You may recall that a couple of months back I made mention of the very welcome news that Lossiemouth had been confirmed as the base for the RAF’s new fleet of P8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

The UK government has ordered nine of the planes, the first of which is due to arrive in 2020, marking the beginning of an exciting future for the air station and everyone connected with it.

Well, I was given a glimpse of that future when, along with some of our elected members, I was invited to see at first hand the capabilities of the P8 and the role it will play from its new home in Moray.

We were given the rare privilege of a flight in one of the US Navy Poseidons which were at Lossiemouth as part of last month’s huge international Joint Warrior exercise. We spent two hours in the air having the aircraft’s sophisticated anti-submarine equipment explained to us by the crew and marvelling at the airmanship of the crew on the flight deck.

It was a thrilling experience which gave us all an insight into the vital role that the Poseidon and RAF Lossiemouth will play in the years ahead and reminded us – not that we needed reminding – of the huge contribution that the presence of the military makes to Moray and its economy.

Back on terra firma, I was delighted to be given a preview of a very different, but no less exhilarating, development which will enhance Moray’s reputation for innovation and excellence.

It was less than six months ago that the Glasgow School of Art announced plans to create a new campus in a series of farm steading buildings at Altyre Estate, near Forres. Work has already been completed and the transformation is remarkable. So spectacular are the design of the buildings and their setting  that you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a corner of Tuscany. It really has to be seen to be believed.

The campus has been created in conjunction with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and has already accepted its first students and I can confidently predict that it will become a world leader in its field.

Elsewhere, it has been a busy and varied few weeks punctuated only by the tattie holidays.

The conference season drew to a close with the third of this year’s employee gatherings at the Bishopmill Hall in Elgin and once again it was good to meet staff from across the council and hear their views on Shaping The Future, the theme for the conference series.

Discussion centred on the council’s financial position and the considerable budget challenges that we are facing and the views and suggestions that emerged will be taken into account as part of the wider budget considerations which will be exercising the minds of officers and elected members in the weeks and months ahead.

The council leader and director of corporate services had a very constructive meeting in Edinburgh with the Cabinet Secretary for local government about the council’s financial position. However, the ongoing uncertainty will continue until we know next year’s level of government funding allocation nearer Christmas following the Chancellor’s statement later this month.

The past few weeks have taken me to Buckie twice. On the first occasion I attended the funeral of former councillor Sinclair Longmore, whom many staff will remember fondly as a cheery and personable individual. On the second occasion I was accompanied by local councillors Gordon Cowie and Sonya Warren on a service learning visit to the Buckie access point where we chatted with staff and listened to any concerns or issues they had.

I was also pleased to be invited to a preview of our new intranet, now renamed the interchange, which I am sure most of you will have explored by now. I hope you will find it useful as an information and communication resource in your day-to-day working lives.

Congratulations to those involved for their hard work and innovation and I know the team are already planning the next phases of work on the interchange which will improve access for us all even more.

There has been the usual round of meetings, both internal and external, including the Grampian public sector chief executives’ forum in Aberdeen and a meeting in Inverurie of officers and chairs of the three north-east health and social care integrated joint boards.

And along with Councillors Cree, Alexander and Leadbitter, I attended the annual COSLA conference in Crieff where the First Minister was among the speakers.
Finally, there is plenty to look forward to over the coming weeks, beginning with Moray Business Week beginning on the 14th followed by the annual sportMoray awards ceremony on the 21st and our own STAR awards and long-service awards ceremony on the 29th.

With the festive period fast approaching, there will also be lots of activities going on in communities across Moray and I would encourage you to get out and support and enjoy these local events.