Village opens £25m flood protection scheme

Scotsman – A NEW £25 million scheme to protect one of the most flood-devastated villages in the country officially opened yesterday. Almost four out of five houses in Rothes, Moray, are at serious risk of flooding because three burns converge in the Speyside village. Flash floods caused almost £4m in damage to the village in [...]

Work starts on £60m Strathspey ‘whisky’ biomass plant

BBC – Construction is due to begin on a £60m biomass plant that will use whisky by-products to produce energy. The combined heat and power plant by Helius CoRDe at Rothes, in Moray, could generate enough electricity to power 9,000 homes and produce animal feed. The construction project will create about 100 jobs and 20 [...]

Project to transform distillery will create more than 100 jobs

Press and Journal – More than 100 jobs will be created at a disused Moray distillery which is being transformed into a leisure venue. The buildings at Coleburn, five miles south of Elgin, have been lying empty since 1985. Work is under way to give the distillery a new lease of life, and a 60-bedroom [...]

Power plant that runs on whisky waste wins funding

The Scotsman – WASTE from more than a dozen distilleries is set to be turned into power for up to 9,000 homes after an energy developer secured funding for its £60.5 million project on Speyside. Aim-quoted Helius Energy – in which Perthshire investor Angus MacDonald holds a 19 per cent stake – finalised financing for [...]

First minister to auction rare Speyside malt

Press and Journal – SCOTLAND’S first minister will auction a rare Speyside malt next week, in a bid to raise cash for charity. A limited edition bottle of Matisse Caperdonich 1972, which is worth £800, will be sold by Alex Salmond at an event in St Andrews on February 11. The first minister hopes that [...]

Farmer died after falling under wheel of his tractor

Press and Journal – A MORAY farmer died from his injuries after he fell under the wheel of his own tractor, a fatal accident inquiry ruled yesterday. Charles Meldrum suffered a fractured pelvis when he was run over by the machine while feeding his cattle in a field at Greenfield Farm, Rothes. Elgin Sheriff Court [...]

Pipe freeze costs hotel Christmas bookings

Press and Journal – A FROZEN water pipe cost a Moray hotelier more than £5,000 after she was forced to cancel her Christmas bookings. Maureen Humphreys had to turn guests away when the taps ran dry at the East Bank Hotel, Rothes, on Christmas Eve. She said it was “heartbreaking” and criticised Scottish Water for [...]

Opening a new chapter for library at Rothes

Press and Journal – The doors of a new library at a Moray school were officially opened yesterday. The £215,000 facility at Rothes was launched by councillor Jeff Hamilton, chairman of Moray Council’s children and young people’s services committee.

Moray residents offered kits to test radon level

Press and Journal – Householders in several Moray communities are being offered tests to ensure they are not at risk of radiation exposure. Radon is a natural radioactive gas that is colourless, odourless and tasteless. It is known to increase the lifetime risk of lung cancer. To assess the levels of gas in their homes, [...]

Jail for Moray pair who hid heroin inside their bodies

Press and Journal – A man and a woman who hid heroin worth more than £12,000 in their bodies were jailed yesterday. Michael Burrows, 51, and Sophie Griffiths, 21, were detained on Rothes High Street earlier this year after police received a tip-off. No drugs were found when they were strip-searched – but five hours [...]

Tillicoultry man killed in north-east van crash named

STV – A man who died in a van crash near Rothes early on Saturday morning has been named as 38-year-old William Dawson, from Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire. Mr Dawson was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, on the A941 Elgin to Rothes road at Drumbain layby. He was driving a white Ford Transit when [...]

O2 customers angry at mobile problems

Press and Journal – Residents at a Moray village are angry after having severe mobile reception problems for over two weeks. Rothes locals who use the O2 mobile network were left without any signal until the problem was rectified yesterday.

Stay away or you’ll cause an accident!

Northern Scot – DRIVERS are ignoring warning signs on the road through a Speyside town, creating a hazard which is putting safety at risk. Lorry and bus drivers are taking a chance and continuing to try to negotiate the road works linked to the progress of the Rothes flood alleviation scheme.

Rothes flood work hits town’s businesses

Press and Journal – RECENT flood measures in a Moray town are seriously affecting businesses and charities, it was claimed last night. The £25million flood-prevention scheme in Rothes began earlier this year.

Student plans to start choir

Press and Journal – A MORAY psychology student is hoping to investigate how music affects health and wellbeing by starting a choir in Speyside. Glasgow Caledonian University PhD student Tara French, 23, has won a £2,500 grant to launch the community choral group.

Helius closes in on £40m Scottish plant

Scotsman – HELIUS Energy, the Aim-listed developer of biomass energy plants, is in the process of finalising debt funding and contracts for the construction of a £40 million plant in Moray. The company, in which Scots entrepreneur Angus MacDonald is the largest shareholder, is working with Scottish distillers on the site in Rothes, which will [...]

Rothes to host a celebration of marriage

A ROTHES couple will return to the village kirk where they got married over 50 years ago to renew their vows as part of a special celebration of marriage, reports the Press and Journal

Four recovering after Moray crash

Four people are recovering after a serious road crash in Moray at the weekend. The two-car collision happened on the A941 Elgin to Rothes road on Saturday.
BBC