Caithness Socio Economic Strategy Group
First Meeting

21 October 05
First Meeting Of Caithness Socio Economic Strategy Group
The Caithness Socio-Economic Strategy Group held its first working meeting on Friday 14th October.

The future economic well being of the north will depend on there being a clear strategy to develop alternative economic activity over the years of Dounreay�s decommissioning. There are many agencies and departments of government who have varied responsibilities for delivering this but it is clear to all concerned that a common, agreed, strategy is vital if their work is to be effective.

For any strategy to succeed it must have the support of the community and stakeholders. The group has therefore identified that, as a first priority, the process must include widespread consultation with full involvement of the community.

To achieve this, the group hopes to produce a working draft early in the New Year which will be circulated. Suggestions and ideas will be actively canvassed to allow a final strategy document to be delivered with the support of the community. Over recent years there have been a number of consultations which have given clear indications of people�s aspirations for the future. These findings will inform the group�s work.

Commenting, group Chair John Thurso said, �To succeed, we, as a community, must work together which means widespread involvement of every one in the community. Too often in the past we have seen factionalism with people happy to sit on the sidelines and carp but not to become actively involved in finding solutions. Our draft will simply be a start, the vital part of this process will be getting as much input from everyone as we can so that the final document carries the full weight of our communities hopes. This has been our first and most important step but we have also made good progress towards producing a draft strategy.�