Jac's plot for sale

Donald & Henderson are marketing Jac's old hoose and plot. Comes with planning permission. Thanks to Murray for the picture.

Permanent home needed for piece of Nairnshire Heritage

Murray MacRae went and asked the Trustees who now have responsibility for Jac's House if he could remove the sign that was lying in the undergrowth with a view to its preservation. They duly obliged and now Murray is in the process of cleaning the sign up a little and considering options for restoration etc. Murray is also asking if anyone would like to provide a permanent home to this little piece of Nairnshire history. Any offers please e-mail the Gurn (address in sidebar) and we will forward them on to him.

Nice job Murray!

Jac's Hoose

Recently we had an article on the merits of the planning application and an alternative suggestion for allotments on Jacopo Morganti's house and garden. Murray MacRae now has a few more photographs for us.
One wonders if that sign should have a place in Nairn museum before all trace of an institution disappears?

Individual pictures here

Jac's old house and field - the ideal site for more allotments?

The following pictures sent to the Gurn by Murray inspired this observer to go and see how the planning application for houses on Jac's plot was proceeding. Murray told the Gurn how sad the house looked. Indeed anyone who remembers that cheerful household, so Italian but at the same time so undeniably Nairnshire, will agree with that. In a short space of time nature has claimed back much of the site and what seemed so much a permanent institution and part of the local landscape has all but vanished.

Still pending consideration from the Highland Council planning system is the application for five houses on Jac's house and field on the Forres Road. The land is now the property of some sort of trust or other and after what seems to have been several years of hiatus the trust has come forward with a planning application.

The application has attracted several objections from nearby residents who are concerned mainly with the effect on the wildlife that has now established itself on the site and the road safety issues that will arise with vehicles attempting to access the A96. The Nairn Woodlands and Wetlands Association suggests:

'An alternative eco-friendly use for this site may be more appropriate and the Trustees may consider allotments managed by the Nairn Allotment Society with no vehicular access from the A96.'

That sounds like a very good alternative for this valuble piece of habitat (as long as the mature trees were kept). As Nairn grows it will need to keep a few green spaces and this is indeed an ideal spot. Jac was a keen gardener whenever he got a spare moment and what a fitting tribute to him an allotment site named after him would be! You can see the planning application and the objections here.

Houses on Jac's former home and garden?

Picture taken around the turn of the millenium up at Jac's former homestead

It hadn’t clicked with Gurn HQ until it was mentioned by a couple of Gurnites that a recent planning application referring to as Land 125m SE Of The Bungalow, Forres Road, Nairn, 10/03432/PIP was actually for Jacopo Morganti’s old house and land. Gurnites may remember that this area was previously the subject of controversy regarding who actually owned it; with many locals under the impression that it had been left to the Catholic Church but if we recall apparently this was not the case. Anyway, ownership must have been sorted out because planning permission in principle has been submitted for 5 houses within the garden grounds and the adjacent field.