Propsect of more spending in Ross-shire wards as Highland Council prepares to hammer out recovery budget aimed at tackling impacts of Covid and Brexit
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Highland Council is set to invest in roads and visitor management as part of a recovery budget set to be hammered out next week.
There are also no plans for a council tax rise.
The budget aims to address major concerns voiced by the public about the sheer volume of tourists, cratered roads and calls for more cash to be invested locally as well as dealing with the fallout from Covid and Brexit.
Next Thursday, councillors will be asked to agree to a health and prosperity strategy containing investment worth £9.8 million in people, infrastructure, places and business across the Highland region.
The local authority has accepted an offer for a Scottish Government supported £4.2 million freeze on council tax.
The local funding will see a one-off payment of £100,000 per council ward and a £10,000 top-up of discretionary budgets.
That means so the five former Ross and Cromarty wards will get a total of £630,000 in total to spend wellbeing investments in paths or play parks to support the vulnerable.
And after a huge outcry from local residents across the north, the council has developed the £1.5 million visitor management strategy.
More than a third of that cash will go on employing 10 seasonal rangers to tackle camping, littering, dangerous parking, and fire lighting and improving passing places, lay-bys, road signs, verge protection.
Critically, the council wants to spend £200,000 on creating a network of up to 50 temporary sites for campervans while a permanent solution is found.
Almost £250,000 will be spent on dealing with waste with a welcome boost for public toilets across the north and increasing the how often rural bins in tourist hotspots are emptied.
As the council’s long-awaited investment of £20 million in road repairs is set to get underway, a review will be undertaken to look at getting wind farm developer contributions that can then be invested in roads.
The largest tranche – worth £6 million – will go to an Economic Prosperity Fund focussed on ten different areas including direct action to support jobs with wage incentives for the private sector and grants and loans to help local start-ups.
People aged 16 to 65 who find themselves out of work will be helped into Modern Apprenticeships with the double benefit of providing all sectors with qualified staff.
Opportunities for businesses to provide jobs for people with disabilities and more collaboration with the advice sector to promote new opportunities created by economic growth and inclusion for those of working age.
Further training, skills and learning opportunities expansion in partnership with UHI and Skills Development Scotland.
