East Sutherland projects nearing completion
The Highland Council’s new flagship office complex in East Sutherland is on target to open soon following a £3.5 million redevelopment. Drummuie, a listed building on the southern outskirts of Golspie, has undergone a total refurbishment to provide modern office accommodation for 130 administrative and professional staff from a number of Council Services and work is now almost complete.
Earlier this week, the Council’s Convener Sandy Park, Vice-Convener Jean Urquhart and Chief Executive Alistair Dodds were joined by the three ward members for East Sutherland and Edderton – Ian Ross, Deirdre Mackay and Jim McGillivray – in visiting Drummuie, which was built in 1903 and most recently was a technical wing of Golspie High School.
Councillor Park said: “I am so impressed with the way this magnificent landmark building has been brought back into life. It looks so impressive from the A 9 and I am sure our staff will enjoy working in such splendid surroundings. It represents a major commitment to the area by the Council and by bringing the majority of our staff in the area into the one office, we can significantly improve our service to the public and at the same time be more efficient.”
The refurbishment has been carried out by Morrison Construction.
A new access from the A 9 has been provided to Drummuie, which provides a link to the Kilbruar wind farm development and opens up land for affordable housing.
Earlier, the delegation was updated on progress on the £1.2 million redevelopment of Sutherland Swimming Pool at Golspie. Morrison Construction are due to hand the building over to the Council on 9 May and it should be back in public use by the end of May.
The pool closed in July 2006 when structural faults were detected in the 35-year-old building. The new facility will feature a fully refurbished 25-metre swimming pool, new sauna and steam room and a fitness room providing a range of state-of-the-art equipment.
Councillor Park said: “We appreciate that users of this community asset have been frustrated at the closure of the pool since July 2006. The contractors are making good progress and that the public will be able to use this greatly enhanced facility by the end of May.”
A third visit in Golspie was to the base of Golspie Recycling and Environmental Network, which employs 17 staff, delivering a range of training, environmental and recycling services, including kerbside collections around East Sutherland.
The Council delegation began their visit to the area by attending the East Sutherland and Edderton Ward Forum at Rogart on Monday night.
On Tuesday, the Council party was shown developments at Grannie’s Heilan’ Hame, Embo, where Councillor Jim McGillivray highlighted the need for upgrading on the single track from Dornoch to Embo.
At Helmsdale, representatives of the local community advised the party of the challenges confronting the community and in particular their concern at the loss of the village’s petrol filling station.
The active local community expressed their satisfaction that £1 million had been spent on the Council’s harbour through refurbishment of the east and west piers and the installation of an extended area of pontoons for leisure craft.
A new community minibus, managed by the local community council, was proving a big success.
At Helmsdale Primary School, the Convener presented a cheque of £1,000 from the Local Action Fund to the Helmsdale Youth Project to buy equipment for a former arts room, which has been renovated at a cost of £33,000 thanks to funding from the Rural Service Priority Area and from the Council. Further fund raising is progressing to renovate another unoccupied room within the school building.
At Brora, the Council group visited Brora Community Learning Centre and met community business leaders and partner agencies over lunch at the Marine Hotel.
The final meeting was to receive a briefing in Dornoch on plans to create a Regional Woodland Park in East Sutherland.
Councillor Park said: “There are so many exciting things happening in East Sutherland and it was clear that our three ward members and ward manager, Phil Tomalin, are working very closely with local communities to ensure local aspirations are met and projects delivered.”