Month: February 2026 (Page 1 of 2)

[received from Balfour Beatty]

This is a gentle reminder that from Friday 27 February 2026, the existing Tomatin junction on the A9 will close, and a new temporary junction will open nearby.

To facilitate this, overnight temporary traffic signals will be in place on the A9 at Tomatin for one night between 19:00 and 06:00 the following day on Thursday 26 February. These traffic signals are required to complete the final stages of the junction repositioning.

More information can be found here: https://www.a9dualling.co.uk/a9-dualling/roadworks/a9-dualling-tomatin-to-moy-repositioning-of-tomatin-access-junction-and-link-road/

… to 4pm on Friday 13 March 2026. The survey deadline has been extended to allow as many people as possible to tell us their aims and wishes for Strathdearn.

Thank you to those who have already submitted their response. Every response will help guide the development of the new five-year plan for Strathdearn.

Find out more and complete your survey online at https://strathdearn.org/diary-dates/ or pick up a paper survey copy from the hall or request the survey in Word document from localplaceplan@strathdearn.org 

Complete your survey today! Visit www.strathdearn.org/local-place-plan for information and to complete your Community / Business / Landowner survey online. Paper surveys can be collected from The Strathdearn foyer and you can request a Word version of the surveys by emailing localplaceplan@strathdearn.org 

Background: Strathdearn Community Council is leading the preparation of a new community-led plan for Strathdearn. This new plan aims to identify community needs, including needs around spaces and places. It will be in place for five-years, so we need as many people as possible to complete a survey to tell us their aims and wishes for the local area. What do you think about the possible needs, opportunities, and challenges that we have identified for Strathdearn? Do you agree? Are there others you would like to tell us about? 

Drop-in sessions: There are four more Local Place Plan drop-in sessions at The Strathdearn hall, where you can enjoy tea/coffee while viewing our Local Place Plan display, asking questions, and leaving comments. The drop-in dates and times are: 21 Feb 10am-midday; 22 Feb 3-5pm; 23 Feb 12.45-3.15pm; and 25 Feb 1.30-3.30pm (note: the 23 Feb drop-in time has changed from previously advertised).

Business/Landowner focus groups: Please note that the focus group date has changed. Rather than 23rd February stated in the Business and Landowner surveys, the focus groups will take place during w/c 30th March. Please continue to indicate any interest in attending the focus groups, in the surveys as presently stated, and we will be in touch soon with a choice of dates and times for late-March. 

 We look forward to receiving your survey and thank you for your time! 

[Last November, timber haulage from Glenkirk was suspended after breaches of the agreed Timber Traffic Management Plan (TTMP). SCC requested a review of the TTMP for 2026 with Roundwood Transport Services (RTS) who manage transport, planning and scheduling for forest owners. RTS have responded with the following letter]

There are still around 3600 tonnes sat at roadside within Glenkirk, which equates to roughly 150 lorry movements or 5 weeks of haulage.  I would like this to be cleared before we do any further haulage (April to May).

A tender has gone out for this years harvesting program, in which we are proposing to fell 27ha, giving a volume of around 8500.  This would equate to 3 months haulage at full capacity but invariably this will run over, and I suspect we would be looking for the haulage to be completed by the middle of September (May – Sept).  The proposed harvesting this year will be very dependant on the timber market, which is suppressed.

My RTS colleague Emily Gerrard, who has been dealing with the forest management within Glenkirk for several years, and she would be the RTS representative and make any necessary changes to the TTMP that the community deem fit.  As an example weekend haulage needs to be included, to close out a current perceived grey area.

[Received by SCC. Still no community policeman for Strathdearn]

Introduction, followed by download link

The last few months have continued to be busy for the Community Beats Team and City Centre Police Team. We have been focusing on drugs and antisocial behaviour by supporting our drug units with intelligence and warrant execution, working together with other agencies to reduce antisocial behaviour, and targeting key areas in the communities for speeding. We continue to support our local schools and encourage them to contact us with any issues. Our focus recently has been social media talks, encouraging respectful and safe usage due to inappropriate use across both primary and secondary schools in the area. In the city centre there was an increased focus on shoplifting, and we continued to work together with other agencies to reduce the impact of antisocial behaviour. There have recently been some tragic incidents in Inverness, and we have been providing reassurance patrols in the communities affected.

Due to unforeseen poor weather conditions in the Tomatin area, these works have been postponed for 1 week. Please see the updated dates of these works below.

Overnight traffic signals will now be on 26 February and the junction and link road will be opened on 27^th February. 

From Friday 27 February 2026, the existing Tomatin junction on the A9 will close, and a new temporary junction will open nearby as part of ongoing work on the A9 Dualling: Tomatin to Moy project. This follows the successful realignment of the A9 at Tomatin in December 2025.

Overnight Traffic Management – 26 February

Temporary traffic signals will be in place on the A9 at Tomatin for one night from 19:00 on Thursday 26 February until 06:00 on Friday 27 February. These traffic signals are required to complete the final stages of the junction repositioning.

Junction Changes

The current junction will remain in operation until the new temporary junction becomes operational on Friday 27 February, at which point the existing junction will close to use. The new temporary junction is located approximately 400 metres south of the existing Tomatin junction and will be clearly signposted. The new temporary junction will remain in use until the new Tomatin underpass is completed and comes into operation in late 2026.

Access will be maintained at all times for residents, visitors, Tomatin Distillery, Strathy Snacks, as well as properties in the area and emergency services.

There will be no changes to the existing NCN7 pedestrian and cycle route, which will continue to operate as normal throughout the duration of the works.

Bus Stop Relocation

From 27 February, the northbound and southbound bus stops currently on the A9 at Tomatin will be permanently relocated to the bus turning circle near Tomatin Distillery. All scheduled bus services, including the 37 and the school bus to Millburn Academy, will use the new bus stop location. The X37 service will not stop at the turning circle and will continue to Carrbridge and Aviemore.

Results of your feedback on Glenmarkie and Glenkirk wind farm proposals

In January, Strathdearn Community Council (SCC) asked for your opinions on two new windfarms around Strathdearn – Glenmarkie and Glenkirk. The survey received 49 responses which were compiled into a report (download link at the end of this article).

The report summarises opinions on both proposals and an accompanying map provides a very visual appreciation of the scale of applications in our area. There is also an Appendix which include all comments made, anonymised of course, which is included for the sake of interest and transparency. 

The report will be sent to the Energy Consents Unit (ECU). ECU is a specialized branch of the Scottish Government’s Energy and Climate Change Directorate. Its primary role is to manage and process applications for large-scale energy infrastructure in Scotland. After reviewing all evidence and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), the ECU provides a recommendation to Scottish Ministers, who make the final decision.

SCC asks that ECU consider this new report, not in isolation, but in conjunction with the previous report on 6 other proposals for wind farms at Balnespick, Clune, Lynemore, Highland, Kyllachy, and Carn na Saobhaidh.

Galileo Empower invites you to attend a drop‑in session for the proposed Lynemore Wind Farm.

Galileo submitted a Section 36 application to the Scottish Government for Lynemore Wind Farm in May 2025. In January 2026, the proposals were updated to remove two turbines and revise the access route. We are now returning to the community to re‑consult on these changes.

These will be informal drop‑in events where members of the project team will be available to talk you through the updated documents and answer any questions you may have.

Event details

Thursday 26 February 2026 – 14:00 to 18:00
Strathdearn Hub, Tomatin
IV13 7YN

Friday 27 February 2026 – 09:00 to 14:30
Farr Community Hall
IV2 6AX

We look forward to hearing your views.

Neil Thomson

Project Manager

[SCC has received the following message from Matthew Magee of Premier Woodlands. Feedback should be sent to strathdearncc@gmail.com]

Good afternoon,

Garbole estate is proposing to carry out a clear fell operation within the forest holding, the area has suffered significant storm damage over several years. An important part of gaining approval for this operation is to consult with interested parties, to this end I welcome any comments you may have in relation to the application.

Below is the location and site map the grid reference for the site is NH735250.

I would appreciate any feedback by 2/3/26

Regards

Matthew Magee MICFor

[from SCC]

As most will be aware, we currently have a defibrillator situated outside the main entrance to the hall. The community council are currently looking into purchasing 4 new defibs that will be located in and around the village should they ever need to be used in an emergency.

We have also contacted a local charity regarding basic community defib training and understanding and we await their response. In the meantime, should anyone require further reading on defibrillators please see the link below. We will update everyone as soon as we are ready to install the other devices in the village.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/how-you-can-help/how-to-save-a-life/defibrillators/understanding-defibrillators-what-they-are-and-how-to-use-them