No date set yet for Portree Hospital urgent care extension

SSEN “extremely disappointed” by council rejection

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks have said they are extremely disappointed by the Highland Council’s decision to its major upgrade of power lines between Skye and Fort Augustus.

A motion put forward by Councillors Drew Millar and Ruraidh Stewart against the plans was backed by 11 votes to nine at a meeting of the planning committees on Wednesday.

However, a spokesperson for SSEN Transmission told Radio Skye: “We are extremely disappointed by the decision from The Highland Council to object to our Fort Augustus to Skye Reinforcement project following the recent submission of additional information, which goes against the recommendation of the Council’s planning officers and the previous decision by the committee.”

They added that as the existing overhead line had been built in the 1950s, replacement infrastructure, know as the Skye reinforcement line, was critical to keep the lights on for homes and businesses across Skye and in the Western Isles.

They said this has been demonstrated by two major faults earlier this year which resulted in the temporary loss of power to over 20,000 customers.

The spokesperson concluded that line would also enable the connection of new renewable electricity generation along its route, supporting energy security and climate change targets, and said they now looked to the Scottish Government’s timely determination of the application.

Increase in Highland tenants in rent arrears, says council

Many council tenants across the Highlands are in rent arrears for the first time due to the cost of living crisis according to the local authority.

The growing impact of the crisis on tenants within the region was highlighted during a meeting of the council’s housing and property committee.

The committee revealed that due to the cost of living crisis and other global factors, many tenants are finding themselves in rent arrears for the very first time and require early intervention to guide them and appropriate welfare support.

Housing and Property Committee Chair, Councillor Glynis Campbell Sinclair said: “The Highland Council Housing Service works closely with our Welfare Support Team to ensure early intervention and inform tenants of rent arrears as soon as they arise.

She said that local housing officers carry out a crucial role including directing tenants to agencies that can help ensure they can access support to which they are entitled and can assist with debt and personal budgeting issues.

You can contact your local housing officer or contact the welfare support team  through the Highland Council website.

Nevis Radio presenter announced as Green Party candidate

A former radio presenter from the Highlands has been announced as the Scottish Green Party’s candidate for the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency at the next Westminster general election.

Former Nevis Radio volunteer, 42-year-old Peter Newman has been chosen by the party’s Highland and Islands branch to contest the election.

Peter Newman said he was honoured to be chosen as a candidate for the Scottish Greens in the next election and want to make sure that the voices of the people so long ignored in rural areas are heard during the campaign.

Mr Newman has previously worked on Ardnamurchan where he was a guidance teacher and faculty head.

He co-hosted a show on community radio station, Nevis Radio, as well as volunteering as part of Lochaber’s Refugee Resettlement programme.

Deadline approaches for Isle of Skye Events community fund

Community groups have just five days left to apply for a local fund through the Isle of Skye Events charity.

The charity which organises a range of events across the island from the Isle of Skye Half Marathon to the annual Skye Santa Dash will distribute £3,5000 between up to ten small charities or community groups who receive a minimum of £350.

The Skye Events Community Fund is still open until 12pm on 15th November. Successful applicants will be notified by 5pm on Friday 17th November.

For more information, click here.

Players sought for first-ever girls-only five-a-sides

Skye and Lochalsh Female Football Club are encouraging 14 to 18 year-olds to sign up for the first-ever girls only five-a-side tournament taking place in Portree next weekend.

The competition is open to 10-13 year-olds and 14-18 year-old with many people in the younger age having already signed up for the festival of football.

The tournament takes place at the Fingal centre in Portree High School on Saturday 18th November. For more information, including how to sign up search for Skye and Lochalsh Female Football Club on Facebook and Instagram.

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Eilean a’ Cheò councillor backs second homes tax move

Skye and Raasay Councillor Calum Munro has welcomed draft plans to double the rate of council tax under new legislation by the Scottish Government

Data Published by the Scottish Goverment in 2019 showed that the city of Edinburgh and the Highlands accounted for 50.5 per cent of active Airbnbs across the country.

In the report, Skye was third only behind Edinburgh City Centre and Leith Walk for the number of Airbnbs by council ward with 1,083 of 5,813 dwellings listed as holiday lets.

Commenting to Radio Skye, Councillor Munro said: “A very small portion of society own second homes, many in our society are indeed struggling to find anywhere to live at all.

I think that doubling the rate of council tax on second homes is proportionate and may make a small contribution to the Highland Council’s finances at a time when huge budget gaps are faced year on year.

Scottish Government pushes for gender balance on boards

The Scottish Goverment is seeking to establish 50-50 representation on public boards through new legislation.

Legislation to amend the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act has been published.

The Act, which was passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2018, aims to address the under-representation of women in public life by setting an objective that 50 per cent of a public board’s non-executive members are women.

The Gender Representation on Public Boards (Amendment) Bill aims to align the Act with the Court of Session ruling last year which stated that its inclusion of the definition of women was out with the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and it was therefore not law.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Women’s voices need to be heard and acted on, especially by the public bodies that deliver services in our everyday lives

“The Scottish Government remains committed to achieving greater gender equality and creating a fairer Scotland for everyone.”

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Council education chair hits out at Dunvegan school funding snub

The Highland Council’s education chair has criticised the Scottish Goverment for ignoring the pressing need for a new primary school for Dunvegan by omitting the Skye institution from a key funding award.

All four bids from the Highland Council, including for Dunvegan, were rejected by the Scottish Government in its latest round of the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme, which was announced on Monday.

As well as plans for a new primary school the proposal for Dunvegan also includes new housing and a community sports pitch.

In announcing the awards, Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said she was determined to deliver excellence and equity across Scotland’s schools, and ensuring that pupils are educated in modern, state of the art facilities is an important part of that.

She added that every Scottish local authority which submitted a bid has now received funding for a project across the three phases of LEIP funding.

However, speaking to Radio Skye following the decision, Skye and Raasay Councillor who chair the Highland Council’s education committee, questioned the Scottish Government’s judgement.

He said: “What is very galling is the fact that a strong bid was put in for Dunvegan, and the bid was accepted as being strong by the Scottish Goverment.

But the outcome within LEIP 3, seems to now suggest that councils who had not got funding in round 1 or 2, were given funding this time round. So in effect, the condition of schools, the need for replacements, the strength of bids was ignored in favour of every authority getting an allocation…”

He added: “This is some way undermines the whole process.”

The cost of the project has risen from £12.5 million when the plans were approved by the council in 2019 to £23 million in 2023.

However, councillor Finlayson contended that the project was not dead and buried despite the significant set back.

“Personally, I’m very, very disappointed at the outcome, especially for Dunvegan…I also feel that governments of all colours (politically) need to try to understand the challenges that rural areas and islands face in terms of many issues including education.

“I am still committed to and convinced that a new school, housing and a pitch will be in place in Dunvegan, even though it will take longer than I or the community had hoped it would.”

Fellow Skye and Raasay Councillor Ruraidh Stewart argued that the council was not blameless and said that communities of Highland has found themselves let down by the Councils SNP and Independent administration, which he claimed had consistently failed to prioritise the needs of our school communities.

He also criticised the SNP/Green administration in Holyrood for what he has called an “abandonment of our school communities”.

He concluded by saying that that the absence of LEIP funding did not negate the urgent requirement for investment in the Dunvegan, Beauly, Park, and St Clement’s  schools, and pledged that he and his colleagues would continue to press the administration to invest in the learning estate and prioritise the well-being and future of Highland’s young people.

Breakish group to hold wind farm event

A Skye campaign group who standing against plan to site a wind farm in Breakish are hosting a public exploring community-owned alternatives.

The Breakish Wind Farm Action Group comprise of local community members who are in opposition to Swedish Developer Arise AB’S plans to site 16 wind turbines 180 metres in height in the south Skye settlement.

This Wednesday the group are hosting an event where a presentation will be given by Faye MacLeod of Campbell Stewart MacLennan and Co. Chartered Accountants.

The event will be held on Wednesday (1st November) at 7.30pm upstairs at Broadford Village Hall.

Green MSP backs  Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to be granted university status

A Highland MSP is leading a campaign for Skye’s Sabhal Mòr Ostaig to be granted University Status as Scotland’s First Gaelic University.

Scottish Green MSP Arianne Burgess introduced a motion to support full degree-conferring powers to Sabhal Mòr Ostaig which passed by an overwhelming majority.

Speaking to the National newspaper Ms Burgess said granting the centre university status would place the Sleat-based institution it on the international stage and attract more people to the Gaelic language.

The Green MSP will now take the campaign onto the Scottish Parliament.

Voting open for Dunvegan and Glengarry Community Councils

Ballot papers have been sent to voters in Dunvegan and Glengarry to determine the make-up of their local community councils.

Postal ballot papers for ten contested Highland community councils have been mailed out today (Tuesday 31 October 2023).

The ballot papers need to be completed and returned by the deadline of 12 noon on Monday 27 November 2023.

Candidates were invited to submit a statement to support their candidacy and these statements are now published online at the community council elections section of the Council’s website

The counting of the votes for the ten contested Community Councils will take place from 12noon onwards on Monday 27 November 2023 and the count process will be broadcast live on the Council’s social media channels.

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Highland Council budget: local authority facing “incredible pressures”

The leader of the Highland Council has said the local authority is facing incredible financial pressures which could led to job losses amid an unprecedented budget gap of up to £70 million next year.

The full council met today to discuss the budget shortfall which could be as much as £100 million between 2024 and 2027.

Members have a legal obligation to set a balanced budget and proposals will be developed and presented to Council for agreement at the end of February 2024.

Leader of the Council Raymond Bremner said: “While we understand the cost of living crisis for our communities, local authorities are also facing incredible cost pressures in the shape of inflation, high rates of interest and the need to fund pay settlements.

“We anticipate we will have an unprecedented budget gap next year of around £60-70m and a shortfall of around £100m over the next three years has been forecast.

He went on to add that without adequate funding, the council will have a choice of making service reductions or increasing income or a mixture of both.

Councillors Bremner said that service reductions would also mean job losses and that is something we are doing everything possible to avoid, as this would be disastrous for communities and our economy in the Highlands.”

The council is facing considerable uncertainty until the end of December around what the grant will be from the Scottish Government for 2024-25, and the funding to implement a Council Tax freeze.

Skye and Raasay member First Minister over council tax freeze

Skye and Raasay Councillor has slammed First Minister Humza Yousaf for running a “horse and coaches” through a key agreement with Scotland’s councils by placing a freeze on council tax

Speaking during today’s (Thursday’s) meeting of the full Highland Council, Skye and Raasay member Ruraidh Stewart contended that First Minister has undermined the verity house agreement between Scottish Local Authorities and the Government by announcing a freeze on rate in the next financial year.

Councillor Stewart said the First Minister has in essence closed the door on one of the few tools that local government has to release the budget pressures on us.

Humza Yousaf announced the decision to freeze council tax rates for the next financial year at the SNP autumn conference earlier this month.

Councillor Derek Louden, who chairs the Highland Council’s resources committee said: “Last year we set one of the lowest The council tax rates set last year by the Highland Council were one of lowest in Scotland in recognition of the cost of living crisis in our communities.

“Council tax freezes have a long term negative impact on local authority budgets and effectively widen the budget gap in the coming years.

“We will continue to work with our COSLA colleagues, to get clarification of the Scottish Government’s plans and how the cost of any freeze would be funded, both for next year and mitigation of the impact on future years’ budgets.”

Scottish Government £1 billion overspent on pay deals finds new report

The Scottish Government is facing a £1 billion hole due to significant challenges in managing the public sector workforce.

According to a new report by Audit Scotland, the Scottish budget and workforce numbers have grown significantly since devolution. But Scottish Government projections suggest it cannot afford to pay for public services in their current form.

The report found that pay deals agreed for 2022/23 and 2023/24 were £1.7 billion more than initially planned and these pay rises are locked into future budgets.

The Scottish Government has begun working with its public bodies to better understand how workforce reforms will impact services. But it needs better data on the size, cost and skillset of the workforce in over 100 of its public bodies to help support this process.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Significant reform of the public sector – including its workforce – is needed to protect services over the long term.

“That means better workforce planning and wider changes to how staff work within and across organisations.”

He concluded: “An approach to reform purely focused on controlling workforce numbers will not address workforce pressures and is unlikely to balance the public finances.”

Peat and Diesel to play ‘Black Isle Belter’ shows

Western Isles stars Peat and Diesel are set to play at the Black Isle Showground over two days next May along with other star acts.

The ‘Black Isle Belter’ shows which will be their only outdoor gigs in the Highlands next year will be held over the bank holiday weekend of Saturday 25th May & Sunday 26th May 2024.

On the Saturday, Peat and Diesel will be join by the View for their First Highland show in years, while on the Sunday, which will be a family day they will be accompanied by chart toppers The Feeling.

Sunday’s show will a family day and in conjunction with Peat and Diesel’s main sponsor Highland Industrial Supplies, and charity partners MFR’s Cash for Kids and Mikeysline.

Tickets were set to be on sale from 10am this Friday via the Peat and Diesel website.

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Skye care home resident left to starve – Covid 19 inquiry to hear grave claims 

Care home residents on Skye may have been left to starve while families may have been pressured into signing do not resuscitate notices on behalf of their loved ones during the Covid-19 pandemic

Those are the grave claims expected to heard during the Scottish Covid-19 public inquiry, according a lawyer representing bereaved Skye families.

Eleven people who were residents of the then privately-owned Home Farm nursing home in Portree, died after testing positive for Covid-19 during the pandemic

Speaking on behalf of the Skye group during the second day of the Scottish Covid-19 inquiry, Shelagh McCall KC also
said there was a lack of or no cross-contaminating measure in place to prevent staff spreading the virus to residents. Staff were witnessed attending work while displaying symptoms.”

She went on to reveal: “Once there was a Covid-19 outbreak in a care home, bereaved relatives were faced by a total lack of transparency of what was happening.

“Some learned of an outbreak from Facebook rather than from care management or staff.”

She said that inquiry would later hear that were deficiencies in infection control, basic cleaning and hygiene.

Adding that in one home, the alcohol-based cleaning products were lock in a cupboard, to which staff were not permitted access by management, instead they cleaned using air fresher.

Home Farm nursing home was managed by private operators HC-One during the period in question before being purchased by NHS Highland in the autumn 2020.

Winter deaths hit 30-year hit

One-off payment to support those moving from care system

Plans for a new one-off payment of £2,00 to support young people transitioning from the care system into adulthood have been announced today by First Minister Humza Yousaf

The proposal which will be co-designed with care experienced people will aim to support people from the care system to move into more independent living

First Minister Humza Yousaf said that the one-off payment would provide much-needed support to Care experienced people – who over one and a half times more likely to experience financial difficulties and have more than double the chance of experiencing homelessness, mainly before age 30.

Skye councillor submits caravan park planning app

Skye and Raasay Highland Councillor Ruraidh Stewart has submitted a planning application to change the use of croft land in Balmacara to a caravan site for holiday.

The site if approved will accommodate seven caravans and would comprise new road access, parking, drainage and water connections on land north east of Willowbank, the Square at Balmacara

In post published via social media, the Lochalsh Community Council today stated that it wished to encouraging anyone with comments or concerns to submit them via the Highland Council website

You can listen to the latest local news for Skye and Lochalsh live at the times below by clicking on the banner. 

Short-terms lets regulations could “decimate” Highland sector

A Highland MSP has warned that the Scottish Government’s new short-term lets legislation could decimate the sector across the region.

MSP Jamie Halcro Johnstone, who took part in a protest at Holyrood on Tuesday against the regulations, said that the legislation would just inconvenience operators but fundamentally threaten their businesses and household incomes.

The Scottish Goverment has said the licensing has been introduced to ensure short-term lets in Scotland are safe and meet consistent quality standards, including having gas certificates and suitable electrical equipment.

However, the Conservative members went on to argue many owners who are running their businesses to make a little extra money or to supplement their salaries or pension were being asked to jump through multiple hoops – with potentially thousands of pounds of additional costs.

On Tuesday Skye and Raasay Councillor Ruraidh Stewart that around just said 3,500 of an estimated 10,000 short-term lets providers in the Highlands had so far applied for the scheme, which closes on 1st October.

Staffin police patrols carried out following excessive speed concerns

Police officers have carried out patrols in Staffin following concerns raised through the local community council regarding motorists driving at excessive speeds in the area.

The police stated that have warned several drivers about appropriate speed and considerate driving in rural communities.

To share concerns you may have about your local area, you can take part in the Your Police survey by visiting the Police Scotland website.

Lochalsh winter maintenance plans agreed at council area meeting

The Winter Maintenance Plan for Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh for this coming winter has been approved by members of the area committee, following a meeting on Monday.

Committee Chair, Councillor Liz Kraft, said it was it was important plans were put in place early to ensure the gritting policy, winter maintenance team and the equipment and supplies required are in place and ready to be implemented when the winter weather arrives.

Councillor Kraft is also encouraging the public to familiarise themselves with the gritting maps for the area specific to them which has been approved by the council.

She said that while it wasn’t possible for the council’s team to treat every road and path, the dedicated team “work tirelessly to best meet the needs of the area.”

Councillor Kraft said that the council are continuing to encourage Community self-help, under the council’s Winter Resilience Scheme, where communities can submit applications via their community council to carry out footway gritting operations.”

Skye under-17s captain “gutted” at narrow semi-final loss

Gutted, that’s how Skye Camanachd’s under-17s captain summed up his feelings following the team aggregate defeat to Fort William in the semi-final of the London Shield last night.

Captain Archie Miller struck twice for Skye in a 2-2 draw in Portree, but it was Fort William who progressed to the final 4-3 on aggregate on the back of their 2-1 win in the first leg.

Speaking to Radio Skye, Archie said: “I thought we were very unlucky, as we had plenty of chances to win it, but it never came off for us, it wasn’t our day.

“Fort William are very good on the break, and they took their chances well, better than we did and that’s what it came down to.

Looking ahead to what he believes will be a bright future for the team, he added: “I’m obviously gutted to have come out on the wrong side of the result tonight but there are plenty of positives to take as out of the 15 players tonight I am the only one the team will be losing next season.

“They are in a really good place for next season to build out what we have done this year – getting to the MacTavish Cup Final and London Shield semi-final.”

You can listen to the latest local news for Skye and Lochalsh live at the times below by clicking on the banner. 

Skye and Raasay Councillor stress need for health care progress

The need for progress in urgent care and bed provision across north Skye has today been underlined by Skye and Raasay Councillors at an area committee meeting.

Speaking at this morning meeting Councillor Calum Munro paid tribute to the community for its hard work in protecting services but stress the need for Sir Lewis Ritchie’s recommendations to be implemented for the sake of the island.

“Seven or eight years ago, there were moves to close Portree Hospital, and it was a huge community effort led by SOS-NHS Skye and the wider community which saved the hospital and eventually brought Sir Lewis Ritchie to come and review the situation,” he said.

“We must remember that Sir Lewis Ritchie report is not simply an aspiration it is a binding document which the NHS Highland Board committed to as part of the full business case to build Broadford Hospital.”

All four Skye and Raasay members agreed that increasing community beds and providing 24/7 care and was crucial.

Assessing the steps taken since the 2018 Ritchie report, Conservative councillor Ruaridh Stewart highlighted a steep decline in bed provision

“At that point (2018) there were 71 community beds and there was commitment and need to increase that to 77 beds for Skye. Like my [fellow] members Councillor Finlayson and Councillor Millar [have said] there is this frustration in the community, because the current situation falls far short of this recommendation, there is only 41 community beds available at the moment.

“And, as has been mentioned before, the urgent care service is only available at weekends and bank holidays.

“The provision of care beds, it leaves our vulnerable and elderly residents without that care accessible to their community.

“It puts families on Skye in a really difficult position, they have either go to provide that support themselves or they have to witness their loved ones sent away to distant care homes scattered across the Highlands.

“It is really crucial that we do provide the necessary resources, staffing and infrastructure, roads, it has all been covered here, to fulfil the promise of quality health care services here that there has been a commitment to…”

“The pace of action does seem to be causing frustration in the community…. there is this view that this (recommendations) have been kicked into the long grass and that’s something that we can’t allow to continue.”

NHS Highland’s former chief officer Louise Bussell said that recruitment continued to be a considerable obstacle when it came to care beds across the area.

“In relation to bed capacity, you are absolutely right, we have massive challenges with recruiting – pretty much most of our staff at Home Farm (care home) are agency staff, and that is entirely because we can’t recruit.

“We have repeatedly tried various different methods of recruiting, both to support worker roles and to substantive. We have more luck in the hospital with support workers, but again we have challenges with recruitment of registered staff…”

Council backs quiet routes on Skye and Raasay

During Monday’s area committee meeting, councillors gave their back to the introduction quiet routes on Skye and Raasay.

The temporary traffic regulations orders will see 60 miles per hour section reduced to 40 mile per hours zone on the Armadale to Tormore route in south Skye and the Inverarish road on Raasay.

The speed limit on the routes will be fixed at 4om miles per hour for a period of 18 months.

Creative Arts Festival Portree holds open night

The premier night of the UHI West Highland’s Creative Arts Festival Portree take place in the Skye capital tonight.

The grand opening is being held between 5.30 to 7.30, the Portree campus.

The exhibition will include work from students across creative disciplines and levels – including Contemporary Art Practice, Sculpture, Photography and Drawing.

Ahead of the festival, UHI Portree Art and Design lecturer Meg Miller, pictured above, spoke to Radio Skye about the importance of the event for the students.

“It is a very important part of the course at this stage where they are engaging with the public and other creative people.

“They are going to get different perspective and viewpoints are they are going to be picking up on some of those, so it should be great.

Skye hockey teams make debut in Ben Wyvis Festival

Skye Junior Hockey teams took part in the Ben Wyvis Hockey Festival for the first-time last Friday May at Dingwall Academy.

Two teams participate in the competition – Skye Cuillin the more experienced side, and Skye Storr a side comprising beginners to the sport.

The Skye squad was organised by Portree Active Schools Sarah Ross along with coach Angie MacGilvray who along with parents accompanied the teams to the festival.

Event organiser Paula Barlow from Ben Wyvis Primary School and Dingwall Academy was keen that more high schools get involved in the secondary age leagues as at present only three high schools across Highland compete.

Speaking to Radio Skye about the tournament, Skye hockey coach Angie MacGilvray said: “This is the first time that we have participated in the Ben Wyvis Hockey Festival and we were delighted to have two young teams representing Skye.

“There were 14 primary school teams from across the Highlands participating in the event at Dingwall, and for most of our players in was their first time competing at a tournament of this nature, they all did fantastically well.

“Our Skye Cuillin team came third in their league with some great play and really good goals and our young Skye Storr team showed great determination against very tough opposition in their league.

She added: “It was a fantastic experience for us all and it is great to be part of a Highland hockey community.

“Where are really grateful to Sarah Ross who supports our hockey activities through the Highlife Highland programme and we are looking forward to more game and tournaments in the future.”

Fort William to host Royal National Mòd in 2025

Fort William has today been announced been as the host for Royal National Mòd 2025

The Lochaber town has been selected as the venue for Gaeldom’s premiere event for the ninth.

The annual celebration of Gaelic language and culture will run from 10th to 18th October.

A total of 2,100 participants from across the world took part in a total of 200 competitions at the 2022 Royal National Mod held in Perth.

Around 7,500 people are estimated to have visited Perth for the festival and its thought to have contributed around £1 million to the local economy.

News by Adam Gordon.

You can listen to the latest local news for Skye and Lochalsh at the times below by clicking on the banner. 

Councillor Stewart’s damning assessment came as the Highland Council published it latest Town Centre Health Check report this week which ranked the Skye capital as the second to worst town in a list of 14 places assessed by the local authority last year.

Only Wick scored lower than the Skye capital which received a total score of 30 from 55 in the Highland Council’s Town Centre Health Check conducted in 2022.

Fourteen town centres, in addition to Inverness, which are in the Highland Council’s local development plans, were selected for health checks on the basis of either having populations greater than 3,000 people or for their importance in a local context

The town centre health checks reports are calculated use 11 indicators which consider accessibility, community, property, activities and the physical environment.

On scale from one to five – one being the lowest grade and five being the highest, Portree received a score of one, very poor, for pavements and streets, with potholes, cracks, uneven surfaces and weeds highlighted in the report.

It has also been graded poorly on parking, pedestrian friendliness, public transport, cycling facilities, links – all two out of five.

However, it was given four out of five for open space and green infrastructure, tourist appeal and its evening economy.

Radio Skye approached all four Skye and Raasay councillors for comment on the findings of the report.

Councillor Stewart said that while he was disappointed by the results, he believed that news “should not come as a surprise to islanders” and argued that Skye and Raasay have been “continuously short-changed by the Highland Council.”

The Conservative members went on to say: “We have consistently been overlooked when it comes to providing adequate funding and resources, our communities deserve better, and I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure that the needs and concerns of Skye are heard and those in the administration are held to account.

He contended that the report was “further proof if further proof is required that the Highland Council in its current form is not fit for purpose, and added: “I will continue to advocate for the break up for the Highland Council which is the only way to ensure a fair deal for our remote and rural communities.”

In its report, the Highland Council states that Portree is highly reliant upon the tourist industry, with one report indicating that visitors contributed over £211 million to the local economy, pre-pandemic.

However, fellow islands councillor, John Finlayson told Radio Skye that the report “reinforces the need for additionality to be directed to rural towns which clearly have different challenge to many others around the Moray Firth area.”

He said: “Despite the fact that Skye is Scotland’s second busiest visitor attraction and Scotland’s second biggest island, we do not get the investment that is needed, and the recent bad news in terms of the Portree harbour levelling pp bid, and also the distribution of cash to island authorities and none to Skye shows that there needs to be a change of thinking at all levels of government.

Councillor Drew Millar also expressed his disappointment at the report but was keen to commend the work being carried out by the Portree and Braes Community Trust around the Skye capital.

Picking up on his colleague Councillor Finlayson’s point, Mr Millar said that Portree harbour had lacked investment for many years and that it was a big blow that the bid to transform the asset had been rejected.

However, he said there was an opportunity to submit another bid, and added that the Highland Council had also pledged money for improvements to the harbour.

Addressing Councillor Stewart’s premised about the break up of the council, Councillor Millar said: “It is very well for some politicians to call for change, but they don’t have any substance in their claim that we are suffering.

“The Highland Council is a big local authority, and there is nothing to suggest that we would be better off out of it.”

Mr Finlayson concluded by saying that local members will look at the findings of this report and then make representation about what should happen next.

Fort William was credited as being the top Highland place of the 14 visited in the this week’s report,  receiving 50 marks out of 55.

In 2018, Portree finished bottom of the Highland towns assessed receiving a mark of just 26 out of 50.

Highland Council Town Health Check report

1. Fort William – 50/55
2. Alness – 45/55
3. Beauly – 45/55
4. Brora – 45/55
5. Nairn – 44/55
6. Dingwall – 42/55
7. Dornoch – 42/55
8. Thurso – 42/55
9. Golspie – 40/55
10. Ullapool – 38/55
11. Invergordon – 34/55
12. Tain – 34/55
13. Portree – 30/55
14. Wick – 29/55

Article by Adam Gordon.