Friday, February 09, 2018

West Beach and Harbour street toilets under threat from Highland Council cuts - also Christmas lights no more?

One of our regular readers has been having a look at the proposed cuts document that goes for approval next week at Highland Council's headquarters at Glenurquhart Road. He went to do a bit of research after a BBC article earlier today. See tweet below.
In a document available on the Highland Council website entitled : "Booklet B, Revenue Budget 2018/2019, Details of proposed budget savings", the following information is available concerning two of Nairn's very regularly used toilets at the West Beach and Harbour Street. 


Please click on the image to enlarge if you can't read it. the first £ column is the Labour Saving, the second is the rates, water and electricity saving and the third the total saving.  So closure for the Harbour Street toilets and summer only for Nairn West Beach - what happens if you come to Nairn and get caught short outside of the summer season - shit on the beach? People come to Nairn all year  round, please wise up Highland Council! 

That is 25K then that can be saved from the toilets according to the experts now what about the Christmas Lights how much could the Glenurquhart Road Ruling Regime save with that? 


So £7.5K for Highland Council turning their back on the Christmas Lights? Lovely, how community minded is that? 

So come to Nairn, get hit by Parking Charges at the Links and Harbour Street and not even be provided with somewhere for a piss? The time's they are a-changing folks. Please complain to your four local Highland Councillors if you think the direction of these cuts is all wrong. Here they are, Tom Heggie, Laurie Fraser, Liz MacDonald, Peter Saggers. 

News in the post below about the proposed parking charges and more soon about a meeting organised by the Nairn Business Association for Tuesday night. 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shame our community councils didnt group together so we had one strong voice...

Anonymous said...

@8.29
Wouldn't make any difference whatsoever - if we had one, ten or none.
We have 4 Highland Councillors - it is their job to stick up for Nairn.
Dingwall, Alness etc etc - all have 1 Community Council.
The only answer is to break up Highland into the 8 old Districts.

Nairnsayer said...

The tide of austerity started at Westminster that was to filter to all local authorities was well known in advance. The Scottish Greens have managed through a deal with the SNP to mollify the cuts but not by much, although I for one am grateful for what they achieved.

Anyone who stood to be a councillor at the last election would have known that series cuts to services were coming, and now if these budget proposals go through they'll start to happen.

There's little that councillors can do in this four year period other than draw their salaries. They can't save us from the inevitable. They'll just grow thicker skins

No cuts are going to be popular. No one dies if there isn't monies for the Christmas lights to be switched on but I imagine the outrage will be high.

Those with a certain income will ride out the cuts. A few less pounds in their pockets but they won't have to make decisions about what to spend their limited budgets on.

This year will just be the beginning with more even worse to come. Add to the mess that of Brexit and the future looks a little grim folks

Anonymous said...

They could make a few savings by switching off the Auldearn Christmas lights which I noticed were still on - in February!

Anonymous said...

11.30
I've seen the cost-benefit analysis wrt the Auldearn lights.

It's cheaper to just leave them on all year. (By the time the area manager has assessed the scale of the job and conducted the risk assessment form THC HS 357; deployed 4 members of staff to undertake the work; sent inspection team to assess performance; and conducted community appraisal and satisfaction survey.)

Besides the folk in the village just smile and wonder what Groundhog Day Santa is bringing them that night.

"Oh well I wish it could be Christmas everyday
When the kids start singing and the band begins to play
Oh I wish it could be Christmas everyday
Let the bells ring out for Christmas"

Anonymous said...

As Car parking is a discretionary function, we should ask HC to transfer ownership of the car parks over to Nairn Community Councils as recompense for the mess they made of administering and maintaining the Common Good Fund. Although there will be an ongoing maintenance cost, at least we can decide locally on how to fund it, and perhaps keep them free to use.

Anonymous said...

As Car parking is a discretionary function, we should ask HC to transfer ownership of the car parks over to Nairn Community Councils as recompense for the mess they made of administering and maintaining the Common Good Fund. Although there will be an ongoing maintenance cost, at least we can decide locally on how to fund it, and perhaps keep them free to use.

Property is theft said...

The question we really need to ask is will our councillors support the council or the residents of Nairn (you can't do both)

Some councillors have already shown their support for Glenurquhart Road but I've yet to hear any of the four speak in strong terms to say they'll fight the cuts to the bitter end etc, refuse to pay for parking (very happy to be proved wrong).

Still, just think how bad it might be now had we voted to become an independent Scotland, the very thought sends shudders.

Anonymous said...

12.24
This thread is about local services and I don't understand why a devout Unionist would try to destroy some good, local debate?
We have 4 Councillors - at least one of whom is a Tory.
We should encourage them all to put Nairn's interests first.
The sad reality is that the UK's root cause of austerity - bankers, spivs, speculators - are still in control of our economy. Their imposed austerity penalises the poor disproportionately.

Property is theft said...


@Anon 12:48 My comment about Scottish independence was tongue in cheek! Tory austerity was supposed to end debt, it didn't it increased it. The fallout from this miserable policy is raining down on every community in the UK. Some people are wealthy enough to ride it out and may even become richer through the misery of others e.g. other's debt and they having to borrow Highland Council is centralised in Inverness, Nairn goes cap in hand for anything. Our councillors no matter what their political persuasion are powerless and some have already proved to be toothless as well by supporting the council. The cuts will come and I doubt very much our four councillors will turn against Inverness to support their community. Cuts have to happen, just a question of when. Highland council could of course refuse to carry out any budget and on