The inaugural meeting of the newly-elected Bettyhill, Strathnaver and Altnaharra Community Council took place in Farr High School last week with Highland councillor George Farlow in attendance.
Long-standing chair Sandra Munro was re-appointed to the post, with Penny Gardner, treasurer, adding the post of vice-chair to her portfolio. The secretary remains as Elizabeth Best.
There are currently only five elected members of the council so there are up to four vacancies which may be filled by volunteers from the community whom the council agree to co-opt.
Mrs Munro said she would welcome any expressions of interest and hopes that people will come forward to speak up on behalf of their area.
During the term of the new council, community benefit from the forthcoming Bettyhill Wind Farm will come on stream, perhaps as early as this October. While this is of a very modest nature due to the small size of the proposed farm, the fact that it will be administered by the community council should raise interest in what the council does.
One of the first items on the agenda was related to this project, with concern being expressed over the traffic involved in moving the turbine parts to their locations and the need for a police escort to ensure that this could take place safely.
Councillor Farlow will be looking into this on behalf of the council.
There was concern over the safety of the small wooden bridge across the Clachan Burn to Farr Beach, which had been erected more than 25 years ago by army engineers and was now well past its best. It was put forward as a possible early beneficiary of wind farm cash.
On a rather larger scale, worries continued over the state of the Naver Bridge, given the current high level of log-lorry traffic. George Farlow had contacted Highland Council on the community council’s behalf and, while it had been planned to replace the 127-year-old structure in the 2016/17 capital programme, it now transpired that budget constraints had caused the project to be shifted in to the “future years” section, effectively ruling out any early development.
The community council was unhappy with that decision and also concerned in case a load restriction should be placed on the bridge which would impact on local deliveries and on the local economy.
The state of the Kinbrace road, which has suffered considerably due to clear felling of plantations between Rossal and Dalharrold and the resultant increase in heavy traffic, was also discussed.
While a considerable amount of patching had already been undertaken, there was some hope of further work as drainage could be carried out with its share of a £1million budget which had been allocated to TEC Services.
Other matters concerning the council included water on the path from Munro Place to the North Coast Leisure Centre, the absence of street lighting on that path, littering in the village, the current ban on recruitment to the Fire and Rescue Service and dog fouling on the High School football pitch.
On a more positive front, the council praised the very successful village panto, welcomed the universal loft insulation scheme, and were pleased to hear that classroom assistants were no longer going to be made redundant though, in some areas, they might have to re-apply for their jobs.
The date of the next meeting was set for Tuesday, 28 February, when any members of the public with an interest in co-option onto the council would be more than welcome to attend.
