Freedom of John O’Groats conferred on John Green

The freedom of the most northerly community in Great Britain – John O’Groats – has been  bestowed by The Highland Council on former Highland Councillor and local resident of John O’Groats Mr John Houston Green.

Tributes were paid to Mr Green at a ceremony held at John O’Groats Village Hall on Tuesday evening.  At the same time, Mr Green formally opened the refurbished hall.

The decision to award the freedom came after a number of organisations and businesses in the John O’ Groats area wrote to The Highland Council requesting the council consider conferring the Freedom of John O’Groats on Mr Green.

Mr Green served on the former Caithness District Council for many years before representing North Caithness on The Highland Council from 1995 – 2007. He remains active as the Chairman of Dunnet and Canisbay Community Council.

Councillor Jimmy Gray, Convener of The Highland Council, who hails from Thurso, presented Mr Green with his freedom scroll and paid tribute to Mr Green, a lifetime friend.

Councillor Gray said: “John will go down in history as the first Freeman of John O’Groats and no one could be more appropriate. We often do try to find appropriate ways of marking contributions made by individuals and sometimes we do not quite succeed but, in this instance, the title and the award really do encapsulate all we would wish it to. Few, if any right across the UK, would not have heard of John O’Groats, so to be awarded the title Freeman and the first ever does bring with it added significance and I am sure that given a choice John would not have wanted anywhere else either.”

He concluded: “John’s commitment and vision has allowed him to make a huge contribution to the wellbeing of this part of Caithness, the wider county and the Highlands generally. He clearly identified the importance of  jobs with decent pay, the importance of decent housing, good sports facilities good connectivity by road, sea and air and the major contribution that strong political leadership can bring in delivering these essentials that contribute to a strong community.”