Next stage of £750,000 project to make parts of Caithness more sustainable set to be launched

THE next phase of a £750,000 project to make parts of Caithness more sustainable is set to be launched next week.

Meetings are being held at the UHI North Highland campus and at the Drill Hall in Castletown as part of the Caithness Challenge initiative which aims to breathe new life into local spaces. Initial findings and conclusions from the events will be used for other areas across the county.

The scheme is the latest stage of the Place-based Demonstrator project, which is backed by Scottish Government funding with the aim to help make communities in the far north more resilient.

The project is covering the whole of Caithness and initially focused on sites in Thurso, Castletown, Wick and Lybster. They were identified as suitable spaces which could be re-used for community benefit such as the co-location of services or to provide new or additional education and skills support, health, social care and other well-being services.

A series of public drop-in sessions were held in February at all four sites and following feedback from them, the partner organisations, including The Highland Council, NHS Highland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, University of the Highlands and Islands, the Scottish Futures Trust and Hub North Scotland, decided to launch the next stage with a preliminary focus on the first two sites.

Fraser Innes, place and partnership director at Hub North Scotland, which is facilitating the project, said the launch of the Caithness Challenge was a key moment in helping local communities make their spaces work better for all.

He added: "We had very good feedback from the drop-in sessions but we now need to take this initiative to the next step to give the communities a direct say in the future of these important spaces. We want residents of all age groups to come to these launch events and tell us their ideas and what they need to be able to live well locally and be a part of that discussion."

Leader of The Highland Council, councillor Raymond Bremner, who also represents the Wick and East Caithness ward, said: "The launch of the Caithness Challenge is a crucial step towards the success of this project. Although these two events are initially centred on Thurso and Castletown, what we learn from them will be used across the whole of Caithness to help improve the future use of other community spaces and give everyone the opportunity to live well locally."

The initial two launch events are on Wednesday 6 September from 5.30pm-8pm at the UHI Campus in Thurso and on Thursday 7 September from 5.30pm-8pm at the Castletown Drill Hall which remains open during current repair works. Those wanting to take part can register at the Caithness Challenge link although people can just pop along on the night.

The Caithness Challenge will run from 6 September until 22 November with an opportunity for a midway review and a final event to look at progress. There will also be regular on-line meetings during that period.

For further information, contact Ross Kirkwood at Hub North Scotland on ross.kirkwood@hubnorthscotland.co.uk or Rose Minshall on rose.minshall@innovationunit.org

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