Research by the Nairn Residents Concern Group shows that the Highland wide development plan would allow the town's population to rise by a massive 80%, an increase in such a short period of time that most of us would still be around to see it. These projections have to be questioned and changed.
Does that potential population growth worry you? Would you like to live in a town twice as big as Nairn is at present in twenty years time or sooner? Development is necessary yes, but what about other parts of the Highlands, shouldn't they be getting their fair share? Why should Nairn and the corridor between here and Inverness be singled out for so much development?
Concerned? Will you be going to the meeting tonight?
It's time to get involved and have your say, this time it will be no good complaining afterwards. Let the Highland Council planners know your views.
6 comments:
Stop the world I want to get off? It seems to me more population will bring in more business, jobs and LIFE to Nairn, specially important for younger residents and those yet to be born. What's wrong with developing the 'Inverness-Nairn corridor' anyway?
Come along tonight Bill and you will hear the reasons for changing the plan succintly expressed by those with far better communication skills than me :-)
Oh Graisg
I'll be quite content to read about it here. If Nairnites genuinely wish to pull the plug on development then good luck to them - they'll certainly need it!
Bill
(who has a 'life') - lol ;)
I wrote about it earlier Bill but over on the Gaelic blog lol.
Just too lazy to get into it again at the moment. A report of the meeting tonight might be the closest I get. Who knows you could have come along as 'the voice of reason'?
It appears that the UK population is also likely to rise by about 10 million over the next 25 years or so. Regardless of who will be running Scotland by then Independence or not, demand for housing wil always be there. With increasing wealth, Coastal areas will ALWAYS be in demand for those seeking quality of life and retirement homes etc. Nairn should recognise the likely growth scenario and take steps to ensure that Quality of life is the most important asset a town has. The Towns infrastructure should be put in place to cope with the likely growth demand and a bypass should be an integral part of Nairns Future as well.
I think one of the main concerns expressed is that too much development in any one area will further aggrevate the population losses in other more fragile areas of the Highlands.
A careful look at the stats has shown that some areas are leaking their population, particularly the young, at a far greater rate than Inverness and Nairn. There is a concern that services such as education and health care will be lost to those areas if there is not sufficient population, working and otherwise, to sustain essential services in those parts of the Highlands.
This will mean jobs lost in those parts with the remaining residents potentially forced to locate elsewhere, and not necessarily in the Inner Moray Firth. This would undermine the HIE case for population growth throughout the whole of the HIE area; a case which was part of their representation to Government as part of the NPF consultation.
Therefore I take a 'fair share' of development to mean a range of development which, when brought forward through genuine community consultation and support, would sustain a stable and proposperous future for all communitites throughout the Highlands - maintaining essential services and bringing investment into the community (which stays with the community) whilst safeguarding the environment and heritage for future generations.
There are particular issues associated with the range and proximity of developments within the A96 Corridor itself and the premise on which development is based - 'Transport'. The provision of a complete package of roads infrastructure upgrades is the basis for the proposals and would be a non-negotiable necessity. Then we have to consider the issues of water and sewerage, and the effect that an increase in population would have on education, health and social care in the Inverness / Nairn area.
The planning system requires that a full range of other issues are considered and some groups and the relevant agencies such as SEPA, SNH and HS will draw attention to any environmental, wildlife and heritage concerns. The impact on the character of the local areas will also need to be considered and any affect on how The Highlands is perceived.
I am not sure what issues will be touched on this evening, but hope to attend to listen to the points raised.
(Sadly, after four years of researching into this lark I have no life)
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