Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Want a single Community Council for Nairn? You’ll have to do some campaigning yet!

Tomorrow's Highland Council meeting is not only about cuts and closures. Item sixteen on the agenda for the meeting tomorrow is the first stage of the Consultation for the review of Community Councils. All those that wish to see a single democratic entity representing Nairn again should read this report. It doesn’t exactly do the campaign any favours. It notes

'Nairn Suburban and Nairn West Community Councils
• Proposal of one Community Council for Nairn
• Not supported by all current Nairn Community Councils and the view of
the wider public is unclear.'

It is the River Community Council that remain opposed although since the election of new members it remains to be seen what their posistion will now be. The Sandown Inquiry is just one more example of how Nairn needs to speak with a united voice on the many issues affecting our Community’s future. We need a single Community Council for Nairn badly. The report recommends the status quo be continued until there is further discussion locally. In short Gurnites there is still a lot to be done. Presently a lot of people’s thoughts are with the Sandown Inquiry but we should not take our eye off the Community Council ball. We still have a chance to influence the eventual outcome but we have to move the debate about Nairn’s future up the agenda! Read the report being presented to the Council here.

1 comment:

nairnbairn said...

Events this week do indeed underline the message:

The Sandown Inquiry is just one more example of how Nairn needs to speak with a united voice on the many issues affecting our Community’s future. We need a single Community Council for Nairn badly.

Suburban tried hard to engage with the Deveron juggernaut during the early stages, and the new Nairn West got stuck in once they were established. At the Inquiry Graham Vine has had a go about the rat-running isssue.

But it is noteworthy that the task of representing the views of the community and putting evidence and questions forward at the Inquiry on behalf of local Nairn people has fallen on the shoulders of a small group of hard-working local residents and one or two concerned individuals.

If Nairn had a single Community Council for the whole town, this would have been a much more powerful influence both on the developers and the Council.

Clearly a case where "united, we (might) stand, but divided, we (almost certainly) fall".