Latest News
Council saving blog set to close
08/09/2010 12:08:00
ORKNEY Islands Council's Tough Times - Tough Choices blog will close for comment on September 17.
The blog, which has attracted 140 responses so far, gives people the chance to have their say on ways for the council to achieve major savings over the next three years as it prepares for funding cuts.
Hoy Hopper timetable change
07/09/2010 17:03:00
The Hoy Head has had major engine problems and therefore will need to be replaced by the Thorsvoe.
The Hoy Hopper timetable will change in line with the Hoy Head timetable. Passengers leaving Kirkwall Travel Centre will need to get on the Service bus number 2 at 9:20am, which connects with the ferry at Houton leaving at 10:15am and arriving in Lyness at 10:50am.
On Hoy, the bus will leave Longhope at 9:30am and arrive at Moaness at 10:10am to meet ferry heading to Graemsay. The bus will leave Moaness at 10.10am (ie it will not be able to wait for the ferry arriving at 10.30am) arriving in Lyness at 10:40am to meet the ferry coming in from Houton.
The timetable will continue as scheduled returning to Lyness at 15:05pm. The bus will not return to Moaness in the afternoon. Passengers can visit the Lyness museum and/or cemetery before catching the 16:40pm ferry back connecting with the 17:35pm bus from Houton to Kirkwall.
The cost of the Hoy Hopper has been reduced to £15 to compensate for the shorter day on Hoy.
U-turn on ferry cuts
07/09/2010 10:33:00
THE Scottish Government will be making no cutbacks in the NorthLink ferry service this financial year, with both council's in Orkney and Shetland also optimistic that the same will apply next year.
Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council issued a joint statement following a meeting with the Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson which took place on the issue in Edinburgh on Monday.
Science festival continues
06/09/2010 10:45:00
THE 20th Orkney International Science Festival continues this week.
The seven-day festival - which features speakers from around the world - opened on Thursday. Pushing back the
boundaries will be a theme of this year's festival, which highlights
the role of science as exploration of the unknown.
Further details and reviews of the festival will be in Orkney Today on Thursday.
Lifeboat rescues Stromness yacht
06/09/2010 10:42:00
STROMNESS Lifeboat was launched on Sunday to go to the aid of the local yacht Valhalla, which suffered machinery failure near Houton in Scapa Flow.
Deerness water now safe to drink
03/09/2010 16:12:00
THE apparent water quality problem in the supply to parts of Deerness
and the surrounding area on the Orkney mainland has now been resolved,
Scottish Water has reported.
Testing of the water in the previously affected area has confirmed that
it is safe to drink and customers no longer need to boil their water.
The provisional result from Thursday has not been confirmed by Friday's
test.
Covingtrie House wins design award
03/09/2010 12:17:00
A converted seed store in Kirkwall and a modern rural house with
spectacular views of Shetland's Bay of Skellister have been named the
winners of the Inverness Architectural Association (IAA) Design Awards
for Orkney and Shetland.
Kirkwall-based chartered architect Leslie Burgher won the 'new life for
old' category for converting the late 19th century store building in
the centre of the car park next to the Albert Hotel into a comfortable
and practical office building, named Covingtrie House, for Clark
Thomson Insurance Brokers.
Dounby pharmacy to go ahead
03/09/2010 11:52:00
NORSEPHARM Ltd have been given the go ahead to open a pharmacy at
Vetquoy Road in Dounby. NHS Orkney announced yesterday, Thursday, that
the National Appeals Panel of the Scottish health Service has upheld the
appeal lodged by the company, which reverses the position taken
earlier this year by the Orkney Pharmacy Practices Committee.
The panel took the view that the provision of new pharmaceutical
services was necessary to ensure adequate provision of services in the
neighbourhood.
NHS Orkney is now negotiating a contract with Norsepharm Ltd and the pharmacy is expected to open in the next few months.
Theft from J W Gray's
03/09/2010 11:09:00
A PAIR of steel forklift fork extensions have been taken from J W
Gray's yard at Crowness Crescent in Hatston industrial estate, Kirkwall, sometime between noon on Saturday, August 28, and 7am on Wednesday. The extensions are painted black and about eight feet in length.
Kirkwall Police would like to hear from anyone who may know anything about who stole these items or where they may be, Tel: 872241.
Stromness crossing to remain closed
03/09/2010 11:01:00
The school crossing patrol on Ferry Road in Stromness is currently
closed and will be also be closed next week starting Monday, September
6.
This is due to a shortage of relief school crossing patrol officers in
Stromness, a situation that the council is currently trying to address.