Community Councillor Stephanie Whittaker told her colleagues how she felt strongly about the pool and that the River Council should should write and tell Highland Council that they felt strongly that it should be retained. Support was Stephaine was unanimous and scepticism was voiced over the consultation process.
Highland Councillor Graham Marsden was present and told those in attendance that he shared their concerns and that he felt just as strongly as them on the subject and that he thought that for a holiday town the loss of the pool would be iniquitous. He added that there was now a year to make a business case for keeping the pool open. He also explained how there would shortly be a meeting of all Nairn Councillors and the Pool management to ensure that everything is done to make a case for keeping the pool.
More from the River Community Council meeting later.
"He added that there was now a year to make a business case for keeping the pool open. "
ReplyDeleteDon't be daft, Graham - the HC has too many managers, and pays too much on contractors. Address problems like that and there will be no need to attack local services on the scales being proposed.
"the HC has too many managers, and pays too much on contractors"
ReplyDeletePerhaps Brian you could let us know as to where you get your figures from with regard the number of managers Highland Council employs (together with their financial renumeration), and what business model you are using to make the statement that HC has "too many"? It is all too easy to make bold statements, but facts are needed to make them anything other than opinion
With regard contracts you may not know that all are tendered for in Scotland?
http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/default.aspx
Are you suggesting that Highland Council still pays too much through this tendering process and should somehow become independent from other Scottish councils with regard this process?
There all bloody barking mad at Glenurquhart Road they have no qualms about awarding councilors &
ReplyDelete& some in so called high places huge amounts of money when they take voluntary redundancy or retire
early, as always with an obscene amount, then have the cheek to say
they might have to close Nairn Baths due to lack of funds,could somebody please tell me how the hell there is never a problem finding the money when it comes to
you know who.
Regardless of any statistics available or not to Brian he seems to be broadly in line with a consensus emerging in the Highlands, namely that Highland Council management should take the biggest hit and not Highland Communities.
ReplyDeleteJust go along to NairnMatters.com once again to remind yourself of how people feel.
Here's a piece from the editorial of this week's West Highland Free Press:
'There is no doubt that Highland Council has to make moderate spending cuts this year and next. But there is a lot of doubt about the way they are doing it.Two months ago we pointed out that, while savingshave to be made, Highland Council was starting from
such a high level of public expenditure that the cuts need not and should not "be at the expense of services to those who need them most".
But that is exactly what is happening. Instead of trimming the vanity spending which had been
showered around in the previous 10 golden years, and sustaining its investment in essential front-line
services, Highland has chosen to cut "equally" across the board. So old folks' care services in remote areas, which already operate on a shoestring, lose proportionately the same amount of money as Eden Court Theatre, which does not.
Despite all of the end-of-the-world histrionics in the Glenurquhart Road chambers, Highland Council is this year cutting just two per cent of its budget. That amounts to £12 million out of £600 million. As a
proportionate guide and nothing more, councillors'fees and expenses alone total almost £2 million a year.
That is not a "perfect storm", or the death of public spending in the Highlands. It is no more than a
reversion to the levels of spending in around 2008 —
and we do not recall being told two years ago that we'll all have to look after the old folk unassisted.'
Thread now closed, thank you for your contributions.
ReplyDelete