Wednesday, December 08, 2010

'Leave the niceties to NICE'

The words in the title of this post are the concluding words of Councillor Leslie Boulton of River CC as the vote had been taken in the Communty Centre music room last night and treasurer Iain Gordon walked across the room to give a cheque for £100 to NICE steering group member Brian Stewart (at the meeting as an observer).
River CC fell into line with the town's other two community councils last night and gave NICE £100 towards the nascent organisation's operating costs so far.
It didn't happen without some debate however with Chair Jeanne Tolmie opposing the move . She had been 'taken aback' to be asked for the money in the middle of the Post Office. Tommy Hogg didn't object to the £100 but wanted to know why the Association of Nairn Businesses and the Visit Nairn tourism association were not contributing anything especially when the Business people had received £15,000 off the Streetscape to promote the town (some of that seems to be going on a Moray Firth Radio ad). After some considerable debate the issue went to the vote with only Mike Henderson backing Jeanne.

This observer images the £300 now in the NICE kitty will not go very far once the advertisement in the Nairnshire is paid and the cost of halls etc. If anyone feeling strongly about the Town Centre is also in a generous mood this morning then I'm sure the NICE people will be happy to hear from you, alternatively you could give them a donation at the public meeting on the thirteenth.

7 comments:

Iain said...

Why didn't Assoc of Nairn Businesses or Visit Nairn not contribute? They weren't asked! Being a community project, the Community Councils were willing to help with some of the initial expenses to help take things forward. As NICE develops no doubt others will wish to be involved financially. Several members of various groups are devoting hours of their time free of charge.

I'm Free said...

A poor show if they don't contribute
really.How do you expect local people
to support the project, when local enterprise say,"Yes,maybe at some stage we may think about it.Come On!

Graisg said...

@ I'm free - as Iain says there are a lot of people out there doing a lot of work on this for free.
Just as there are plenty of people involved in other voluntary activities in Nairn. The voluntary sector may have to pick up more of the pieces as the public sector falls apart. Cuts - we've seen nothing yet!
Why not go to the public meeting on the 13th and see if you want to contribute anything?
I'm sure other groups concerned will have a look in the sporran in the run-up to Christmas but a lot will hinge on whether NICE are crowd-pullers on the night and ifthere is the public will to go forward? It'll be an interesting meeting and if you're worried about the town centre you should get to it and express your views and support.

Anonymous said...

Having heard the 'ad' on MFR (I was forced to listen to it), I hope they didn't pay too much money for it! It sounded like Biggles was voicing it and the phrase "The only thing that's old fashioned is the service" left a lot of room for ridicule.

Ad Amant said...

It is important to avoid any confusion or misunderstanding about who is spending money on what. Anonymous made the comment:

"Having heard the 'ad' on MFR (I was forced to listen to it), I hope they didn't pay too much money for it! It sounded like Biggles was voicing it and the phrase "The only thing that's old fashioned is the service" left a lot of room for ridicule."

NICE has placed an ad in this week's Nairnshire Telegraph.

The ad on MFR is by, and for, the Streetscape project run by the Association of Nairn Businesses in collaboration with the Council. This is funded from other sources, not by the Community Councils or NICE.

Flies undone said...

What's wrong with Biggles?

Anonymous (with the Biggles comment) said...

Sorry Ad Amant, I can’t see where there is any confusion or misunderstanding? It’s quite specific within the Gurn that the ‘ad’ came from ‘the Business people’, “……but wanted to know why the Association of Nairn Businesses and the Visit Nairn tourism association were not contributing anything especially when the Business people had received £15,000 off the Streetscape to promote the town (some of that seems to be going on a Moray Firth Radio ad)”, or that’s the way I read it. People are not stupid and can distinguish the difference between an ‘ad’ in the Nairnshire and an ‘ad’ on MFR. To be pedantic; one is visual and the other is audio! Or, perhaps, not everyone who lives in the area is aware that one (the Nairnshire) is a newspaper and the other (Moray Firth Radio) is a radio station?