Highland Council: Is it time to look at breaking it up?
Leading councillors call for break-up of Highland Council
Ahead of a motion to be debated at a full Highland Council meeting this Thursday calling for the authority to take up an offer made by some Scottish Government members of a review of governance in the region, we asked readers if they thought the local authority was fit for purpose.
“Excellent idea. Inverness is like the London/central belt of the Highlands; outlying areas like Lochaber are forgotten about.” - Diana Griffin
“None of the problems mentioned in this article sound structural to me. It was 'Highland Regional Council' not that long ago. It is the same regardless of where people are geographically based. In a few years a new administration will come along and decide that they have a better idea and that the Highlands are better served by one council: the 'Highland' Council. Swings and roundabouts.” - Bobby Smeaton
“Many of the other comments and the main thrust of the Courier report focus on Highland Council’s deserved reputation as a poor performer. However there are also positive reasons for an Inverness City Council and not the least that Inverness is the area’s biggest settlement by far, so has very different needs from the rest of its huge hinterland. Inverness is also a single, well defined area, quite distinct from the rest of Highland. The Highland Council area - the seventh most populous among the 32 - is far too large anyway, so the rest needs split into at least two more perfectly viable ones in population terms. Rather than exist as a great big monolithic wilderness that the rest of Scotland can (and does) conveniently forget about, Highland needs and deserves a lot more joined up thinking, and an Inverness City Council is part of that.” - Charles Bannerman
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“Return to a similar system of Districts and the overall Region? It appeared to work well and certainly felt more democratic.” - Steve Heap
“Firstly split into Highland Council and Inverness City Council. Might improve funding streams for places other than Inverness.” - James Smith
“This is not a decision to be made on present day opinions alone. Care needs to be taken by first reviewing the reasons why previous district councils were amalgamated to a regional council and finally a Highland Council over decades past. A rip it up and start again approach would be reckless.” - Hughie Urquhart
“Dismantle councils themselves and bring in private companies to provide services they deliver. Better value for the council tax payers. No need to use council tax to pay managers/ councillors/admin/ building maintenance, this hopefully means reduction in council tax for citizens instead of increases with no improvement in services.” - Beverley Wells
Letters should be submitted to newsdesk@hnmedia.co.uk. Please include your address and a daytime contact number. You can also tweet us: @InvCourier or leave a comment on Facebook @invernesscourier
