NEWTONMORE ATM
The latest information about the unreliable ATM machine in Newtonmore is
that the Bank of Scotland have indicated that they intend to change the
machine for a more reliable one 'in the near future' - although this
statement was made in Autumn 2004 - we await developments... The Co-op
have recently installed an ATM, though their charges for every
withdrawal, whereas Bank of Scotland account holders (and some others)
enjoy free withdrawals at the BoS ATM. Unfortunately, the Co-op ATM
seems to have been out of order more than it has been operational -
including the whole of the Christmas and New Year period. Maybe the BoS
machine isn't that bad after all!
OUT OF HOURS COVER
The change to NHS24 based call routing for out of hours calls for
non-emergency medical assistance, with an out of hours doctor on call in
Aviemore seems so far to have gone reasonably smoothly, but it will be
difficult to assess how well the service is working unless local
community councils receive accurate information from local people about
their experiences
of the service - a response form will appear on the site soon for
residents to provide feedback
AUXILLIARY FIRE SERVICE IN NEWTONMORE
The Highland and Islands Fire Board have now published their proposals
for the Newtonmore based auxiliary fire crew. These involve providing a
vehicle for the crew to become a trained 'wildfire' crew, responding not
just locally, but potentially throughout the Highlands, to heath,
moorland and forest fires. The crew will also take on an advisory role
to assist and educate the public in fire prevention, but will no longer
attend house fires, due to alleged health and safety issue surrounding
lack of breathing apparatus. The review has, on the whole, been quite
good, and certainly better in its outcome than the threatened closure of
the service, though many local residents will be disappointed that the
crew will no longer be there fore them if they have a house or even just
a chimney fire. The main problem with the proposals, however, is that
there is no road traffic accident role for the crew - this despite the
fact that they are to be provided with a vehicle; that some some of
their number are trained ''first responders to augment medical
treatment; that rta call outs are always two appliance calls - meaning
that both the Kingussie and Aviemore vehicles have to attend, reducing
cover throughout the strath; that a crew from Newtonmore would arrive at
an accident south or west of Newtonmore on the A9 or A86 trunk roads at
least six minutes earlier than the Kingussie crew and fifteen minutes
quicker than the Aviemore crew; and that the costs of providing rta
equipment and training to the Newtonmore crew are minimal. If you
believe that the crew should have a road traffic accident role in this
area - where more accidents occur than in any other part of Badenoch and
Strathspey - contact the fire board and say so - before February 13th.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Thanks to all who completed an affordable housing questionnaire - the
results of the survey should be known within the next month or so - keep
checking back for information.
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