By-pass getting itself on the agenda at last?

At last night's joint meeting of the Nairnshire Partnership and Ward Forum the Highland Council Convenor, Nairnshire's Sandy Park, stated that he raised the issue of a Nairn by-pass every time he meets with ministers and was hopeful that the by-pass would soon get into the capital plan. On other traffic matters Cllr Graham Marsden outlined that he had discovered that a fault in an underground cable may be the cause of the problems at the Lochloy/A96 junction traffic lights. The settings on the traffic lights are shouldering the lion's share of the blame for the delays in Nairn at the moment. Councillors showed their approval for a version of the 'Streetscape Project' that will still allow traffic up the Brae but will reduce speed to 20 m.p.h.
There were reports on the Sandown Lands situation and the town centre project - Nothing much to report was the theme there, the council still waiting for a supermarket planning application for the town centre.
The Gurn has not been slow in the past in criticising the Highland Council but credit where credit is due, the Ward Forum is an excellent democratic arena, with local interest groups and the community councils and the police all allowed to contribute to the debate, questions are also invited from the general public. Long may it continue says the Gurn , it is an excellent antidote to the increasing 'Invercentric' feel of many things in this area. The Meeting was capably chaired by Provost Liz MacDonald who demonstrated the wealth of political skills she has learned in her recent years of public service.