Wick Town Council debated installing ‘running water and lavatory accommodation’ in houses
Homes upgrade too costly
From the Groat of December 5, 1924
A resolution by Wick Town Council that running water and lavatory accommodation be installed into houses in Louisburgh and Matheson’s Court in Wick had been met with opposition from the properties’ owners.
The unsanitary state of homes in the area had previously been highlighted by the councillors who had wanted to see improvements made.
But in a letter to the council, solicitor DW Georgeson explained that the Hempriggs trustees “did not consider that they would be justified in incurring the expense on these old properties”, and in fact had decided to notify their 15 tenants “that their tenancy would terminate at Whitsunday next”.
That prompted Councillor Cook to ask: “Where in the world are the people to go? They will be absolutely homeless.”
Dean of Guild Davidson said it was “absurd to expect proprietors to make additions costing big sums when they got only small rentals of about £3”.
Councillor McGhan said he had made enquiries and some of the properties were so small that it would be “impossible to expect water and lavatory accommodation to be provided”. However, he warned that forced evictions would encounter “the stiffest opposition”.
It was agreed that the water and drainage committee hold talks with the Hempriggs Estate trustees to find out if any improvements could be made to the properties.
Provost Green said that the council did not want to put the trustees to unreasonable expense “but they are the greatest sinners on the Wick side of the river”.
Facing an ‘educational Dunkirk’
From the Groat of December 6, 1974
It was reported that Caithness Education Committee had met in Wick “in an atmosphere of despair and facing a situation which resembles, if anything, an educational Dunkirk”.
The story continued: “Indeed, such is the demoralisation of members, trying as they are to cope with unprecedented local and national educational problems, that a suggestion from chairman Tom Pollok that the committee resign en bloc was only narrowly avoided.”
In the row over teachers’ pay, the local education committee members had offered their teaching staff an interim payment of £250, £150 more than the sum suggested by Scottish Secretary Willie Ross. This had not been accepted, although the offer remained open to individual teachers should they wish to take it, committee members heard.
One of the reasons for turning down the offer was the “morally embarrassing position” the teachers would find themselves in if they took the money and were then called out on strike.
Mr Pollok said one of the options open to the committee was to resign in protest and he suggested the committee should seriously consider this if the government had done nothing to ease the situation by January.
Councillor George Bruce agreed and stated that “if Willie Ross thinks he can run Scottish education on a shoestring we should quit and let him get on with it”.
Crumbling road bad for business
From the Groat of December 10, 1999
Caithness businesses “could well suffer through neglect of a stretch of main road whose foundations are fast crumbling away”, it was reported.
No funding had been committed to replacing the section at Killimster Moss on the B876 between Wick and Castletown, and roads officials were warning that a weight restriction for vehicles might have to be imposed.
Local business leaders were horrified at the prospect of a restriction as it would mean many firms facing inconvenient and expensive detours.
The 70-year-old concrete slab road, which had been built over blanket peat bog, was well past its sell-by date. And the base was so badly broken up that Highland Council roads officials had accepted it was beyond repair.
Peter Body, who ran local company Norscot, claimed restrictions would be bad news for Caithness firms. He said the move would “place an intolerable burden on many local businesses”.
Meanwhile, members of Caithness Presbytery of the Church of Scotland were to seek meetings with representatives of the congregations of two Wick churches amid concerns about possible amalgamation. The issue had arisen following the news that the Rev Stewart Frizzell was to retire from Wick Old Parish Church.
Presbytery wanted to appoint a replacement but officials at Kirk headquarters were understood to want to explore amalgamating Wick Old Parish with Bridge Street Church.