Thursday, February 28, 2013

"Preventing the destruction of what’s good about Nairn and Nairnshire"

On Tuesday night Dick gave a short briefing to the Suburban CC members about the meeting earlier this month of the six Nairnshire Community Councils.He said: 

"We discussed things in a lot of detail, a lot of sense, everyone thought it was a super event and we must have more of them. This was really the first try and we really discussed everything that we’ve lost from Nairn and everything that should come back into local decision taking, and the way things are going there’s really going to be nobody apart from our four ward councillors that can actually speak up for Nairn together with us in the Community Councils and I think with the help of our four ward councillors and the community councillors in the six councils we can come up with a far better master plan for coping with, preventing the destruction of what’s good about Nairn and Nairnshire. Debbie of Nairnshire East, she is very insistent that it is Nairnshire and not just Nairn we are talking about. 

There is a lot of work to be done, really we have to get down and talk about how we can actually best achieve this and again working with Highland Council in Inverness – everything is pulled away from us and everything is actually coming back almost as a fait accompli from Inverness which isn’t at all satisfactory. We can’t really live with that. And there’s not much point in having community councils, just as Alistair says, if the decision taking like that is not going to include us. So really a lot must happen. "

Martin Ashford then said: “That has always been always the system though, this fait accompli presented. It’s not a consultation, this is what you will get. And that was the culture and that still is too.”

Dick continued, "Yes, unfortunately it is, we are being lectured to. The strength of that meeting which we had on the 6th of this month was really full support for this sort of approach to looking after what we’ve got and we actually think highly of in Nairn. And there we have the Nairn beach coming in as the top beach in Scotland and 11th in the UK. It’s not just the beach, it’s really everything else, it’s the dune system, it’s the scenic views across the Firth. The whole atmosphere of the Nairn beach obviously came out very highly in this survey of holiday makers. It’s something we have to look after and not have it snatched away from us by planners and others. We’ve really got to look after it as an asset. And what they said in this survey as well is the lack of commercial development along the seafront which is quite unique because most seafronts have a lot of commercial development.

That’s the result of our meeting There’s a lot to think about and a lot really we are quite capable of thinking and we are quite capable of actually decision taking. The funding side is going to be interesting We’ve really got to start thinking quite carefully about how we take Nairn forward because we are not averse to taking Nairn forward but it has to be done in a planned, integrated way. "

9 comments:

D Ross said...

I think it’s very noble of the Suburban CC to try to get all the CC’s along with our four Ward Councillors to “come up with a far better master plan for coping with and, preventing the destruction of what’s good about Nairn and Nairnshire”.

Editor's note two paragraphs removed here. Please note also that when D Ross uses "he" in the following paragraph he is referring to Cllr Michael Green

Next year we have the “Sandstorm” moto-x races which he is organising on the east beach, yet again all for the benefit of the Common Good fund! This event he is basing on the one at Weston-Super-Mare. Guess what? Weston –Super-Mare doesn’t appear on the Trip Advisor list of “Best Beaches”!! So will we be “down-graded” from the list when we have the races???


Anonymous said...

Remember The Harbour Fest in 1992. I read somewhere that 40,000 people visited Nairn over that weekend in late May. Also that it made £500,000 for the local economy.
Why not repeat it, Local groups through the day and a big name for night time.

Inverness rule said...

No matter how much community councils and indeed local councillors like to think they are capable of making decisions, powers to take those decisions forward were stripped away years ago. Community Councils are little more than talking shops with local decisions being made in Inverness for Nairn.
Two of our councillors now have to toe the party line and seem more wrapped up in party politics than local issues judging by their Facebook pages

Anonymous said...

Inverness rule
That will be the "party line" that has frozen the Council Tax, introduced a living wage, restricted all of Westminster's cut to the minimum, that took the King Street buildings off the market to allow NICE to get an act together, that has stopped the interest being added to the Common Good debt, that is refurbishing Nairn's playparks, repaired the prom, is keeping Kingsteps open, that got rid of the Merryton rats, that is pushing for a bypass, that is at Bear's throat every time there is a snafu etc etc.
That will be the 2 Councillors that attend the vast majority of Nairnshire's 5 Community Councils. The Gurn may have a tally of such attendance?
Yes that will be Liz and me. Fighting for the Burgh, Nairnshire, Highland and Scotland - even your goodself whenever required.
Best regards
Colin

Graisg said...

6 CCs Colin :-)
Nairn West
Nairn River
Nairn Suburban
Auldearn
Nairnshire East
Cawdor (half in, half out of the Ward 19 thanks to Glenurquhart Road but still part of Nairnshire)

A tally of who attends, no don't have that but it is generally visible through reports here or elsewhere. River CC do publish their minutes online however, if anyone wishes to check attendances there. River CC minutes 2012

Anonymous said...

Apologies to Cawdor Des -
I'd welcome them back into the Nairnshire Ward in a minute. Natural communities make the most accountable communities - not those that just add up to approximate numbers.
I presume that must have been the independent Cooncillors that were in charge when they mucked that up?
I presume that would be the same independent Cooncillors that did away with the Nairnshire Committee?
Slainte Mhor
Colin

Graisg said...

Not sure when the decision was made and whether the Indies were responsible or whether there was LibDem input there too.
Co-dhiu - saoilidh mi gum bi cothrom dhut sin a chur ceart san am ri teachd :-)

Anonymous said...

Whilst commending the efforts of local community councils and our four highland councillors it must be realised that Nairn is part of the Higland Council and will remain so for the forseeable future. Like it or not all major decisions on the future of Nairnshire will be taken in Inverness. Local organisations can hope to influence policy in tandem with our H/C councillors but the final say will always rest with the main respective H/C committes.

Anonymous said...

The freeze on council tax is a double edged sword as we all know. Fine in principal but are we all going to be happy with the cap on this tax (which is really a cut each year with inflation) when the cuts really begin to bite

We only have to look a few miles to the east to see how our neighbours in Moray are coping. Libraries to close, public conveniences being classed as a luxury they cannot afford, and much, much more

Time to blame Westminster for lack of monies and vote Yes in 20124?