Highland 20mph speed limit made permanent
Highland councillors have agreed to keep 20mph speed limits at 127 locations across its region.Limits were lowered from 30mph in 2023 as part of a trial designed to improve safety.Councillors voted in favour of keeping the scheme by 10 votes to seven.The decision equates to hundreds of miles of road.
Highland Council has the longest road network in the UK with more than 4,200 miles (6,759km) of roads.
The locations include roads in Inverness, Nairn, Wick and Thurso.The council said data showed the trial resulted in an average speed reduction of about 3mph for those driving at 28mph or above.Conservative councillor Ruraidh Stewart argued the trial had not proven effective, and part-time 20mph limits outside schools were enough.But economy and infrastructure committee chairman and SNP councillor, Ken Gowans, said the scheme could save lives.
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The Herald Scotland
36 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Here is the real reason River City is being axed by BBC bosses
The letter's subject was BBC Scotland cancelling River City, an act I had previously described as cultural vandalism. My correspondent had a cooler disposition and a better way with words. Summing up how the soap had been brought low in recent years, she wrote: 'Its viewing figures were adversely affected by stop/start production runs, erratic scheduling and a general lack of promotion.' Spot on. And then came this: 'I began watching River City out of loyalty to my city, but came to the view that it makes an important contribution to the culture of central Scotland.' BBC Scotland HQ at Pacific Quay Watching out of loyalty to my city. How wonderful, how generous, how Scottish is that? Of the thousands of words written and spoken about River City, all the BBC statements, the petition to save the show, the debate in the Scottish Parliament, not one sentence hits home as hard as that contribution. Watching out of loyalty to my city. There writes someone who 'gets' what River City means, and why it is not just another programme that can be binned by BBC Scotland because its face no longer fits. But what do you know, no one is listening. Not to my correspondent, not to those who have signed the petition, not to MSPs, or ministers. It seems the main arguments in favour of keeping River City - that it provides jobs and training for working-class Scots who might otherwise never get a start in TV, as well as being a pretty decent drama beloved by its audience - are not enough for BBC Scotland to change its mind. We know this because the executive who made the decision appeared before Holyrood's culture committee at the end of May and said so. Hayley Valentine, director of BBC Scotland, told MSPs that River City, with its 200,000 viewers in Scotland compared to Shetland's 700,000 'did not pass the value for money test'. But the money saved by axing River City would help to fund three new short-run dramas, she confirmed. Though these will 'absolutely cost more to make', the BBC would 'expect' them to deliver much bigger audiences than River City and 'really hope' they will. Expectations and hope. In other words, BBC Scotland is taking a punt. Making all those people redundant on a gamble. Having said that axing River City was a creative decision, it really does come down to money. As for River City being a way into TV, Ms Valentine said opportunities would still be offered across a wide range of other programmes. So that's okay then. Nothing more to see here, folks. Except it is not okay. It is very far from okay. Cancelling River City has always been about more than the end of one programme. It's about BBC Scotland fighting Scotland's corner within the corporation, and making sure the BBC represents and is reflective of all those who pay for it. Read more On the former, was London asked for more money to fund the short-run dramas? Was there ever a chance of building on the UK-wide iPlayer audience for River City by running a promotion campaign? Where are the figures showing potential job and training opportunities lost versus those created? Was there any analysis or was this simply a case of executives thinking they knew best? I understand BBC Scotland's ambition. It wants another Baby Reindeer. It wants the next Adolescence. But it doesn't have the money of a Netflix or an Apple+, which makes it all the more important to ensure that it is making decisions for the right reasons. When it comes to River City, I'm not sure it is. Just as to govern is to choose, running the BBC is all about choice. Who is out and who is in, who gets the money and who doesn't. BBC Scotland decided, ultimately, that River City was expendable. It has made the arguments about viewing figures and opportunities offered elsewhere, but I think there is another factor at work here. For my money - £174.50 licence fee - River City was vulnerable because it was a Scottish working-class soap made by working-class casts and crews. No one thought there would be the backlash there has been. It wasn't like cancelling Question Time with its well-connected panellists and audiences (now there's an idea). The class ceiling exists in the media in general - heck, in society as a whole. It's not just BBC Scotland. Indeed, BBC Scotland has done more than most to widen access and should be commended for it. Now and then, a youngster will appear who doesn't sound like your typical BBC sort. They thrive on the attention and encouragement, but then at some point they hit that class ceiling. They don't get invited into the room where it happens, so they can't shape the corporation's future, and the story of inequality rumbles on. Representation matters. As the old saying goes, if you can see it, you can be it. For many working-class Scots, River City was 'their' soap, and therefore 'their' way into TV. Doors opened that had too often been closed, and if it could happen for the guy down the road, it could happen for you. You cannot put a price on that kind of positive PR. The same goes for viewer loyalty. Fans of River City have had their patience tested to a degree that would not have happened with any other show. Yet they've kept faith with the programme. Even now, they trust executives will repay that faith and cancel the cancellation, but will they? Back to you, BBC Scotland. Alison Rowat is a senior politics and features writer on The Herald. Contact
Top Gear
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Whatever happened to... the 230mph Keating Berus?
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Country diary: A week of relief for all on the farm
After five weeks without rain, it was wonderful to be woken one night last week by the sound of rain being blown on to the bedroom windows. We are well prepared for dry spells like the one this year. In 2022 we sank a borehole on the farm, after successive springs when the water supply dried up, so thankfully we now have water for the house and farm buildings even when there is little rain. The fields rely on natural water, though, and this year the becks ran dry during lambing time. Every morning, I filled the back of the Gator with buckets of water and drove them round the lambing fields. The sheep had to adapt their routine too, as usually they get most of the moisture they need from damp grass. Water is, of course, essential for them to make milk for the lambs, but yows also prefer to lamb during wet weather, often seeming to hold off for a wet morning to lamb. This is believed to be because they know there will be fewer predators around, particularly birds of prey, of which we have many. So lambing was prolonged this year as well as hot. On a wet morning, it was a relief to see that the last yow had lambed, and was happily cleaning her new lamb and murmuring to her. Once it is settled and knows her mother, we will clear the meadows, ready to grow hay (which should be ready to cut in July). Lambs will be marked with our red smit mark before walking two and a half miles over several days down to Low Park Farm, where they will spend the summer rotationally grazing small fields surrounded by woodland strips. Away from weather concerns, a massive relief to me was that a visitor attraction, Into the Wilds, that was proposed for the farm next to ours, was refused planning permission by the Yorkshire Dales national park authority. The plans initially included safari lodges, a ranger base and a variety of exotic animals including white rhinos, giraffes, zebras and lynxes. One of the reasons given was that it would cause 'significant visual harm to the iconic landscape'. I just hope they don't put in an appeal. Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian's Country Diary, 2018-2024 is published by Guardian Faber; order at and get a 15% discount
