The Doc and plans for his train journey

The Doc is happy to report that my idea of a train journey through film of diff countries wasn't so mad after all !, already i have members of our site as far away as Australia , willing to take part in the docs wee film documentary, filmed by that particular member aboard a train in there own country with views of outside the windows and them talking about film in there particular country, so far we have Scotland , England, Italy, Canada, Australia on-board (sorry)
One person will do there piece on a miniature railway and the person in Australia will catch a train that only comes through there way once every 4 days , one member in China is going to be doing a train journey from Xi'an to Bejing and will do her piece on that train for us !
I think this might turn out to be a world first if it all comes together and it all came to me in a dream !! " Long live the state of cinema "

The way the doc sees the pieces of film merging together is that each shot ends with a shot of what is the scenery outside the moving train and then cuts in to the scenery of the next country and that person does there little clip about film of there particular country and then pans to the scenery outside and so on,, The journey will begin in Nairn (home of the festival) with me entering the train doing my little piece and then cutting to diff countries and the journey ending up with our Australian friend on his train journey in the outback! What a project, but if it comes of then what a wonderful little piece of film that would be, made with worldwide effort !

-11C last night?

That's what the Gurnmeister's ageing ropey thermometer believes was the score last night. Any other offers?

Apparently it was often cold at the beginning of the last century but we've got a long way to go before Niagra falls becomes a walk-on tourist attraction again. Thanks to Murd for forwarding the pictures.

Planning Department fails to inspire confidence to say the least

Late yesterday afternoon the Gurn received the following comment on a related matter:

'Readers of your Blog might like to note that the Advert giving 21 days to inspect the plans etc and make representation was wrongly worded by Planning (It gave the address where plans could be inspected as Golspie). Therefore a new notice has to be inserted by Planning. This gives extra time and also gives us an insight into why the Council are overspending and trying to save some money at Maclean Court(They will have the cost of 2 adverts instead of one )Mind you if they worked in a bank they would probably see that as grounds for a bonus.'

Sure enough Gurnites, a new ad appears today in the Nairnshire with a little footnote:
The Highland Council would like to apologise for the incorrect office address which was published on last week's advert....'
Hardly inspiring is it? If they can't even get the ad right what hope is there?

A touch of fantasy hits AyeRight?

MacLean Court issue goes global?
An intrepid Gurn reporter discovered yesterday that the Gurn is read by folk in high places. Councillors Sandy Park and Graham Marsden are confessed Gurn readers, and our Provost Liz MacDonald is now both a fan and a contributor.
The P&J continues to highlight Highland Councils folly with a story that the installation of the returned Three Graces statues in Inverness could have amounted to £355,000.
What would we rather have folks, some forgotten stookies restored or day-care for our elderly citizens?
AyeRight has been sent a photo of support for saving MacLean Court. It seems readership of the Gurn has gone across the pond and allegedly is being read by someone in the highest office on their favourite mobile device.
‘Can’t prise the Gurn out of his hands’ is the quote given by a close aid.

Statues or people - Stark choices

At least someone else besides Liz on HC is thinking about the day centre :

The Highland Council have decided on a £5,000 option for a statue instead of the £350,000 choice.

'Aird and Loch Ness councillor Drew Hendry celebrated the Ness Bank choice, putting the £350,000 estimate into context by pointing out that one-tenth of the amount would rescue Nairn’s McLean Court day centre from the council’s budget cuts.' More in the Press and Journal.

Provost Liz on the MacLean Court issue

Also see the articles below, here and here for details of how to help and more information on the issue.

'Provost Liz said...
I'd like to thank the Gurn for helping organise the petition to save McLean Court day care service. There is no similar alternative provision in Nairn at present, the attendee's are too frail for the lunch club and too able for the Manor (which cares for people with high dependancy needs).McLean Court provides an excellent service valued by attenders, families and the people of Nairn and should be retained.A proposed budget cut of £35K which enables this service is unacceptable and I shall be moving against it at the Highland Council meeting on 12th February.

RegardsProvost Liz

p.s. my first blog ever, because I feel so strongly about this issue '

UPDATE: successful petition session outside the Courthouse today 10-12 a.m. Several Gurnites turned up to help including Doc Grigor, in the picture below we keep his face hidden to preserve his anonymity (anonymity that all contributors to the Gurn are guaranteed if they wish it) . Provost Liz turned up too and helped encourage members of the public to sign the petition. Sandy Park, Graham Marsden and Larry Fraser emerged from the Courthouse towards the end of the petition session, none of them signed the petition but perhaps they have already done so elsewhere? Sandy Park stated that he was a Gurn reader, Graham too said that he had recently discovered the Gurn's existence. Will Graham change his mind and try to get the Lib Dem group to support the day centre? Can Sandy move mountains? We'll have to wait and see. Many folk stopped to say that they had already signed the petition in their churches or at coffee mornings etc, a few said they were still collecting signatures themselves.

It is quite obvious that outrage is building up in the community, several people mentioned a Press and journal article that states: 'Figures obtained by the Press and Journal under freedom of information laws show Highland Council spent £27million on consultants between 2004 and last year...' The Gurn has done a wee sum and believes that that money would have kept the day centre open for 771 years given that Highland Council thinks it can save £35,000 per year from this savage cut.

Please get involved - all the information in the articles below.

AyeRight with more food for cuts - sorry thought

'No one likes paying taxes but is Highland Council wise in voting to freeze Council Tax this year , the recession has seen income to the council fall so surely it needs more money not less? The council is deleting 110 posts but is this enough?
Due to the economic climate many folk in the Highlands have lost their jobs, or maybe will this year making it more difficult for them to meet even existing council tax payments.
We have to ask what level of service we want from the council and as taxpayers do we welcome the proposed freeze or would we be prepared to pay more?'

Don't know if you'll get many votes with that one AyeRight but don't the Scottish Government have some say in this 'no rise' business? Another interesting opinon from a well placed HC source tells us of proposed cuts in the winter maintenance. Will freezing dangerous pavements become the default position?

'Budget cut (or as they like to put it 'savings measure') cutting winter maintenance in 2009/10 by £348K and 2010/11 by £116K.
There is no way services can be improved and will very likely suffer severely due to these massive cuts in essential front line services.'

The future is bleak if you like to go past your garden gate in winter.

AyeRight on the Tescopoly

Much as the majority of Nairnites are crying out for an alternative Nairn based retail food outlet, would we really welcome a Tescos?
The web site Tescopoly outlines the negatives of the company, but in reality is Tescos any better or worse than any of our major supermarkets?
Is this what Nairn really wants?
‘From a nation of shopkeepers to Clone Town Britain?

'The UK's biggest supermarkets are grappling for ever greater market share. Small independent stores and suppliers, and ultimately consumers, are paying a direct price in the face of unfair competition. In the five years to 2002, 50 specialist stores including butchers, bakers, fishmongers and newsagents closed every week. In May 2005 the IGD revealed the loss of 2,157 unaffiliated independent convenience retailers, compared to only 1,079 the year before.’'

Snow you know

AyeRight topical information service up and on-line now:

As the white stuff keeps tumbling out of the sky the Met Office offers some snow education
'How does snow form?
Snow crystals form in clouds when the temperature is below freezing. They are made by water droplets freezing onto ice particles. As an ice crystal falls through the cloud it bumps into others and becomes a snowflake. This processing of bumping into others, along with some melting and re-freezing helps to form their complex design. The air that the snowflake falls through has to be below freezing otherwise the snowflake will melt and turn to rain.’

KEEP MACLEAN COURT OPEN - JOIN THE PROVOST'S CAMPAIGN!

WE HAVEN'T GOT MUCH TIME THE PETITION DEADLINE IS 11TH FEB

Three things you can do:

1) Print off a copy of the petition

You can get a copy in word format here

2) Print off a poster and display it

You can get a copy in word format here

3) e-mail everyone you know to get their help and then e-mail our councillors, don't' bother with Liz she is organising the campaign, then tell everyone else you know about this issue.

If you don't know what this is all about please read this post below.

UPDATE: Please get all petition sheets to the service point at th Courthouse for Liz to pick up by 1500 on Wednesday. Liz can be contacted for further information via her webpage on the Highland Council site. You can contact Councillors, Laurie Fraser, Graham Marsden or Sandy Park via this list of councillors.

UPDATE 11,00 am 07/02/09: The Gurnmeister intends to hit the street with a few petition sheets (weather permitting) on Monday morning. Want to join in? Print a few off and meet outside the courthouse at 1000 am. E-mail the Gurn if you have any other petition efforts planned. The Gurn also hears that Jean Tolmie, chair of RCC is mustering her troops too. Any of our other councillors doing anything? Please let the Gurn know.

Regulars please note: for a while any new posts will appear below this and the previous one connected with this shameful scandal.

On other matters, posted a link to a new Nairn blog.

And potential for 'Milk riots' in Nairn?