Archive News

Following completion of work on Tenston road in Sandwick today, crews will be moving to Nistaben Road in Harray tomorrow (Tuesday 1 June). This is a minor, dead end road and crews will be dressing the entire length of the road.

Following completion of work on the Georth Road in Evie today (Friday 28 May), surface dressing will take place on Monday 31 May on the Tenston road in Sandwick.

Council Leader James Stockan is encouraging people in Orkney to respond to an Island Impact Assessment on the importance of young folk receiving free ferry travel in line with a new Scottish Government concessionary bus scheme.

St Margaret’s Hope Recycling Centre returns to summer opening hours on Monday (May 31).

Following completion of the surface dressing road works at Arwick Road in Evie (27 May), the Council is advising crews will move onto Georth Road in Evie tomorrow (28 May). This is a dead end minor road.

Bairns from the Glaitness Nursery in Kirkwall enchanted Orkney’s Royal visitors - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - during a chance encounter on Tuesday.

Orkney Islands Council is advising St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall will be closed to the public from 7 – 10 June (inclusive) to allow filming and recording for this year’s St Magnus International Festival.

The deadline date for submission of comments to the Scottish Government on proposed plans for a six turbine, council-owned wind farm at Wee Fea in Lyness is fast approaching.

Following completion of the surface dressing road works at Puldrite Road in Rendall today (26 May), the Council is advising crews will move onto Arwick Road in Evie tomorrow (27 May). This is a dead end minor road.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are not the only Royalty expected to visit Orkney this week.

The visit to Orkney by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been warmly welcomed by the county’s Lord Lieutenant and the Leader of Orkney Islands Council.

Orkney fares better than 22 of the 32 local authority areas across Scotland – when it comes to rising levels of child poverty – but there is no room for complacency.

A new electricity transmission link between Orkney and the Scottish Mainland could be worth at least £371 million to the Orkney economy, according to a recently commissioned study into the potential value of the cable.

Following completion of the surface dressing road works at Holland Road in Firth today (25 May), the Council is advising crews will move onto Puldrite Road in Rendall and Arwick Road in Evie.

Orkney Islands Council is proud of its workforce – many of whom will be your friends, neighbours or relatives - with over a quarter of Orkney’s working population employed with the local authority.

A planning application has been submitted to the Council for a development to transform an area of green space at Papdale into a community park for all ages and abilities.

Orkney Islands Council is advising of revised plans for surface dressing road works for the coming days, after recent delays to previously publicised schedules due to weather.

Want to help Kirkwall Grammar School S2 pupils change the world and make it a better place? They're appealing for donations of educational materials and tech and money to help reduce poverty and inequality for counterparts in schools in Pakistan and Nepal, as part of the global Connecting Classrooms project.

Orkney Islands Council, in partnership with Greener Orkney, is supporting Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Summer Clean for 2021.

Orkney Islands Council is advising that, due to weather forecasts, surface dressing road works planned for today (21 May) at Holland Road in Firth have been postponed until warmer, drier weather returns to the county.

Plans for the Council’s Roads team to carry out surface dressing tomorrow (Friday 21 May) on Holland Road in Firth are postponed due to weather conditions.

While not wishing to focus on himself, Edmund Holt was instrumental in laying the foundations – alongside Alistair Bain – for what is now widely recognised as one of Orkney’s Education Service success stories – and now almost 50 years later the Orkney Instrumental Music Service is still going strong.

Chris Giles – Principal Teacher of Expressive Arts from 2008- 2013.

Penny Aberdein shares some thoughts and memories from her time with the Orkney Instrumental Music Service from 1998-2008.

In May the Pickaquoy Centre is normally alive with the sound of music, when over 200 young musicians from across Orkney’s schools come together for the Instrumental Music Service’s annual music course. Due to Covid-19, the course has been cancelled for a second year running.

Councillors at today’s Policy and Resources committee backed recommendations for a ‘first hour free’ approach at Council car parks across Kirkwall and Stromness for the summer period, starting from July 1.

Issued on behalf of the Northern Alliance.

The pandemic has required every aspect of our working lives to adapt to more challenging circumstances and regional improvement collaboratives set up to support education and children’s services teams across Scotland are no exception.

Passengers on Orkney Ferries could see fares reduced by 38% in June, if proposals for a new fares structure are approved by Orkney Islands Council.

Orkney’s special friendship with Norway was celebrated on Monday 17 May – Norwegian Constitution Day.

We are delighted to be able to celebrate the success of some of our exceptional young Scientists here at KGS.

Projects to encourage walking, cycling and wheeling as an attractive first choice for travel in Orkney are set for a boost with the help of a new Sustrans Officer who will be based locally, working with Orkney Islands Council.

Convener Harvey Johnston has penned these words in celebration of our continued friendship and links with our Norwegian neighbours on this, Norway’s Constitution Day.

S2 pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School are reaching out to the wider community in Orkney to help reduce poverty and inequality for counterparts in schools in Pakistan and Nepal - as part of a unique global education programme, Connecting Classrooms.

The Council’s Bossack Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC) will be accepting electrical waste and wrapped asbestos in addition to garden waste from next Tuesday (18 May).

Accommodation is needed for key workers providing vital support for services dealing with the impact on Orkney of Covid-19.

The Council is asking folk to be extra vigilant when out and about following the discovery that numerous roads signs have been meddled with in the West Mainland.

Council launches campaign to put foot down on dangerous driver behaviour and abuse.

Drivers are being urged to allow extra time for journeys and drive courteously as Orkney Islands Council’s Roads team starts vital surface dressing works.

Orkney Islands Council’s Waste Team is encouraging Orkney residents to continue to “Make Your Metals Matter” in May.

Work to expand and refresh Orkney’s flagship Scapa Flow Museum with a bespoke series of new galleries and café is well underway, with the full form and extent of the new extension now visible. 

Orkney Street Pastors are hoping to restart their Saturday night patrols around Kirkwall town centre on Saturday 22 May which includes regular checks on anti-social behaviour hot spots.

Families Outside is running an online “Our Voice” peer support group event later this month for children and young people who have a parent/s in prison.

Orkney Islands Council has commissioned a report seeking to establish what a new electricity transmission link to the mainland could mean to the local economy, as the islands seek to recover from the effects of the Covid19 pandemic.

The Leader of Orkney Islands Council has welcomed news of a move to level one restrictions from 17 May – meaning folk will, once again, be able to socialise indoors.

Orkney Islands Council is running a public consultation on its revised Scheme for Community Councils.

The number of votes cast in Orkney for parties and candidates on the Highlands and Islands Regional List has been announced.

Voters have elected Liam McArthur to represent Orkney at the Scottish Parliament.

John W Mundell, Constituency Returning Officer for the Orkney Islands constituency, said: “Voters in Orkney have had the opportunity to vote to elect a Member of the Scottish Parliament and for Members of the Highlands and Islands region.

The ballot boxes are pictured arriving at the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall this morning, Friday, ahead of the count for the Scottish Parliament Election.

The Freedom of Orkney has today been bestowed on the Royal Navy Northern Diving Group, in recognition of their long association with commemorating those lost in the sinking of HMS Royal Oak and in keeping the Orkney community safe through the safe disposal of modern and historic ordnance, including torpedoes and mines.

Public toilet facilities in Orkney continue to be targeted by vandals – leading to a warning that further restrictions may be necessary.

Orkney Islands Council and Kirkwall Police are warning of the potential dangers of the “irresponsible” behaviour which saw around 50 road signs in Kirkwall and the East Mainland being turned and obscured from the view of motorists this week.

Every effort is made by Council staff to ensure that everyone who wants to vote can – even if that means hand delivering a replacement postal vote for someone in hospital!