List of ward projects up to 2016 and onwards
This is a list in progress - it is not the full list and I will shortly be populating each heading with the full detail and timescales.
Thank you for your patience.
Maxine
Projects currently underway for the Cromarty Firth Ward by Councillor Maxine Smith
1 Tomich Junction – partners Scottish Govt, Transport Scotland, Transerve, Police, HC
2 Seabank Tank Farm decontamination and re-development, seeking funding (Circa £10millon) – partners, HIE, HC, ICC, Bannermans - this is moving forward.
3 Identifying uses for tank farm – partners HIE, HC, SG
4 Raising funds for the windfarm project – community, ICC, HC
5 Inchindown Community Windfarm – partners ICC, Wind Harvest, Community, ICC, Bannermans
6 Common Good Fund for Invergordon – partners ICC
7 Former Victoria Garage new Council housing scheme – partners HC
8 200-300 houses – mixed tenure for Davidson Farm – partners HC, Albyn HSCHT, Pat Munro
9 Expansion of the cruise industry experience in Invergordon to help High St shops – partners Port of Cromarty Firth, HIE, HC
10 Former Bone Mill – re-development opportunities are being investigated for community use, for younger children (playzone), teenagers and the elderly, as well as people in need – partners HC, Capstone and others to be identified. However the latest word is that this building has now been purchased by a local builder who will potentially turn it into flats. Whatever the use, better is it put into usage than left as it is. Any updates will follow.
11 Town Hall – refurbishment – partners HC, ICC
12 Renewing all bus shelters – partners HC
13 Christmas Lights – expansion, two tranches of new lights completed, working on uplighters for the top of High St – partners Festive Lighting, HC, ICC
14 Invergordon Environment Group – Chairman since 2006, continuing to fund, organise and erect and take down, as well as maintain and water High Street planters – partners HC, ICC, 15 IEG, Isobel Rhind Centre, plus volunteers. We also look after the concrete planters at Westwood.
16 Garnering support for flower competition entering to put town on map more (2017). Any volunteers to help water annually in the summer are welcome. This year the museum crew did it and received a donation for the museum.
17 Similar to above but supporting IORA with funding to continue the volunteering for the ground planters in the High St and the Natal Garden.
18 Maintaining town bowser and assisting with Invergordon’s community truck.
19 Working with ICC to identify uses for former skate boarding park.
20 Working with HC to address the social deprivation in the whole ward and poverty agenda, as well as re-training for the oil industry workers – partners HC, HIE
21 Toilets – taking over by community to avoid closure by HC due to budget cuts – ICC, HC. Currently (27/11/16) Highlife Highland are willing to run the cleaning contract and there are negotiations taking place to make this happen in April 2017.
22 Street sweeping and grounds maintenance – taking over the job from HC - partners ICC, HC
23 Painting every two years of High St benches – funding sought and carried out project – currently being painted a lovely burgundy; last year did same with parking posts, repainted all – partners HC, IEG
24 Every day activities are getting potholes filled, roads put into capital programme for re-surfacing, rubbish collections, dog poo collections and fly tipping, as well as installation of new bins for all refuse, weed killing, planning, licensing, deprived area funding, employability, play park maintenance, noise issues – service base and Balcas, banking issues, installation of new ATM, Invergordon’s website, encourage new business through it, schools issues ie new primary schools, and academy in Alness, and much much more.
25. Caberfeidh PlayPark - reinstate the vandalised equipment with a local firm and arrange for a parents' neighbourhood watch scheme to keep a vigil on the park for the future.
26. Fought off car park charging and metering for all the car parks in Alness, Invergordon and Evanton, with councillor colleagues across the ward.
27. Trying to get community warden/village officer in the towns for future litter collecting, doggy poo and issuing tickets if people park wrong on the High Street.
28. Successfully fought off incinerator (Combined Heat and Power) with partners such as Tina McCaffery etc. and colleagues from the Council. Still at Court but unlikely to ever happen due to lack of contract from Highland Council. May happen elsewhere in Highland however, but not Invergordon as it is an inappropriate site.
29. In 2007 secured funding from Scottish Water of £250,000 to put in a new wider pipe to support the flood waters and sewage which used to appear in peoples' houses on Clyde Street and make their lives a misery. It has worked and now there is no flooding and people can live their lives without this huge worry.
30. Saved Newmore Primary School from closure twice - 1992 and again in 1997.
31. Helped to secure funding from the Scottish Government and Highland Council to build a new Alness Academy, which will be built by 2020. Also securing funding to upgrade Invergordon Academy and create a brand new primary school on site, circa 2020 for this also.
32. As Convener of the Highland Licensing Board, had the casting vote in 2012 on the removal of the dreaded curfew in the Inverness nightclubs. I voted to remove it and since all has been well and nighttime revellers can go into clubs any time they like. The Board under my convenership also allowed late night opening on Sunday evenings into Mondays and allowed a 4am extension to all clubs for the festive period to bring the bars and clubs in line with everywhere else in Scotland.
33. Supported the extension to Invergordon leisure centre, making it a fantastic venue for those interested in sport, swimming and gym/training activities.
34. Working on a 20mph for the housing estates at South Lodge. Negotiating now (2016), consulting in 2017 and implementing in 2018. This is a statutory function not an advisory so not a 20's Plenty, it is a 20mph legal limit so people can be stopped and charged. This is to prevent speeders and boy/girl racers from running anyone over etc.
35. Getting Recycle bins in Saltburn (due to happen December 2016) and Inverbreakie.
36. As an unpaid Board member of the Gateway Highland Homeless Trust, supported them in purchasing the old Sutor Inn that was lying empty and up for sale. Now it has just had a new roof and is a smart building, used by the Trust, instead of just sitting there to rot.
37. As a Board unpaid member of Albyn Housing, have supported them to build many houses in Invergordon and Dalmore, Alness. This wil continue into the coming years.
