Swan dad sets aboot the white ducks

The tranquillity of the riverside jobbie walks was broken late this evening (Friday) as swan dad set aboot the three white ducks that have recently arrived on the river. He must think they are swans just like him or maybe he is just making an excuse for a bit of time off from family life and amusing himself with a bit of bullying. For around twenty minutes he pursued the ducks relentlessly. 

It must be pretty stressful trying to lead a duck's life with a huge beast like that coming along to give you a hard time just as you are settling down for a snooze. Maybe the three white ducks should be re-homed to a battered ducks sanctuary.

Nairn Riverside “jobbie walks” – 3 in a row as more turds flow onto footways!

This morning Scottish Water were on site and looked set to start cleaning up the residue left in the overnight Maggot Jobbie Loch, not before several people had walked through the sewage sludge however, this image taken around 09.45. Ironically, nearby a Fishertown was dutily picking up his pet's poo and made comment on  his bagged item and  Scottish Water's  sewage sludge warming up in the morning sun. 

And this afternoon almost one hour after a short downpour the Jobbie Loch was back and still being fed by the sewer. The third pollution incident this week. Should the Environmental Health authorities put up signs to say this area is contaminated with sewage?

The manhole was once again in a dangerous position and surrounded by bits of turd and other unmentionables. (individual images here).

Enough is enough, this part of tourist town Nairn is starting to look like an open sewer in a third world shanty town. Time for the authorities to come up with a permanent fix. If you are reading about these discharges for the first time here are images and comment on previous incidents in the last seven days.  

Thursday night's incident.

Saturday's incident

And the historical perspective - this is an ongoing problem as this video from July 2008 proves.

UPDATE: Thanks to Naomi there is now reaction from Scottish Water on twitter.

UPDATE: earlier this evening (Friday) the Gurn spoke to a source close to River Community Council. Our source told us that there were a total of nine Scottish Water employees down by today, inspecting the manholes and pipes and working out all the permutations and cleaning up the mess. Unfortuneately later on we had pollution incident 3. Our source went on to tell us that an informal meeting is planned between a Scottish Water representitive and CC members and other interested parties in the latter half of next week. Again this evening, this observer had a call from Scottish Water in relation to alerting them to the 2nd pollution incident. It seems a larger vehicle will be down by tomorrow in an attempt to see if there are any blockages that can be cleared. In the meantime mind your step if out on the Maggot side of the sewage bridge!

Update: another wee flashback to 2008, helpful perhaps for all those showing an interest in this matter.

Friday Morning in Nairn

Demand continues for High Street business premises as the former bookies finds a new life and the auld kirk demolition starts to get serious. Meanwhile a small amount of sunshine breaks through - will it last?

Sewage Bridge - Manholes flow again - severe pollution of footpaths on both sides of the river!

The rain in Nairn tonight was persistent for a while but not as heavy or as extreme as it can be. Once again the (sealed) manhole covers on the Merryton/Sewage bridge gave up the ghost as thousands of gallons of water contaminated with sewage ran onto the pavements.

A question for Scottish Water.

Has this bridge become the de facto storm drain for the greater part of Nairn's sewage system?

Tonight a heavy stink of jobbies hangs over the entire area and one of the manhole covers is a dangerous obstacle on the path. Scottish Water what are you going to do to rectify this problem?

A question for Highland Council (Environmental Health Department).
What are the risks to human health from these continuing spillages?

Scottish Water have been alerted. We would urge all gurnites to report similar incidents of pollution to Scottish Water via this webpage. 

Some pictures: tomorrow hundreds of Nairnites, some with their children and pets will walk through these areas unaware of the extent of the sewage contamination.

Cuts are back - you decide once again?

The Highland News reports: "THE public is set to be asked again by Highland Council what services it should cut in a bid to make future savings of almost £30 million.
The local authority is poised to carry out another major consultation seeking the views of residents on a range of possible cash-saving measures as it sets out to save £29.7 million from next year up until 2015."

More on the Highland News site.

What could we possibly cut in Nairn? Street cleaning? Housing? Refuse collecting? Grass cutting? Social work? Education? Roads maintenance? There's more pain for citizens to share yet and once again the ball is being placed out our feet in the form of consultation.

Sewage/Merryton bridge discharges – update

Liz has told the Gurn that a representative of Scottish Water is willing to come and talk to any interested individual or community council concerning the recent discharge of raw sewage onto the riverside pavements at the Sewage/Merryton Bridge. If you haven't seen the pictures and video of this incident yet then click here. Liz also says a long term solution is required and will need further investment from Scottish Water to deal properly with this issue.

Scottish Water have had a team out cleaning up the area and admit that although the manhole covers were at one time sealed one of them had actually buckled with the force of the water and may need replacing, the other manhole was not sealed because it had broken free and blown upwards during another incident of heavy and persistent rain. Scottish Water told Liz: “The guys will be back on site on Friday of this week to check the pipes, manholes and outfall.  Our Regulation team have been in contact with SEPA and given them an update on the situation.”

Obviously a long term solution is needed but also a short term one to prevent anyone being injured by manhole covers flying upwards onto this popular footway.


Update: River CC on the case too.

Armed Forces Week - Nairn 2012

Thanks to Murray MacRae for these pictures of the ceremony on the High Street today and the image of Angela and Gordon Veitch being presented with a cheque for £546 for the Chernobyl Children's fund on the behalf of the Royal British Legion Nairn Branch

Nairn from above

Thanks to two of our regular readers tonight who forwarded this link that takes you to a fascinating series of pictures of Nairn taken from the air in the twenties and thirties.

Showstopperz - Nairn Community Centre - Saturday 30th June

This information from one of our regular readers 

SATURDAY 30th JUNE AT NAIRN COMMUNITY CENTRE
 7:30PM START TICKETS £8/£6

Showstopperz proudly presents a blockbuster programme of songs that were featured in movies from the 80's to present day. There will be a dynamic mix of genres featured in this concert, set to both song and dance. Let us take you on an emotional journey through some of the greatest cinematic music ever written.

Some of the songs featured in the show include:

Ashers old and new

Lots of interesting images can be found on the Ashers Bakery facebook pages. Including one of their new shop in Grantown plus a trip down memory lane for an image of their Bridge Street bakery in 2000.