One and a half cheers

In last week’s Nairnshire Telegraph editorial Iain Bain muses on the SNP’s promise to resurrect Area Committees if they win the Highland Council elections in May. He applauds the initiative but limits himself to one and a half cheers. Iain states that the Nairnshire has been calling for steps in this direction ever since the Highland Council was created.

He continues later in the editorial: “It is locally disappointing that no future is seen for a separate Nairnshire which must coexist in a possible committee with Badenoch and Strathspey, an area with which Nairn shares nothing but adjacency on a political map. An it is somewhat worrying that Inverness is to be given more primacy in the region. This usually means counting Nairn as one of its suburbs.

The move must be welcomed but we wonder if the truly radical path would be to involve community Councils which, in this area at least, are bidding to be the real lower tier of democracy.”

Will the SNP follow a “truly radical path” if they win power at Glenurquhart Rd? Rob Gibson MSP who has been the driving force for a move a way from centralisation in local government within the party in the Highlands would seem to want to go further if you analyse his suggestions. Over the weekend one of the Caithness SNP candidates tweeted:

Analysing the Editorial – Licensing Control

As we wait with growing excitement for the next issue of the Nairnshire. (just after 8 p.m. in the Co-op for the hardcore), let’s look back at last week’s editorial.

Iain Bain doesn’t hold back when it comes to criticising Inverncentric policies and once again he was alerting readers to this process and the problems it brings us here in Nairn. Gurnites will of course know that Liz was recently refused permission to speak to the Licensing Board. There is now no Nairn representative on the Board. Further information on Liz being refused permission to speak available in analogue: “Councillor MacDonald hits out at being ‘humiliated by Licensing chairman.” Nairnshire 18/01/11.

Ian Bain begins his editorial: “The control of licensed premises is an important aspect of local authority and it is one which is slipping from view below the Nairnshire horizon.”

It is quite incredible really that this important function has disappeared from the second biggest town in the Highlands. Why didn’t our three administration councillors (Sandy, Laurie, and Graham) stop it. Are they content to see important parts of Nairn’s identity as a civic unit slip away?

Further into his editorial Iain states:

Cllr Park has suggested that the local licensing court meetings of yore were short but even if they were apparently perfunctory in their brevity there is potential for local implication. These are matters which deserve to be overviewed at the local level, at the moment for instance there are arguments over curfews in Nairn which appear to have been misunderstood by those who administer the Inverness based board. This is the nightmare of civic ignorance that Nairn people fear from over-zealous council centralisation.”

An editorial well worth a read if you haven’t done so already. This observer believes the majority will agree with Iain Bain's analysis. The question is what can we do to get some power back in Nairn? One major move forward would be to get a Town Council (possible in a flash by combining the three community councils), to counter the centralising pull of Inverness. The only trouble is it is our Highland Councillors that will decide on Community Council review, will they let Nairn have that or will they prefer Nairn's potential strong civic voice and identity divided into three separate parts?

in the Co-op for the hardcore), let

Back to the wisdom of Iain Bain

Sorry no review of the local press this week but we'd like to take you back to the Nairnshire of the 6th of July. Here we've often stated that the community has to do more for itself as the Highland Council quite often seems to have an agenda that is not synonymous with the interests of Nairn. Basically if we had a democratically elected organisation that represented the town then we would have the perfect vehicle to organise a lot more for ourselves. If the three Community Councils were combined then that vehicle would be born - A Royal Burgh of Nairn Council! Anyway let's examine a piece of Iain Bain's editorial from two editions ago (he's referring to the cuts Ward Forum meeting here):

'And those who studied the documents put before them will have noted the increasing role of a voluntary sector. Where we were sitting last week, the talk was of how much further such an extension could continue in a place like Nairn where bodies like the Sports Council and museum already work on that basis. There is a huge demand on volunteers' time and where would the people come from to man the boards of the non-profit making and charitable companies that would run former council functions? One suggestion was that in a small, compact place like Niarn, one board might cover a number of functions. And what would that look like? Very much like a district or burgh council! Aye, it all comes around. We thought it would, in the end.'

Iain Bain hopefully senses the inevitable in the wind.A single council for Nairn wouldn't cost too much at all, bear in mind it would be based on the amalgamation of the three existing community councils whose members give their service to the community for free. A single council would really help Nairn punch its weight in the world - if it doesn't happen we all lose out and an opportunity for the citizens of Nairn to address a democratic deficit that came into being with the loss of Nairn District Council will have been denied to us!

'Nairn needs protagonists and not political yes-men'

'This is a time when we need our local voices. In this consultation/competition over where resources are applied, local facilities such as the swimming pool, the Museum, the Library, among others, have been called into question. Despite our new hospital and our vaunted community health and care system, Nairn has been let down in aspects of that system. The former Provost was vociferous in her condemnation of that. It has cost her the office but frankly, at this time Nairn needs protagonists and not political yes-men.'

Iain Bain, Editor of the Nairnshire Telegraph (edition of 18.05.10). Worth knocking the dust off last Tuesday's edition and browsing Iain's editorial if you haven't done so already.

Nairn Swimming Pool - Iain Bain criticises Danny Alexander!

Monday Night Local Press review

The front page of the local paper may be detailing the forthcoming 24 week closure of the High Street as a million pounds gets spent on a makeover but most readers will be delving much deeper for swimming pool news as soon as they part with their 40p for this week's edition.

There's a picture of Kieran Smart who collected over a hundred signatures on petition letters last week in the Lochloy/Merryton area. And so to Iain Bain's editorial. He begins with a preamble about the general election and makes reference to the Scottish Dimension before coming to the heart of the election so far in Nairn - the swimming pool issue. We reproduce one sentence concerning the incumbent here: 'He praises the democratic process initiated by his Lib Dem colleague at Highland Council but nowhere in his remarks does he express a desire to fight for the pool's retention.'

You'll have to wait until you read the local paper for the rest but the Gurn agrees with Iain Bain, more is needed from the Lib Dem candidate, much more! Let's just go back and reflect on what Danny's Lib Dem colleague Cllr Graham Marsden who was quoted in last week's paper:

'If we can't find alternatives to keep the pool open, of course, I will have little choice but to support the closure; however, let's hope that we can work hard together to stop that being necessary.'

Will the Lib Dems fight for the pool? Will Labour? What do the Green, Tory and other candidates have to say about Nairn Swimming Pool? We already know the SNP support the campaign to save the pool.

Letters too on the subject from Lorna Brown and Graham Vine.

Anti-social behaviour in Ardersier, Nairn Golf Club's records, rare bats feature in this edition along with the usual comprehensive sports report. Yours again for only 40p. Who'd miss it!