Nairn Provost declares his "splitter" credentials to the delight of the Nairn West and Suburban Community Council meeting.

At the end of a very interesting Nairn West and Suburban CC discussion on the Common Good Fund this evening in the Community and Arts Centre, Provost Laurie Fraser made a late intervention, he said:

"I just want to say I don't think any of you are really going to get what you want until Nairn opts out of the Highland Council and sets up its own Council." 

Applause followed and Laurie continued: "We want a referendum to take back control."

 There was also a cry of "Freedom!" from elsewhere on the table. 

More from a very interesting discussion on the Common Good Fund when time permits. 

Highlands Extinction Rebellion activists calling for Highland Council to declare a climate emergency

An article published earlier today shows pupils from Nairn Academy calling for more action from the authorities on Climate Change at their regular Friday protest. At midday in Inverness Extinction Rebellion were protesting too - also a weekly action calling on Highland Council to declare a Climate Emergency. 

The Gurn understands that members of Highlands Extinction Rebellion have been lobbying some members of Highland Council and are hopeful that there will be discussion of climate change at the meeting of the Council on May 9th. The group are calling for the Council to declare a climate emergency. Details on other councils in the UK that have done so already in this i article "Councils in England and Wales declare ‘climate emergency’ following UN warnings of future ‘catastrophe."

After their weekly demonstration at the Town House the activists marched to Falcon Square where they engaged with members of the public for around half an hour. 

More images here

Climate Strike Action by Nairn Academy pupils - Regular Friday morning protest

The young demonstraters positioned themselves so the early morning queues of traffic in Leopold Street could see them. More pictures here. 

Smoke from fires in Moray Countryside blanket the Firth

As firefighters continue to tackle a series of fires in the Moray Countryside the smoke was clearly visible from Nairn again today. More details of the fires in a Press and Journal article here. 

A few images here. 

Nairn TSB to reduce hours to two days a week from July

Below is the information concerning the hew hours contained in a letter sent to a local customer of the TSB. It'll be Tuesdays and Fridays only from July.  The retreat of banking services from Nairn High Street continues! 

Charity Cricket Match Sunday 21st April 1pm the Links Nairn

Brian told the Gurn: "the story behind all this is of course the tragic loss of a long-time Nairn resident, NCCC member and regular cricket player Neil Gibson who sadly lost his life a year ago in a snowstorm while climbing in Wester Ross. The bodies of Neil and his brother Alan and their dog were found after many days of searching, by the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team.

So in memory of Neil, and to benefit the Torridon Mountain Rescue Team, the cricket club decided to organise this cricket match as a fund-raising event. We're playing against a visiting team from "The Forty Club", a group of cricket enthusiasts and veterans drawn from clubs around the country. We've got an assortment of sporting memorabilia to auction after the game including a bat signed by Ricky Ponting (Aussie test cricket captain and star batsman), a signed photo of the England T20 team, and also signed footy shirts from NCFC and Caley.... and various other items and raffle prizes."

As seen on twitter - a wedding on Nairn Beach

Such a wonderful day witnessing KAtrin and Fergus’s
B E A U T I F U L wedding this morning at 7am in GORGEOUS sunshine on the beach in Nairn 🧡 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 pic.twitter.com/r5ydVnfpG1

— Kerry Lemon (@kerryannelemon) 13 April 2019

Nairn Coastguard busy on the beach with along with Navy Bomb Disposal Experts

Sandown Allotments phase 2 - seven years on from the first preparatory work onsite.

Nairn is still the envy of many other communities when it comes to allotment provision. At one time in the not too distant past two-thirds of all allotments in the Highlands were in Nairn. The waiting list for a plot in Nairn is not too long either compared with elsewhere with some applicants obtaining a plot within a year. A lot of folk have visited Nairn to get ideas for plots in their communities. The lower picture was taken this weekend. 

The first picture above is from about this time in 2012 and before any work was done on site an incredible amount of effort had gone into the funding application for European LEADER money by a dedicated team from the allotments committee. What has been achieved by plotters since then is remarkable 

As Nairn grows hopefully there will be more spaces like Sandown for people to grow their own fruit and vegetables. It is remarkable what individuals can achieve when they have access to land. 

Team Hamish/NICE AGM Thurs 11th April 2019 - presentation including designs for Paddling Pool area and amphitheatre by Jame's Cafe

Here is a copy of the presentation as a Google document online.  You can also download the power point presentation from the NICE website here.