Nairn Beach - still popular after all these years!

From the Nairnshire Mirror August 10th 1848. Picture will enlarge.

Dark Clouds over Station Park

This picture from Douglas Smith captures the clouds that had been threatening rain yesterday for most of the second half. Eventually the deluge did come along with a flood of goals into the Rothes net. Picture will enlarge.

Tilting at renewables?

This observer quite enjoyed a trip out to Auldearn on Wednesday night to see the new line up of the village’s Community Council take its first tentative steps. The Lethen Hall was rather cosy, if perhaps a little in need of a makeover, and there were enough community councillors and members of the public to add a bit of gravitas to the occasion. Seated at the top table were Roger Milton the outgoing (and new Chair) and Louise Clark of the Highland Council who was at the first meeting as part of her civic duty in regards to the recent elections for all of Nairnshire’s Councils. On either side of the top table the other councillors were lined up along with John Dolan of the Nairnshire Telegraph. A police representative duly arrived and also sat at the top table next to Roger. Graham Marsden of Libdem fame was also present on the public benches. Sandy arrived a little late but Louise shifted to make room for him at the top table. She then sat behind the Highland Convenor. Occasionally Sandy leaned over to speak quietly into Roger’s ear. It all seemed so apt really, after all, Sandy is the main man of the Highland Council, and what better advisor for Roger than the high heid yin himself. Auldearn is lucky indeed, not just to have Sandy in the room, but to have a Community Council that represents the Community. It just makes sense for this growing village to be able to discuss the issues facing it with a body that, although at the bottom tier of government, represents the entire community. Contrast Auldearn with Nairn where there are three Community Councils and different opinions emerging in their midst. Auldearn can speak with one coherent voice in its dealings with the authorities, especially those that control the dwindling funds that can be harnessed to bring about improvements in communities.

So, there were a few things discussed but in this article we are concentrating on the application for a windmill on the Community Park or, perhaps we should say, the present lack of an application (it was withdrawn and a new one is anticipated). At this point in the article perhaps Green Dad should now go and have a dram before reading on? The chair gave the hall details of a meeting between community councillors and the engineers and the planning department. Roger had heard differing views and received correspondence too, he outlined the belief by some that the position of the turbine should not be near the road areas and further from the school towards the Forres end of the community Park. There was no compulsion, it was up to the community he told the meeting. The windmill was part of an ongoing initiative across Highland Region to create more energy from renewables. A member of the public wanted to know what the advantage to the school would be. It seemed like it would lead to a 9% reduction in the electricity bill once the initial outlay of 28K had been paid back. This would take 5 years and then there would be a £800 per year saving to the school . Sandy told everyone how the Council had an obligation to get as much renewable energy and carbon capture as they can. If not there was a hefty penalty to be paid but if there was real resistance in Auldearn Sandy said that the Council would have to look elsewhere for that contribution.

David Brownless then pitched in: “I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate and say, that with a view to minimising absolutely carbon dioxide, we should build mini nuclear power stations in every school playground.”

Another member of the audience then asked if the Community Trust would be entitled to rental. Comparison was made with the way Highland Council got planning gain from Sainsbury’s and the suggestion made that 10% of all electricity generated by all the wind farms in the Highlands should go to the Highland Council as planning gain. The debate then moved on to the safety issue and David Brownless pointed out that people naturally associate wind turbines with things falling off them and mentioned problems elsewhere in Scotland with similar turbines failing.

One of the female members of the audience stated: “It’s going to cause more heartache than it is going to cause any good and I think the very fact of climate change, that’s questionable too.”

Roger then began to wind up the discussion: “It has been made very clear that if the community as a whole are not happy about this, then it won’t be foisted upon us.” There was then some angst expressed as to how representative the Community Council was as to expressing the views of the whole community and the desire to see more people coming to meetings was expressed. This observer would suggest that compared to the turn out at some CC meetings in Nairn, Auldearn is doing very well as regards to bums on seats. There was worry that seeking views outside of meetings without full discussion could be a fruitless stance. There had already been two meetings and it seemed the Community Council were up for another one when, and if, the application comes back again. Judging by the feeling on the public benches however, this observer would put a fiver on the windmill being a lost cause.

We’ll put up more from the Auldearn CC meeting if time permits, but once again, this observer would like to say he was pretty impressed by the calibre of leadership and the accompanying debate from both the councillors and members of the public. Auldearn has a great opportunity now to build on the considerable achievements of the previous council and add further to the well being and sense of community in the village. It will interesting to see how things progress as Auldearn CC moves further into its term of office.

Local Press Review

This weeks Nairnshire (Nov 29^th) makes use of the debates at the recent meeting of the new Nairn West Community Council. This observer was wondering what might be a good snappy quick nickname to use for them? Westifarians? Westenders? Westlifers? Westies? Rosemary’s People? Do Gurnites have any other suggestions?

So the front page of the Nairnshire contains comments from Graham Kerr and this new community council is straight into some of the major issues that affect motorists and pedestrians in the town centre and particularly along the A96. Nice work Graham, keep going and let’s get a few issues resolved here. This observer looks forward to more campaigns à la Regal. Thanks expressed too to Graham Vine, who is widely credited with restarting the moribund council but when it came to the crunch he was rejected at the ballot box in his bid for a second term of office. Will the West’s Churchillian figure resign himself to the wilderness or will he still play a role in local politics? It seems he may still linger around as he had strong words for River CC on their objection to the extension of a covered area at the Braeval. The Nairnshire reports that West are also, unlike River, still opposed to the bus station plan. Is it time for a United Nations peace keeping team to mediate between the two councils before these border incidents get out of hand? The last thing we need in Nairn would be a planning Class War on the traditional them and us demarcation lines.

Good too to see the Westifarians demanding action on doggie jobbies. Brian Stewart is subscribing to the school of thought, also supported by the Gurn, that the canine turds become more evident as the dark nights draw in. The cover of darkness hiding some individuals' lack of social responsibility.

Yes lots of good stuff in this week’s Nairnshire and the special pre-Christmas treat of a biting editorial attacking the Nairnshire Partnership “reinvention”. Iain Bain puts the boot in one more time. “We need something in Nairn to replace the structures of local government lost in “reform” but it isn’t the present Nairn Partnership.” What could we have instead Gurnites? How about a single Royal Burgh of Nairn Community Council? That would be NICE for Christmas wouldn’t it?

Mygaelic.com update

Some Gurnites will remember, perhaps, an article from nearly two years ago when this observer had a big moan about Bord na Gaidhlig’s efforts to set up a social networking site for Gaelic speakers and learners. It was eventually reported that around 250K was to be spent on research and development. Well, an FOI request and response from earlier this year has appeared on the internet and details cost far in excess of that. It will be quite horrifying reading for some in the Gaelic community who would like to have seen this money spent elsewhere. The Bord were warned by members of the online Gaelic community of the dangers that their project faced. If they had consulted those already involved in similar voluntary initiatives (the like of Abair Thusa and Foram na Gaidhlig) before they got underway then, perhaps, this massive expense could have been avoided and the goodwill out there towards Gaelic harnessed to provide more online facilities that would not have cost the taxpayer anything.

Any students wishing to find out more or refresh their memories on this issue should read this article on forargyll.com and the accompanying 44 comments which detail most of the worries and even alarm in some quarters that were expressed at the time. To this observer mygaelic.com was a major mistake and it is time for the Board to admit this.

Nairn 6 Rothes 2 - The gap at the top closes a little

Match report here. More later

What's going on at Nairn Academy tonight?

Earlier in the week the Gurn had witnessed men in white suits up at the Academy on Wednesday the day of the strike. Now one of our regular readers sends these pictures taken earlier in the evening (02/12/11). Our correspondent states: "Seems to be a hazardous substance removal as they are sealing up the front reception area and have what looks like a decon unit outside and a tent with a sealed skip."
A larger version of the second picture is available here.

Regular readers will know there have been asbestos-related problems at the Academy in the past and will be aware of the investigate work published by local journalist Donald Wilson in the Highland News concerning Asbestos in Highland Schools.

Can any Gurn readers help Hamish?

Hamish Dunbar told the Gurn: "Many years ago when I was home on holiday my wife and I had a wander round the Old Parish Church near to the river. I remember a plaque above the door facing the railway and the inscription thereonreferred to persons with the names David Dunbar and Margaret Hay I have a fairly comprehensive record of my genealogy dating back to the mid -seventeenth century and since most of my ancestors were farm workers it's unlikely that the plaque related to any of them. I am anxious to learn who these people were and have made enquiries at the Museum in the town, in Inverness and in Edinburgh but have had no success.”

Here is the plaque that Hamish mentions. Sadly it is in a very bad state now and after another couple of winters there will probably be nothing left. Does anyone have any information on the David Dunbar or the Margaret Hay mentioned?

1848 - Swans were a lot rarer?

From the Nairnshire Mirror of 8th Feb 1848

Sandown Charrette ready to roll out after the bells

Highland Council tell the world today:

"Members of the public are to have their say on a masterplan for the future development of land at Sandown to the west of Nairn.

The Highland Council has agreed that an architect-led charrette (workshop) will take place early in the New Year to allow the local community and other interests a detailed say in the design and detailed lay out of this area of Nairn, which is owned by the Nairn Common Good Fund.

A charrette is an interactive design workshop, held over a number of days, that allows the community, local authorities and a wide range of stakeholders to come together to design and develop a community masterplan.

It is a dynamic process that typically involves public launch and conclusion meetings with topic-based design workshops in between.

The design process is iterative with discussion translated into emerging designs which are presented for further debate and discussion. These principles will be applied to Sandown.

Council Convener Sandy Park said: “The result we are looking for is a masterplan informed by a wide range of views where everyone has had a chance to shape proposals. The Scottish Government is very supportive of this charrette-style working and believes it should form a central role in the design of new and regenerated places and neighbourhoods.

“The aim is collaborative working, combining technical, professional and community knowledge to create positive places. We hope the local community and other interests will participate enthusiastically and we will publish further details soon.” "

Anyone up for this "iterative" process? A chance at last to really get Sandown right - even down to the number of street lights to eventually be turned off?"