Work has now started on the long awaited extension to Portree Cemetery with the contract due to take around 16 weeks with therefor a completion toward the end of June
Portree & Braes CC
The Portree & Braes Community Council held it’s Inaugural meeting tonight having been reformed last month with 9 Members. The Chairperson is Lorna Cormack and Secretary is Iain Beaton. Their 1st official meeting will be on April 3rd at 7.00pm with the venue to be confirmed. As always all meetings will be open to the public.
Planning
Here are just some of the applications from the weekly list for Ward 10 with the full list available on the Council website.
Expiry Date for lodging Representations 22/03/2025 Description of Works Change of use from a cafe/gallery to a holiday cottage Location of Works Cafe At The Old Byre, 7 Ose, Isle Of Skye, IV56 8FJ, Community Council Struan Community Council Applicant Name Mr Jason Dash.
Expiry Date for lodging Representations 21/03/2025 Description of Works House with integral guest annexe and separate detached guest annexe Location of Works Land 85M South Of Cladach, Cuidreach, Earlish, , Community Council Uig Community Council Applicant Name Ms Leah Epstein.
Expiry Date for lodging Representations 21/03/2025 Description of Works Erection of 8 short term letting units, 1 staff facilities unit and 1 service/office unit Location of Works Land 45M SE Of Sandbank, Broadford, Isle Of Skye, , Community Council Broadford And Strath Community Council Applicant Name Highland Heart Ltd,
Expiry Date for lodging Representations 23/03/2025 Description of Works Conversion of 2 horseboxes for use as short term letting units Location of Works Land 35M NW Of Stables Cabin, Suladale, Portree, Isle Of Skye, , Community Council Skeabost Community Council Applicant Name Mrs S Duff.
Education
A £4.3m investment for education was agreed in Highland Council’s 2025/26 budget.
This investment is a key indicator of change for Highland schools, its 31,000 pupils and their 2,000+ teachers and support staff that will further consolidate the Council’s on-going path to improvement.My Future Highland Programme is committed to improve outcomes for all children and young people across Highland with a particular focus on our most vulnerable, and this significant investment will go some way to support our dedicated teachers and PSA’s to deliver the best outcomes for all our young learners and to ensure that those with particular needs can experience greater levels of support and have increased opportunities to achieve.
“This £4.3m investment will enable Additional Support Need specialist teachers and the creation of a new Pupil Support Assistant Lead Practitioner model to provide enhanced support across all of our schools in Highland, underpinning our commitment to the principles of GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child). Furthermore, a significant sum has been set aside to create teacher capacity in line with national policy, allow more time for curricular planning and senior leadership building which will offer career progression pathways whilst supporting effective learning opportunities for pupils. Strengthen our Additional Support Needs provision’ is one of the Council’s budget investment priorities in its My Future Highland Programme and will see:
£1.048m investment for Additional Support Needs (ASN) to strengthen the provision of support for pupils, enhance the practice of teachers and pupil support assistants by creating professional pathways for both groups and building our expertise across the Highland area.
A ‘Pupil Equity Fund’ supported by Scottish Government funding, will see additional Council funding to target support to pupils impacted by poverty:
£0.320m investment top-up to the Pupil Equity Fund to enhance pathways and help close the attainment gap.
‘Developing and growing the workforce’ to enable the Council to provide resources to undertake a scoping exercise to plan for the delivery of reduced class contact time for teachers, in response to national policy:
£2.000m investment to increase teacher capacity, to enable greater time to be set aside for teachers to plan and develop curricular arrangements for pupils.
Vote Week 2025
The Highland Council is taking part in the 2025 Welcome to Your Vote Week campaign run by the Electoral Commission which launches today (Monday 10 March).
Every year the Electoral Commission asks schools, colleges, youth groups and universities to celebrate democracy by teaching democratic education with their students and young people.
The campaign’s theme this year is “get informed and get involved”. Anyone working with young people are encouraged to support them to access trustworthy information to get informed about politics, democracy and elections, and take the first steps to get involved locally. Whether it’s discovering who represents them in their area, exploring the issues that matter most to them, or making a positive impact in their community, there are lots of ways young people can get informed and get involved.
The Returning Officer for the Highlands, Derek Brown said: “We are delighted to support this national campaign and have circulated the wide array of resources specifically created by the Electoral Commission to all our secondary schools.
“In Scotland, you can register to vote when you’re 14. With a Scottish Parliamentary election taking place in 2026, at which 16-year-olds will be eligible to vote, this campaign is perfectly timed to start conversations with young people about democracy, politics, and all aspects of voting – to get informed, get involved and register to vote now.”
Registering to vote takes just five minutes if you do it online. If you’re 16 or older, all you’ll need is your National Insurance number. If you’re under 16, you won’t be asked to supply a National Insurance number.
To register to vote visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote - alternatively, you can contact the Electoral Registration Officer on 0800 393 783 and ask for a paper application form.
The Highland Youth Convener Lauren McKittrick is hoping Welcome To Your Vote week spurs on young people to get registered so they can take part in the Scottish Parliamentary elections next year.
She said: “Young people are the voices of the future. In Scotland we are in a privileged position of allowing 16+ year olds to vote in Scottish Parliamentary elections. This week, we really want to encourage young people to find out more about the democratic process and to understand just how much their vote counts in ensuring the issues that matter to them reach the voices who can make change."
Welcome to Your Vote Week runs from today until Sunday 16 March 2025 and more information on the campaign can be found on the Electoral Commission website - https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/welcome-your-vote-week-2025 .
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading