'In Nairnshire both location and price are keen drivers of price. Nairn enjoys an excellent reputation as a base for Highland golfing excursions and for holiday lets. There is also a huge demand for flats, from landlords and locals, and where there is an attractive view on offer, properties are breaking local records.
However, Nairn and district remains price-sensitive. It is increasingly a dormitory suburb for priced-out Inverness commuters and English relocators; local wages cannot keep pace with recent price hikes. '
However, Nairn and district remains price-sensitive. It is increasingly a dormitory suburb for priced-out Inverness commuters and English relocators; local wages cannot keep pace with recent price hikes. '
It is against this background of local wages not keeping pace with housing prices that the controversial Maggot Road flats will be built. Whatever your view about the project it is too late to stop it now. Yes they will be large and the controversy continues, led by the Nairn Concerned Residents Association, but if you were someone unable to afford a house in your home town, would you be so worried that the buildings were out of character? How long will it be before someone on Nairn's housing waiting list stands up to criticise the critics?
No matter how objectionable some folk may find these flats there are millions of people in this world who can only dream of such accomodation close to the beach and the river in a holiday town. Let's hope however, in future we can build homes with gardens for the folk on the housing list and not too many more blocks of flats. Nairn will grow but let's do our best to keep it a great place to live!
Everything prepared for work to start on the controversial project that will provide badly needed housing in Nairn.
Everything prepared for work to start on the controversial project that will provide badly needed housing in Nairn.
4 comments:
"Concerned Nairn Residents Association. What Next? Concerned About Concerned Nairn Residents Association.Sounds better.
What about a rival group?
Nairn Apathetic Residents Association?
Or what about: "Nairn Residents with a Social Conscience and a Modicum of Forward Thinking", but I daresay there would not be very many takers for such a group in this (I'm sorry to say) far too often backward-looking 'keep things just as they are'(*) place. Sigh ...
(*) Probably a more popular group here would be "Nairn Residents Who Wish to Stop the World and Get Off".
No, I'm fortunately not as cynical as I sound :) - I belong firmly in the school of 'the glass is half full', I'm not one of the sad people who inhabit the land of 'the glass is half empty'.
Good lord, those flats look just like shipping containers
....what, oh, I see, they are shipping containers
I thought for a minute there that Jacks had gone completely green and started down the re-cycling route, keeping Nairn at the forefront of contemporary design. It wouldn't be the first time containers had been used for living - see this link :
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/shipping-container-houses-the-lilly-house/
I've seen other examples too - there's a wee movement of people who are into it - google it for yourself.
As the Gurnmeister General rightly states, Nairn needs affordable housing, but just because it's affordable/cheap, doesn't mean it needs to be plain or ugly. A bit of effort and flair on the design side could make the new development a great addition to the town. It'd be a pity to miss the opportunity and end up with something mundane like most of the other developments. There was a seminar in Inverness last year featuring Wayne Hemingway (http://www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk/html/urbandesign.htm) about this very subject, I'll wait and see if anything was learned from it.
Here's hoping.
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