Dear Caithness.Org Forum Members,


It is with deep regret that we announce the permanent closure of The Caithness.Org Forums, effective 23rd March 2025. The first post was made way back in 2001 and this will be the last post in the General section.

The rest of our website will continue as normal.


This difficult decision has been made due to the significant challenges posed by the recently enacted Online Safety Act in the United Kingdom. The Act places a substantial burden of responsibility on online platforms to actively monitor and moderate user-generated content to an extent that is, unfortunately, unsustainable for our community.


Specifically, the Act’s requirements regarding proactive monitoring of illegal content, age verification and rapid take-down procedures necessitate a level of resources and infrastructure that we are unable to provide. The legal and financial implications of non-compliance present an unacceptable risk.


We understand that this news will be disappointing for many of you. Our forum has been a valuable space for sharing knowledge, debating local issues, connecting with like-minded individuals, providing support etc. and we are truly saddened to see it come to an end.


We want to express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of you for your contributions, your engagement, and your support over the years. Your participation has made our forum the vibrant community it has been.


We explored various options to maintain the forum within the constraints of the new legislation, but unfortunately, none proved viable.


We appreciate your understanding during this challenging time.


Please note: for the next month, Private Messages will still be available but these will be removed on (or shortly after) Sunday 21st April.


Our Job Vacancy section will remain open while we transition over to using our new location in the Business Index. This will allow us to improve posting and visibility of Job adverts. To post job adverts in the Business Index you will no longer be required to log in or have an account. Simply fill in a form or e-mail the job to us.

We will be leaving the forums in tact for the foreseeable future as an archive and they will remain here for as long as we have the web site. We will live in hope that a change in the law or our own circumstances allow us to open the forum up again.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has been a part of this forum over the years. We've had our ups and downs but overall it's been a great experience.

Sincerely,

Bill & Niall Fernie.