Royal Opening of Kintail House, Kyle
Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal, today (Tuesday) officially opened Kintail House, Kyle – new premises of The Highland Council situated in the centre of the village, which bring together under one roof all Council functions delivering services to the Lochalsh area.
The new premises, which feature a library, registration office and Service Point, have helped to bring more people to the village centre, benefiting local shops and businesses.
Councillor Jean Urquhart, Vice-Convener, said: “The public now have an accessible, centrally-located facility where they can conduct their business with the Council. At the same time, staff have a better working environment in purpose built offices.”
The Service Point provides access to all Council Services where customers can get information, request assistance, report faults or pay accounts. Service Point staff also register births, deaths and marriages.
The new office provides a base for the local housing services – tenant liaison, allocations, maintenance and repairs, rent and Council Tax reviews ownership, selling serviced plots, land banking potential development sites, etc.
It is also home to the library, which hosts a public access computer. Since relocating to the main street, the number of borrowers using the facility and the number of books issued have both increased.
The work was carried out for the Council by William Gray, Contractors, Inverness.
The Princess Royal later visited Plockton High School, where she was welcomed by school pipers before watching a shinty match on the new all weather pitch. She was shown a new environmental feature created by additional support needs pupils and a herb garden used by home economics pupils. At a full school assembly, she was treated to a song from a recent drama/musical put on by additional support needs pupils and was presented with a quaich and a presentation caman by Jamie Bliss, Head boy, and Fiona Deans, head girl.
Her visit concluded with a tour of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music, conducted by Director Dougie Pincock.
Duncan Ferguson, School Rector, said: “It was an historic occasion for Plockton High, a truly comprehensive West Highland high school, to showcase aspects of the broad curriculum, sport and culture; its residence for pupils from the outlying areas; and the work of the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music.”
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