Mixed response to bid for more community power in Caithness
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A "POWER to the people" rallying call made by a local MSP has been met with a mixed response from Caithness councillors.
Rob Gibson launched a public consultation early last week asking voters what they thought of taking certain decision-making responsibilities back from the Highland Council to Caithness.
He also accused the local authority of becoming "distant" from the Far North and said people in the county were "hungry for local control".
The Caithness Courier asked all the locally elected members of the council what they thought of such a move.
Six of the 10 councillors gave a response.
Opinions ranged from support to scepticism that devolved power would be the best thing for Caithness.
Wick’s Graeme Smith, a long-standing critic of the current setup, supported Mr Gibson in his consultation but expressed concern that the council is ruled by diktats from the Scottish Government.
Landward councillor David Flear, meanwhile, considered that a change would not be cost-effective and he worried that the consultation would raise false hopes of a return to a Caithness council.
His Landward colleague, Robert Coghill, described the consultation as "pub talk" and said it was up to the councillors to make the current system work for the county.
But Thurso councillor John Rosie said the loss of the area committee system had been a "disaster for Caithness".
Mr Gibson’s consultation, entitled "Small Works", asks locals if they think the authority for issues such as planning, culture and leisure, economic development, environmental management and licensing should be returned to community control.
The consultation could pave the way to a return, of sorts, to the setup that prevailed in the county previously.
Prior to the current Inverness-convened local authority there existed a Highland-wide council and area committees, which had a set amount of responsibility over certain issues.
Before that the local government setup involved Highland Regional Council and district councils.
The latter in Caithness had significantly more control over local decisions and financial matters in the county.
