After extensive research, a new book, which is modules 6 and 7 of the course, How to become a Green Advisor, will include the economic and environmental truth behind the Sutherland Space Hub.
The truth about the Sutherland Space Hub
Highland Council
Do not want to have good facilities for walkers
Economics classes
Highland Clearances
We love Rob Gibson… he helped out many times, so we are proud to promote his book here.
Praise from Lincolnshire
“I would personally support any extension of the North Highland Way. Any provision of better hiking, cycling and horse riding on a dedicated trail is to be welcomed. It is an ambitious undertaking but none the less deserving because of that fact. Even the provision of distinct sections towards a larger trail would be welcome. There are definitely sections of Lincolnshire that would benefit from this project.” so says Pat O’Connor.
Focus North
The Focus North Conference took place last week (28 March 2024).. It looked like a good event. This journalist was up to her knees in bog at the time out and about collecting evidence of lack of biodiversity monitoring. Did you know that the UK POMS only have four squares in Caithness, two of them taken and the other two not good… one inaccessible, and the other is arable.
The Conference focussed on the big picture, while climate change was hardly mentioned at all. Offsetting the effect of the Peatlands against the Sutherland Space Hub is an interesting question, and is being posed to our academic partners.
There was not a word about climate change and The Highland Council area is still slipping in its targets.
https://focusnorth.scot/conference-2024
My next job is to find a study which would highlight the carbon offset of the Peatlands against the Sutherland Space Hub.
It is an interesting question…. Meanwhile, our environmental news is published here… and will, hopefully, soon be available in Tesco stores.. fingers crossed.
Meanwhile Friends of the North Highland Way gets even more traction further south.
“We’ve been sold a false economy”
This was the cry in the John o Groats Journal this week (March 29 – 2 April 2024). Not so, says this ex project manager from financial services, and well known for her views on the lack of drive for sustainability, either economic or environmental, in the North of Scotland. Money has been wasted on projects such as the Sutherland Space Hub, on the Thurso Development Trust (the Socially Growing premises are, it would, appear, being cleared out.) There is not, and never has been, in Caithness, the notion of sustainability. Take Venture North for example. They do great work and at least they do work thanks to the direction of board members such as Andrew MacKay from the Caithness Collection. However, the group is still propped up by funding from Dounreay. Now we have Focus North propped up by funding from the NDA. These groups have no project focus on income, simply expenditure and lots of talking. For the developer of the North Highland Way, she has no time for talking shops. She attended meetings for many years and now there is no benefit. She can find out what she needs to know by Freedom of Information requests.
Meanwhile, she spreads her wings further south through Moray, Aberdeenshire and even to leafy Lincolnshire, where two local MPS have pledged their support for the Lincolnshire coast to be linked with the North Highland Way. A long shot, but they think it is worth a try. It would appear that people from Lincolnshire have vision. Mrs. Thatcher certainly did. Love her or hate her, she made an impact.
You can read more about it in Environmental News.. progress on the North Highland Way project, agricultural research and much more.
Orca Watch
The excitement is building for Orca Watch
The theme of the Highland Clearances continues
This week in the John o Groats Journal, there were two articles of interest. More passengers are needed for the PSO. Friends of the North Highland Way can fix that, and have approached the airline direct. As Friends of the North Highland Way is administered from Lincolnshire now, and Eastern Airways are in Humberside, it will be interesting to get their response.
The second article was about another extension to the Dounreay decommissioning. This journalist heard on the grapevine that the Scottish Government wanted it closed down. Quite right too when they won’t help the community. Now we have our own visitor management system, so we will see what that brings. VisitScotland will be delighted.
Not only have we solved that, but also the problem of losing the John o Groats ferry. You will need to be a Friend of the North Highland Way to find out how.
Peatlands the Code
https://www.academia.edu/26542949/Peatland_Code_Research_Project_Final_Report?email_work_card=view-paper. Does the Peatlands Project follow the code? This journalist does not propose looking into this. She has moved on to pastures new.
The North Highland Way continues to thrive, and is forming an alliance with Environmental Rights Scotland and several local community groups.
Scotland is not the UK
As the general elections are imminent, this journalist thought she would have a look at this subject again. While England and Wales are not doing well on their climate change targets either, Scotland ‘s targets will definitely not be met, and are played down again. While those with the expertise are kept out of the market, and register their businesses in England, including Orbex, the Scottish purse dimininishes as well.
Never mind, the North Highland Way project is doing very well, thank you. How we measure our carbon footprint will be in the forthcoming book to be published on Amazon at the end of 2024.
Route to NetZero
It is well over a year ago now that Highland Adapts agreed that” Can the North Highland Area reach Net Zero and still meet economic demands?” would be a good study for us to do. Since then input to their system is interesting, but non revenue earning, so not too much time can be spent on it. It is now April 2024, and one book has been published already, as a starting point, and we continue to look at projects such as the excellent one at the Wick Campsite which will do wonders for the town in the long term. At the Campsite itself, the transformation is just incredible, and with solar installations and ground source heatpumps, electric hook ups and charging point, waste management as well as great walking routes around the site, it is a fantastic project for the area, and they are well on the way to being self sustaining.
Edinburgh University has just launched its project specification: “Landscape-scale collaboration to benefit biodiversity and climate
change outcomes – stakeholder engagement” The need for this research
ClimateXChange (CXC) wishes to commission stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange research on collaborative landscape-scale practices and their potential to deliver positive outcomes
in response to the climate and biodiversity emergencies in Scotland. This fits with our own biodiversity project and the work we did on Just Transition in 2023.
You can see our environmental news here.
The Highland Council
For as long as this journalist can remember, the people of Caithness wanted to go back to local councils. However, with constituency boundaries being changed yet again and everything being centralised further, it is highly unlikely. Speaking with a friend, we talked about the Greater London Council who got out of control with spending, and were broken up. Is now the time to break up The Highland Council. With MSPs being thrown out of public meetings, and inward investors being threatened with violence, albeit not physical (yet) perhaps it is time. Especially as this particular journalist does not concede to being bullied, as Cllr Rosie found out. It is of course, all about money as it is in Northern Ireland. They are fast finding out that this journalist will face anyone down, even PSNI, who are in the courts in London.
So where shall we go where it is civilised – Lincolnshire perhaps.
No commitment to Climate Change
We have been busy looking at the big picture again, and note that neither EventScotland or The Highland Council even know what climate change is. EventScotland refused to assist with a Climate Change event and The Highland Council are slipping in their targets.
Brough Bay 