Conflicting Signs

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 17 Jul 2022

It turns out that the 'Safer Routes' sign has something to do with creating safer journeys to and from school for children in the Highlands - in this case I imagine younger children attending school in nearby Dingwall or Conon Bridge are picked up and dropped off here by buses, so that they don't need to cross the busy roundabout just North of here unsupervised. It may just be a coincidence, but the local free newsletter, which seems to have something to do with Maryburgh Community Council, is called 'The Roundabout'. Community councils, of which there are over a thousand in Scotland, are non-statutory and voluntary. They occupy a bit of a grey area in local administration; although they have no actual power, they must be consulted on any changes proposed by local government before decisions are finalised, and their views must legally be taken into account, even if not necessarily acted upon. A cynic would argue that they are a way for local authorities to get things done without paying anyone to do it - eg a local authority might agree to provide funding for floral displays through a village, so long as the volunteers do all the planting and maintaining themselves. However, they do provide an efficient line of communication between small communities and often distant local governments. They are quite rightly encouraged in the Highlands for this reason - despite containing less than 5% of Scotland's population, the Highland local (or unitary, as it is officially called) authority covers a third of its area.

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