News Monday January 26th Wintry weather ahead There’s an advance warning of heavy snow and low temperatures throughout Wednesday and Thursday, with a Met Office yellow warning in place. A cold and increasingly showery northwesterly flow is expected to develop with snow showers frequent and heavy, driven by strong to gale force northwesterly winds. Accumulating snow is likely, especially overnight. The warning is expected to be updated today. Police news A 27-year-old man is to be reported to the Procurator Fiscal after an assault at licensed premises in Stornoway just after midnight on Saturday morning. A 43-year-old man has been charged and reported to the Procurator Fiscal after a dog was found worrying sheep at Balallan at 11.30am on Saturday. A man was reported to the Procurator Fiscal after driving through a red light outside Laxdale School at 4pm on Friday. Police are asking for any information after a mobile phone was reported stolen from Newmarket between 6pm on Friday and 7am on Saturday. Anyone who has seen a white HTC1 mini phone is asked to contact police on non-emergency number 101. And 101 is the number to use if you know how a green Ford Fiesta car came to be damaged between last Wednesday and Saturday. The car, which was in use round various locations in the Stornoway area, had damage to its front wing, wheel arch and bumper, and any witnesses are asked to call 101. Slower ferry times Crossings between Stornoway and Ullapool will be running slower than usual from today until February 7th as replacement vessel MV Isle of Arran takes up the service while the MV Isle of Lewis goes in for her annual maintenance period. Crossings will take 3 hours and 15 minutes, with a revised timetable operating. See calmac.co.uk for more details. Funding key to CAD closure? Lack of Government funding could be the reason behind the expected closure of the Consumer Advice Direct call centre in Stornoway, where all 27 employees were last week told they are to made redundant. MP Angus MacNeil is to table a Parliamentary Question today in which he will ask the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to clarify the funding situation, believing that the expected closure has arisen due to the current CAD contract expiring on 31st March. Mr MacNeil said the centre in Stornoway had been outperforming other centres, making it probably the number one call-handling centre in the UK. He said: “This could stem back to Westminster not providing the necessary funds for CAD to ensure it continues its work. Employees are well trained and highly specialised in consumer law. I am tabling questions to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at Westminster, to try and understand their role in the current situation. There is a concern that CAD own one centre and rent the other, perhaps giving the owned site in Glasgow an advantage. Needless to say, maintaining jobs in the islands is a priority and these jobs are important in Lewis.” Coastal Communities share across islands Projects across the Western Isles will get a share of £9.58m of UK government funding announced today from the Coastal Communities fund. The money will go to projects including a new set of pontoons at Castlebay in Barra and quayside developments in Lochboisdale, South Uist. Stornoway Port Authority will get £250,000 to create a floating heavy duty pontoon large enough to attract superyachts and small cruise ships. Nearly half a million will be given to Tighean Innse Gall, to improve energy efficiency and promote the use of renewables for small tourism related businesses and funding also goes to Uist Wool, where a wool centre and drying loft are to be created. Vatersay Community Association also gets help to upgrade their community hub. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said: ”As someone who grew up on a small island, I know how much difference targeted investment can make to peoples lives. Projects benefitting from the latest round of funding will create jobs and make sure that some of our most remote and fragile communities share in the economic recovery. An Lanntair’s new look An Lanntair re-opens today after a week’s closure for annual maintenance, during which the restaurant has been re-vamped, as has the menu. Crowd-pleasing films open the programme this week, with Paddington, Mr Turner and the Imitation Game all offering box-office successes to local audiences.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 07:30:00 +0000
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