All About Orkney: news, events, pictures, articles, shipping, shopping- it's all here, why go anywhere else?

From Monday February 6 the rules change over what can be done to alter houses and flats without needing planning permission.

Alastair Banks, OIC’s Planning Manager (Development Management) said: “The new rules are contained in a Scottish Government Order and are quite complex - so it still makes sense for anyone interested in altering their house or flat to contact a planning officer at the Council to check to see if the alterations would need planning permission or not.”

The new rules will allow extensions to houses that could be up to the same size again of the footprint of the original house, provided that no more than 50% of either the rear or front areas of spare land in the curtilage of the house are going to be built on and provided the extensions do not project towards a road from the principal or side elevations of the house.

These general rules also apply to things like garden sheds and other structures in the curtilage of a house.

Single storey extensions to a house within a metre of its boundary can project up to 3 metres from the rear wall if it’s a terrace house before requiring planning permission, or 4 metres for other types of houses; and they are limited in height to 3 metres to the eaves and 4 metres to the highest point.

There are other similar height restrictions on buildings and structures in the garden.

The new rules also allow for extensions over single storey provided they are built from the ground and not over existing parts of the house. However, these have to be at least 10 metres from the boundary of the house and they cannot go above the roofline of the house.

There are other provisions for porches, dormer windows, access ramps, decking, hard surfaces, walls & fences and for alterations (but not extensions) to flats.

A critical consideration for Orkney is that almost none of the new permitted development rights can be applied in conservation areas or in the curtilages of listed buildings.

The new permitted development rights and the rules governing them are all in The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2011 which can be accessed via http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2011/357/contents/made

For more information or advice about planned alterations, contact the Council’s planning team on tel 01856 873535 or by email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Orkney voters are being urged to check they are registered to vote ahead of the council elections across Scotland on May 3.

Electoral Registration Officers throughout Scotland are asking everyone to check NOW that they are registered to vote at their current address - particularly if they have moved address in the last year or can’t remember returning the annual canvass form sent to all households late last year.

Dennis Stevenson, Electoral Registration Officer for Orkney said: “If you want to have your say on which Councillors represent you here in Orkney then you need to be on the electoral register.

“It is particularly important people check, as every year electors are removed when they do not respond to the annual canvass forms posted in the autumn or fail to apply to register when they move address.

“Not being registered will prevent you from voting and could also affect your credit rating.

“Any elector can choose to vote by post rather than in person on polling day at their allocated polling station. 

“If you are not already a registered postal voter and wish to apply then you should apply as soon as possible by downloading a form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk or by contacting us on the number below.”

The deadline  for receipt of completed applications to register to vote or to vote by post in the May 3 elections is 18 April - but voters are encouraged to apply as soon as possible by contacting the Electoral Registration Office at 8 Broad Street, Kirkwall, KW15 1NX or calling (01856) 876222 or by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Orkney Community Planning Partnership has expressed opposition to proposals to give the Royal Mail greater freedom to set prices for postal deliveries.

The Partnership, which brings together a number of public sector organisations, is concerned about the potential impact and believes customers in the islands could end up paying more for postal services than those in more urban areas of the UK.

“While we recognise the need to improve the financial performance of the Royal Mail, the Universal Postal Service must be secured to ensure that the less populated and more remote rural and island areas are not disadvantaged,” said partnership chairman, Councillor Stephen Hagan. 

As a potential option to boost efficiency in postal services, the regulator Ofcom has suggested that the Royal Mail could be given the commercial freedom to determine contracts with other postal providers.

But in its response to a consultation on the plans, OCPP has warned that that this could potentially lead to higher prices in hard-to-reach locations like Orkney.

“The Orkney community has already witnessed the negative discrimination which has resulted from the deregulation of the parcel delivery service,” the response says.

This has led to “excessive charges” for the supply of goods to the islands with, in many cases, UK businesses refusing to supply goods to addresses in the area.

Councillor Hagan said: “Our fear is that further deregulation of postal services - and the proposed removal of price caps in the Royal Mail’s letter and small package service - will also result in delivery charges being increased for customers in Orkney.”

“Under the proposals, some regulation would remain for the second-class letter service. But this is of no comfort to the many Orkney businesses that are completely dependent upon an affordable and efficient first-class postal service if they are to compete in the UK and global markets.

“In the opposite direction, next day delivery is essential to Orkney businesses when purchasing goods from UK suppliers which are not available locally.”

In its response, OCPP warns that maintaining a universal service only for second-class post would be a backward step for communities in remote areas.

Instead, it suggests regulation against the “discriminatory practices” of commercial courier services, which are currently – unlike the Royal Mail – under no obligation to provide deliveries to all areas of the UK.

The Partnership says it is also unacceptable for UK businesses to decline to supply goods (particularly small packages) to addresses in the Highlands and Islands when an accessible, affordable and effective UK-wide service is provided by the Royal Mail – and calls on Ofcom to rectify this.

“Not only would that go some way towards protecting these remote areas from the increased urbanisation of the UK’s courier services, but the Royal Mail could become more competitive and more efficient as a result,” the response adds.

Orkney Islands Council’s Policy and Resources Committee has agreed to recommend a £1.9 million savings target for the next financial year – considerably less than the £4 million originally anticipated. The reommendations also exclude introducing charges for Telecare services and instrumental tuition in schools.

Elected Members recommended that savings made during 2012-13 should be achieved through efficiency measures wherever possible – as well as the restructure of senior management at OIC. 

The Committee also recommended that Council Tax levels remain frozen next year, in line with an agreement between the Scottish Government and all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities.

OIC has had to make savings of £4 million during the current financial year, following a substantial reduction in financial support from the Government.

“Thanks to commendable efforts by management and staff across the Council, we are on track to achieve that target – and those savings will feed through into next year as well,” said OIC Convener, Councillor Stephen Hagan.

“This has enabled us to recommend a much reduced savings target of £1.9 million for 2012-13. The other important factor is a far smaller reduction in our funding support from the Government for 2012-13 than we could have anticipated a year ago.

“We have also reduced the Council’s senior management team from 34 to 18 chief officer posts, which will result in considerable savings next year and in the years ahead.

“I am pleased to say that we now in a position where savings during 2012-13 can largely be achieved through a range of efficiency measures. I hope this will be welcome news for the community we serve.”

Consultations have taken place on the possibility of charging for Telecare services and for instrumental tuition in schools. The committee agreed that no charges should be made for these services.

Chief Executive Albert Tait said: “Good foundations have been laid during the current year and the Council is in a sound financial position as we look to the year ahead.

“A key aim for the new senior management team is to make the Council more efficient and effective in everything it does. This will stand us in good stead for what is still an uncertain longer term future.”

The Committee’s recommendation – that a total of £82.8 million should be spent on running Council services during 2012-13 - now goes to a special meeting of the Full Council on Thursday, February 9, which will set OIC’s budget for the year ahead.

If agreed, the savings required for the next financial year will include a reduction in the Council’s current workforce by the equivalent of 13 full-time posts. Ten of these are currently vacant.

Every effort will be made to reduce the remaining posts through measures such as voluntary redundancy, redeployment and early retirement.

The number of cruise liners set to visit Orkney over the next two seasons has already topped 100.

Seventy four cruise ships have so far booked to visit the islands during 2012 – with 2013 shaping up as a bumper year as well.

Princess Cruises has just made three additional bookings, taking the number of port calls already in place for next year to 32.

The 32 liners have a combined gross tonnage of 1.8 million tonnes and will be carrying 44,000 passengers and 14,000 crew in total.

Those booked for the 2012 season have a combined gross tonnage of 1.6 million tonnes and together will have 43,000 passengers on board.

“I am pleased that Orkney continues to be an attractive destination for cruise liners,” said Councillor Jim Foubister, chair of Orkney Islands Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“The gross tonnage figures are important to the Council’s Marine Services section as they dictate the level of port charges applied to each vessel.”

For the 2012 season, the average number of passengers per ship is just over 500, but next year this increases by almost 60%.

Kirkwall was named as the best British port of call in the 2010 UK cruise industry awards – and the islands as a whole were the UK’s top destination for cruise liners in 2010 and 2011.

A free talk in Glasgow is to explore why Scotlands cultural heritage is full of sex and the supernatural.

Part of the Celtic Connections festival, the "Selkies, shapeshifters and sex" lecture will look at examples of supernatural creatures and sex in Scottish Ballads, the poems which were created to chronicle otherwise unrecorded traditional Scottish folk songs.

The talk will be delivered by Dr Donna Heddle, director of the Centre for Nordic Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands, as part of the festivals educational programme.

Speaking about the event, Dr Heddle said:

"This lecture is about the shape shifting supernatural creatures like selkies and faeries which inhabit Scottish ballads such as Tam Lin and Robert Burns' Tam o Shanter. I'll be discussing their nature, their history in oral ballads and their legacy in written literature. I'll also be exploring what these creatures and their associations with sex say about the society that created them, asking why do the Scots need the dark and sexy world of the supernatural?"

The Selkies, shapeshifters and sex lecture takes place from 12.30pm - 2pm on Friday 3 February at the Glasgow Royal Concert Halls. Entry is free and unticketed, on a first-come basis.

To find out more about the Centre for Nordic Studies and its courses, visit www.nordic.uhi.ac.uk

For more information on the Celtic Connections festival, visit www.celticconnections.com

The opening of a new exhibition at the Orkney Museum takes place on Saturday, February 4.

Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is a collection of abstract drawings that challenge the viewer to use their own imagination to interpret the images on display.

Originally from Hastings in East Sussex, Rik studied Fine Art at Falmouth School of Art and Design in Cornwall. He lived in Hartlepool, in the north east of England, before moving to Orkney in 2004.

Rik, who lives in St Margaret’s Hope, is currently the Orkney World Heritage Site artist in residence, but the drawings in this exhibition are not from that project, as Rik explains:

“The work that I’ve chosen for the show here at the Orkney Museum is a brief snapshot of (mostly small-scale) drawings made between 2010 and 2012.

“I work in a variety of media, and in particular I draw extensively – commonly using fairly traditional materials such as paper, ink and pencil. My drawings are nearly always abstract and often automatic. I enjoy the immediacy and intimacy of working on paper. I rarely title drawings and I routinely work in series.

“I try to draw every day – often starting with a blank sheet of paper (loose or in a drawing book) and little, if any, specific direction in mind, perhaps just the type of pen or pencil I like the idea of starting with.

“For me drawing is an instinctive activity akin to the process of thinking. I tend to approach drawing in an experimental way, often treating it as an automatist exercise. I enjoy it when a drawing feels like it is beginning to direct its own route. Enquiry, chance and experiment tend to be the basis for the decisions I make whilst producing work – although recurring motifs, memories and shapes commonly emerge.”

Recent Drawings by Rik Hammond is on show from February 4 - 25. The Orkney Museum is open Monday – Saturday, 10.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30 – 5pm. Admission is free.

The artist will be at the Orkney Museum on Saturday, February 4, from 10.30am – 12.30pm to talk about his work.

Following recent press reports that courts across Scotland were at risk of closure, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has sought assurance from the Justice Secretary regarding the future of Kirkwall Sheriff Court.  The reponse provides some level of reassurance, but raises questions as to the future of jury trials in the islands.

Commenting on the letter, Mr McArthur said:

“I am pleased to hear that the Scottish Court Service sees the closure of Kirkwall Sheriff Court as neither ‘desirable’ nor ‘practical’ and that such an option will not form any part of the Scottish Court Services future plans. What does concern me though, is that they go on to question whether there is a need for jury trials to be held in Orkney.

“With the march towards centralisation already underway in the form of plans for a single, national Police Service and Fire and Rescue Service, any downgrading of Kirkwall Sheriff Court will raise alarm bells in the islands.  Providing fair, local access to justice cannot be compromised and any erosion of that through creeping centralisation will be fiercely resisted.

“Given the SNP government’s majority at Holyrood, assurances that no changes will be made without the agreement of MSPs will provide little comfort to people in Orkney.  What is needed is a firm commitment from the Justice Secretary that access to justice will not be made more difficult for islands residents and there will be no downgrading of Kirkwall Sheriff Court.”