John O’ Groat Journal headlines for June 6, 2014

A LONG-TERM solution has to be found for a lifeline Caithness road which is “deteriorating fast”. That was the call made this week by business leaders and a local councillor after being contacted by the Groat about the condition of the Killimster Moss road. It was constructed in the early part of the 20th century and 14 years ago it was the subject of a £250,000 improvement scheme.

A POIGNANT memorial ceremony will commemorate a Second World War pilot who lost his life when the Spitfire he was flying, nose-dived into a tract of bogland on Dunnet Head. The RAF which has already reconnoitred the area, is scheduled to transport the memorial stone to the crash site by helicopter on June 18. Sergeant Hugh Thomson, a former Olympic athlete was taking part in a do-fighting exercise when the plane sudden dipped and ploughed into the headland.

A PLAN to build houses at a derelict site on the outskirts of Castletown is unlikely to happen “in the foreseeable future”. That was the claim made by Brenda Herrick, chairwoman of the community council at its latest meeting. She said Scotia Homes – the company behind the proposed development – wanted to make the site secure after fencing there, was broken down.

A CAITHNESS community councillor has criticised Highland Council for spending money on a new website, at a time when it is cutting services to the public. Brenda Herrick, who chairs Castletown and District Community Council, claimed the local authority should not be spending cash on a website at a time of austerity.

A CAITHNESS dental clinic will be the first of offer its patients the option of receiving text messages to remind them of appointments. The Lochshell Dental Clinic in Wick’s Business Park, is the first within the NHS Highland dental service to offer the service and it is planned to roll it out further this year. It is hoped the scheme, which started on Monday, and sends people a message a day in advance of their appointments, could reduce the amount of clinical time lost, because patients fail to attend.

OUR campaign for Caithness to have its own flag has been backed by a number of Caithness businesses. Wick businessman Stewart Gunn said: “It would be a good thing and would give the area its own identity”. Mr Gunn, the owner of the long-established shoe shop, J. Gunn and Co, feels the county would benefit from having its own flag and postcode.
SIX local projects in Strathy & Armadale have been granted funding from the first round of SSE’s community benefit fund, linked to the Strathy North wind farm. The successful applications to benefit from the £228,000 kitty were determined by an advisory panel of 12 local representatives at a meeting in Strathy village hall on Tuesday evening.

STICKING to the standards set when it first began in 1949, the Caithness Music Festival is ready and raring to go, in celebration of its 60th year. With entries slightly up on last year, festival convener Trevor Williams feels things are looking good for the five-day event which starts on Monday.