Usual Suspects Watch - minutes of West CC 4th January 2012

Interesting reading for all followers of Nairn's Usual Suspects.

Cool response for Rosemary's suggestive letter

West Community Council chair Rosemary Young had written to River and Suburban CC calling for a working group or subcommittee to discuss planning matters. Her three page letter which outlines how West CC view certain recent difficulties over planning matters can be seen here.

This initiative received a very cool response from the River members however and this observer detects that perhaps the “cross-border” interventions from West which recently took a different view from River over the Bus Station and Braeval applications. Jimmy Ferguson and Brian Stewart were in the Community Centre last night (Tuesday) to support Rosemary’s letter and reply to any points raised by River members but they had a hard time of it.

River member Andrew Purkis said: “I’m not particularly in favour of this. I do think there is merit in it but we do have organised bodies of community councillors already. Where there are areas where there are developments which affect the town generally, I think those are important for the community councils to get together to discuss those issues.I don’t think it needs to set up another level of bureaucracy. I would trust our chairman, and I’m sure each community council would trust their chairman, if there was an issue which really affected the town as a whole, for those chairman to meet and see if there is any common ground and then come back to discuss and then come back to the committees.”

Jimmy Ferguson said in reply to that and other comments: The issue wasn’t so much about someone wanting to put an extension up in their back garden and that sort of stuff, that’s very local. There are some big issues around the town, like Sandown, like Nairn South, where it’s going to have a massive impact on the whole community. Individuals within each of the community councils have quite strong backgrounds or professional backgrounds and the idea behind this was just to have a get together with a few of those people to discuss what are the bigger issues around the town and try and form a consensus on what the Nairn community really feel about some of those issues.

Leslie Bolton supported Andrew’s point of view: “Why do we need another level, Mr Chairman, I agree with Andrew, we meet monthly, eleven times a year, we have four joint meetings, that’s fifteen meetings in the year and if there was some major issue that Highland Council said they were going to deal with the town centre as a whole, we could always call a special meeting to discuss that. On Nairn South we made our representations, Nairn West made different representations, on Braeval as Stephanie said, we had a view, it was criticised at the West meeting, it was criticised at the Suburban meeting. Now that’s not the way to go. We are entitled to have our opinion on anything that comes within our area. And if we say what we say then that’s it.”

Sheilea Mayer then spoke about the Lodgehill Clinic planning application and how the three Community Councils working in unison succeeding in getting an appropriate result for the residents in that area. At this point this observer spoke of how a sort of procedure has developed in the town where residents of one particular area that are faced with an inappropriate development know that they have to get support from other areas of the town and not only their own local community council. This observer believes that these campaigns when they come are best left to individuals concerned to start things off and go to the Community Councils.

Tommy Hogg perhaps summed up the current thinking of River CC when he said: “The common message just doesn’t work sometimes, what suits one community council area will not sort the other and that has been proved in the past and it’s still the same way.”

Stephanie Whittaker added to this: “I think the town will come together when it is under threat and I think it is quite obvious that everyone will work together, the other thing is there is disagreement. If you ask, I have been spending ages, wondering around town saying to people, “What do you think about the bus station?” “What do you think of the plans.” Wonderful, really great, dreadful, hate it. There is a dichotomy of opinion and there always will be. It may be that it is a difference of opinion between community councils but it may be that the people in the town are thinking different things it’s up to us to listen to what they are saying[…] People are wonderful and they will come together and I don’t think we need to push them too much outside the system that we have already."

Although there was a fairly negative reception towards Rosemary's proposal from River members they did agree to discuss it further and thought it would also be a matter for the joint community council meeting on the 31st of January.

Common Good Fund - The way we go about getting it back under Nairn control?

Here's more from Billy Young's comments at the West CC meeting last week. Previous article here.

"Within the three Community Councils you have got an elected body which represents the population of Nairn who are the beneficiaries of the Common Good Fund. I would have thought it shouldn't be beyond our wit to get some representitives, a small sub-committee, to bury whatever differences we may have on anything else, on how we want to spend the money or whether we want wetlands, or whatever, to get some strategy between us, which we can stand up to the Council: well thank you very much for your management, it's rubbish, we want it back and we've got somebody which is capable of receiving it which is the elected representitives from the Community Councils."

Sounds a very good strategy to this observer. The Gurn understands that since last week's meeting the West contacted River Community Council with a view to asking if Bill could speak to the River meeting this evening in the Community Centre at 7.30 p.m.

Altonburn Road "Access only"

This could be the new look on Altonburn Road and at other entry points to the rat-run that many drivers use to avoid the traffic lights on the A96. The subject of drivers avoiding the jams and driving at inappropriate speeds has surfaced at West CC meetings before but last night a practical solution was suggested

The proposal by Bill Young at the West CC received unanimous backing from his councillor colleagues. The idea is to place mandatory "access only" signs at the junction of Altonburn Road and Pig Street. Other signs would be placed on the Seafield Street brae and just past the Seabank Gardens/Young Street junctions on Manse Rd, Seabank Rd and Albert Street.

The West are to ask the Highland Council to look into putting up these signs that would prohibit any vehichles that were simply using this area as a detour. The Westies are also going to write formally to River and Suburban CCs seeking their support. Jimmy Ferguson wondered if such signs would be enforceable but Bill said anything with a red circle would be mandatory. Seonaid Armstrong was also concerned about wildlife she said:

"On the Altonburn Road I've seen a couple of red squirrels crossing from the Newton which also ties in with all of this because they cross between the Newton Hotel and the pines on the Golf Course."

A member of the public then said that she had seen a dead red squirrel outside marine appartments. Seonaid then continued:

"If Joe Telfer can get signs up for his ducks and swans and all the rest of it, I think a red squirrel is also protected."

Dick Youngson, also present on the behalf of Suburban CC, told the meeting of how a meeting with an official of Highland Council in an attempt to get a "pedestrians on road" sign on Sandown Farm Lane had gone. "They are quite amenable but nothing has happened," he said.

UPDATE: New poll in sidebar - Do you support the proposals?

Common Good issues straight back on the agenda for 2012

West Community Council met last night (Wednesday) for their first meeting of the year. One of the items on the agenda was their submission to the forthcoming “Charette” planned by Highland Council to lay out a masterplan for Sandown. You can’t talk about Sandown without talking about Common Good issues. Gurnites it looks like Common Good matters will be biting the local Highland Councillors who are part of the Glenurquhart Rd ruling group all the way to the ballot box in May. From tonight’s observations it looks like the issue that is the festering sore of the Common Good Fund in Nairn is still alive and as potent and dangerous as it ever was!

New West Councillor Bill Young was forthright in his condemnation of the way the Common Good Fund is being run by Highland Council he said:

“I think there’s a huge conflict of interest between the Highland Council’s duties as Highland Councillors and their trusteeship of the Common Good Fund and the two are getting hopelessly intermixed and hopelessly conflicted.”

Bill wants to see no development at Sandown until the Fund is back under local control when asked by Rosemary what he would like to see happen at Sandown he said: “I would suggest absolutely nothing until we get the Common Good Fund back under local control.”

Bill's views on the Common Good were warmly welcomed by his fellow councillors and members of the public present. This observer suspects that the majority of Gurnites would support Bill’s stance too. He believes the Sandown Lands should not be sold and that there is no reason to sell them. Gurnites will know that Highland Council of course need to get some cash in to pay off the Community Centre debt. But it was Highland Council that run up these debts not the people of Nairn – why should we (through our Common Good Fund) be responsible for the debts left behind when Highland Council’s “preffered bidder” development for Sandown blew up in their faces and not a penny came in to pay off the Community Centre? Were we as a community ever asked if we wanted to sell the land (all of it) for development?

West are to seek the thoughts and support of River and Suburban Councils on getting the Common Good Fund back into community control. Dick Youngson was also at the meeting on the behalf of Suburban Community Council and River CC member Mike Henderson was also there in a personal capacity.

Maybe 2012 will be the year the Common Good Trusteeship comes back to Nairn for good?

UPDATE: links to 4 previous Gurn articles concerning the Common Good Fund and the debts incurred have now been posted in the comments below.

Community Councils, first up in 2012...

Will be the West CC. They have a meeting in the Community Centre on Wednesday the 4th at 7.30 p.m. The Westies will be talking about the Sandown Lands, Traffic Lights, Bus Routes and the Town Centre.
Obviously the West are not confining their discussions to their own patch and their advert also invites residents of any part of Nairn to attend. This observer would anticipate NICEafarian input on the subject of the Town Centre. It should be an interesting meeting.

River & West CCs at planning loggerheads again

River and West already take opposing views on the bus station proposal being for and against respectively. Now a smaller planning application in the River CC area has the two watchdog groups coming down again on separate sides of the planning fence but with River against and West for. The application for the extension to the lounge of the Braeval can be seen on this page here (click the documents tab). Click the Consultation doc dated 24th of October for the River CC response and the public comment dated 14th of November for the West letter of support for the application.

Once again River are the statutory consultee with West commenting from over the border so to speak.

Nairn West Community Council object to plan for bus station garage site

Nairn West CC have come out heavily against the proposed plan for a supermarket and flats on the site of the bus station garage. Their strong objection is signed by Rosemary Young the chair of that organisation. The detail objections based on height and mass, design and finish, access and parking and purpose and function. West CC are following NICE (Nairn improvement Community Enterprise) in setting out their stall against this plan. This observer notes that Councillor Graham Vine has also made a “public comment” although this is not visible on the documents part of the site yet.

Here’s the final section from their letter which indicates the way they would like to see things going.

You can read the full West CC letter here. Click on documents once you arrive and scroll down to the public comment dated the 23^rd. It is the job of Community Councillors to reflect the views of their constituents and thus they consider that public opinion in their part of the town is firmly against the proposal. Public opinion in Gurnshire would indicate that there is a majority in favour of such a development over by (be it as it is or tweaked). Have NICE and the West CC misjudged public opinion with only those most vocally against this proposal bothering to find their respective ears? What do you think of the planning application? Poll in the Gurn side-bar.

This observer feels that up until the point where Nairnbairn entered Nairn in the Carbuncle award competition there was a consensus about town centre planning issues. To a certain extent that was fractured by the Nairnbairn nomination and with sections of the community finding common cause with the Editor of the Nairnshire, Iain Bain, when he indicated that he thought Nairnbairn was a "snob at heart". It is against this background that NICE and West CC have come down on one side of a fence that is splitting popular feeling throughout the town. This planning application is one of the most divisive for a long time and in its wake it may be difficult for NICE and others to claim public support in attempts to influence events on the other side of the A96 if and when planning applications for development surface there.
Maybe a less heavy handed approach should have been employed by both NICE and West CC. Time will tell.

Town Centre sell-off could be decided on confidential “Pink Papers”

There was lengthy discussion with the Westies last night in the Community Centre on the subject of the town centre sell-off. Representatives from both River and Suburban CC’s were also present as grave misgivings about Highland Council’s town centre policy were expressed.
Alistair Noble expressed to the meeting his desire to see things done in a different fashion: “Before we sell things, let’s look at other ways and this Community Interest Company can be a vehicle to use the Common Good assets properly, and still retain the ownership.” Alistair thought it would be a disastrous mistake for the Highland Council’s 76 Councillors to sell off the properties.”

As you can see in a previous post NICE has also recently discussed Alistair’s Vision of a Community Entreprise Company (CIC). It is an interesting concept and it is good to see the debate, of how more elements of local democracy can be reclaimed, moving forward at Community Council level.

Seonaid Armstrong then spoke. Seonaid is the secretary of the West CC and is not perhaps one of the more high-profile vocal members but she works hard behind the scenes and when she does make an intervention it is well received and gives a deeper Nairn perspective perhaps than some of the other members. This observer does hope she is re-elected in the forthcoming contest to chose a new Council. Seonaid said:

“I just want to take you back in time to the days when the Rosebank Church was sold off and there were no conditions on that . It’s a listed building. I sang in the choir at the Rosebank Church and it just breaks my heart to see that. Originally it was going to be a Clan Centre and it keeps going on and on. They put scaffolding up and nothing is being done. There should be when the Council sells a building, that it is developed and developed in a certain length of time. If it isn’t developed in a certain length of time, there should be a clause to say that the council can buy it back for what it was sold for.

Rosemary Young then pointed out that Sheena Baker had tried to ensure this had happened in the past but hadn’t got very far through the Nairnshire Partnership

Sheena then told the meeting of back in the days of the Nairn Initiative of how she had been fobbed off and fobbed off and been told that the Council had looked into it legally and made sure that everything was going to be hunky dory, it was going to all be in hand but it wasn’t.

Liz then intervened and said that Shena and others had a very valid concern and her other point was that the sale would probably be decided at the Resources Committee under “Pink Papers” which would mean in secret. Liz said: “A lot of buildings and things in Council ownership are sold through the Resources Committee on pink papers.”

That’s the latest on the town centre Gurnites. Let’s keep paying attention to this and support the usual suspects in their endeavours to see that we get something that the community want and not something that suits just Highland Council.

“I find that unacceptable that the town is going to have something imposed upon it!”

The title of this post is a quote from Sheena Baker earlier this evening at the West Community Council meeting.

A rough ride for the representative of Upland Developments “up west” this evening at the Community Centre for the last meeting of the Council before they throw themselves to the mercy of the electorate who will pick any 8 from 11 candidates on the coupon. Mr Johnston outlined potential changes he was able to consider given the constraints placed upon him by the developer and other factors such as the number of storeys that he was not able to change. He also indicated that the developer would not oppose an extension of time for the community to consider the application and also indicated that revised plans would be submitted. A photo-montage showing the building in relation to the surrounding landscape should also be shortly available.

Brian Stewart gave Mr Gary Johnston a forensic questioning on the local plan and whether the application for 12 flats and a supermarket fitted into that. It has to said that Mr Johnston performed very well in the witness box however and gave as good as he got on the vexed issue of the local plan. Gurnites would surely appreciate a few more notes on that exchange and we will hopefully put more up when time permits. There were some other wee complaints but it was Sheena Baker that made the most forthright attack on the proposal however, she told the meeting:

"I’m absolutely delighted to hear that Mr Cameron has suddenly woken up to the fact that we have a blot on the landscape here and is going to do something about it. I would actually echo the words earlier by Brian. Why is there such a rush? We want something to happen but whether it happens in three months or six months or a year, what we want is for it to be right when it is done and this is not right.”

West CC also debated NICE, South Nairn, the town centre, sewage problems in Nairn and a few other items. A lot of interesting material was aired tonight and hopefully we will get round to it over the next few days.

West offers 'friendly' signs to keep dogs off the beach

It emerged last year that the dog ban on the Central beach was unenforceable in law. Tonight Graham Vine of West Community Council reminded the Council that the West CC had offered money for 'friendly' signs requesting people to keep their dogs off the Central Beach leaving it free for kids and families.
Louise Clark said she was aware that the offer was still on the table and she would follow it up. Wait a minute isn't the Central Beach in the River CC area? :-)

Highland Council ignoring West CC on Common Good concerns?

Councillor Graham Vine of the West watchdogs told the meeting that he’d met with Fergus Ewing again to discuss Common Good Fund concerns as nothing had been heard from Highland Council. He’d also raised the issue with Mary Scanlon’s office. Graham had heard from a Moray councillor that although all Moray elected members were trustees of the Forres Common Good fund it was the Forres members alone that had sole control of that Fund.
‘That is what we feel we should have for Nairn, so that only the Nairn elected members can decide on the use of the Nairn Common Good,’ said Mr Vine.
Brian Stewart said that the ball was very firmly in the Highland court and that a letter had been sent to to local councillors and to Mr Gilfinnan, the Corporate Manager and author of the current policy document. He also stated that they had set out a range of amendments to the Council.
‘Highland Council, seem to prefer to ignore us and go their own sweet way,’ said Graham Vine.

West & Suburban input to Combined Community Council meeting on the town centre

Nairn's West Councillors present Brian Stewart, Graham Vine, Jimmy Ferguson and their Suburban Colleagues Dick Youngson and Alistair Noble made some valuable contributions to the debate.

River’s Chair Jeanne Tolmie was also chairing the combined meeting and she asked Dick Youngson to open the debate.

Dick told the meeting that it had been clearly conveyed that the Council’s options for the town centre site were not the best ones. Dick wants to see the existing old buildings retained and used imaginatively and feels that the old School should not be used for offices but something that would be more beneficial to Nairn’s tourism industry. This was a point taken up by Graham Vine later who also thought that this building would be better used by the private sector instead of becoming another ‘sterile’ area.

Dr Alistair Noble again stressed who the bus station area should be taken into an regeneration plans.

The meeting progressed with a memorable quote from Graham Vine, ‘Flats will just sterilise the town centre.’

Brian Stewart then asked the meeting to consider what the area under consideration actually was, was it a transit zone, an entrance to the High Street or a destination in its own right.

The meeting then seemed to focus itself in what was perhaps the inevitable direction when Jim Ferguson spoke:‘We as a community have a Common Good fund which owns Sandown, and maybe there’s a case here for us to actually in some way realise some of the values of Sandown Common Good and we as a community take ownership of the Town Centre. It may require us approaching the owners of these bits of land and asking them to donate them into the Common Good Fund and then as a Common Good project that the Community can get behind and come up with something that is suitable for the town centre along the lines of what everyone has been suggesting.’

More from the Combined Community Councils meeting will be posted on the Gurn this weekend if time permits.

The West CC highlighting Nairn Common Good Fund fears

There was debate at the West Community Council meeting about Nairn Common Good Fund. Brian Stewart and other members were concerned that a policy document recently approved by the Highland Council Resources committee might cause some long term problems for the town’s fund. Graham Vine perhaps summed up the situation perfectly when he said the following during the debate:

‘At the moment Nairn Common Good Fund maybe hasn’t got enough money worth nicking. But as and when, if ever, Sandown is sold for real money then there will be real money there and we don’t want Highland Council playing with it.’

A statement that had Councillor Laurie Fraser affirming, ‘No, we do not want that happening, no.’
Earlier Brian Stewart had outlined how the Housing Expo in Inverness had received Inverness Common Good money and he found this worrying, he said:

‘The money that the Highland Council has just decided to grant to this questionable event is Inverness Common Good Fund money. Now the Highland Council controls Nairn’s Common Good Fund just as they control Inverness’s. It this is an example of how the Highland council manages public money, particularly Common Good Funds, then we here in Nairn have reason to be concerned too. Secondly that’s the point of substance, the point of procedure is this, this was voted through by the relevant committee of Highland Council by 15 to 2. I don’t know which if any of our elected members were there and whether if they were they voted in favour of it but it concerns me seriously that money which is common good money should be voted on an exercise like this at a time like this without apparently very much consideration of the interests and the preferences and the views of these residents to whom the Common Good Fund belongs. So I think this is an important point simply because it is illustrative who knows what else in the way of spending decisions and grants of money are being made but it is symptomatic in my view of an approach in terms of Highland Council budgeting at least from where we look at it deeply disturbing.’
Laurie pointed out that this had been a decision of the Inverness City committee as it was an Inverness Common Good issue. Brian then went on to detail some of the points that concerned him in the Common Good Funds Policy Document. He stated that for payments of over £10,000 the decision would go to the Highland Council Resource committee, coupled with this and also,perhaps the biggest of his concerns, section 8 of that document and he quoted the following

‘Highland Council has wide discretion over common good so long as it is applied for the benefit of the community in such a manner as using reasonable judgement they think proper and having regard to the interests of the inhabitants of the former burgh.’

To Brian this was a major danger and he stated:
‘Don’t need to be a lawyer to see that that is a loophole wide enough to drive a truck through. It effectively gives Highland Council carte blanche to spend Common Good money in any way they chose without any consultation as long as they are able to say ‘we have had regard for the interests of the local community.’

Laurie made some further comments but suggested that the West Council write to William Gillfinnan (giving Laurie a copy) as there would be an opportunity for further review in six months time.

There we have a few details from the debate Gurnites, perhaps there will be more in the Nairnshire but we hope to have given you a flavour of the quality of debate, backed by considerable research that the unpaid volunteer watchdogs at the West lay on once a month in the community centre.
Granted there is a gentleman’s agreement to allow the local members to decide what happens to local funds but we are moving into troubled times ahead and who knows what might happen at Highland Council. There is no guarantee it will stay like that forever. The cuts could bring a period of turmoil, the ruling administration has weathered a few problems but will it survive the full term and if it doesn’t what will take its place? Another regime that might cast envious eyes on a Nairn Common Good Fund that one day might have been topped up from Sandown? If our local members were to be given a veto, for example, on any move from the resources committee or others to spend Nairn money then perhaps the Brian Stewart and his West colleagues and, we imagine, quite a few more folk in Nairn would have their fears allayed. The community has to keep its eye on the ball on this one.

Nairn's West Council on Community Council reform

Last Tuesday night the West Community Council discussed the ongoing community council reform process in Nairn, a process that is taking place all over the Highland Council area at present. Councillor Brian Stewart outlined how the consultation process had now requested more discussion in Nairn on the idea of a single Community Council for the town. He said that there were 2 councils in the town in favour and one against. He stated that a single council would bring Nairn into line with other comparable towns in the Highland area and Moray and Grampian.

Cllr Stewart told the meeting: ‘ We as a Community Council and others believe a single Community Council would be the most effective way of reflecting the interests of the whole community and influencing policy and planning on the major issues that affect the town. We also believe that a single Community Council would have greater capacity to handle the growing workload of scrutinising the local plans and having to respond to all these requests for comment and consultation. So our collective view is that a single council would be good for Nairn. The question is how do we help to promote discussion about this, encourage support and ultimately bring it about?’

Cllr Stewart continued,’ It is self-evident that the arguments for and against do need to be discussed as widely as possible, not least among the community councils but among Nairn residents.’

More details from the West Community Council later if time permits. The Gurn supports a single council for Nairn. Do you think we need a Royal Burgh Council to speak out for Nairn? For more information on this subject and the issues surrounding it head over to this campaign blog. There's an opinion poll in the side bar once you get there. And there's also more debate over on myNairn.

Councillor Vine: 'The sums add up.'

Graham Vine the West Community Council's treasurer reported that the Council had a balance of £2,167 in the bank with an outstanding bill of £225. Now how much does the Tourist Information Centre need to open for business again this year? :-)

West Community Council supports Gaelic on path signs

The West Community Council voted, on the Chair’s casting vote, to support bilingual path signs in Nairn. The Gaelic element of the signs will be funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig – the Government Quango responsible for implementing the Scottish Government’s Gaelic act. There was a lively discussion on the merits of Gaelic signs with support from most of the members of the public present. Graham Vine and Seonaid Armstrong voted against the proposal with Jim Ferguson and Rosemary Young in favour. Brian Stewart, with mixed feelings abstained. Ailidh Chisholm the Nairn Academy rep on the Council was in favour but is not actually a voting member of the organisation. The Casting vote fell to Rosemary Young. Jimmy Ferguson’s pragmatic approach of using the extra funding available just to get new signs was probably an indication of how you have to grasp every opportunity available in these new, credit-crunched times. The Gurn understands that last week the River Community Council voted emphatically against any Gaelic on path signage however.
The Gurn supports Gaelic but accepts there are those who would legitimately argue that Gaelic is irrelevant to the modern world, it is a fair basis for argument but there can be no denying the unmistakeable element of Gaelic heritage in Nairnshire. According to the last census there are 200 speakers of the language in Nairn and another 100 capable of understanding the language. There is also now a Gaelic unit at Millbank primary and a well supported and successful Gaelic choir. Gaelic culture is an element Nairnshire life in 2010, by no means as strong as in 1891 when 23% of the residents spoke Gaelic according to the census at the time but Gaelic is still here and may be around for some time yet.

West folk

Another meeting on Tuesday night for the baby of the Nairn community council bunch but you wouldn’t have realised this to see the way things were running smoothly with a wide range of topics being discussed. The Westerners were getting to grips with the Sandown and the Delnies projects. The proposed developments will obviously have an impact on their area especially if the residents of the new schemes look for rat runs through the West End. The West councillors like their suburban counterparts are supporters of development but not at any price and they decided that they would join the Sandown objectors at the public inquiry as the issue would not be about development per se on Sandown but the Deveron proposal itself. Bill Shand was also at the meeting and he was of the opinion that nothing substantial could go ahead until Nairn had a bypass in situ. Seonaid Armstrong reminded the meeting of the numbers of homes involved, 550 for Sandown and 300 for Delnies and the impact that car ownership of all those potential residents could have on the West of the town and the rest of the community in general.
Another issue connected with development is of course sewage and the meeting had hoped to have a representative from the Petty and Ardersier community council as they would be at the receiving end of all the new sewage produced by the new communities. Unfortunately the Ardersier rep was unable to attend. Councillor Laurie Fraser was in attendance however and added to the conversation with asked, bringing the benefit of his years of experience as a Highland and previously Nairn District councillor to the meeting. Laurie can get a bit of stick at times, just like his three colleagues, but he certainly is good at his game given half a chance and his insights are often very perceptive, helpful and revealing.
The West members had hoped to attract a larger attendance to the meeting but it was pointed out to them that it was par for the course for community councils to have small turn-outs until something happened that affected large members of the community and then rooms and halls could soon fill up with citizens seeking help.
There was more conversation about a single community council for Nairn (one of the raisons d’être of the resurrected West CC). Graham Vine told his colleagues that he had been told that the Highland wide consultation on community councils would begin sooner than expected but would take longer than expected. An extremely complicated process of consultation and re-consultation looks as though it will take 18 months plus. In the meantime there were various suggestions as to how the 3 councils could work together and become (de facto) a single council in all but name and thus be ready for the end of the process. It could be interesting times in the near future Gurnites, should the make-up of the River Council change in the end of year elections and become more supportive of the link-up, then could Nairn’s community councils declare a sort of UDI and form a single council for the town anyway? A move that would surely be endorsed by the town’s four Highland Council members and receive massive public backing and goodwill?
Sadly news too of a renewed threat to the Maclean Court day care facility and the West CC are to write a letter supporting the centre. A call from Jimmy Ferguson for an enforcement of the dog ban on the central beach, tempered with a plea for information to holiday makers, telling them where they can take walk their dogs. There was more, much more and once again a main stream media representative was there. They always make such a better job of recording the whole thing than the Gurn, so if you’re going out on the ran-dan this weekend make sure to save yourself 40p so you don’t miss out on all the details on Monday night or Tuesday morning when the most important paper in the North once again hits the local newsstands.

The west folk – doing their bit you!

The West Community Council - They seem a very competent lot.

Only a few weeks old now and still finding their feet but that didn’t mean a shortage of items on the agenda: Sainsbury’s, Sandown Lands, Common Good fund, Inner Moray Firth Development Plan, Parking in the West End, and observance of dog restrictions on the Blue Flag beach.
There were printed copies of power point presentations on the Common Good fund (two councillors from the group had attended a seminar in Elgin) and how things should be working if we really were going to get a by-pass.
Yes Gurnites, the team of Rosemary Young, Alison Miller, Graham Vine, Seonaid Armstrong and Jimmy Ferguson mean business and they had some forensic questions for Laurie Fraser and Liz who were present to observe the meeting. They intend to get their teeth into all the issues that impact on their 2,000 plus constituents, be they internal to the area covered by the West Council or those such as the Sandown Lands which will have a massive traffic impact on the West End according to the councillors.

Just to give you a flavour of the meeting here’s a few lines from one of the documents presented:
‘It would appear that an informed discussion on the most effective method of how to manage the Common Good assets on behalf of the Nairn community has not taken place, or if it has it has not been adequately communicated.

Should common good asses be sold off? Land leased or other?

With ownership comes responsibility, who can do that most effectively?’

It bodes well citizens that we have another hard-working team of volunteers ready to fight for the interests of the town. It is encouraging too to see that the West Council pledge their support to efforts to establish a single community council for Nairn.

‘We do pledge our support to co-operate with public consultation on a single Nairn Community Council and to assist with the setting up of such a body, should that be the outcome of the consultation.’

Interesting times ahead!