Back in the dark days of the winter of 2010
the organisation Nairn Improvement Community Enterprise was formed to fight the
“Berlin Wall” of flats plan that emerged for the area in-between the High
Street and the A96. Eventually the organisation became a partner with Highland
Council in seeking a better solution for redevelopment of the town centre. In
the embryonic Inner Moray Firth Plan in regard to the town centre it states:
“The Highland Council will participate in
preparation of a development brief led by the local NICE community group. The
Highland Council to consider adoption as Supplementary Guidance.”
There are still issues to be resolved
between NICE and the Highland Council over acquisition of the old Social Work
Buildings etc but the template is there for regeneration to commence at some
point. NICE had several of its very early meetings in the Sailing Club and it
was to that venue tonight that the committee returned for a brainstorming
session this evening, the focus moved away from the town centre as the NICE
folk met with members of the Kayak Club, the Sailing Club and two Highland
Councillors, Colin and Michael. Over tea, coffee and a big tin of Cadbury’s Roses
chocolates some very big ideas emerged.
Much concentrated on some tlc for the
existing harbour infrastructure and for regular dredging of the river and
harbour basin, Alistair Noble said: “If we don’t do something over the next 10
or 20 years the harbour will fall into the mouth of the River Nairn.” The
feeling was to go beyond repairs however and to extend the east pier a quarter
of a mile into the Firth, the possibility of a second basin being created too
was floated. Mention was made of how boats heading for the Caledonian Canal would prefer
to stop at a place like Nairn rather than head straight for Inverness.
A symbiosis seems to be rapidly developing
between the dingy training element of the Sailing Club and the Nairn Kayakers.
Both expressed their desire to continue training local young people and dispel
the myth that Sailing and Kayaking are elitist sports. Presently both
organisations are based down at the former McDermotts yard at Ardersier and
given the possibility of industrial development there again they both face an
uncertain future in that location. Ideally they would like a purpose built
building in the harbour area to enable their training initiatives to develop.
It was mentioned that hundreds of local children had experienced sailing
activity now but that to develop further they, paradoxically, needed to travel
to other areas when with some investment training facilities could mean that
the ideal range of sailing conditions in the Moray Firth could be maximised
from a base in Nairn. One of the children trained was now a member of the
British team. In their turn the Kayakers told how their 90 member strong
organisation that had been formed 4 years ago was now the dominant club in the
north and was in need of waterside access in Nairn to enable it to develop.
Both organisations talked of Olympic outcomes and the need for specialist gym
equipment that would take this forward. Of the two the Kayakers seemed
extremely well motivated to pursue this course of action independently or in
sync with the Sailing Club but either way they expressed their determination to
try to get such a facility.
Rosemary Young was very interested to hear
this and asked for more details on the potential impact on tourism. There was
suggestion that any building (a centre of excellence perhaps) could have
bunkhouse style accommodation and restaurant facilities that could be open to
the public and thus whilst attracting visitors for courses etc a steady revenue
stream could be secured.
Colin and Michael offered their support and
practical suggestions about how to approach HIE and other possible sources of
funding. The NICE folk were very much prepared to help those present think big
and be an umbrella organisation to assist them take forward their ambitions.
Alastair Noble didn’t want to see overdevelopment when it came to any building
that might be constructed but something that “looks like Nairn and is
beneficial to Nairn.” A small steering committee
is to be formed with members of NICE, the Sailing Club and the Kayakers and invitations
to the local CC and the Angling Society and perhaps others will go out too.
Big ambitious ideas coming forward then, ideas
will be fleshed out somewhat and presented to the community for further
discusssion. The arguments for developing the skills (and inevitably the
personalities) of youngsters in sailing and kayaking are very compelling and
the construction of a centre of excellence a potential benefit too but there
will have to be a trade off with environmental considerations as Alastair
suggests. Then there’s the even bigger idea of an extension of the east pier
which is an interesting one to throw in the mix. Obviously there is a long way
to go for these potential projects but community activists in Nairn have delivered
the goods before and it may be that these ideas too will catch the mood and
support of the population and become reality within a few years.
This observer is hopeful that none of the
above attempt at paraphrasing some of the content of a very interesting and
dynamic meeting will lead to any of the detail being out of context; hopefully
a reasonably accurate account of the proceedings has been provided.
Picture shows Alexander Brodie installing the gate on the 1st December 2012. Here's an article we posted that day, including a tweet Liz put up in reaction.
