Nice One Bill F

[zappster]

Well Done , Well Deserved..Nuff said!!

[Bill Fernie]

Thanks Zappster

[golach]

Well Done , Well Deserved..Nuff said!!

Ditto Ditto Z

[brandy]

congrats bill! now get to work *G*

[Ricco]

Congratulations, Bill. Well done!

[Angela]

Well done, Bill.

No rest for the wicked...

[Bobinovich]

By a good margin too! - just call him Mr Popular

[horseman]

Nice one

[ginajade]

Congratulations.

[Moira]

By a good margin too! - just call him Mr Popular

The margin was noted by me too - quite remarkable in a local election. Congrats Bill - well done !

[Rheghead]

By a good margin too! - just call him Mr Popular

Many a tyrant has been voted in by a good margin. Of course I'm talking rot here!!

I would have voted for ye.

[JAWS]

Shows you're doing something right. Bill. Congratulations!

[quirbal]

Yep, well done Bill.

[itsteven]

well done good job done

[Alice in Blunderland]

kissy, kissy, Bill remember the nurseries. Good result though , as said before a right mr popular you are.

[Helen Wheels]

Does anyone know whether there will still be a Caithness Convenor (or any other area for that matter), or now that we're part of a larger area, has that post gone by the board?

Interesting too looking at the votes how the results may have been slightly different if the #"1" votes had been cast in a first past the post system...we'd have N Smith instead of G Smith as a Wick councillor!

[Cinders392]

Good on you bill!

[Sporran]

Well done indeed, Bill! Hearty congratulations on winning by such a good margin!

[Bill Fernie]

Thanks again for the many good wishes coming in here and by PM and on the phone.

Re points above
Helen Wheels -
there wil no longer be a Caithness Convenors post as the area comittees including Caithness are gone under the new system of multi-member wards. In addition we now have three regional set up in highland. Caithness is now in the new north area cosnsiting of Caithness, Sutherland and part of East Ross including Tain.

Alice in Blunderland
I have not forgotten the problems and potential threats to the local nurseries and play groups. This is not an easy one to resolve and there will be more coming forward in coming months regarding what happens to them. The principle of Wrap Around Care is phrase you will be hearing more of I am sure. Basically we need to see how the services provided for child care can be made to work effectively for families in towns, villages and the more remote parts of Highland.
I have been very impressed with the way local groups in Caithness emerged to look at the position of their provision in Thrumster, Keiss and at Dunnet. We still need to do the review of these services and look at ways of making them able to be sustained in the face of severe budget pressures. The information gathered by the groups has been very useful in looking at the problem and staving off any fast action. In coming months we will need to look seriously at the longer term.
The new nursery at Crossroads sends out the right signals and I am sure that parents in the area will use it as it is modern and bright resource.
Housing is being built in many areas and the possibilities for new families moving to the area look good if there are jobs etc.

The demise of the Caithness area committee now leaves a gap in how the area will be represented on civic matters on a number of fronts. The convenor has filled that role in recent years. In coming weeks councillors will need to resolve how that aspect of public life will be carried out and who or in what form Caithness and the other areas can be represented when visitors arrive in the area or there is need for representation of the county and thenorth at forums elsewhere.

The first meeting of the new north area takes place on Tuesday when all the councillors will see each other face to face for the first time. Everything is now up for grabs and I for one will be looking to see new opportunities instead of greetin about what has gone before.

New management arrangements are about to come into force as we have been appointing a whole range of new managers in the past few weeks in the biggest reorganisation of Highland council in the past 20 years. Now that is in place we must get down to making it work and produce solutions to the many problems we still have.

I think as Wick councillor I will be looking at the problems of the area with a view to the the overall context of the Dounreay decommissioning over the next four years. I with my fellow councillors must find a way of addressing that problem in co-operation with our MP, MSP's and government departments.

I am sure that with the right will there will be answers to this biggest of our problems. But the area still has the many assets it always has had. Finding ways to utilise them must be the key to the future prosperity of everyone in the north.

Thanks again for the message.

Bill

[Liz]

I would like to add my congrats to those of my fellow orgers!

A well deserved victory as you work so hard for your community.

I just hope that those elected in my ward are as committed.