The Gurn has received a copy of a letter the Nairn Concerned Residents Association has sent to Dr Stuart Black of Highland Council. They want as many people as possible to copy it and e-mail it to Dr Black as well, also with copies to Fergus Ewing, David Polson and J. Mackinnon. all at highland.gov.uk except Fergus and his email address can be googled. Please see Gurn articles below for further details and links.
Here's the letter, please copy and paste and add your name and address to the e-mail you send.
Dear Dr. Black,
Regarding the above Planning Application we, the Nairn Concerned Residents Group would like to request that the Hearing on the 12th May 2009 be deferred for the following reasons:
Would the Committee confirm if Deveron are in a position to renegotiate the purchase price after the Outline Planning Application hearing, as a result of the huge reduction in land prices caused by the biggest recession this country has known for some time. If Deveron can do this, it could drastically reduce the amount of money due to the Common Good Fund and as Trustees, the H.C. must protect the interests of the Common Good Fund. Will the Committee confirm that if Devron reduce their offer they will definitely go back out to tender and will consider defferring the sale until land prices recover ?
Re: 7.8 of the Planner's Report to the Committee, Deveron do not want to be subject to additional payments under the A96 Contributions Protocol. The Planner advises using money from the sale of the Sandown Lands to cover work on the A96 which this Development will necessitate. We strongly object to the use of Common Good Sale Receipts for upgrading a Trunk Road and question the validity of this proposal. Again, as Trustees, the H.C. must protect the interests of the Nairn Common Good Fund and must not ring-fence sale money for Road upgrades and must at the very least directly consult the people of Nairn before spending their Common Good Funds on a Regional project to upgrade a Trunk Road.
Yours faithfully,
3 comments:
I think it quite possible the residents will be told quite simply that the sum the council receives for the land has absolutely nothing to do with the planning committee. They will be asked to reach a decision on the planning merits of the application and not the economics of the deal between the developer and the council. It's simply not a consideration and will not delay the hearing.
@Sandbagger Will publish this much of your comment.
'The post above makes an interesting point, and a restrictive ruling by the Planning Committee chairman may indeed take such a line. BUT...'
(....missing bit here Gurnites...)
-' and, although the meeting is of councillors sitting as the planning committee, the fact is that the Councillors have a role and responsibility as trustees of the Common Good land. This means that they have to take cognizance of the implications of their decisions (as planning committee) for their accountability (as Councillors responsible to the townspeople of Nairn for the Common Good land). '
Remember Gurnites, if you have information that you are sure and certain of then the internet offers you the opportunity to publish it yourself. Just start a blog :-)
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