Rural Inverness Communities Convention

Councillor Margaret Davidson, Leader of the Highland Council, will open the annual Convention for Rural Inverness Communities at the Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit on Wednesday 1st November at 5pm with a rallying call to communities to do more and better for themselves, because they can.

The two key themes are Tourism and Broadband. Communities are already delivering broadband for themselves – up to 50 MBs – across the rural areas of the Highlands and are ahead of the national providers in many parts.
Local Ward members commented on the event.

Councillor Davidson said, “Tourism and broadband, or the lack of it, are two of the most significant factors impacting on rural communities in Highland. There are very real benefits in developing both. The annual convention is an opportunity to get together with like-minded people to influence future service delivery and, in particular, to have your say about the Council’s plans for the area.”

Councillor Helen Carmichael, Provost of the City of Inverness and Leader of the City of Inverness and Area agreed and said, “Come along and have your say. We are interested in hearing about the experience of local communities and businesses of tourism and about what is needed from broadband providers to improve connectivity in the rural areas around Loch Ness."

Councillor Emma Knox said, “A significant proportion of my constituency correspondence relates to tourism and broadband issues. This is a great forum for local people to share their expertise and knowledge to identify imaginative and effective solutions that work for our rural communities and businesses.”

Councillor George Cruikshank said, “This is a great opportunity for local people and businesses to get together to share ideas and to develop new ideas for improving connectivity and the tourism offering.”
Keynote speakers will be Graeme Ambrose from Visit Inverness Loch Ness, the local tourism BID, who will discuss the key factors impacting on tourism in the Loch Ness area and Duncan Nisbet from the Scottish Government who will update delegates on the next steps for the rollout of superfast broadband.

They will be supported by local business people, Morag Cameron from Foyers and Willie Cameron from Cobbs Group talking about their own business models.

The speakers on broadband are from MonsterNet; Connected.LochNess; and Cromarty Firth Wireless Network – all broadband providers around Loch Ness with experience of delivering superfast broadband to remote individual homes.

This is an open event for anyone interested in tourism or broadband so please come along to discuss how these themes can be improved for the benefit of local people and businesses.