Highland Counting Officer and Police appeal for common sense in Referendum campaign.
12th September 2014
The Highland Counting Officer for the Scottish Independence Referendum and Police Scotland have appealed for a common sense approach to Referendum campaigners in Highland following the appearance of two large items on the rock face of the former Ballachulish Quarry in Lochaber.
The items which included a large Saltire flag assumed to have been installed overnight on Saturday 6 September and a ‘YES' poster on Monday 7 September were believed to have been placed there by a climber or climbers who drilled into the rock face and bolted the items to the rock.
Ballachulish Quarry is owned by The Highland Council and as such the Council is duty bound by law not to allow the use of Council facilities and resources for the support of point of either view or option during the pre-Referendum period.
Counting Officer, Steve Barron said: "Permission from the Council was not requested to erect the flag and poster in Ballachullish Quarry and permission would not have been given.
"Regardless of the Referendum period, the health and safety implications and risks are considerable for anyone climbing in the quarry. The Council monitors the rock slopes regularly to mitigate the risks to the public health and safety.
"I would urge anyone wishing to campaign to do so through the appointed Referendum Agents in Highland and to be aware of the Highland Referendum Poster Policy which is available at www.highland.gov.uk/elections."
The flying of the Saltire of course is not in itself prohibited within the pre-Referendum period and The Highland Council continues to fly the Saltire at council premises within its Flag Flying Protocol. The issue with this particular incident was the association of the word ‘YES' immediately below the Saltire which was designed to persuade or influence individuals to vote for one particular outcome. The Council is prohibited by Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986 from publishing any material which “promotes or opposes a point of view on a question of political controversy".
The Council was duty bound to undertake the removal of the materials and employed a specialist rope access contractor to undertake the works at a cost of £833 which were carried out on Wednesday.
Police Scotland Inspector Alastair Garrow said: “Campaigners must observe the law and should respect both private and public sector property. There is also a considerable risk to individuals who attempt to place campaign material in sites such as this. If anyone has information in relation to this incident they should report this to police."
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
