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Groat Review May 20, 2011

A LOCAL businessman has been forced to spend £2000 on improved security after 100 gallons diesel were stolen from vehicle recovery trucks at his garage in Dunbeath. That’s the paper’s No 1 front page story. Gordon Calder reports that the thefts took place over an eight-week period and are among a number targeted by thieves, in the area. John Elder who runs the motor engineering business with his brother, Graham, has expanded his CCTV coverage of the premises at a cost of £1,500. Alarm systems, costing around £500, are also being put in place in a bid to deter any further thefts. The alarm was raised when the firm received a call-out When the brothers started up their truck, warning lights came on and on checking the tank, they discovered it was empty. A similar situation was found on other vehicles.


PULTENEY distillery hosted its first-ever wedding, the paper reports, also on its front page. Getting hitched were Andrew Cuthbert from Thurso and Marie Stewart from Wick. The couple wanted something different for their big day, rather than getting married in a church or registry office, and felt that the distillery was the ideal setting. Sixty guests attended the ceremony in the tasting room, conducted by celebrant Kate Buchanan of the Humanist Society of Scotland. The happy couple are honeymooning in Tuscany, Italy for a fortnight.


INSIDE Alan Shields informs us that customers of the failed district heating scheme in Wick are to be given expert energy advice in a bid to avoid fuel poverty. Highland Council is to provide householders with access to independent energy advisers, to avoid the risk of fuel poverty, when someone spend 20 per cent or more of their income on total fuel costs. The council’s director of housing and property, Steve Barron, said it will be taking steps to try to ensure householders do not end up in this situation, as they could face an increased burden in the cost of heating their homes. The authority recently pulled the plug on Caithness Heat and Power, a move which will affect 242 households. It followed the council’s failure to secure an arrangement with a private sector company to take over the scheme, and means that locals will now have to switch back to traditional domestic heating systems.


A THURSO producer’s film is set to premiere in London today. Adam Robertson also plays a leading role in Third Star which will get its first UK showing at Leicester Square. The film, which is inspired by a true story, is a tale about four friends who take an ill-advised trip to Barfundle Bay in West Wales. The film is a touching comical adventure, dealing with friendship, heroism and love.

A LOCAL apprentice is to start the challenge of a lifetime this weekend, by cycling around 100 miles a day for nine consecutive days. Haster-based member of the Wick Wheelers cycling group, Graeme Clyne, will spend around nine-hours-a day in the saddle of his standard road bike next week, alongside around 150 other cyclists helping to raise money for sick babies and young children. The 21-year-old, who works with Rolls-Royce at Vulcan, is taking part in Action Medical Research’s UK End 2 End challenge. The event will see over 100 people of all ages cycling from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, starting on Sunday and finishing on Monday May 30.


A PLEA has gone out for people to head up the new arms’s length trust that is to become responsible for various council facilities, such as libraries and swimming pools. Formally set up, and named last Thursday by Highland Council, High Life Highland, will be fully established later this year and the local authority is now inviting applications for eight boardroom posts. Successful applicants will become directors of the organisation, which is to take over the management of community learning and leisure services in a Highland Council bid to save money. Chairman of the education culture and sport committee, Wick councillor Bill Fernie, who will be one of the people assessing the applicants for the posts, said that the right skill set will be essential for the job. He added: “The trust will be looking to try and draw people from as wide a range as possible, as long as the applicants have the necessary skills and experience to be a director in what is quite a large company.”

MILLIONS of pounds in investment is expected to be pumped into the Caithness economy over the next decade. That is the message from newly-appointed Highlands and Islands Enterprise director of energy and low carbon, Calum Davidson. He was speaking this week, at the All Energy event in Aberdeen where a number of local businesses were showcasing their services. Caithness-born Mr Davidson delivered a keynote presentation on the second day of the conference to update the industry on the Highland region’s renewable energy progress. He said that within the next few years, Caithness is set to experience a boom in employment opportunities and added: “The message is getting out to the world, that Caithness is a place to do business in the renewable sector”.

AN exhibition in Thurso, offering an insight into Dounreay’s nuclear history, is set to be expanded following a five-figure cash boost. Caithness Horizons, which houses the Dounreay collection was awarded £11,881 from the Museums Galleries Scotland grant scheme. The UKAEA established a present in Caithness in the early 1950s and, in recent years, Caithness Horizons has cared for a growing number of objects relating to the nuclear site which is now being commissioned.

A CAITHNESS care team is to be recognised as one of the best in Scotland, at a prestigious awards ceremony in Glasgow later this month. The HomeLink Caithness team has been chosen as a finalist for the Housing Support Service oF the Year Award. It has been selected from more than 250 entries for this year’s Scottish Care-Care at Home and Housing Support Service Awards 2011. The local team will find out the final results at the awards ceremony to be held at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow, on May 27. Now in its fifth year, the Scottish Care-Care at Home and Housing Support Awards, have been hailed a huge success, with more entries than ever coming in from people who use the services, as well as employers and employees nominating their staff and colleagues.

WICK ACADEMY embark on the first leg of their double header against Rothes, tomorrow, at Harmsworth Park, with three points the target and the same again in the away match. Due to the Scottish Cup Final, the home round will kick off at the earlier time of 12.30. Buoyed by their 5-0 thrashing of Lossiemouth last week. Another incentive is revenge for a 6-1 defeat inflicted by Rothes last season.