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7th September  2007

Shooting Champion

Alex Morrison a local clay pidgin shooting enthusiast has won the Scottish North Area clay pigeon Championships. Alex was first in eighty competitors form north of Fort William and Inverness. The event was held at Loch Ness last Saturday and congratulations to Alex. Alex is in the process of re-establishing a shooting club in Durness and if anyone is interested they should contact him 511265

Community Council

William Sutherland manger of Sutherland Partnership gave a presentation to the community council at the recent meeting. Mr Sutherland gave a detailed illustrated talk which covered his role, the objectives of the partnership and the activities that the partnership is involved in. A further in depth dialogue materialised regarding the North West Highland Geopark which is administered through the Sutherland Partnership and is one of 23 partners in the European Geopark Network. Globally there are 35 Geoparks - all endorsed by UNESCO. NWHG, the first in Scotland, are all driven by local communities seeking to celebrate their geological heritage and achieve sustainable development. Last weekend the Geopark and its structures were under strict scrutiny for the revalidation weekend when to ensure the status can be kept certain standards in a range of areas has to met and maintained. The inspectors were in Durness where they were given outlines of current plans especially in connection with upgrading of the Tourist Information Centre and future strategies for community involvement. The first draft of the consultation study has been received from Rowantree consulting and this is the basis for the steering group meeting to discuss the final report. Between the 14 and 19 September the 7th European Geopark Conference will be held in the Macphail Centre in Ullapool with several opportunities for delegates to visit areas of the Geopark. On Saturday 19 a community action day is being held in Durness.
Improved interpretation is to be carried out at Smoo and input from the community is required for the Highland council to develop more appropriate displays. It was agreed that any formal opening of the bridge should wait until all the improvements at Smoo are complete.
The community council was notified of the cancellation of the “Rave in the Cave” event that was being planned for the John Lennon festival at the end of September. Although this is regrettable there will still be over 80 events occurring over the festival weekend and a diverse selection to cater for all tastes.
Updates on Development Group projects were given. An outline update was given on the renewable energy scheme although this was progressing there were still gaps in the information to be able to make informed decisions. The research and compilation of all the relevant information is underway. The Ceannabeinne scheme for interpretation is progressing well and those wishing to be involved in the drama are invited to the hall 3pm on Sunday 9 to help recreate the scenes to the local story leading to the Durness Riots.
The approved minutes of the Community council are displayed and available locally. The Durness Community Council meetings are held the first Monday of the month.