Public meetings on the provision of bus services in Sutherland

Highland Council is providing members of the public the opportunity to express their views on the current bus service provision in Sutherland at public meetings, and to discuss how it may be altered to reflect future needs.

While the Council will seek to continue to provide good quality transport services for Sutherland, the need to reduce spending means that there is a need to think about the transport priorities for the area and local public opinion on this is vital.

Specific questionnaires have been developed to gather the views of the key groups and are accessible online:

• For the general public at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TransportProgrammePublic
• For community and representative groups and community councils at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TransportProgrammeCommunity
• For current and prospective suppliers at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TransportProgrammeSupplier

The public questionnaire is also available through Council Service Point and Library facilities in Sutherland. The closing date for all responses is Monday 30 March 2015.

Two meetings have still to be held at:

• Fountain Road Hall, Golspie, 7-9pm on 24 March; and
• Bettyhill Village Hall, 1pm – 3pm on 27 March.

Two public meetings have already been held on 17 March at Durness Village Hall and at the Assynt Centre, Lochinver.

A suppliers briefing events was held on 12 March and another ‘How to Tender’ workshop is due to be held at Lairg Community Centre, 10am – 1pm on 23 April.  Potential suppliers wishing to register for this workshop should contact:  procurement.unit1@highland.gov.uk  or phone 01463 785157.

The consultation is part of Highland Council’s examination of expenditure across its entire operation to balance its finances over the next four years.