Video of Laurie taken down from Youtube

Gurnites will remember Laurie's controversial comments during a planning meeting debate on the Social Club application through at Glenurquhart Road. The video of the meeting appeared on the Council website but was quickly removed. A litte later the section of that video that showed Laurie's comments was posted on Youtube. The following message has now appeared on that page however:

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by The Highland Council. "

Anyone searching Youtube for 'Provost Nairn' can still watch a video of Liz however.

Are we really that well off?

Statistics can often appear to be strange. The National Office of statistics has come up with some surprising figures for this area. The Guardian trumpets these findings in an article entitled: 'Data shows almost one-fifth of UK households had no one in work last year.' It is the part of that article that mentions Nairn, Moray and Inverness that makes one sit up:

'In both Wales and Northern Ireland, the percentage of workless households was 23%. In Scotland, it reached 20%, and in England 18%. Within England there was wide regional variation – 24% of households in the north-east were workless, but only 14% in the south-east.
In Bedfordshire, Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire and Inverness and Nairn and Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey, the rate was as low as around one in 10.'

Now quite a few of us might have some work but how well paid is it in comparison with what one would consider the more affluent English Counties mentioned above? These statistics could give the wrong impression about our local economy. Is Nairnshire Scotland's Surrey? Could the rest of Scotland start thinking that we're twice as well off as the rest of the country and just shove us to the back of the queue when it comes to public funding? It would be interesting to know how our average salaries compare in the private sector in comparsion with Surrey and Berkshire for example. There is census data available that gives information on employment and we don't look too different from the Scottish average although we do have a larger proportion of economically inactive persons - not surprising when Nairn has always been a retirement choice.

Sadly the number of households in work here might change rapidly with the forthcoming closures of airbases and cuts in the public sector but this report might have already left a different impression in the ether in advance of the painful processes that lie ahead for Highland and Moray communities.

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.

Save RAF Lossiemouth march

UPDATE Pictures of the march here on the Gurnflickr pages.

The march this Sunday is shaping up to be a major political event. Speakers include Alex Salmond, Iain Gray of Labour and also the Scottish leaders of the LibDems and Tories. One wonders if Tavish Scott & Annabel Goldie will receive a sympathetic hearing once they take to the platform? Details of the march here.

UPDATE: Sandy's on the march too

'Highland Council convener Sandy Park will march alongside Moray Council convener George McIntyre on Sunday, as the impact of any base closure is expected to spill into the neighbouring area.'

The Press & Journal also gives details of getting to the march:

'Sunday’s march will set off at 2pm from Muirton Road, and follow a route to the Lossiemouth football ground at Grant Park, where a rally will be held.
A free bus service will operate from the Lossie Green car park in Elgin from 1pm, returning after the rally at around 3.45pm.'

More on the P&J site.

'What to do with the warm corpse of Highlands and Islands Enterprise?'

The title of this post is stolen from the editorial of Am Paipear Beag (West Highland Free Press) of 29/10/2010. One person with an idea is author and former chairman of HIE, Jim Hunter. He would like to see its functions taken over and incorporated into regional government for the Highlands and Islands area. He is quoted in the Herald:
Professor Jim Hunter, who served six years as chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise(HIE), believes the new body could take responsibility for the emergency services, health and existing local authority duties.Similar bodies could be established in Borders and south-west Scotland, he said.’ More here.

Our existing government in Edinburgh is perhaps remote enough but much less so than London. One could be forgiven for suggesting however, that at times our local authority in Inverness can seem further remote than either London or Edinburgh and perhaps even Brussels? Would a seat of local government in the Highland Capital (I imagine it wouldn’t be sited in South Uist) be of any use to Nairn? Would it help in any way to allow our town to have more say in its own affairs? It’s hard to say really, unless we were to be given a town council to properly articulate the community’s feelings, then it is hard to predict what would happen but one might be inclined to expect more of the same.

Highland Council have their own ideas about what should be done with HIE, their position was detailed in a recent Press & Journal article:
'A report to Thursday’s meeting recommends the establishment of a new board for Highlands and Islands Enterprise, drawn from the seven constituent local authorities, with scope for membership from the business community.
It would operate in a similar way to the police and fire services, via joint boards of councilors. Responsibility for businesses, community development and local regeneration would be devolved to the local authorities, with the new board assuming responsibility for undertaking HIE’s current strategic functions.
The report states: “This would retain the distinctive approach to economic and social development created over the past 40 years in the Highlands and islands while improving local democratic accountability.” '

The phrase ‘improving local democratic accountability’ sounds rather hollow here in Nairn when you consider the gradual drip-drip of local authority functions that have disappeared to Inverness and furthermore, who knows what we will be left with when the Council finally goes ahead with its cuts. However, it is beyond the immediate Inveness area and the A96 ‘growth corridor’ (as outlined in the Development plan) that one must also look for views and thus to the WHFP. They contend that HIE ‘has invited its own destruction.’ They say in the guts of a hard-hitting editiorial:
‘Highlands and Islands Enterprise is not now in mortal danger because it is unelected, or because it has failed to operate across the whole of the Highlands and Islands. It is under threat precisely because it has continued to pump public money into parts of the Highlands that no longer need it.’
A view that perhaps might be echoed in Caithness and other areas of the Highlands? One wonders however how buoyant the Inverness, Nairn and Moray economies will look after the RAF bases are closed and the pay-offs begin in the public sector and whether we may suddenly be in a situation similar to that of other presently less economically fortunate parts of the Highlands.
The Free Press then calls for an organisation that would take in the Highlands and Islands less Inverness & Moray: 'The development job is done in Inverness. There is no point in pretending otherwise. For as long as we make that pretence, we damage the real and continuing case for a dedicated development agency elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands.’

Conflicting views then on whatever comes after HIE but as for what is best for Nairn and the County hinterland, just how do we make our views known and move forward? The view from the West then is that the development job is done in Inverness, but one look down the A96 from the Regal corner demonstrates that the development job has not been done yet in Nairn.

Former Social Club - Licence application now in

An appliction for a Provisional Premises Licence has been received by the Highland Licensing Board in respect of the old Nairn County Social club and will be considered on the 30th of November.

150 plus votes in now - 92% want a Town Council for Nairn

You can see the latest figures in the Gurn sidebar. The question is : will Highland Council now reflect public opinion and give Nairn a Town Council under the ongoing community councils review?

Here are a few other Royal and Ancient Burghs that have a single voice for their communities:

Royal Burgh of Cupar Community Council, Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council, Royal Burgh of Selkirk and District Community Council, Royal Burgh of Jedburgh Community Council, Royal Burgh of Lanark Community Council, Royal Burgh of Whithorn and District community council, Community Council of the Royal Burgh of Peebles and District, The Community Council for the Royal Burgh of Forres, Elie & The Royal Burgh of Earlsferry Community Council, Royal Burgh of Montrose Community Council, Royal Burgh of Elgin Community Council, The Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council.

There's an ongoing CC review just now being implemented by Highland Council - a chance for Laurie to be remembered for some good vibes by giving Nairn back a measure of democracy and local decision making?

In the Seaforth

Another Nairn related video has appeared on youtube this week, here it is:

On the Sunny Dava

Another picture of the new bilingual sign on the Dava welcoming visitors to Nairnshire - this time it was a fine day up there. Nearby the Nairnshire border passes Loch Ille Mhòr before climbing up across the ridge of Carn nam Clach Garbha before descending down to this point on the B9007. It then goes over the brae and descends to Lochandorb (Loch an Doirbh) to where the Castle of the Wolf of Badenoch (or Alisdair Mòr Mac an Righ* in Gaelic) built his castle out on the loch.

* Big Alisdair son of the King

Gingerphobe tirade backfires

There are quite a few people in Nairn who are upset with Danny for going into government with the Tories but surely nobody would support Harriet Harman's 'Ginger Rodent' tirade. It was a statement that certainly dipped into the dark side. Harman made her comments at a Labour Conference in Scotland and has since made an apology. Not only has her comment backfired but little else has made it into the media from the Labour conference - job done Mrs Harman?

All this begs the question: should anyone who tries to belittle someone for their physical appearance be allowed to hold any form of office in a political party (especially a former 'equalities minister)?
In the meantime anyone displeased with Danny and his ConDem colleagues will have a chance to make a democratic statement in the time-honoured fashion during next spring's Holyrood elections.

Here's a P&J article on the subject.