We're going round the course again and Highland Council will be asking the community for their input this time. If anyone thought the community would be deciding how many houses go on Sandown however, they will be disappointed. Any consultation over numbers of dwellings will be well within markers laid down by the local authority. Making another of his regular comments to the Inverness Courier today, Graham Marsden says:
"We will be looking at something in the region of 300 to 350 houses ultimately, but whether we have a business park or not has to be decided."
The Courier mentions that £2 million from the previous deal with developers was earmarked to pay off a loan that went towards building the Community Centre. Here's another quote from the Courier:
"Councillor Marsden stressed it was more important to get the plans for Sandown right, rather that rush them to pay off the loan."
6 comments:
Being Common Good Ground and all, instead of selling out to the greediest bidder, wouldn't it be possible to sell off individual plots to allow people to build the type of houses they want, rather than whatever some profit-obsessed developer thinks they can get away with.
Personally, I don't like meusli, don't knit my own trousers and don't have great believe in the power of group hugs, but I do love the way the houses at the Findhorn Field of Dreams have been built - individual, quirky and intersting. Couldn't a way be found to allow this type of development to be undertaken by local people at Sandown. Maybe the Nairn Common Good angle would mean that a way round planning regulations could be found to allow plots be sold only to local people at reasonable prices. The houses wouldn't need to be outrageously 'green' or eco-friendly, but they could maybe allow ordinary people to fulfill their own 'grand design' ideas and it would almost certainly be better than whatever Barrat and Co would come up with. If folk just wanted a kit-house style, that would be OK too, but at least you would get a mix.
It might not maximise the income from the site, but it might just be in Nairn's 'Common Good' !
Anyway, it was just a thought !
Don,t get exited it will probably take another 12 years to get anything done.
Don't worry about selling off the family siver, the next generation will likely still be paying for the Community Centre at the speed things move in Nairn.
Good points Nairnac. That would be good to see and perhaps it might be helpful if local builders could have a go with say half a dozen houses a time?
That way local tradesmen could be employed instead of the workforce of out of town developers.
Would Highland Council be willing to consider such ideas as input or is it all more or less decided?
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Sandown-plans-go-back-to-residents-for-their-input-29072011.htm
Look at page 29 of the adopted Nairnshire Local Plan - note in terms of the Sandown / Tradespark Framework Plan what was being considered. Note how much green space was planned for that area in terms of a golf course, parkland, tree planting, landscaping,
playing fields. Note, therefore, that the housing blobs are surrounded by a considerable amount of solid green space. The NLP plan also allows for a hotel near the golf course - some Sandown residents could have walked to employment in the hotel / golf course - and a small business park with tourism options(again providing jobs for nearby residents perhaps).
In terms of land allocated
4.5 ha. at Sandown for business (Use Class 4). Alternatively a major tourist/visitor use could be
appropriate on 2.0 ha. of this site
adjoining the A96(T
(b) 1.0 ha. at Sandown for community uses including a Primary School
(f) 2.1 ha. at Sandown for open space, recreational playing fields
(g) 66.0 ha. at Sandown-Delnies for a golf course including clubhouse (see Ch 3, 4)
(j) 22.0 ha. at Sandown for tree planting
(e) 5.3 ha. at Tradespark south of the A96(T) for open space, a community park/playing fields
(b) 15.4 ha. at Sandown-Tradespark - 140 houses - short medium term
(15.4 ha Area shared unevenly between housing allocations for Sandown and Delnies)
Would have been nice if it could have worked out?
Now the A96 framework presents Nairn with greater expansion to the west and the Delnies Plans move the development out even further out - almost touching Whiteness it seems.
Both the A96 and Delnies Plans include long term desire to provide hundreds more houses.
The Plans for Sandown will now (apparently) be for between 300-350 units depending on the inclusion of the business park (?). What will be the split now between solid lumps of green for recreation, landscaping, tree planting, parkland. The golf course seems no longer destined to be on Sandown's doorstep - just the 300 homes proposed by the Delnies development.
Looking here Anon:
http://www.nairnmatters.com/LocalPlan.pdf
and was wondering how your wee index fits into it. Yes would have been marvellous apart from the lack of allotments :-)
And then came the preferred bid and the subsequent public inquiry.
I wonder if most Nairnites will be soothed with the prospect of 300-350 houses instead of 550?
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