Latest notes from Murd's Firhall Bridge campaign

Here's the latest hot of the press from Murd:

In relation to my highlighting how public money is being spent in the town I'm now being told I could be making my self unpopular by complaining about the demolition of the filling station but if that's the price I have to pay so be it.

Let me make it clear it was never a popularity contest as far as I was concerned. All I ever wanted was the less fortunate to be able to cross the bridge and will always be my main concern to get a fair deal for theme and not a car park for a private company.

But I would ask you what you think is the better deal for the disabled and please bear in mind the severely handicapped in the care homes who don't easily enjoy all the pleasures of life as the rest of us take for granted.. Do you think they should be deprived of the right to be taken for a walk around the river with all that implies; being able to see people fishing, woodpeckers, herons, dippers and many other birds, squirrels and all the rest that mother nature has to offer. That is what i am striving to achieve and will continue to do so.

All the following can be achieved by not spending your taxes on demolition of the filling station. How will this benefit the disabled? Extra car parking yes but sit and look at the back of buildings and watch traffic go by expelling fumes. All the hazards of going down the town .what a great prospect. A nice tidy site for the Co-op to dispose of whenever they decide.

Over the last three years I have been told there is no money and then hear there is money for the removal of what appears to be a good building and in last weeks Invernes Courier, there’s apparently £500.000 for 17 projects and to be told it's Scottish Governement money. It’s our taxes, not money beamed down from outer space, and the bridge is in Scotland. Thedisabled deserve a fair deal and their rights by law

So now you all know why I have put my case forward for the money to be used for a ramp which is more important to me than a few car spaces.

At a recent meeting it was suggested that I should try and raise money to put towards the ramp and I now wonder how much the Co-op would contribute or for that matter? Were they ever approached when given the offer to demolish the filling station as Somerfield had put up money before planning permission was granted to them?

Also being mentioned is the money being used is for the demolishing of old structures if that is the case then the steps are much older than the filling station plus the fact they do not comply to modern-day regulations and are unusable for the less fit and can be dangerous for for those who do use them. At one point I did rise the fact I thought they were dangerous when some one had to descend in a backward manner when trying to take a pram across. The reply was that people can see the problem before they use them which is not entirely true as people don't realise they cant turn on the bridge.

Update: Pictures of the Firhall Bridge by Murray MacRae

Nairn 10K and Fun Run 2012 - Pictures

Hopefully we managed to get pictures of everyone taking part. Well done to all the runners. We hope to have some of the pictures up for display later this evening and then some more tomorrow. They will probably be going up in batches of 50.

Update: 1,000 plus pictures now up on the Gurn flickr pages - including (posted Tuesday morning pictures from Roy Largue and some from Murray MacRae) A few more still to come.

More from the Charrette

Last week we published some details from the Sandown Charrette meeting held last Wednesday in the Golf View Hotel. Here are a few more notes from that meeting, including exchanges between Jim MacKinnon, Chief planner to the Scottish Government and Alistair and Joan Noble respectively.

Highland League Cup Strathspey 0 Nairn 1

Pictures from club photographer Donald Matheson. Individual pictures here. Full screen slideshow here. Donald told the Gurn: "Strathspey played a blinder. They defended very well and when we got through they had an inspired performance from Willie Ridgers, brother of
our goalkeeper Ali. He pulled off a number of unbelievable saves, absolutely top drawer and if we got past him they had a player on the line as the pictures will testify. It wasn't a poor performance by Nairn it was a well set out team from Brian Ritchie and heroics from Willie Ridgers that kept them in the hunt. But the important thing is that we got the win and onto the next round against Buckie Thistle." Match report on Highlandleague.net here.

River's open again

Happy scenes down at the Jubilee earlier this morning. Larger picture available here. Individual pictures here. Full screen slideshow here.

Celebrating the Community - Sat March 10th

Ritchie Cunningham goes on-line.

The Gurn happened across the website and twitter page of Independent candidate Ritchie Cunningham this morning during the usual scrutiny of everything on Twitter that mentions Nairn. There's a lot of reading material on Ritchie's Wiki and fair play to him for providing the electorate with information on his background and opinions. One strong thread running through that is his support for the Union. He entitles his thoughts on Independence with "Patriotism comes in many forms." He continues:

"I am most definitely in favour of retaining the union and remaining a part of the United Kingdom and at the same time I am proud to be Scottish. I have no difficulty supporting a UK team in the Olympics and a Scottish team in the Commonwealth Games. It isn’t a matter of choosing to be British or Scottish but choosing to be both. Despite the three hundred years of union and attempts to quash Scottishness after the Jacobite uprising the Scottish identity is alive and strong and I see no danger in our identity being diminished by the union. The greater danger in diluting any national identity comes from the media and the dominance of American culture on the rest of the world."

Gurnites can browse Ritchie Cunningham's musings here and follow his tweets on this page. Liz and Colin are already out there on Facebook and twitter and now an independent candidate has joined them. Will any more of the contestants step forward with a digital presence?

Loading bay woes

The following pictures in from Iain who highlights one of the problem areas of the High street. Iain told the Gurn: " Motorists regularly park in this loading bay and make it impossible for lorries and vans to get access to unload. I saw one van driver the other day photographing the offending vehicle. I think he reports them. I have to admit that I am surprised just how many deliveries are made throughout the day on the High St."

Fire at the Industrial Estate

Thanks to Murray MacRae for these pictures. The fire is reported to have taken place during the night but no details are available on the Highlands and Islands Fire Brigade site yet. Individual pictures here.

Update: Residents in the housing scheme the other side of the railway were evacuated during the blaze which was atteneded by four fire appliances two of them from Nairn. Residents were allowed back into their homes during the early hours of Thursday morning. The building was occupied by Wilsons Services, they declined to comment to the Gurn however. Police are investigating the fire according to one press report, here's what the P&J has to say:

"Later a police spokesman said the blaze was not suspicious, although no probable cause was revealed." Meanwhile the Courier also reports that residents were evacuated from an "upmarket suburb".

Another Cawdor shop to close

There's a closing down sale at Birch Tree Trading up at Cawdor. A regular reader read this on their website: "It is with great regret that I have decided to close the shop at the end of March when the lease ends. The closing down sale starts on Saturday 3rd March and most items will be half price. Those on sale or return will not be reduced." More details here.