All About Orkney: it's all here, why go anywhere else?

Spending limits on decommissioning Dounreay are likely to mean the work taking an extra 14 years to complete.The previous completion date of 2025 is now likely to be extended to 2032-2039 according to Dounreay Site Restoration Limited.   

This is due to the £150 million annual ceiling place on decommissioning work by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.It will also mean 180 job losses over the next two years and a seven year delay in emptying the notorious waste shaft.  

Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd is updating its workforce this week about the changing shape of the site closure plan and efforts to bring new industry to the area.The existing programme is being significantly reworked to bring it into line with the annual cap on funding from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced earlier this year.

DSRL managing director Simon Middlemas is meeting groups of staff today and yesterday to explain how this affects the rate of planned job losses at the site.He is also updating workers on efforts to attract new industry to Caithness and the effect of new employment legislation on how the rundown in staff is managed.

It will take DSRL planners until December to review approximately 14,000 separate pieces of work still to be done to complete the site closure. The headline messages emerging so far include:

• A reduction in the size of DSRL this year of 102 posts (93 identified so far)

• Further reductions of 30 posts in 2011/12 and 50 posts in 2012/13

• A delay in the start of work to retrieve waste from the shaft and silo

• Integration of a number of separate projects for decommissioning the site’s two fast breeder reactors

• A cheaper and innovative alternative to the £100 million treatment plant and store proposed for the bulk of the site’s intermediate-level waste.

• Fluctuations in the target date for completion between 2025 and 2039, but likely to settle around 2032 by December, with some tightening of the timescale expected over the following 12 months.

A dedicated team of DSRL staff is working with Caithness and North Sutherland Regeneration Partnership on opportunities for new industry to replace the 1700 or so jobs that will be shed at Dounreay.

The main focus of the work involves:

• Sharing of resource plans with companies gearing up to expand into marine energy and offshore oil and gas decommissioning

• Identifying energy-intensive businesses that can be persuaded to relocate near the proposed Pentland Firth tidal power station

• Supporting a community bid for a share of international work in materials testing and opportunities in the radiopharmaceuticals supply chain.

• Redeployment opportunities in other parts of the Babcock International Group of companies.

• Spin-out businesses from existing site services.

• Identifying opportunities for businesses in UK-wide service contracts to the NDA estate.

Simon Middlemas said: “We’ve shown in the last few years how much value we can deliver for £150 million a year, with the rate of demolition running at almost 100 sq ft per day. I’m confident the changes we are making will keep us firmly on track to maintain a pace of decommissioning that is both safe and quick, and gets the most out of every £ that is available to us.”

[DSRL Ltd 27/8/10]

Orkney Islands Council confirmed today that it is to withdraw and review its response to the Scottish Government’s proposed savings measures for Northern Isles ferry services, currently provided by Northlink.

The decision has been prompted by yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish Government that the pilot for the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) in the Western Isles will be extended for a further 12 months from next Spring at a cost of around £6.5m per annum.

The Council’s Convener Stephen Hagan has also written a letter to First Minister Alex Salmond expressing his ‘disappointment and dismay’ at the RET decision, and to the Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the Council’s concerns.

Councillor Hagan described the extension to the RET pilot as ‘totally unacceptable’ and added: “The Council acted in good faith to consult widely with the community on the eight proposals to find efficiencies of £1m in the north isles lifeline ferry service.

“At this time of cuts I find it incredible that the Scottish Government has confirmed that they will continue to fund for another year a pilot which has already been in place for 30 months, at a cost of £6.5m per annum, when we are being asked to find £1m of cuts to our lifeline ferry services.

“This is not acceptable or fair to Orkney.

“The Government needs to recognise and address the total inequality of how it funds the lifeline services across the islands communities.”

Changes down at the Travel Centre (or Bus Station)- summer is bid farewell, but with the changing of the timetables comes a welcome improvement in how they are displayed.

Following a public plea in The Orcadian describing how binoculars are necessary to read the timetables when the waiting room is closed, the Council has made improvements to the availability of travel information outwith centre opening hours. Information notices will now be displayed on the windows letting the public know the opening hours and contact telephone numbers for operators.  Bus Stand 1 will now display the air and ferry timetables for the winter.

Individual bus timetables will be displayed in the bus stands as usual.

The public are reminded that the opening hours for the bus waiting area of the Travel Centre will also change from September 1st, and the opening hours will now be Monday to Saturday 08:30 – 17:30, with travel centre staff available between 08:30 – 09:30 and 15:30-17:30. The travel centre will be closed on a Sunday.

Blue Rooster launched their new CD in Matchmakers on Friday night with a blistering set that included Cream and Hendrix classics, delivered in their own style and lacking none of the excitement of the originals. The band, comprising Ian Cooper on guitar and vocals, John Adams on bass and Pete Phillips on drums, treated an enthusiastic crowd of friends and fans to live versions of the CD tracks, returning for an encore of an instrumental that showcased each band member.

The CD recording has been engineered locally by Ian Sandison, and you can listen to tracks on their Myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/blueroosterblues. The CD is availlable for purchase in Grooves.

You can view video of the launch by clicking through the relevant slide on the slideshow above, or by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3IeeLvgnw

The School Crossing Patrol on Ferry Road in Stromness will be closed for the week starting Monday August 30 due to a shortage of staff.

The school crossing patrol on Deerness Road, Kirkwall remains closed until further notice and will be reopened as soon as staff shortages are resolved. Meantime parents are advised to encourage their children to plan their route to school using alternative crossings nearby in the Meadows, at the top of the Clay Loan or on George Street instead.

The Council apologises for any inconvenience, and drivers are asked to take extra care near both these crossings around school opening and closing times.

The School Crossing at the bottom of the Clay Loan is back to normal.

There is a shortage of relief School Crossing Patrol Officers in Stromness and the Council would love to hear from anyone who thinks they could take on paid relief work. Training and uniform are provided. If you enjoy working with children, would be available to work in Stromness around school opening and closing times and are willing to work outdoors, contact Karriz Rendall at Education & Leisure Services on 873535, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it - or pop into Customer Services.

Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that they understand what on earth is going on with the ferry consultations, yet be horribly wrong.

THREE different consultations are on the go, and while at one point all were meant to close at the end of September, it seems that a rabbit has been pulled out of a hat and one now finishes at the end of this month, i.e. responses need to be in by Tuesday!

Now, these consultations unlike many others are actually of great importance to Orkney. The Scottish Government has made it plain that it wants to spend less on our ferry services, and the Scrabster-Stromness route is being scrutinised in particular. Clearly if it were to be axed and we were left with only one route, fewer crossings, no refit cover, and no service obligation to the Scottish Government we would be much worse off. Incredibly some strident voices are calling for this, like turkeys looking forward to Christmas, and playing into the Scottish Government's hands. Equally, Northlink need to look to themselves to run a leaner operation that should require no subsidy at least at peak times, recognising that high service frequencies in winter are of major commercial benefit to Orkney, though loss making for the ferry company and deserving of subsidy. Secondary benefits such as the viability of Scrabster, Stromness and indeed Thurso should also not be overlooked. Nor should the Aberdeen-Kirkwall ro-ro service which carries a huge amount of our freight.

So what is in play just now?

1) The consultation ending on Tuesday is the one related to cost saving options on Northlink's services, with 8 suggestions put forward. These suggestions include running on fewer engines in good weather, reduced frequencies and timetable changes, and some of them do appear reasonable. Other options can be put forward, and if you feel that applying the RET underspend to offset costs, then there is the opportunity to mention it. Worth looking at to see the options.

The options and the response form can be downloaded here, and the form can be posted back to address given, or better, emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


2) Also related to the service currently provided by Northlink, but ending on 30th September, is the Northern Isles Ferry Services consulation, which is "a public consultation exercise to gather the views of individuals, organisations, businesses and operators on the future configuration and structure of the Northern Isles ferry services." This poses questions regarding fares, routes, ports to be used, freight service, whether the services should be bundled (i.e. a number of routes in one contract) or not, use of the vessels, onboard facilities etc. At present bundling works in our favour, validating a subsidised Pentland Firth route, and ensuring refit cover from the other routes- loss of this would be to detriment of Orkney as a whole.

This can be examined, and a response quickly made online, here.

3) Finally, there is the Scottish Ferries Review, the daddy of them all, which looks at all ferry services in Scotland, including such as our inter-island services. This poses fundamental questions as to how the services should be procured, how it should be paid for, what services should be looked after by the  Government, and what to do about inconsistencies from area to area, especially in the OIC and SIC situations where the councils run fleets, at great cost to their budgets. This consultation closes on the 30th September.

This can be examined, and a response quickly made online, here.

It's all important stuff- have your say, before they have their way.

Staff from Orkney Islands Council are holding another fundraising day to raise money for charity, following on from a successful event last year which raised £4,500 for CLAN 1-2-3 and local charities. This year the cause to benefit will be Clic Sargent, a charity supporting young persons affected by cancer.

The event is being held at the Pickaquoy Centre on Saturday August 28 from 11am to 4pm.

Other activities planned for the day include a children’s treasure hunt, bouncy castle, paintball, roller skating, trampoline, face painting, Wii games in the cinema and loads more.

Competitions will include ‘Play Your Cards Right’, 'Treasure Map', name the cuddly toys, guess the number of sweets in a jar and others.

There will also be a number of fundraising stalls including a CD/DVD/Games/Toys and book stall, bottle stall, raffle draw and lucky dips.

And if this was not enough,  Orkneycommunities calendars will be on sale on the day, so come and have a look to see what's in them.

Donations for the stalls also being sought so if you have anything you wish to donate then please contact Lindsey McAdie or Gillian Learmonth at OIC on 873535 or pop into Customer Services and ask for either of them.

The OIC is launching a blog today to enable a dialogue between the council and the public over the potential cuts that might arise as a result of an overall reduction in public spending. The background to this and the nature of the cuts that might result are alluded to in a message from OIC convener Stephen Hagan that went to all OIC staff and the press on Friday, which is reproduced below.

The Blog will pose six questions relating to prioritising services, and asking how they could be delivered at a lower cost without losing them entirely. Radical measures are implied, such as reducing roads maintenance, closing schools, and cuts to ferry services.

However nothing will be decided until the New Year, at which point the actual scale of cuts necessary should be known, as well as to whether some of this can be offset by potentially increasing council tax.

It's fairly clear that there are no easy answers that can solve all the problems to come at a stroke. The local media have posed the question as to how savings can be made already, and the responses, though sensible, delivered potential savings of thousands, when the scale of the problem is millions.

Stephen Hagan's letter to staff:

"Orkney Islands Council is launching its first blog – giving staff and the public the chance to have their say on ways to achieve major savings over the next three years.

As it prepares for a big cut in funding from Government, the Council is asking people to join the Tough Times - Tough Choices debate.

The blog, available from this today on the OIC website, marks the start of a wide ranging engagement process over potential budget cuts. Responses will be published on the website.

This is the first time we have used the web to engage with our staff and the public in this way.  I am sure we will attract a large number of constructive suggestions as to how we can achieve the savings required over the coming years.

A link to the Tough Times blog can be found by visiting the OIC website or portal – with comments invited in response to six questions: