Each of the eight Initiative at the Edge groups have been offered £10,000 which they can hold and use for the benefit of their communities, addressing one of their most common frustrations – that access to even small amounts of cash for projects can be hugely time-consuming.

P&O Scottish Ferries have arranged extra Sunday sailings across the Pentland Firth for mv St Ola to cope with demand in the lead up to Christmas.

On Sunday, December 16 the ship will sail from Scrabster at 11 am leaving Stromness at 5 pm, and on Sunday, December 23 she will leave Scrabster at 12 noon leaving Stromness at 3 pm.

Orkney’s Co-op dividend cardholders are sharing a record £73,000 Christmas payout.

The top dividend payment in Orkney, which is also the largest in the UK, goes to the Queen’s Hotel in Kirkwall. Hotel partner and cardholder Mrs Yvonne Scott is the first person ever to accrue more than £1,000. She has earned a whopping £1,235 since the last payout at Easter.

Generous customers at the Co-op’s two Orkney stores are contributing £1,600 to local charities and community groups through the Community Dividend Scheme.

Orkney Builders (Contractors) are to start work on the Kiln Corner site in Kirkwall on Tuesday having been given the contract to complete phase two of the development.

Work halted on the project a month ago after Andrew Tait and Son Ltd, who were originally awarded the contract earlier this year, went into liquidation.

Sanday Community School’s monthly wildlife magazine Word of the Wild, has reached the final fourteen in the BT Schools Awards, from an entry of more than 300 schools across the UK.

Word of the Wild is a monthly magazine which contains local natural history news and articles. Children collect and write their own stories, take digital photographs and use desktop publishing to produce the magazine.

By reaching the final shortlist, Sanday school could be in line for an education award of £5,000 from British Telecom. Winners will be announced on January 10, 2002.

Victory sees Orkney at top of league

A victory against Mackie on Saturday morning in the latest BT National League Division 5 North fixture, has put Orkney at the top of the league table.

Orkney were 8-0 up at half-time, with three tries scored within the last 20 minutes of the game. The final score was 32-0 to Orkney. The five tries scored earned the team a bonus point

Orkney now top the league on 44 points with Caithness on 41 points, but Orkney have played one game more than Caithness..

Health check campaigns heralded a success

Around 30 men took up the offer of free health checks as part of World AIDS Day at the weekend.

All events surrounding the sexual health awareness-raising campaign have been heralded a success by Orkney’s sexual health development officer, Mrs Kara Leslie.

“Two men from SACRO, 16 at the Orkney Fishermen’s Society and 12 at the Orkney Rugby Club opted to have the health checks. It was like a health and lifestyle check, blood pressure, weight, height and things like diet, exercise and safe sex where appropriate.”

A scene from the Kirkwall pantomime (Picture: Orkney Photographic)

The pantomime season got into full swing last Friday night with the Palace Player's production of The Sleeping Beauty beginning its ten show run in Orkney Arts Theatre, Kirkwall.

Elsewhere, Plays Yersels, the South Ronaldsay based drama group, are producing Cinderella in the Cromarty Hall, St Margaret's Hope from December 13-15, and St Andrew Drama Club's production of Little Bo-Peep will be staged on Wednesday and Thursday, December 19 and 20.

A cheaper rate of tax for goods vehicles currently applied in the small isles could be extended to cover the whole of Orkney.

The Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions have issued a consultation document which proposes extending the small islands rate for vehicle excise duty for goods vehicles to cover all of Orkney and Shetland.

Currently, goods vehicles operating on the Orkney and Shetland Mainland and on the islands connected to them by barrier or bridge are not eligible for the lower rate of excise duty.