Caithness Council

[Rheghead]

Would you vote for the break up of the Highland Region and have a Caithness Council?

Are our councillors spending too much time and money travelling down to Inverness?

Would your decision be decided on the grounds of identity rather than financial reasons?

I think we should stay with the Highland for the time being but I'm not too nostalgic about stuff etc

[porshiepoo]

I don't really have enough info on the goings on of the local council to make an informed choice.
But with what little knowledge I have I would probably err along the side of the council being a Caithness Council, surely this could only improve it's services.

[Kaishowing]

Absolutely have local people on the council.
They should be the most aware of how their decisions will affect day to day living in the area.

It should be the same way for general politicians as well. In this age of computers, there's no real need to be down at parliament for more than a day or two a week....Computer voting would allow them to spend time among their constituents, rather than lording it up having buckshee dinners and meaningless trips to The Haig etc.
A one day a week/fortnight/month clinic with an MP is hardly enough for them to understand the true local issues.

(Just as a slight aside....Why not liquidize all the assets of the government ministers, add them to the national balance, then if under their government the country makes a profit, so do they!
It may give an added incentive to know that their own personal finances sink or swim with the country's!)

[cuddlepop]

Is that not what they had before,as in regional councils.
Far too many chiefs running this one from Inverness

[clash67]

Is that not what they had before,as in regional councils.
Far too many chiefs running this one from Inverness

I totally agree.

[JonHend]

Rather than totally break up the Highland Council, shouldn't Inverness have its own council since it is now a city? If the Highland Council didn't have the cash absobing sponge known as Inverness attached to it, they might then be able to afford to mow their lawns once in a while!

And since I am on the subject of complaining about Inverness, am I right in thinking that the 'Highland' Year of Culture has very little to do with the Highlands north of the Kessock Bridge?

[gleeber]

I have a better idea. Lets have a Thurso Council. Who needs anyone else? In fact i suggest we have a Glebe Council and keep the Shore Streeters and the Springparkers in their own little ghettos. Snappy so and sos that howngry hillers.
Surely in this day and age the only way forward is together? Caithness could be a strong voice in the Highland council if more ordinary people were to take an interest in the politics and economy of the region.
How many vote in the local elections. 35%?

[JAWS]

You could have a 90% turnout in Caithness but Inverness would still rule the roost. I'm still trying to work out what Caithness and Aviemore have in common.
If everywhere working together is the way forward then why not do away with Councils completely and let Holyrood run everything? Or go even bigger and hand everything over to Westminster.

Even since I first came to Caithness just over 10 years ago I've noticed a massive deterioration in the County's infrastructure.

I have no idea when the Highland Council came into being but something has changed since I first saw Caithness. My first reaction was how well everything seemed to maintained and for the first couple of years how well even the single track roads were being surfaced but not any more. Even the main roads are now in a state of neglect and are becoming pot-holed.

I've not been here long enough to be able to look back through Rose Tinted Glasses to the "Good Old Days" so it's definitely not a case of "Things were better when I was young" because I simply don't know what the County was like 20 or 30 years ago. (I'm only 21 you see, well 21 and a few months )
What I do know is that things which had obviously been well cared for are now in a state of terrible neglect bordering on a complete lack of interest in them.

[gleeber]

You could have a 90% turnout in Caithness but Inverness would still rule the roost. I'm still trying to work out what Caithness and Aviemore have in common.
If everywhere working together is the way forward then why not do away with Councils completely and let Holyrood run everything? Or go even bigger and hand everything over to Westminster.

Its called regionalisation. Its happening all over Europe. Havnt you noticed countries who were at each others throats 50 years ago are now partners. Would you rather we become isolated again? No need to answer. your position is well documented.

Even since I first came to Caithness just over 10 years ago I've noticed a massive deterioration in the County's infrastructure.

Where?

I have no idea when the Highland Council came into being but something has changed since I first saw Caithness.

I agree but I take the positive notion that things have changed for the better.

What I do know is that things which had obviously been well cared for are now in a state of terrible neglect bordering on a complete lack of interest in them.

Give as a few examples.

[DrSzin]

I don't really have enough info on the goings on of the local council to make an informed choice.

I'm truly astounded! Lack of info has never stopped you in the past, so why now?

I have a better idea. Lets have a Thurso Council. Who needs anyone else? In fact i suggest we have a Glebe Council and keep the Shore Streeters and the Springparkers in their own little ghettos. Snappy so and sos that howngry hillers.
Surely in this day and age the only way forward is together? Caithness could be a strong voice in the Highland council if more ordinary people were to take an interest in the politics and economy of the region.
How many vote in the local elections. 35%?

I have an idea too...

Vote Gleeber for the Council!

That was originally intended to be a humorous retort, but on second thoughts, it's no a bad idea. I can't think of many people I'd trust more to do the right thing on a whole host of issues.

Have you ever thought of standing, gleeber? The endless committee meetings would probably drive you mad, but you don't have to go to all of them.

If they won't have you up there, then come down here and stand. I'm having problems deciding whom to vote for next year. The best candidate here is our current councillor - and he's a Tory, so I have a bit of a dilemma...

I haven't voted on Rheggers' poll. I have some leanings towards the Highlands-sans-Inverness idea. It's probably a hopeless and impractical fantasy, but it kinda works for the three Lothians-sans-Edinburgh councils, so why not for the Highlands?

[canuck]

I have an idea too...

Vote Gleeber for the Council!

Now that sounds like a right fine idea you have there doc.

[jaykay]

Would you vote for the break up of the Highland Region and have a Caithness Council?

Are our councillors spending too much time and money travelling down to Inverness?

Would your decision be decided on the grounds of identity rather than financial reasons?

I think we should stay with the Highland for the time being but I'm not too nostalgic about stuff etc

Yes Caithness should revert to having its own council. However we need to have an election to elect Caithness Councillors and not just transfer the existing Highland Regional Councillors. Its time to get rid of the dead wood!!!

[Ann]

Vote Gleeber for the Council!

Yes, he has my vote too! A vote for Gleeber is a vote for common sense!

[concerned resident]

Unfortunately there will never be a Caithness Council again, unless there was a revolution, this is what the Government want, they are not interested in what the people wish. Highland Council are just puppets, run by Edinburgh and London, they say jump, and our Councillors say, how high. Our Councillors are a complete waste of space, and until such time as they are replaced, by people who live in the real world, and do what is best, in the interests of Caithness, and not London.
I am afraid Caithness has got what it deserves, the population appear to be that stupid, that they will vote them all back in, that is the ones who bother to vote, and the rest are not interested, as they have lost any identity and pride, of being from the County of Caithness.

[tip top]

We did appear to be better off before the Highland Council thing - Nostalgia???

If I remember correctly when we went to a Highland Council, the poll tax (or whatever it was at the time) increased quite significantly overnight.

Again, it could be a case of "the good old days" but I seem to remember on crossing the Ord north bound the roads were so much better.

[crashbandicoot1979]

I agree with JonHend and I think that Inverness should have its own council. I don't think that each county having a seperate council is a good idea but I think that the Highlands are too big to be covered by just one. Maybe Caithness, Sutherland and Ross-shire under one council and Skye, Lochaber, Badenoch/Strathspey and Nairn under another?

[Errogie]

I'm afraid that the real villains are Holyrood and Westminster which has always had an agenda of diminishing local government by fiscal controls and most recently by the new system of proportional representation which I fear is likely to drive a stake through the heart of local government as we know it. At least in the present system you know who the man or woman is who you may have voted for and who is responsible for your backyard - not any more!
Beware divide and rule!

Rest assured pot holed roads and reduced services are endemic across the Highlands. The poor residents of Dingwall got hit particularly hard by the floods because the drains had not been cleared in years and I believe Golspie has had the same problem.

It also has to be said that some of the out of town Councillors have become kind of accustomed to hitting the Inverness superstores on a regular expenses paid basis. I'm afraid that you sometimes end up with the councillors you deserve so if you're not happy get out there and stand and if you can't take the time off work a good Community Council can make a lot of waves. I'm happy to back Gleeber's election campaign and we should perhaps give some thought to his manifesto and election campaign.

How about Caithness dialect night classes and twinning with a scandanavian community with a good viking background instead of some frogs on the other side of the channel?

[dozy]

Inverness Councillors will never let the county have their own council back .The regional council have been bleeding the highlands dry to keep themselves in office since it was all put together .The folk in Inverness would be paying 40% more council tax it things where put back to the old County Councils ..Its all about Politics and not People....

[Kingetter]

From the BBC News -

"Floods could force budget rethink

Highland Council could be forced to rethink its budget as it assesses the damage caused by last week's floods.
The authority had been considering a revenue budget of £509m, which would increase council tax bills by 2.5%.
However, officials planning the new budget warned that it may not be enough to cover the costs of an emergency situation in the region.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...ds/6105332.stm"

So, if there was a Caithness Council, how would it cope with the work and cost of situations like the recent floods, without (financial) help from 'elsewhere'?

[squidge]

I think gleeber for councillor is a great idea too

I think that a rural highlands council might be a better idea and take inverness out of the equation.