HIE slashes community grant wards

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Peter Peacock has revealed that HIE are being forced to make massive cuts in the number of community projects they are able to support following the SNP government's attack on their budget. more

Power struggle at Western Isles Council

A power struggle at Western Isles Council sees vice-convenor Angus Campbell taking over as Leader which is the authority's most powerful political post.

Former council leaderAlex Macdonald has been ousted. He becomes the body's civic head for ceremonial duties more

Demand to kill invasion of geese

Councillors have called for an urgent cull of geese which are destroying crops in the Western Isles more

Western Isles schools

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is due to finally decide on site for a new secondary school in Stornoway. The preferred option is to build a new school beside the current Nicolson Institute. Other options include refurbishing the existing building or new builds at Goathill or by Lews Castle College.

The council also plans to progress on replacing the Balivanich school.

Call to establish weavers fund

Western Isles Council’s vice-convenor Angus Campbell has made a fresh plea to the Scottish Government to back a proposed Harris Tweed investment fund.

Power struggle at Western Isles Council

A power struggle could rear its head this week at Western Isles Council as the role of convenorship is debated

600,000 viewers for Gaelic TV channel

Over 600,000 viewers tuned in to the new Gaelic TV channel in its first week according to a survey.

The research, which was conducted with 1,032 adults interviewed in 43 constituencies found that 15% of the adult Scottish population – or 610,000 viewers – tuned in to watch new original programming.

Lewis interconnector energy cable

Plans to build a huge sub-sea interconnector cable to export electricity from giant wind farms on Lewis to the mainland have been officially lodged.

Study for new ferry for Stornoway

A new study will examine the need to replace the current vessels operating the ferry service between Stornoway and Ullapool.

Fight to save Stornoway black pudding

Labour Highland and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant has met with Stornoway butchers to discuss serious concerns over inferior copy cat products which are said to be harming the islands' trade in the quality foodstuff.

Birds decline despite Hedgehog cull

The killing and removal of hedgehogs from Uist and Benbecula has failed to stop its aim of protecting declining bird species according to a new report.

Primary schools under threat

Some Western Isles primary schools face the stark threat of closure with a warning that crunch decisions will have to be made in the near future.

Cuts in Harris Tweed jobs

The workforce at the Kenneth Mackenzie mill on Lewis will be slashed. The announcement comes just days after the plant went on a three-day week

Cheap ferry fares

Ferry fares are being cut by up to half on all Western Isles to mainland routes as the Road Equivalent Tariff scheme gets underway.

Prime Minister's U-turn over Gaelic petition

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has executed an U-turn after "banning" a petition for wider broadcasting of Gaelic TV.

Salmon factory job losses

130 jobs are under threat in the Western Isles as the islands' largest fish processing factory faces closure.

New Gaelic TV channel

A dedicated Gaelic TV channel commences its first broadcast at 9 pm tonight.

Whisky distillery on Lewis

The first legal distillery on Lewis has started production in Uig.

Askernish golf course opens

The redeveloped Old Tom Morris golf course at Askernish, South Uist opens this morning.

Lewis games cancelled

All Lewis amateur football matches were cancelled at the last minute tonight (Mon) due to the lack of availability of referees.

Match officials denied they had staged a strike

Stora Uibhist alleges delaying tactics

Western Isles Council and the Scottish Government has been accused of impeding a new ferry service for South Uist.

Sport centre woes

Western Isles Council may consider taking legal action over Ionad Spòrs Leòdhais which has been plagued by construction problems and has never been formally signed off.

Wind farm on Eishken estate gets planning permission

Western Isles Council has awarded planning permission for the £ 45 million Feiriosbhal scheme on the Eishken estate making it the only large energy scheme in the Hebrides to be approved.

Opposition to Shucksmith Report on crofting

Crofting activist Netta MacKenzie has launched a petition against the reforms advocated in the Shucksmith Report. The petition on the Scottish Parliament’s website calls for the rejection of the main proposals of the report.

Scottish Parliament dodges Sunday ferry issue

The Scottish Parliament’s transport committee has dodged the “sensitive” issue of Sunday ferries to Lewis. In its report on the future of ferry services MSPs said they recognised the strong opinions on both sides of the argument and said the issue was best left to the local community to resolve

“Laughing stock” council reopens school for pupils

“Laughing stock” council reopens school for pupils

“independent” witnesses get £ 20,000 costs - claim

Five “independent” witnesses at a crucial public inquiry into a multi-million pound wind farm are getting £ 20,000 costs paid by the developer to back his case it was claimed today.

Peat cutting revival

Islanders are beating fuel price rises by reverting to traditional peat cutting

Sunday ferry

The MV Isle of Lewis quietly broke the Sabbath when she sailed on a commercial voyage from Stornoway on Sunday.

Air ambulance leaves Barra cancer patient on wrong island

A seriously ill cancer patient has been stranded on the wrong island in the Western Isles by an air ambulance crew.

An air ambulance helicopter flew Archie Boyd to Benbecula instead of Barra on Friday morning after he received a session of radiotherapy treatment in a Glasgow hospital.

Giant wind farm hint

Strong words from Scottish energy minister Jim Mather that renewable energy schemes must not destroy the environment seems to hint that the controversial major wind farm on Lewis will not receive planning permission. News from the Western Isles

Hharmony with the environment

Island wind farms must be in harmony with the environment says Scottish energy minister Jim Mather. He announced a short-term study into researching a framework to exploit renewable energy and other economic projects for the future of the Outer Hebrides
Click here for more Western Isles news

Barra RNLI lifeboat on stamp

The heroic crew of the Barra RNLI lifeboat are honoured on a new first-class stamp issued by the Royal Mail.

More daily news from the Western Isles

Harris may become National Park

North Harris may become Scotland's third National Park. Its community landlord is consulting with islanders over the matter more

Click here for more updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Rescue helicopter lacked range for mission

The new Stornoway coastguard helicopter could not undertake a rescue mission on Wednesday because new fuel tanks have yet to be fitted to the Sikorsky S92.

Click here for more updated news from the Western Isles

Referees threaten to boycott island games

One Western Isles football fan has hit out at the stance taken by local referees against a Lochs player. They are apparently threatening to boycott Lochs games this season if one of its star players, is on the match list.

Click here for more updated news from the Western Isles

Harris whaling station energy scheme

An old hydro power scheme at a historic whaling station in the Western Isles could be rebuilt 50 years after it was last used. The small-scale energy project is being investigated by the community owners of North Harris. more

Updated news from the Western Isles

Western Isles NHS board fails deadline

Western Isles NHS board is unlikely to obey today's deadline to hand over a secret report which the Scottish Parliament wants as evidence for an inquiry into the health body.

However, the current bosses at the isles board have refused to release the document.

Last month, former chief excutive Dick Manson who now works as a NHS project director in Glasgow forgot that he had seen the dossier more

Meeting about secret health board report confirmed

A damning letter about a private meeting of Western Isles NHS board confirms that two top bosses had known about a secret report despite statements to the contrary to a Scottish Parliament inquiry.
Click here for more updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Scottish Parliament threatens Western Isles NHS over secret evidence

The Scottish Parliament is threatening to invoke special legal powers for the first time to legally force Western Isles NHS Board to hand over a controversial secret document.

The Parliament is conducting an inquiry into the long-running financial problems at the isles health body but has encountered problems in getting it to release what could be vital evidence. More

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Worl's newest salmon carrier ship runs aground

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

The newest and most modern salmon ship in the world went aground in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland at the weekend.

The well-boat was stuck fast on the ground on Eilean Garbh off Rona and is believed to be on charter to Marine Harvest. Only commissioned into service three months ago, she serves salmon farms in Norway and Scotland including the Western Isles and the west coast.

More local news from the Western Isles

Western Isles school damaged by fire

A Western Isles school has suffered damage in a blaze
A wing of Sir E Scott primary school in Harris was hit by fire on Saturday night.

Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Uist golf row goes to Land Court

The row over the Old Tom Morris golf course in the Hebrides has ended up in the Land Court.
A group of crofters have lodged a legal action against their own community landlord Stòras Uibhist,.
The golf course in South Uist in the Western Isles is laid out over common grazings.
Click here for updated daily local news from the Western Isles

Eishken wind farm inquiry starts

The public inquiry for a giant Lewis wind farm will start in two months in the Western Isles. A pre-inquiry meeting was held on Friday in Stornoway to discuss the terms, protocol and logistics. Developer Nick Oppenheim intends to build 53 turbines at Eishken in South Lochs.

Click here for updated local news from Hebrides News

Call for more morning light for Scotland

Western Isles SNP MP Angus Macneil says that Scotland should have extra daylight in the mornings. He warns that a proposed law could mean different time zones between Scotland and England.

Pubs served underage drinker before violent assault

An underage drinker was served in a number of pubs before he unleashed a violent attack on a stranger in the middle of Stornoway.

South Uist soldier awarded a top bravery honour

A courageous soldier from South Uist in the Western Isles has been awarded the country’s second highest military honour for his exceptional bravery in the face of intense danger in Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Campbell took on the Taliban and lived to tell the tale.

Striking coastguards picket Stornoway rescue centre

Only one watch assistant officer reported for work on Thursday morning dayshift at the busy Stornoway Coastguard rescue centre in the Western Isles which co-ordinates maritime emergencies in the Minch and Atlantic Ocean. Striking personnel picketed the MCA building.

Western Isles makes legal tagging history

In a legal first for the Western Isles, if not Scotland, an electronic signal will alert the authorities if an offender enters an exclusion zone.

Normally, tagging orders set by the courts stop people from leaving their home.

But now an electronic exclusion zone will be established around a house on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides to keep an offender out. The innovative order was made by Sheriff David Sutherland at Stornoway Sheriff Court.

Arnish order hits delay

A lucrative wind farm order for the Arnish renewable energy yard in Stornoway in the Western Isles has been delayed with the European developers hitting difficulties in securing a financial package. However, the Hebridean fabrication site is still due to manufacture the 49 towers for Turkey.

Islanders not invited to ferry summit

The Scottish Parliament has not invited representatives from Barra or South Uist to a summit it is holding about the future of ferry services in Oban despite these two islands being served from that port.

Axe falls on Western Isles post offices

Thirteen Western Isles post offices are to be axed under major cutbacks in the Post Office network.

Closures will hit Lewis with Harris and North Uist also taking hits. More branches will disappear in the hebrides than the other Scottish islands.

Naked surfers washed out by clergy

A high profile internet advert featuring naked surfers on Barra has been scrapped after they were spotted by an island priest.

Three male surfers spent last Wednesday shivering in the nude in bitter Hebridean February winds for a Vist Scotland promotion only to be roasted by the wrath of the local clergy.

Western Isles health boss forgot about secret report

The pair at the centre of a row over a probe into Western Isles NHS deny that they deliberately misled the Scottish Parliament's audit committee. Former health boss David Currie says he had forgotten about the report into a huge blunder made by accounting staff. Finance personnel failed to inform the board that it was around £280,000 worse off until it was too late. Bosses ordered the report to find out who was responsible but insisted that they had not seen the document.

Western Isles NHS to hand over secret report

The secret report at the centre of allegations that two former health chiefs "misled" the Scottish Parliament will be surrended.

MSPs probing the long-running losses and chaos at Western Isles NHS Board have asked the body to hand over the controversial document.

Western Isles health bosses "lied" to Scottish Parliament inquiry

Controversial former bosses at Western Isles NHS Board lied to a parliamentary inquiry looking into the body's financial chaos it is claimed.

Former chief executive Dick Manson and former chairman David Currie both insisted that they had never seen the so-called Cook Report which highlighted a list of chronic failings involving the body's finances and its finance team.

But it has emerged that they handed out copies of the document to health board members at a private meeting and discussed its contents.
Full story here

Western Isles best for marine energy

The sea off the Western Isles has the greatest potential to build the UK's first major offshore renewable energy schemes but more research is required says a new report. more

Colombia mourns Hebridean chef

President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia will attend the funeral of Stornoway's Kendon Macdonald Smith who died earlier this week. Former Colombian leaders Cesar Trujillo, Ernesto Pizano and Andres Arango will also pay their last respects to the Hebridean who became their nation's best-known celebrity chef.
Full story

Saw Doctors return to head Heb Celt Fest

The Saw Doctors will top the bill at this year's Hebridean Celtic Festival which takes place in Stornoway this summer.

The headline acts include Four Men and a Dog, Shooglenifty and top Scottish bagpipe stars, Red Hot Chilli Pipers. Also appearing are the award winning stars Seth Lakeman, Gaelic singing Julie Fowlis and there will be swing and bluegrass from America’s Hunger Mountain Boys who hail from Massachusetts and a UK debut for Belgian bagpipe outfit Griff.
More

Bayble school fight may go to Scottish Parliament

Full story: Bayble school fight may go to Scottish Parliament

Point parents are considering to take up their case to save Bayble school to the Scottish Parliament. Over 700 people have signed a petition opposed to Western Isles Council's decision to shut the secondary school. Supporters are meeting on Thursday to decided on their next course of action

Search for man after boat overturns

A search for a missing salmon farm worker on Lewis has been called off for the night.

A fish-farm vessel capsized with four people onboard. The other three managed to swim to safety but there was no sign of the older man.

Coastguard teams failed to find any trace of the man and the search was called off when darkness fell.

The alarm was raised around 4.20 pm with a 999 call to Stornoway coastguards.

The men were working near a fresh water hatchery which rears young salmon and is anchored in Loch na Creige Fraoich about a mile south of Soval Lodge by the main Stornoway to Harris road.

Stornoway rescue helicopter undertook aerial sweeps of the loch and three coastguard teams scoured the moorland area round the loch-side.

The helicopter and shore squads will resume the search tomorrow morning (Wednesday).

Western Isles cheap ferry fares scheme

The RET Western Isles cheap ferry fares scheme will be implemented on all sea routes between the hebrides and the mainland. The pilot study will last for 30 months.

Manson submits evidence to health board inquiry

Link to full story & Mr Manson's letter : Health board inquiry

Dick Manson the controversial former chief executive at troubled Western Isles NHS has submitted written evidence to the Parliamentary inquiry into the board's financial problems.

Western Isles health bosses give evidence to inquiry

Full story Manson and Currie to be examined by health probe

Two top bosses in charge at Western Isles Health Board during its controversial period of increasing losses and low staff morale will face a parlimentary probe on Wednesday.

The inquiry by the Scottish Parliament's audit committee - launched after three consecutive years of deficits - will take evidence from Dick Manson and David Currie.

St Kilda wreck to be salvaged

Link: St Kilda wreck to be salvaged

The stricken fishing boat stuck on rocks at St Kilda in the Western Isles will be recovered by Netherland-based salvage experts Mammoet.

The trawler is jammed and will required a heavy lift crane to removed her.

Mammoet was involved in the lifting of the sunken Russian nuclear submarine Krust from the seabed in 2001.

Salmon farmer admits damaging protected ground

Full story Western Isles salmon farmer admits damaging protected machair

Salmon farmer Lighthouse Caledonia has damaged environmentally protected machair at Reef beach in Uig on Lewis.

Cheap ferry fares to be revealed

Links:
Cheap ferry fares to be announced

Ret-what-is-to-be-announced

Details of a reduced ferry fares pilot scheme for the Western Isles is due to be officially revealed tomorrow (Tuesday). It is hoped that the Cal Mac ferry arrives in the port of Stornoway on time to provide the necessary photo opportunity backdrop for transport minister Stewart Stevenson. Core information of the RET pilot have been already leaked.

Hedgehog hunters wanted

Full story: Hedgehog hunters wanted

SNH are looking for hunters to trap live hedgehogs on Benbecula for relocating from the Western Isles to the Scottish mainland.

Turbine self destructs

Wind farm campaigners say a turbine which went haywire and exploded in high winds in Denmark on Thursday is an example of how dangerous these machines could be.

Eishken wind farm passed by Western Isles Council

Click here for full story

The decison by Western Isles Council to approve a large windfarm at Eishken, Lewis, is to be notified to the Scottish Government.

The same 13 turbines are to be scrutinised in a forthcoming public inquiry but the council insists that its decision is legal.

Western Isles pupil treated for TB

A senior pupil at a secondary school in the Hebrides has contracted TB.

The student in the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, Lewis, has now recovered from the infection.

Western Isles NHS will screen her fellow pupils for the disease from Monday.

Click here for full story

Two Western Isles schools to close

Western Isles Council has voted to close two rural secondary schools - the first of seven on a hit list.

At a meeting in Stornoway councillors agreed to shut Bayble School in Lewis and Daliburgh in South Uist in a cost-cutting exercise.

Another five rural secondary units plus certain primary schools across the Outer Hebrides also face the axe.

Click here for full story

Air Discount Scheme secured for three years

The Air Discount Scheme which offers lower air fares to the Western Isles and other Scottish islands has been saved with only two weeks before it was due to finish.

Full story here

Cheap ferry fares scheme leaked

Click here for full story
A new scheme for cheap ferry fares to the Western Isles is unlikely to be as attractive as hoped for it is claimed.

It has been leaked that the fares will be based on 60 pence per sea-mile rather than the 40 pence level requested by various groups including Western Isles Council and HIE.

Development agency supports giant wind farm

The directors of HIE Innse Gall, formerly Western Isles Enterprise are urging the Government to pass the controversial Lewis wind farm development on the Barvas moor.

The renewable energy developers say it would need 400 people to build the scheme and - if it is propely managed - the profits from the community benefit would create 150 jobs over 25 years.

EU Commissioner wants intelligent development on protected land

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas has made it clear that building on environmentally protected land like the Lewis Peatlands is allowed - provided it is carried out in a intelligent manner.

His comments comes as Comhairle nan Eilean Siar makes strong accusations that the designations on seem to be preventing any development on the islands' moorlands.

The Habitats Directive has resulted Lewis Windpower receiving a "minded to refuse" decision for its proposal to build a giant windfarm on the Lewis moor.

Cheap ferry fares for Hebrides

The Government will soon announce which Western Isles sea routes will participate in a trial cheap ferry fares scheme. The pilot RET study will examine the case for implementing the measure across all Scottish ferry routes. Island politicians are now urging the Government to run the pilot study on all sea links across the Minch this year which will allow all islands to beneift from the experiment.


More: Call for all islands to participate in cheap ferry fares trial

Go-ahead for delayed North Harris community wind farm

The small North Harris community wind farm finally gets official approval.

Progress on the three- turbine development at Monan, North Harris, was stalled after a public inquiry was ordered.

More:

Long delayed Harris wind farm eventually gets official approval

Rural is exciting


New internet ideas, renewable energy, and digital media is making rural communities an exciting places to be in the 21st century

Full story
Rural areas “full of promise”

Council criticised over its failure to help orphange children


Western Isles Council failed to undertake a prompt assessment of two young adopted Russian girls who have learning difficulties.

The family who relocated to Scalpay in 2005 are now moving to Moray where they say their children will receive more help.

Full story
Council criticised over its failure to help orphanage children