Seagulls delay demolition of old bus station garage?

It has been rumoured for some time that the bus station garage was still intact because of nesting seagulls. The Gurn understands that this was confirmed at last week's meeting of West Community Council when Graham Kerr asked why the demolition planned for June of this year hadn't started yet. The councillors and the members of the public present were apparently astonished when Highland Councillor Colin MacAulay stated that he understood that the delay was to await the end of the seagull nesting season.
UPDATE: see comment from Colin, not confirmed - this story remains Urban Myth. 

"Tha sinn ann an cunntart an cànan seo a' rannsachadh gu bàs"

Tha mi air a bhith leughadh duilleag facebook ris an canar “Iomairtean Gàidhlig agus beachdan air leth inntinneach. Bha cuideagin a-mach air an £2,000,000 son fhaclair ur. Seo beagan fiosrachadh air a’ BhBBC mu dheidhinn an da mhilleanan ud.

Nam bheachd neo-chudromach fhèin, femaidh mi aideachadh gu bheil mi ag aontachadh gu mòr, mòr le na leugh mi an diugh air iomairtean. Seo piosan a thog mi dheth:

“Chuirinn 100 rudan air thoiseach seo. Chan eil structar òigridh againn, chan eil luchd-stiùiridh againn, chan eil ionad òigridh againn. Chan eile prògram òigridh againn.”

“Tha mi a' smaoineachadh gu bhei sibhl beò an aisling. Tha £400k nas àirde na tha sinn a' cosg air buidheann Ghàidhlig sam bith (CnaG, Fèisean nan Gàidheal, PNE, An Comunn mssa), chan eil oifigear leasachaidh Gàidhlig ann airson iar-thuath Alba, Strath Spe, Barraigh, Uibhist a Tuath, Taobh an iar Leòdhais, Àird nam Murchan, Tiriodh, Cinn Tìre, Obar Dheathainn mssa, chan eik againn ach dà sgoil Ghàidhlig ged a bhios sgoil sa Ghearasdan (Chan eil an sgoil gu bhith air a' Bhlàr aig sgath 's dìth airgid), chan eil ann ach sgioba glè bheag airson trath-bhliadhnaichean, tha gainnead thidsearan ann. Tha barrachd airgid ann an £400k 's a tha ann an stòras airgid sam bith a bh' ann a-riamh airson grantaichean choimhearsnachd.

As dèidh a h-uile rud seo agus nach eile ach 58,000 luchd-labhairt ann, tha feum air £400k gach bliadhna airson 20 bliadhna. !!!!!!!!!!!

Cha do chosg Campa Sradagan ann an Ìle ach £5k agus an aon rud airson an dearbh rud anns Na Hearadh.

Thoir dhomh £400k agus bhiodh structar òigridh ann agus bhiodh dùblachadh ann an cothroman don òigridh taobh a-staigh bliadhna.”

"Air sgath 's, dhuinne a tha beò san t-saoghal mhòr agus na tha faicinn le àireamhan luchd-labhairt, na h-aoisean, an comas labhairt aig an òigridh agus gur e cuireadh a tha seo dha na namhaidean againn, 's e peillear nar cois fhèin a tha seo.
Tha iomadach rud eile a dhèanadh feum na bu mhotha."

"Chan eil mi ga fhaicinn mar phrìomhachas idir. Tha sinn ann an cunntart an cànan seo a' rannsachadh gu bàs."

Uill faodaidh tu tuilleadh leughadh an seo. A-reir coltais bidh am faclair seo deiseil aig ceann 30 bliadhna. Bidh sin gasda son an fheadhainn a tha beo aig an am sin. Anns an eadar-ama mhollinsa Fhaclair a thàinig thugainn saor an asghaidh agus tha e fosgailte an diugh - seo e "Am Faclair Beag". Nas motha na sin, cha do chosg e dad dhan sporran poblach cuideachd. Foadaidh tu a bhith cinnteach a chairdean, Gàidhlig beo no marbh buileach glan, bidh pailteas rannsachadh ann.  

Balsam Blockade on riverside path - a good idea at the time or a subliminal statement?

Thanks to Iain for this picture of the path on the eastern side of the River Nairn this morning. Someone had gone to quite a lot of trouble placing clumps of flowering Himalayan Balsam across the river walk. An attempt to hinder pedestrians or an artwork expressing exasperation with lack of action by the authorities on invasive species on the banks of the River Nairn? Glad to see the doggie jobbie bin in the distance is once again upright however.

In search of a bit of atmosphere...in Melton Mowbray

This observer was down south recently and made a short detour to Melton Mowbray where Murd and Debbie MacLeod have opened up the Leicestershire version of the business they ran for several years at the top end of Nairn High Street. The shop has a very familiar feel, not only due to the merchandise but the similar wooden flooring. It's bigger though and Murd and Debbie are now serving tea, coffee and cakes. It was a bit surreal having some of the Nairn type craic with Murd and Debbie in a busy East Midlands setting. Good luck to them both in their new surroundings.

More images here. Melton Mowbray is more or less equidistant from the A1 and the M1 and Murd and Debbie's premises are on the eastern side of the town centre just along from the Church shown in the images and near to two or three parking areas.  Atmosphere is no more on Nairn High Street but the website remains in the same place. 

Fraserburgh 1 Nairn 0 - Pictures from Donald Matheson

Club photographer Donald Matheson's images can be seen in full screen slideshow here or individually here. 

SHFLtv - increased exposure for the Highland League

Nairn based cameraman Ross MacLean is a well-kent face up at Station Park but the County faithful might see a bit less of him this season as he travels Highland League grounds filming the action for the new Scottish Highland Football League Channel. He usually does the questioning at the end of the games as he speaks to the managers but we turned the tables on him recently and asked him a few questions about the new initiative for the League. Here's a transcript of a recent conversation with Ross:

How many games do you hope to cover over the coming season Ross?

The agreement is for one game per week and to provide fans with extended highlights with after-match interviews. My ultimate aim is to increase the coverage and appoint cameramen/women along with reporters across the Scottish Highland Football League. The increased exposure can only be good for the game for fans and also for Managers in producing better football for all concerned.

The Highland League is proving itself to be a fantastic product, do you think SHFLtv and its new multi-media approach will raise the league's profile even more?

Oh absolutely, the quality of the SHFL can be really good and some of the games have had tremendous goals and action unrivaled in even some of the bigger games in Scotland, from Conor Gethins (Nairn County) scoring from ridiculous angles to incredible point blank saves from Wick Academy’s Michael Gray and not.

forgetting young talent like Scott Barbour of Fraserburgh and the current Champions Cove Rangers. The SHFL is the only league where the winning team was decided on the last game! I have had emails from STV in Aberdeen looking for footage and their chief reporter Tyrone Smith has been impressed with what is on offer from both filming and action.

Have you had any interest shown in the videos from beyond the Highlands?

Yes, there has been a lot of interest from beyond the Highlands and in particular countries with ex-highlanders, for example Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. In addition there has been a significant increase in views from oil-producing countries like Saudia Arabia, Nigeria and I have had emails from off-shore workers wondering if the footage can be viewed whilst abroad, obviously now it can!

With the audience covering the Highlands and Islands and around the world opportunities exist for companies and their logos to increase their exposure on this exciting new channel. It will be advantageous for companies to join SHFLtv right at the beginning of this venture

I hear there will possibly be a training element to the channel with more cameramen being recruited locally. Can you tell us more about that?

SHFLtv, in association with Thistle Channel, is also in the early stages developing relationships with colleges throughout the area with a view to recruiting trainee camera operators and reporters. The opportunity has the potential to enable trainees to gain invaluable experience and perhaps remain in their own communities rather then join the exodus of talent to the big cities.

What are the next few games that we will be able to see on the channel?

I was granted permission from the SFA to film the friendly games with SHFL teams playing Scottish Premier teams and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Division teams. I filmed Ryan Green’s testimonial game, Forres Mechanics v Elgin City. Regarding the league games the SHFL board will be producing a list of games to film, however the first game will be the champions Cove Rangers v Huntly on the 3rd August 2013.

Thanks Ross, looking forward to seeing some more of your videos as the season progresses.

Gurnites can keep up to date with SHFLtv here and there is also a facebook page here.

What to do if you find a dead, stranded marine animal

Following the recent article concerning a dead porpoise on the beach at Hilton of Delnies the Gurn received a copy of the poster displayed below.

Financing your social enterprise - an interesting event in Nairn - August 26th

One of our regular readers sent us a link they came across on the eventbrite website. The page states:

"This event will look at the shared experiences of social enterprises in financing their business. Come along to this event and learn about sources of financial support and insights on generating revenue."

The creation of social enterprises has been mentioned by some of the usual suspects and others in recent times here in Nairn so perhaps some of them will already have booked places at this event. The event takes place on Monday August the 26th and is from 11-2.  More here.

Taking grass cutting back under local control - Tommy and River CC's response to the Subbies and the Westies

Gurnites will recall the recent open letter from the Chair of Suburban Community Council, Dick Youngson, setting out his concerns about the River Community initiative to hopefully take the grass cutting in Nairn back under local stewardship - That Gurn article is available here.  The Gurn has since then  received a copy of Tommy's response to Dick dated yesterday the 31st of July. Readers will recall that Dick stated that the West Community Council mirrored the views of his organisation, he was also of a mind that there was a need for further discussion involving NICE and other groups in the town before any further steps were to be taken. 

"Dear Dick,                                                                                                            

Grass Cutting in Nairn

It is unfortunate that you chose to write an open letter on this matter rather than contact us directly by phone or in person as is common practice among Nairn’s Community Councils. On this occasion then, I will respond formally on behalf of the Nairn River Community Council. (NRCC)

NRCC submitted an expression of interest in taking local control of the maintenance of all local spaces in May. In it we made the point that we had already invited Nairn Suburban and Nairn West Community Councils to join with us. We have spoken to NSCC and NWCC about it. We are not currently in a position to set out a proposal because we have yet to hold detailed discussions with Highland Council officers which we imagine might clarify a whole range of legal, logistical and economical issues. Having been invited to do so, we anticipate arranging initial discussions when HC staff is available some time later in August.

Our expression of interest was submitted as part of Highland Council’s Community Challenge Fund. From the content of your letter, both Suburban and West Community Councils clearly feel that it is not the business of a community council. To quote your words “It is not the role of the Community Councils to take over the Nairn-wide grass cutting contracts and to become employers….”

We disagree. Community Councils have four key roles, defined in the Scheme of Establishment, and two of them are crucial to us. It is our job “to represent the views of the community to HC and other public bodies”, and “to act to further the interests of their communities”.

We represent more than half the population of Nairn and hear often of their concerns at the quality of public ground maintenance and their frustration at the lack of local control over HC priorities. Too often constituents draw our attention to delays in clearing unsightly undergrowth, managing tree damage or control of invasive species, to mention just three examples. All of us are aware of the demands placed on HC resources and the influence on their deployment because we are competing with many other demands.

The Community Challenge Fund has been set up “to encourage community empowerment….to explores new ways of delivering services at local level.” Highland Council says “Interest is welcome from all community groups such as Community Councils….”The Challenge Fund therefore provides us with a tremendous opportunity to DO something constructive to improve the lot of our community. We are tired of constantly talking about and relaying people’s complaints and mainly scratching the surface (your right, the issue of grass cutting comes up regularly on all the Community Council agenda), so here’s a chance to roll up our sleeves and act.

We are realistic enough to appreciate that the responsibilities are substantial and the legal, logistical and management issues challenging. However, we have received widespread support from constituents and the public support of at least two of our Nairn Highland Councillors. We believe therefore we must do everything we can to try and make the most of this Challenge Fund Opportunity.

We have invited you to join with us in this venture and we would welcome it you were to change your view on the role of the Community Councils and support us in taking it forward.

Yours sincerely

Tommy Hogg

Chair,  Nairn River Community Council"

Swan in flight - image from Murray

Thanks to Murray MacRae for the above image of one of our local swans out on intruder alert recently on the lower River Nairn. 

Meanwhile over on the swan blog an article about fishing and canoeing in the harbour area has created a certain amount of debate - more here on "Wildlife Woes".