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.